What I learned from my recent speeding ticket....BEWARE

Doesn't matter. People are going 80+ now.

 

Hope everyone will just accept the politics, the need for income...everything else. Particularly what one has to spend monetarily to fight any of this BS before just arriving with a lawyer if necessary to just let it pass as easily as possible. That is just being realistic concerning who is at fault, etc...Have this sh_t now with a good friend who spent 8 months in the crowbar motel.

 

I was cited for driving 27 MPH above the posted speed limit in Lake County. I hired a law firm who was highly experienced in the stygian demimonde of Lake County Traffic Court. After coughing up about 1K in attorney fees, court costs and one day wasted making a court appearance my lawyer was able to get the prosecutor accept a plea to a lesser, petty offence (driving at 25MPH or less over the limit).

My conclusion is that if you are cited for this type of offence in Illinois, hiring a lawyer is absolutely necessary in order to obtain a favorable outcome and that the driving laws in Illinois are being created because political and financial expediency.

The posted speed limits bear no relation to actual traffic conditions. Anyone owning a performance type of car should have the right to feel cheated as the enforcement of this capricious and arbitrary legal regime in Illinois has taken all the fun out of driving.

 

It's been a few years since I got a ticket but I've used a lawyer in the past and gotten out of them.

 

I have a similar problem to your aggravated speeding issue. Which attorney did you use and would you use him again?

 

I use the same attorney for the past 30 years and he ALWAYS gets me out.
Last one, in 2013, going 105 in a 55 zone on I-294 at 7PM on Sunday, no traffic, while passing a semi going over 90mph (I was passing him fairly slow).
I got pulled over he was let go ( I was driving a G63).
5 court appearances, $1500 later and 2 year Supervision, nothing on record.
Cops pick and choose, decide on the spot who will pay more or who is more sympathetic (to them) to be let go.

 

Wow, that's crazy.

Where I live, speeding that high would be a felony, aggressive driving and host of other charges. You can expect guns drawn as you get arrested as well.

 

It's not just Illinois. States, counties, and local governments all over the country are doing this. The problem they have is that the economy is collapsing. Don't believe the MSM when they tell you that the economy is improving. So governments are strapped for cash. Speeding tickets are a great revenue stream for them, under the guise of "safety".

Speeding used to be a non-criminal offence. The reason states are creating misdemeanor offences, is to deny individuals the right to own a firearm. It used to be that only a felony conviction would prevent you from legally owning a firearm. Now that standard is being lowered to a misdemeanor in many states, because the government is desperate to quash the growth of private gun ownership. The government fears an armed resistance.

 

It's a Misdemeanor Class A, 1 year in jail and $2k fine.

 

I just got a ticket in California for doing 25 MPH over the speed limit (90 vs 65 while passing some vehicles in the passing lane).

The fine? $485. Ok. I can do that

But the joke is they let you do drivers school online to remove the ticket if you pay them an additional $85.

It's a joke. They don't care about safe driving. It's just to get the money.

 

absent

With the 2 years court supervision and how how commuity service did they give you?, did you try and write a plea to lessen the charges?

 

2 year supervision (removed after 1 year) and $700 fine, nothing else.
That was the best deal I could get so I took it.
My record is clean now.

 

I got dinged for an alleged 71 in a 55. I say alleged because my laser detector never went off and he said it was laser. BTW the stop was 50ft from where the limit goes up to 65.

Lawyer cost $475, no need to go to court because prosecutor in private practice and so works on these as much as possible out of court. Reduced to no points parking ticket, but still dont have the fine yet. Ill bet with "court" fees its no less than $250.

Its a total racket. But I am happy with not points. Imagine however if youre going with the flow of traffic and you dont have the $750 or inclination to hire a lawyer. By the time they are done with points and insurance youre probably at a $750 payment plan.

 

I got pulled over for the exact same a month ago in Texas. Cop made sure I was a good guy and told me I needed to "slow down and have a nice evening Y'all".


A guy I know from FCA got pulled over for 105 or so. Cop wrote it for 90. But then we have some 85 mph speed limits here. Funny thing is on the 85 mph road almost no one speeds.

I love Texas.

 

In Texas, 25 over can be street racing, which is really bad news. I got tagged in my last drive in the Maranello. Early Sunday, guy caught me way out in the sticks accelerating out of a corner. We talked a while, and I told him the story. He wrote me for 20 over and said I have great reflexes.

