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Wyoming Speeding Ticket

lornam

New member
Hi All,

Had a great time at the Rally in Gillette! My first one and now looking forward to many more! Met a whole bunch of really nice folks and got to see some breathtaking views and ride some spectacular roads touring out and back.

I'm not sure if it's appropriate or not to ask for legal (?) help here - if not, my apologies in advance! What I'm in need of is some legal representation for a speeding ticket I received on Highway 141 in or near the county/city/town of Sweetwater. There really wasn't much out there but a whole lot of flat land and an approaching storm the size of Rhode Island (and of course a Wyoming State Trooper!).

If anyone has a referral to a paralegal or lawyer who can show up in court for me and get this reduced I'd appreciate the info either here or a private email. Any advice really would be appreciated, Thanks!
 
sorry i have no legal advise for you but in all my time at the rally the only cop i saw was the one driving around the cam-plex. i rode on lots of roads well above the posted limited on a daily basis, as i am sure many others did, without seeing a single cop. if it were me i would just pay the ticket and be done with it. sorry about your misfortune but don't let that deter you from attending next years rally in TN.
 
Don't waste your time

Unless you have definitive proof that you were not speeding.

While fighting a ticket I received in Mississippi, I learned that speeding is one of several laws that, if you are doing it, you are guilty; regardless of why you were doing it. In my case, it was a logging truck tailgating me on a downhill stretch of empty state road. I sped up to create space between us and came to the patrolman's attention first. The judge was nice about it. After I pled self-defense, he lowered the ticket to the minimum and saved me a whole ten dollars. If you figure in the cost of riding 500 miles, having breakfast and lunch on the road, and spending 3 hours in court, it would have been much cheaper to just send the check.

The only satisfaction I received was keeping the patrolman in the courtroom for three hours on his day off. That, and a nice ride, of course.

YMMV
Tom
 
Hi All,

Had a great time at the Rally in Gillette! My first one and now looking forward to many more! Met a whole bunch of really nice folks and got to see some breathtaking views and ride some spectacular roads touring out and back.

If anyone has a referral to a paralegal or lawyer who can show up in court for me and get this reduced I'd appreciate the info either here or a private email. Any advice really would be appreciated, Thanks!

Lorna-

Glad you enjoyed the rally and hope to see you in TN.

The only experience I had was years ago while riding a 3 Flags Classic. I could see for miles and there was a lot of wide open spaces and nothing that was an immediate danger (except for the LEO) :cry
On the two-laners the speed limit was 65, and he cited me for 75. I think I would have been o.k., and explained my speedo was broken (actually the tac was). His comment was "I thought Beemers didn't break down. I ride a Harley, and everyone expects them to breakdown". I replied with....they don't, but their speedos do :D Needless to say....I got the ticket.

I checked the area for someone to represent me, but ultimately paid the ticket. It wasn't worth the hassle.

Fortunately, the nice officer who stopped me Friday 5 miles from Paonia, CO only gave me a warning.:clap

Good luck, and see you in TN
 
As a career law enforcement officer, my feelings on personal responsibility are pretty well set in concrete - you got caught in the voluntary act of speeding - pay the ticket.

I sympathize with your decision to ramp up the RPM's in lieu of an approaching storm. I myself got caught by two nasty weather cells in South Dakota on the way to the Rally, the second of which, like 'the hand of God,' slapped me into a ditch.

I would have hoped the WY officer had shown more empathy to your decision-making process, cautioned you, and then stayed with you as an escort to the nearest safe exit - that is what I would have done.

But it didn't go down that way and you were cited.

My wife got into a crash while I was in Gillette - and Failure To Yield citation coming. Do I try my influence with the City Attorney's Office over the ticket? Nope - will pay it without a fuss. Need to 'walk the walk.'

However, all this being said, be patient on this forum. I have no doubt that some card-carrying ACLU paralegal will jump to your 'defense' and you may find a way out of this yet.
 
As a career law enforcement officer, my feelings on personal responsibility are pretty well set in concrete - you got caught in the voluntary act of speeding - pay the ticket.

I live in the west and take advantage of the open roads and light patrols to make time. Once in a while I get caught. I stop, am polite and cooperative, and allow the man (or woman) to do his or her job. In almost all cases they are professional and respectful. Sometimes I get a warning, usually a write down from the cited speed. When I have to pay, I figure it's just a cost of doing business, like gas and tires - and not a bad deal when compared to all the other times I didn't have a road-side conversation. :evil
 
speeding ticket

Lorna:

The main issue here is demerit points on your operator's licence. If your home state and Wyoming are reciprocating jurisdictions, the conviction there may have consequences for you, and make the expense of local counsel worthwhile.

