Advice before my court appointment tomorrow morning? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gatie]

Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis had the brilliant idea of a "moving roadblock" back in the 80's. He figured if he had 3 state trooper vehicles, one in each lane, going 55 mph, the traffic behind them would have to travel the speed limit. Brilliant, simply brilliant! Except for the fact that he had the troopers try it out on Route 3 from Cape Cod on a Monday after a holiday weekend. Picture what happens when you come over a rise going 70 mph and the traffic ahead of you is at a standstill (due to the fact that if the troopers are going 55, the load of traffic behind them gets slower and slower the farther you go back). I actually witnessed the results. In my mirror, I saw one guy spin out and the resulting 10 car pileup killed 2 and sent most to the hospital. But no one was speeding, so I guess his idea worked.:rolleyes

 

[Bryan X]

In Ohio oftentimes if you are driving the speed limit (65) you need to be in the left lane.

While the speed limit for cars is 65, for tractor-trailers it is only 55 (and pretty strictly enforced). So when there is a lot of truck traffic, it's impossible to go 65 in the right lane.

Much of the time I'm doing 65-70 in the left lane. I'll get over when there's some open road ahead, but I'm not going to pull into the right lane behind a semi doing 55-60 and have to slow down just so some other car can get past me. I'll get over when the road ahead is clear enough I won't get stuck behind a semi.

 

[Mike Voigt]

Jeff, he wasn't the only one. Late eighties, my sister, brother-in-law, and I were headed to BWI airport from DC. Light snow was coming down. Someone REAL brilliant sent out the cops to form rolling roadblocks at about 30 mph on the freeways. In cascade format, so you could actually see another one in front of you past the cops that controlled your group.

Result: we saw the plane pulling away from the gate. Since they had already deiced, they could not get us onboard.

Really sucked...

 

[Scott Wong]

Hey guys...

I apologize for forgetting about this post!! Thought I'd let you guys know the outcome of this situation for those that are interested.

In regards to the first citation I received, I believe I already posted that after speaking to the hearing officer, he was unwilling to do anything for me. In order to delay the inevitable, I set up a court date for March 15th. I did take the liberty of calling a few traffic lawyers here in Minnesota and none of them were 'cheap' by any means. None of them had any flat fee they were willing to charge me and they were all expected to be paid on an hourly basis excluding court fees and other fun stuff like that. Rather than go before the judge on my own, I was worried if I did he/she would only feel as though I were wasting their time... and not only would I be fined for the $140.00 speeding ticket, but I would also be charged for other "miscellaneous" court fees that could easily rack up to more than $450.00 according to our local government office. So with that said, I paid the $140.00 ticket and advised I would not be attending the court date on March 15th. I just plead guilty and sent in my check.

I returned to court on March 23rd for the second speeding ticket I received just a couple of weeks after I received my first one. I met with a different hearing officer. He asked me what I wanted to say about it... I was open and honest. I let him know about the first one I had plead guilty to. I let him know I would certainly be unable to afford the massive insurance costs if both of these violations were to remain on my record. And reluctantly, he helped me out. I couldn't believe it!! He placed me on probation for one year and demanded I pay a fine of $200.00 on that day. By doing so, the second violation would remain off my record unless I am stopped again for anything over the course of the next year. I obviously got off lucky... I am not sure if my open and honest statements helped me out or if he was geniunely having a very good day. Anyway, I'm thankful I just have the one speeding ticket on my record now.

And with that said, I also ended up selling my '03 Volkswagen GTI 20th Anniversary Edition. I had been kicking around the idea of doing so for the last couple of months. I placed the ad on carsoup.com about three weeks ago. I had one buyer come out and look at it last week and he bought it on the spot. So, now I'm car-pooling with my girlfriend. No more speeding tickets for me.

I guess in the end, regardless of the violation... it pays to take it to court and at least speak to the hearing officer. Who knows, maybe they'll help you out.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

While driving to Seattle down I5 I came upon a state trooper doing just this, however, his deal was to cruise at 55 and if you so much as inched towards him, he got on the blow horn with "I am doing the speed limit. You do not want to pass me." That worked for me!

 

[Philip_G]

Pass him. If he wants to write a citation for 5mph over, we'll see him in court.

 

[Scott Wong]

Talk about setting an example...

 

[Scott Wong]

Agreed. Placing everyone on the interstate on some kinda sick double dog dare shows the true ego and attitude of your typical cop. Is 5 mph over the speed limit against the law? Sure it is. Could this loser possibly manage his time in a more productive way versus playing childish games and daring anyone to pass him? Definitely.