 

I was just on that stretch of 130, and I'll be danged if hardly anyone was speeding, and, being Texas, lots of left lane hogs to boot. [emoji849]
T

 

More lenient than a lot of places. Besides outside of a few private security guards playing the part of actual policemen in places like Lakeway I have yet to find either a Sheriff or DPS that seemed to have any desire to get out of the car and actually do something. All across Central and West Texas I have given a bunch of them a chance and no one seems to want to be bothered. The county could run the place from the revenue available on 620 right outside my shop but they seem far more content to clean up the mess than preventing it.

 

I'm guessing no one has ever told you that is an inalienable right. It must be. Texans are no worse about that than anywhere in the US or Canada.


I don't really care as long as they don't drive side by side. At least then I can go around.

 

It's the Rule of 3 that is mandatory in US.
If there is no traffic on a 3 lane highway and only 3 cars driving on it, all three have to line up perfectly with each other and maintain the same, low speed.
Takes a great skill in precision driving, Prius and minivan drivers really excel in that regard.

 

What I really like is Semi Truck racing. 2 Semi's going side by side with only 2 lanes available (typically an incline at 45 MPH). One pulled out to pass because he didn't want to give up the 1/8 MPH advantage he had. With any luck he'll be clear to pull back over before the next town.

 

Love that!

They really prefer to have an audience as mistaking the shoulder for a passing lane is not well received.

 

Wanted to share my experience. I lived in Germany for over 6 months while on business and got used to driving 200+ kmh. I came back in March. In July I was stopped doing around 150 in a 55 (I believe it was I94). This was in Crystal Lake County. At the time the sheriff told me it will be a 200 dollar fine. I had court today and what an ordeal! The clerk asked if I had a lawyer, I responded this is just a speeding ticket. The officer next to her joined in and said this is a class A misdemeanor with a maximum of 1 year in jail and a 2500 fine. I could care less about the fine but when they mentioned jail time my heart sank. I continued to press "you are aware this is just a speeding ticket." At that moment the judge walked up to her bench. The clerked asked me if I have a clean record. I said for the past decade my record has been spotless, but I had a DUI in my early 20's and a bunch of other run-in's with the law. They told me I will get a minimum of 4-6 months suspension on my license with the DUI, if not the jail time. I kid not, at that moment the Judge looked me in the eye with a smirk on her face and nodded. The officer started telling me to tell the judge I would like to plead not guilty and to set a new court date with a lawyer. I really don't have the patience for this nonsense or time to waste sitting around in a courtroom. There was an attorney representing two other gross "offenders" and was giving them thumbs up - he looked most competent out of the herd and was friendly with the clerk and prosecutor - so I pulled him aside. He told me to plead not guilty and get a lawyer in the meantime, set a new court date. Scratch that, I don't want to do this again and got him to represent me on the spot with 500 cash. He got the A misdemeanor dropped to a B with a 75 dollar ticket and 341 in court fees, 3 month supervision, and 8 hrs driving school. The driving school is 70. Total I paid the mafia today was a little under 900.

I could care less if the ticket is on my "record" - I'm not out looking for jobs. What kills me is this system. I would have gladly paid the court if I could have avoided the insanity and done it online. Instead they scared me with jail time and a suspended license. What's the matter with speed limits in this country anyway? It's crazy. I drive 35mph over the limit and it's considered a crime one step below robbery and murder?

Word of advice, get a lawyer for anything over 35+ mph.

 

Are you saying that you were doing 95 mph over the speed limit and you thought you would get a $200 fine? At that speed I would expect you to be cuffed, arrested, and brought into the police station. I would think that pretty much any police officer would tell you that it was a major offense and that you really risked jail time. I would assume that this would occur in pretty much every state in the country (save Montana maybe).

I would say that you got off very lucky in you were indeed going 150 in a 55 zone.

 

After the ordeal in court I would say so as well. The officer was nice. When I asked how much he said 200. There was no indication of arrest at the time. No words about a lawyer. The contrast between Germany and back home is a shock. It's frightening folks "expect" getting cuffed for speeding. Granted I'm naive of American law and can be as easily dead at 55 as 153. I doubt these speed limits are here to protect anyone as much as they're here to pull in bank rolls dating back to an antiquated gasoline conservation model from the 1970's