I defend all my local tags, because I don't want points.


Rinty
 
Last ticket I got in Wyoming they said If paid in full within 10 days there would be no record sent to my home state and thus no record to Insurance company. That was however Goshen county Sheriff and not the State Troopers.
 
lotsa simpathy you been gettin.... if you dont mind all the appearences, ask about a defensive driving course. I did this for a out of state ticket years back, it cost more than the ticket total, but it stayed off my record. its a neat system- what ever you do costs more money..
 
This link will take you to the Wyoming State Bar website and the "need a lawyer" page where you can put the area of need in, and the state, and those lawyers who meet the criteria will come up in a list. You might just choose "criminal defense" rather than the more limited "traffic violations" since the latter will limit you somewhat, depending on the town. I think Mike Newman does that type of work, out of Rock Springs, and there will likely be others. If a lawyer indicates that he does that type of work, that is a reliable indicator that you are getting someone who works in that area of the law.

Good luck.

http://www.wyomingbar.org/directory/need_lawyer.html

BTW, I am not a card carrying ACLU lawyer or paralegal. I am a member of the Wyoming State Bar, and am just trying to help you uphold your right to seek counsel, as guaranteed by the US and State Constitutions. And I work in law enforcement.
 
I live in the west and take advantage of the open roads and light patrols to make time. Once in a while I get caught. I stop, am polite and cooperative, and allow the man (or woman) to do his or her job. In almost all cases they are professional and respectful. Sometimes I get a warning, usually a write down from the cited speed. When I have to pay, I figure it's just a cost of doing business, like gas and tires - and not a bad deal when compared to all the other times I didn't have a road-side conversation. :evil

You are a rarity, Greg, and someone who is appreciated by law enforcement.

Everyone wants to tell us how to do our job, but few line up to actually do it, much less take the kind of personal responsibility you exhibit.

I appreciate your candor, and undoubtably, you would have been one of the thousands of individuals I would have given a warning to over my career. I was always getting in hot water for not writing enough tickets, but hey - I was allowed a certain amount of discretion, and made sure I used it liberally.

Someday, we shall meet - first beer on me.
 
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You are a rarity, Greg, and someone who is appreciated by law enforcement.

Everyone wants to tell us how to do our job, but few line up to actually do it, much less take the kind of personal responsibility you exhibit.

I appreciate your candor, and undoubtably, you would have been one of the thousands of individuals I would have given a warning to over my career. I was always getting in hot water for not writing enough tickets, buh heh - I was allowed a certain amount of discretion, and made sure I used it liberally.

Someday, we shall meet - first beer on me.

I can't prove it, but I'm non-the-less convinced that the majority of LEOs who have pulled me over took a good look at the bike, me, my gear (ATGATT), and considered my attitude (lack of) and then found a way to cut some slack. Either way, it was my choice to twist the grip. I've even had some excellent road-side conservations about bikes the ended up with, "ride safe" - but no performance award.

That beer sounds like a great idea!! :buds
 
I live in the west and take advantage of the open roads and light patrols to make time. Once in a while I get caught. I stop, am polite and cooperative, and allow the man (or woman) to do his or her job. In almost all cases they are professional and respectful. Sometimes I get a warning, usually a write down from the cited speed. When I have to pay, I figure it's just a cost of doing business, like gas and tires - and not a bad deal when compared to all the other times I didn't have a road-side conversation. :evil


We got tagged for exuberant velocity in Idaho. We were pleasant to the officer, making sure we had hands visible when he walked up. We chatted a bit, he wrote me up and we were on our way.

We'll pay it this week. He had me fair and square.
 
I'm always polite, no excuses, thank them for the warning and am on my way. :p
I just can't imagine "fighting" an out of state ticket.

2679707121_bcc75f625f.jpg
 
I have to say that the police in WY were quite understanding. They could have stepped up presence knowing what would be happening in an area... but they didn't. Additionally, I went buy two... one was nearly 70 in a 40 coming around a corner, he was on the side of the road, my detector went full alert instantly, I came off the gas knowing that he had me dead to rights, as I was coasting, he simply waved. I guess he figured that I was under control, out of traffic, in my lane, and geared up... not sure but I slowed down for a while after that! Second instance was on the interstate returning to the rally, got clocked around 90-95... again, no response from the officer, coming from VA I feel that I was incredibly lucky though!

