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Best defense for getting ticketed at 85 in a 65 mph zone in Connecticut today

tonysuburb

tonysuburb

New member
Whoooo. Riding down I-384 W at 8:30'ish this morning among some really squirrely cage drivers. Right lane passers, tailgaters, fog line riders, Fast and Furious types, etc. I took what I thought was the best for self-preservation and peeled off into the left lane to pass the pod of commuters and eyed my exit, 3/4 of a mile away. Some Toyota driver peeled off before I did and way doing waaaaay faster than I was. Back into the middle lane and ready for my exit merge, the blue lights came on. Pulled over and took my medicine. I will try a defense in court when I go. Any help from you guys? Oh. This is the first speeding ticket I received in 30 years.
 
You are guilty. Pay your fine. Besides, who gets by with speeding tickets for 30 years? :ha
 
Not saying I wouldn't have done the same thing... But there are two actions I think of when confronted with squirrely cagers. Speed up, or slow down and keep them where you can see them. Having the exit that close...I think I'd have slowed down. It's sometimes frustrating. But I always feel really dumb when I pass someone in a situation like that...and they pull up 10 seconds after me at the stop light.

Chris
 
tonysuburb said:
Whoooo. Riding down I-384 W at 8:30'ish this morning among some really squirrely cage drivers. Right lane passers, tailgaters, fog line riders, Fast and Furious types, etc. I took what I thought was the best for self-preservation and peeled off into the left lane to pass the pod of commuters and eyed my exit, 3/4 of a mile away. Some Toyota driver peeled off before I did and way doing waaaaay faster than I was. Back into the middle lane and ready for my exit merge, the blue lights came on. Pulled over and took my medicine. I will try a defense in court when I go. Any help from you guys? Oh. This is the first speeding ticket I received in 30 years.
Click to expand...

I have no intelligent or printable response to that 'question.' :banghead
 
Just accept the lumps as you can say you've been lucky the past 30.:burnout

Sometimes you gotta know it's not a good choice to accelerate :whistle
 
Accepting the fine

After the trooper asked for my credentials I looked at him and said "Trooper D**e. I had worked with him as assistant coaches for my son's junior baseball league. He looked at me with my helmet on and said "Who are you?" and I told him my name and how we were one degree of separation. He turned and went back to the cruiser and did something for 5 minutes. When he came back he said "I was following you at 90 MPH and called it in as a "runner". (this section of the highway is notorious for 120MPH wheelies for stunt riders who decide to outrun the troopers ). He said that because it was broadcast, he couldn't do anything about giving me a pure warning. I was lucky that he didn't give me a reckless driving chit.

I am a safe rider. I would like to use the "removal from harm's way defense" but will opt for the fine and no-points against license deal.
 
I agree with Rich: you were speeding and you admit it. Pay the fine whatever it is. You are one lucky dude; I hope you appreciate that.
 
royce said:
I agree with Rich: you were speeding and you admit it. Pay the fine whatever it is. You are one lucky dude; I hope you appreciate that.
Click to expand...

Royce - Minor hijack (I apologize), but noticed you hail from Lansing, KS. Headed to the Econo-lodge there this Friday, as I am spending a weekend with my Staff Sgt. son.

He is at Fort Leavenworth for the next 3 weeks (NO - not because he was a 'bad boy' in the Army - because he's immersed in training for 'Digital Battlefield Management' - the ultimate Pokeman-Go stuff!).

Already planning on the WWI Museum and the National Airlines Museum (Arrowhead Stadium tour was on the list, but got bumped by a Kenny Chesney Concert).

Any suggestions for some Saturday/Sunday destinations or activities for a father-son duo?

Thanks! :wave
 
Can you plead "Guilty with an explanation"? and then explain why you believe it was the SAFE thing to do, and perhaps the officer didn't see the whole picture; followed by a request for traffic school (to save the point against your license).
But if he put 90 MPH on the ticket, maybe don't bother...
 
Tell the judge you accidentally ate two of your wife's FiberOne bars for breakfast and didn't realize their purpose until immediately before your ticket. . .

Receipt showing steam cleaning of cars interior helps
 
Too bad this didn't happen in Atlanta. You could legitimately argue that you were just keeping up with the pace of traffic.
 
ducster said:
Too bad this didn't happen in Atlanta. You could legitimately argue that you were just keeping up with the pace of traffic.
Click to expand...

and the judge's response will be "so I guess you were the unlucky one that got pulled over."

For 2 reasons: 1) over the limit is over the limit. period. 2) they need/want the $.

(and this comes from an inveterate speeder)
 
There's an old joke about that -
Cop pulls a guy over, guy says "But everybody else was speeding too!"
Cop says, "Ever go fishing?"
Guy says, "Yeah...?"
Cop says, "Ever catch all the fish?"
 
Speeding defense

In Texas, one can take a "defensive driving" course to keep a citation off the books (you're allowed to do this once every two years). It's kind of rigged now in that it ends up still costing you a pretty hefty amount, but leaves no record. Of course there are some people who would think that blaming other drivers is some variation of the "dog ate my homework" rationale.
 
Another possibility -
A few weeks before your court date, call the courthouse and ask to have the hearing delayed. Have some kind of reason ready.
A couple of weeks before the new date, call in and delay it again.
This will interfere with the officer's schedule.
I don't know what the law is in CT, but here, if the officer doesn't show up, you're usually off the hook.
 
Pauls1150 said:
This will interfere with the officer's schedule.
I don't know what the law is in CT, but here, if the officer doesn't show up, you're usually off the hook.
Click to expand...

Screw with the guy who was doing his job to keep us all safer to keep from paying what you deserve to pay for breaking the law. No comment I can share publicly.
 
Tell the judge you were in the process of setting a coast to coast record when you were caught. If you hadn't slowed down to 85, the LEO wouldn't have caught you.

Chris
 
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