RU2KREDY

Whoa. Not necessarily!! Perhaps in this case it seems clear but does it not seem excessive that he was ticketed for Wreckless driving?!? Just because the state/city/muni came up with the BS speed limit doesn't mean it's untouchable and written in stone. These limits and the signs they are posted on have strict limitations on how they are posted and how speed limits are arrived at. If the governing body isn't following these then you have every right to question and fight them. For example, if 80% of the traffic on that road routinely drives 65mph then the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) indicates that the speed limit should be set there - short of another accepted method being used to show a lower limit (i.e. engineering study).

Just because the law states that airbags are mandatory should they have been forced on the general public without being fully tested? To be fair, airbags have saved lives, but they have also taken them. The same thing is happening now with mandatory seatbelt and helmet laws all over the country. What about my freedom to choose? Just because the insurance industry wants to make more money and pay out less in claims I should be fined if I don't wear my seatbelt?!? In many types of accidents it's been proven that wearing a seatbelt is actually detrimental to your survival.

Zippy

Get a lawyer and try to cop a plea to a lesser charge. Reckless driving seems a bit heavy-handed here.

thunderchicken

I contacted a high profile Lawyer in Indianapolis about something similar. I was heading back on I-74 in Indiana where the cop stated he clocked me at 80 in a 65. I had cruise control set at around 73. There was a similar color SUV that was tailgating me. This was at night and I explained this to the cop. The cop did follow me for a few miles before turning on his lights.

I think he did this to run a plate check to make sure I wasn't a serial killer or something.

The lawyer said to pay my ticket, like you guys all said, it will be the cop's word against mine. It doesn't hurt to go if you're in that area to the court date, I'm thinking the worst that can happen is that you have to pay your ticket and you're out an hour of your time. The cop might not even show up, when you win by default.

turbo_pwr

First off you need to check your local traffic courts. Some counties do not allow you to plea, it's "Guilty" or "Not Guilty". Most lawyers will answer that question for free so make the phone call. Reckless driving is also defined differently in different states. In NJ an 80mph ticket is careless driving, over 100mph is reckless driving. I've had both in the past so I speak from experience. As for the court apperance, usually no way around that show up, be honest and straightforward with the judge. Don't say anything bad about the cop that only gets you in further trouble. If there is no plea bargaining you're pretty much going to have to eat that ticket. Over the speed limit is over the speed limit. How Reckless and Careless are defined is by the amount of speed you are over. It has nothing to do with if it is an open road or not. BTW unless you make a habit of speeding and getting caught and have previous convictions on your record the one ticket is not going to kill your insurance premiums.

SkipX

<CUT>
"Mildew smell"
Lately I've noticed my car smelling a little strange- like mildew. I believe its from using the Air conditioning, but what can I do to avoid it? Is it an indication that the filter may need changing? What else? I now roll my windows down when I park the car in the garage.

-B
__________________
Byron "bighorn" Guernsey

<PASTE>

I guess you were literally trying to "AIR OUT", the mildew smell from , your car! LOL

I hope it works out for you, the ticket and the smell.
-Skip

cbj

Those KY Troopers do pull in revenues for their state. I got a ticket there last month. In my case in was 24 over in a work zone. Idiot move on my part, I'd been going about 7 over and was in the process of passing when we hit the orange cone zone. Not like they were actually working on the road, just those stupid cones. It was clearly marked, the officer was polite, and I saw the radar reading. So, I just paid the fine, it wasn't worth me driving 3 hours each way to dispute facts which were correct on the ticket. I did notice though that on the ticket 25 and over the speed limit was a mandatory court appearance, and was considered reckless driving my some KY statute. Don't remember the statute offhand, I'll have to look and see if I have a copy of the ticket.

bguernsey

Actually, that its a sports car does make a difference. Most cars are not equipped with W-rated tires for high speed driving. This goes to the suggestion that on an empty freeway they are protecting me from the limits of my own car. It is not inherently reckless to drive 80 in an S2000 because it is equipped to handle speeds well in excess of this, whereas most automobiles have tires that are not rated for speeds over 80.

Yes, I was doing close to 80 (the exact speed I did not notice- but I thought it was closer to 72), but for a deer to jump out in front of me he would have had to jump off about a 30 foot cliff on the right (in which case- good luck dodging a deer falling out of sky at any speed) or he would have had to cross 3 lanes of traffic coming in the other direction and leap across a 6 foot tall concrete barrier with bushes growing another 4 feet above it, not to mention the fence on the other side of the road. This was the safest stretch of road in dry conditions to speed on, and it was 8:30pm and still daylight outside. Visibility was excellent.

As far as the 'law is the law', this particular law on speeding is there to collect money for police departments and insurance companies. Its a business, not really a law of the people/by the people. I read that insurance companies have many times in the past donated radar guns to police departments in their local areas and campaigned to reduce speed limits. Not only is it a tax write-off for the insurance company, its also the easiest way to boost profits and allow them to raise their rates across the board. Even if you've never had an accident in your life or filed a claim, they use speeding as an excuse to raise your rates.

Speed enforcement is a multimillion dollar business. And its one thing in a residential area or a crowded road (where I often see people truly driving recklessly and diving in and out of lanes), but its quite another on an empty stretch of road with natural and concrete barriers on either side.

Its not the fine I mind- I can play that game, its the permanent adjustment to my insurance rates. That is the fine that keeps on giving. This is another case of the government protecting you from yourself.

Anyway- I'm not looking for sympathy, just blowing off steam. The speed I was driving was too fast for a 3 lane road with any level of traffic, but for a stretch of road with no cars it was not in poor judgement or in any way reckless, but was in violation of the posted limit. Thats how it should be treated, with a fine- no court appearance, no reckless driving charge. I just happened to be the first car to come around the bend. If it wasn't me, it would have been whoever came around the bend next. Of course, in their car they probably would have been driving 70 and not 80. Its too easy in the S2000 to go from 60 to 90 with the press of your foot.

-B

SECRET AP1

havent finished reading the thread but i noticed something funny and ironic about our society..

we pay our government for the police/highway patrol to provide a "service." but when they decide to service the community by telling us we were going to fast, we pay more to the government in the form of a fine in direct proportion to the speed at which we were travelling. we are then recommended to hire a lawyer, which way pay, to reduce the punishment so that our insurance doesn't go up. our insurance, a service which the government requires by law, incurs a bi-annual/annual fee that is based upon a record that way pay the police/government to enforce/upkeep.

so after paying our taxes to support the police so that they can fine us, paying our fine for breaking the laws are made by government officials that we elect and support through taxes, paying for a lawyer to reduce our sentence and fines, and paying for the time we wasted by going through the whole process, we still have to pay for driving school. all because of our law enforcement is serving us so well.

i guess that's the way everything works though....

out here the speed limit is 65. there are some stretches of freeway that are juss empty open road in the middle of the night. if i ever get pulled over going 80 at like 3AM or something on some empty patch of road, i am definately going to try to reason with the officer. in most cases, i've gotten off with a stern warning. good luck man. the system sucks.

Kraziken

I don't know what other states mean by "reckless." But you can't get a "reckless" citation in the State of Washington unless you are double the posted speed limit.

Also, reckless citation here is a criminal infraction, not just a monetary ticket.

If the penalties are anything similar, that seems way too harsh a penalty.

Most people cruise at 70 to 75 mph on freeways around here. It's not legal, but they do, so 80 is nothing. 25MPH over for a reckless seems like a pretty stupid law.

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