I Paid The Ticket

I live in Georgia and we have a graduated points system. You lose your license accumulating 15 points in any two year period. My ticket was for 71mph in a 55mph zone gaining me two points. I paid over the phone with a credit card $130 total. Here is a list....

I am one very relieved fellow. In my entire life I do not believe I have a total of seven speeding tickets of any kind. But I have learned a lesson on this. No more then ten over - EVER.


"Home Georgia Tickets & Violations DMV Point System
DMV Point System in Georgia"

How it Works
Georgia tracks incompetent drivers―or those with bad habits― through the use of a point system, as do many other states. Driving is a privilege, not a right, and if you prove to be a bad, dangerous, or reckless driver, your license can be suspended, canceled, or revoked.

Your license will be suspended if you have a point accumulation of 15 points within a period of 24 months, or if you commit one or more of several different serious violations.

Suspension, cancellation, or revocation of your license will cause your automobile insurance rates to rise, or possibly even cause your insurance company to cancel your policy.

Points per Violation
Points are issued and accumulated in a variety of ways. Below is a sampling of common offenses and their point assignments:

Reckless driving: 4 points
Unlawfully passing a school bus: 6 points
Improper passing on a hill or curve: 4 points
Speeding (miles per hour over the speed limit):
15 -18 MPH: 2 points
19 - 23 MPH: 3 points
24 to 33 MPH: 4 points
34 MPH or more: 6 points
Use of wireless telecommunication device violation: 1 point
Text messaging while operating a vehicle: 1 point
Disobedience of any traffic-control device: 3 points
Disobedience of any traffic officer: 3 points
Possessing an open container of an alcoholic beverage while driving: 2 points
Failure to secure a load resulting in an accident: 2 points
All other moving violations: 3 points
Child restraint (1st offense): 1 point
Child restraint (2nd and subsequent offense): 2 points
Aggressive driving: 6 points
HOV lane violation (4th and subsequent offense): 1 point

 

I am curious about California. I have lived in many states and it was always my fear that fifteen over was marked by a skull and crossbones. Three or four points minimum on a 12 point max.

Got caught 65 in 55 downtown Indianapolis Sunday morning just two cars on six lane Interstated. My Z-28 and the cops Z-28. He flat out told me if he had waited till the speed dropped to 50 mph [as it did a mile up] I would be sucking hind tit.

 

"Suspended California Driver's License
As you acquire points, you place yourself in danger of losing your driver's license. The DMV has the right to suspend or revoke your driving privileges if you accumulate a certain number of points over a set period of time.

4 points in a period of 12 months.
6 points in a period of 24 months.
8 points in a period of 36 months."

However, I could not make heads nor tails out of speeding points. Most seem to be one point. For example, '70 mph' = 1 point; '100 mph 2 points.' Niether reference the speed limit. Just YOUR speed.
However, I just do no believe driving 100 mph in a 35 mph school zone would give me two points. I could be mistaken.

A few years I visited my sister in San Diego going North to San Clemente. I do not believe one single car was traveling less then 70mph.

 

Returning from San Diego on I-10 towards Dallas TX we ran at least 90 mph hour after hour mostly with pickup trucks. In some of the Western states the daytime limit was 80 mph, but everyone cruised at 85.

Arizona was spooky because it all looked like a Road Runner Cartoon. Nothing but Sujaro cactus desert on either side. Time just became unhinged. Had I been driving for five minutes or fifteen minutes or even fifty minutes!

Every driver on the planet should take the drive from Dallas/ Ft Worth to San Diego. Beam me up scotty. In West Texas there were so many wind mills it made my head spin. I swear. THOUSANDS. And no other man made structures in sight. And unlike the stupid fields in California from Sacramento to San Francisco they were almost all WORKING. The California mills were Potempkin village screen sets just sitting there stopped.

I found my way to the base of one of the Texas mills - that took some back road doing into a cotton field. They hardly take up much space. They were huge, and the wind going by them and the noise was WAY more then any squall I experience sailing the Chesapeake Bay. But I digress.....

 

Post bail and get out of town. Alternatively you could plead the metric system. 120 mph. You thought it was 120 kph. Might be worth a try.

 

Yeah, thats a good question. WAY back when I bought the Z-28 they told me they would not insure it. I ignored the notice and have continued coverage for another 30 years. In Georgia I can take a 'defensive driving' class to remove points. If my insurance rates go up enough might just take the instruction.

However, having mistakenly believed 'fifteen over the speed limit' was equivalent to a skull and cross bones and having instead seen I would need six of the same tickets in the next 24 months to endanger my license I have decided to pay the ticket and keep my mouth shut.

Incidentally. Putting the Ferrari on my insurance list along with the several other cars I own I was pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive it is. Apparently the insurance company does not have many claims against Ferraris.

 

I looked up my insurance and both the 86 mondial and 07 Malibu MAXX cost about the same. Both include liability (claims against me) and comprehensive (payments to me do to vandalism, theft, or my own crash.) Each car costs about $460 per year. I have two lesser cars neither has insurance against their theft or damage by me. They just are not worthvery much such as 1965 Corvair.

 

YIKES!

Its a good thing we do not use 'the percentage' method in calculating the infraction. The only people here who can do such complicated mathematics attend MIT. Let me try. I exceed the 35 mph speed limit by 10 percent. I THINK that means I was going 38.5 mph when caught.

Is the next step 15%? Of course our Ferrari speedometers were designed by the company Fredrico Fellini and Sons.

 

Hi Faber,

Oddly, where I live there does not seem to be much traffic tax farming for local finance. I have some speculation as to why. First, although this is the poorest county in all Georgia it is also very much a Summer destination for Florida retirees to get out of Florida in Summer. They are a HUGE part of the construction market.

We are also a resort destination. Lake Chatuge has 175 miles of spectacular shoreline and all the protected forests in the mountains are a draw from Atlanta which is only two hours away. The last thing you want to do is irritate such financial fish.

Over the last decade I have been stopped several times for speeding and was never issued a violation. And of course this ticket was obtained fair and square.

 

IMHO, way to much discretion to traffic law enforcement. Attempted murder should not be traffic officer discretion. The traffic officer should report the speed and circumstances. The elected prosecutor has prosecutorial discretion

But hell. California is a one party state. If you are Meryl Streep doing 100mph through a 35 mph school zone I do not want the traffic charge based on whether you like Meryl Streeps movies or not.

 

I live in Ferrari Heaven. Thats for sure. And once again, I do not know why traffic cops here abouts use such a lite hand. The rumor is the same can not be said for neighboring North Carolina. The border is just six miles away from me. But everyone is spooked by N. Carolina.

However, North Carolina now sells beer after 12 noon on Sunday. At least in Cherokee County. Not where I live in GA. I don't know about the rest of Georgia. None-the-less my local Georgia county permits the local winery to sell tastings and even bottles on Sunday. Which is a big Atlanta Tourist Day. My actual town [Young Harris] is otherwise dry. Although I believe you can bring your own bottle of wine into a restaurant.

Local authority in these matters is complex. Back up in Chicago Land every last grocery store will sell you Baccardi 151 just about any time day or night. At least thats what I recall. Small matters. You get used to them.