Got My First Ticket...What's The Deal! | FerrariChat

Got My First Ticket...What's The Deal!

Discussion in 'California (Southern)' started by italcarguy, Jul 13, 2004.

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  1. italcarguy

    italcarguy Formula Junior

    Nov 3, 2003
    505
    Porter Ranch, CA
    Full Name:
    Anthony Rimicci
    #1 italcarguy, Jul 13, 2004
    Ok, a couple weeks ago I was being a jacka$$ and was going faster than I should have. I don't like to speed because that's what a race track is for. I had just put a new set of cams in my car and wanted to test them out. I was on an open road near my house with no cars around. Up ahead was a LAPD bike cop with a radar gun. I didn't know how fast I was going but considering I was in 4th gear, I knew I was moving pretty good. I pulled over before he turned his lights on cuz I knew what was going to happen and I figure by making it easy on him and realizing my mistake, he might be cool with me. He came up to me and told me I was doing 77 in a 40. I know I was going above the posted speed limit, but not that fast...or was I? I didn't argue with him, I was polite and all. When it came time to show my proof of insurance I didn't have it because I hadn't received the slip from the insuance company yet. He wrote me up, we went our seperate ways. Today I get the letter in the mail an my ticket is $981.00! What up with that! Could it be so high because I didn't have insurance or is that how much stuff like this is? I am not just gonna write them a check, I'm gonna go to court on that date to try and get them to lower it. Hopefully by showing them I was insured and waiting for the papers, they'd lower the ticket cost?
     
  2. SrfCity

    SrfCity F1 World Champ

    Nov 1, 2003
    10,142
    Orange County, CA
    #2 SrfCity, Jul 13, 2004
    Hello broke Caleefornia! I'd thoroughly research your game plan before just showing up in court and hoping. Good luck with it.
     
  3. Jet-X

    Jet-X F1 Veteran

    Nov 2, 2003
    5,688
    Orange County
    Full Name:
    Brian
    #3 Jet-X, Jul 13, 2004
    Lack of insurance papers has no bearing on the cost of a ticket. I should know, I've been in the exact same situation (pulled over, couldn't find my insurance slip).

    However, couple of things - speeding fines aren't cheap, especially when you're on city streets, and doing nearly double the speed limit. Technically that could be construed as wreckless driving. It's at the officers discretion.

    It's not going to help your cause going to court if you can't reasonably determine how fast you were going (based on your post). You didn't challenge his radar, and that too won't help.

    You're best bet is pleading that you're a good driver (although 77 in a 40 won't make it easy) assuming you haven't had any tickets (that means ANY) in the last few years. If you've had a ticket in the last couple years, you're essentially screwed.

    I've yet to encounter a judge that a) didn't scold the offender, and b) automatically side with the cop in every instance.
     
  4. fatbillybob

    fatbillybob Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 10, 2002
    26,361
    socal
    #4 fatbillybob, Jul 13, 2004
    Anthony,

    AROSC Las Vegas! Brad says there may be the LV Ferrari club joining us. Are you going to be there with the gtb? No Cops!

    car #53
     
  5. Nametool

    Nametool Rookie

    Jan 8, 2004
    21
    #5 Nametool, Jul 13, 2004
    Check this site out, this may help you quite a bit.
    http://ticketassassin.com/docs/forms050264.html
    Read it all carefully, do what they tell you and you at least have a fighting chance.
    Good Luck,
    Scott
     
  6. 4i2fly

    4i2fly Formula 3

    Apr 16, 2004
    1,333
    SF, Bay Area
    #6 4i2fly, Jul 14, 2004
    Damnest thing, $981... That is just outrageous. I got a ticket doing 62 on a 40 MPH street in Palo Alto last year and fought it. The judge was sympathetic to my situation since I was driving a loaner car and he himself was in the same exact situation years ago. He said he had a diesel MB that he had traded in for a gasoline and one day he was driving the car and all of a sudden he realized he was doing 85 MPH (bingo). It caught him by surprise since his turbo diesel used to take forever to get to 85... I had told him I wasn't paying attention to the speedometer and was going with traffic if there were any. Really a nice judge, reduced the fine to like $89 and no moving violation. How about that?

    Good Luck!
     
  7. SilverF20C

    SilverF20C Formula 3

    Jun 22, 2004
    1,126
    #7 SilverF20C, Jul 14, 2004
    I have to disagree with this comment. I speak from personal experience here too in that I got a speeding ticket for 90+ (in a 65 zone on the freeway) and when it came time to produce my insurance papers, i couldn't find them for the life of me and he wrote me up for that too. Sure enough, when the letter came from the court, my total fine was in the neighborhood of $800+ and after calling the court, they told me that if I produced the insurance papers, the difference would be waived and all I had to pay for was the fine of the speeding offense.

    I also tried to request traffic school but was SOL when the judge told me he couldn't give me TS because of my excessive speed. Net net, I ended up with a lower fine of around $160+ because I had my insurance documents but didn't get TS. I was a bit bummed about that.
     

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