Sorry you did not have the same experience though. I am not bragging, just understanding that they could have been totally different, you are the first one I heard of that had any interaction with them.
 
Speed enforcement in WY

Sunday morning there was an increased law enforcement presence. I took Hwy 59 south out of Gillette and was surprised to see 3 of Gillette's finest running radar not at the incoming traffic, but at the outgoing traffic. Which at that time was a large number of BMW's. Then later out in the open on Hwy 59 I saw a WY Trooper on the side of the road chatting with a couple on an RT with CO plates. OOPS!

Personal Responsibility is something thats greatly lacking in the general public these days. While I would reserve my rights provided by the Constitution. I would pay the fine. I did it and I was caught, I'll do what it takes to make amends to the State.

I've also been in the "outrun the storm mode". If the State Trooper I met wanted he could have citied me for at least 20 MPH over the limit. When we meet he did slam on his brakes....then I think he realized what and why I was traveling at such an elevated speed. Was I lucky? Yes, would I have paid the fine? Yes. Would I have wanted to sit in his Crown Vic? Oh hell yes the storm was closing in fast.
 
I left out on Hwy 59 south on Sunday morning and did not see even one Wyoming trooper. Maybe it had something to do with the time I left, 4:30 AM!
 
Unfortunately I got pulled over twice (Wyoming) , once in town of all places. While trying to keep my speed down to 30 mph (been running 78 all day), I got clocked doing 38 mph, actually surprised he was pulling me over for only 8 over. I was reaching down to the tank bag for the water hose to the camel back when he clocked me, the detector went off then it was too late. He pulled out behind me w/ lights on of course. I pulled over but turned off the detector, long story short I was pleasant to him and received a warning. Plus asked about a few roads.

Believe it or not the next day (crap running for 1800 miles on open roads at 9 mph over and never a problem), I was pulling out between two gas stations onto the main street and believing that the stations were just next to each other and NOT SEPARATED BY A STREET, I pulled diagonally out between the two stations not stopping of course.....you guessed it in front of an unmarked cop. Now I was pretty aggravated as I could have sworn I did NOTHING wrong....unless they have photo radar in the South end of Bighorn and they were looking for me.

So I was a little PO'd, I removed my helmet while walking back to the officer (they don't like that either) and said in a less than friendly voice,"what did you pull me over for?!!" . Seems the two gas stations were separated by a street and STOP sign.

I was prepared to receive a ticket as his attitude was about like mine...less than pleasant. Did I mention that my insurance card was expired, found that out yesterday!!! I explained to the officer that I really thought that I was pulling out between two businesses and didn't realize there was a street separating the two (at home curbs separate businesses and streets), much less a stop sign.

SO, can you believe the officer ended up giving me a warning, and a talking to about carrying expired insurance? He suggested since I was traveling it would be wise to get a copy faxed to me, which I did later that day.

Guess I should have gone to the casino sometime on my trip!!!
 
Leaving Gillette on Sunday, I headed north out of town on 59 and didn't see a cop of any sort at all. I think the only LEO I saw was while sitting at Devil's Tower on Saturday, a state trooper in a Charger went by.
 
Hi All,

Had a great time at the Rally in Gillette! My first one and now looking forward to many more! Met a whole bunch of really nice folks and got to see some breathtaking views and ride some spectacular roads touring out and back.

I'm not sure if it's appropriate or not to ask for legal (?) help here - if not, my apologies in advance! What I'm in need of is some legal representation for a speeding ticket I received on Highway 141 in or near the county/city/town of Sweetwater. There really wasn't much out there but a whole lot of flat land and an approaching storm the size of Rhode Island (and of course a Wyoming State Trooper!).

If anyone has a referral to a paralegal or lawyer who can show up in court for me and get this reduced I'd appreciate the info either here or a private email. Any advice really would be appreciated, Thanks!


I would talk to your insurance agent in NY and see how much a ticket will raise your rates. Could be a lot less than fighting it. As far as points go, one speeder and "doody". 2 start thinking. 3 - Well, bring popcorn for DMV movies they make you watch on Saturday. Check the NYS DMV site for point duration too. I think they are 36 or 40 months now.
I googled traffic lawyers in WY and you are SOL. Closest is Cheyenne, 250+ miles away. Where do you have to appear?

Oooops... Missed this one: --------> Click Me!
 
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