Posted on 12/30/2009 9:14:26 AM PST by Vigilanteman
While this may be a vanity, I believe it is another chapter in a growing trend of government to prey on its citizen subjects to add to their coffers.
Yesterday, while returning home from a Christmas visit to relatives, my daughter was picked up on I-77 just north of the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel.
She is 24, a cautious driver and never had a speeding ticket before. I'm 54 and have had only one, when I was slightly younger than she is now.
The circumstances of the ticket are suspect. She was passing a semi-trailer going in the 50's on a steep downhill grade. There were a number of other motorists doing the same thing and she, in fact, pulled over into the driving lane once she was safely ahead of the truck to allow them to pass her. Not long after pulling back into the driver's lane, we heard the siren and lights of an unmarked patrol car who seemed to pick her out as a target of convenience.
I do not doubt that she was going the 77 mph in a 65 mph zone as claimed, but under the circumstances, I think she made the right decision not only to pass the semi-trailer safely, but to get back into the driving lane so as not to risk being rear-ended by other traffic moving up rapidly in the passing lane.
I believe the patrol officer selected her not because she was speeding, but merely because she was convenient. I was asleep in the front seat beside her and woke up shortly after she saw the unmarked patrol car following us.
He asked for, but did not wait for me to actually produce the auto registration. He did not even get the license plate number on our car copied down correctly as he seemed to be in a big hurry to get back to his work of finding his next target.
I do not beleive this was a legitimate speeding ticket, but merely a preset ambush to raise money for the Commonwealth of Virginia and Bland County.
Total fine to avoid a court appearance is $5 x 12 miles over the speed limit plus a $51 "processing fee" plus a $10 "local fee" or $121.00 total. It would be about a 7.5 hour drive (one way) to appear in Bland's Kangaroo Court.
It will cost more than the ticket, but you'll win.
As long as members of the legal profession (attorneys/judges) get to make money, all is well.
Pay it and consider yourself lucky that you were there too.
He may have had some ‘plans’ for your daughter and didn’t realize you were in the auto.
I advise that you pay it and move on. It’s the cheapest option in the long run. You do not deny she was doing 77 in a 65. She just got caught.
Both times I’ve received speeding tickets, I had my cruise control set to 8 mph above the speed limits. Both times trucks had slowed down in front of me, and I passed them on the left, only to clear their grill and see a radar gun pointed at me.
I have since learned that very few things make trucks slow down, and now I always slow down when behind one instead of speed past them. :)
Unjust? Sure. But there is little to nothing to do about that now.
Do this: Have the daughter take the defensive driving course to get this dismissed.
If that is not an option in VA, then ask for deferred ajudication. If that is not an option, then you are doubly screwed.
First, check to see that the information on the ticket is 100% correct. Often, errors on the ticket alone is enough to get the ticket thrown out of court. However, this will also require an appearance in court or hiring a local attorney in the county of the court in question to represent you.
is your car licensed out of state? If so then bend over as you are revenue for the state.
Next time refuse to sign the ticket, force the cop to take you to jail and see a judge. If enough people did this maybe we could go back to using the US CONSTITUTION:\
in all cases of common law where the value of controversy exceeds $20, trial by jury shall be preserved
In all criminal cases you have right to trial by jury.
INFRACTIONS were born in California , they are Out and Out UNCONSTITUTIONAL, see Ron Branson’s story at his site Jail4Judges
I do not practice law but do have experience in receiving a ticket for something I was not doing. Hire an attorney, it will cost you more than the ticket but it will keep it off her record which will save you insurance and credit rating in the future. You do not have to be present if you hire an attorney. It cost me $350 to get a $121 ticket dismissed but it was worth it because I was not guilty.
I had to go to court in Pulaski once for speeding (77 in a 55) and driving on a suspended license. Little did I know that they only had one court. Right before my name was called, they dragged three handcuffed mountain boys out of a cell - one of them wasn't even wearing shoes. I don't even know what they did, but the judge sentenced each of them to 25 years in the old State Pen in Richmond. And then the judge calls my name and asks me how I wanted to plead.
“Hire a lawyer and you’ll win.”
So true. Everyone hates them until they need one.
Lots of podunk counties make their money off of tourists on the interstate. I got screwed in Tennessee for close to $700. The state trooper added on 10 mph to what I was actually going. It could be worse. Your daughter is probably getting off cheap.
Pay it....Give your daughter a hug. Passing on a steep hill???
1. Hire a lawyer.
2. Do a crash course on ticket fighting. Depending on what you daughter said to the cop you may be screwed anyway. IF the cop wrote down the wrong plate number you could most likely win on that.
3. Pay it and go on with life.
Tell your daughter to get used to being “profiled”....young women with nice cars get tickets all the time.
I got a speeding ticket on Cape Cod in 1998. I was going slower than folks ahead of me and pointed this out to the state trooper.
His answer: “Sir, have you ever gone fishing?”
Me: “Yes.”
Him: “Did you ever catch all the fish?”
Stinker.
She might get the ticket scrubbed from her record if she attends some court sponsored program on defensive driving. Pain in the neck, but since she’s only 24, her insurance premium might soar or she might be dropped entirely.
Wouldn’t hurt to find out. The clerk of the court should have that info.
Best wishes, Sarge!
-Rex
If the information on the ticket is incorrect, then you can ask to have it thrown out.
Been there done that, got the T-shirt. My unjust ticket was for passing a school bus loading and unloading children. Problem was that the bus had its blinker on and was trying to turn. I have never seen a bus unload the children in the middle of a 4 lane road, but this is Utah.
Cops love to F with young folks. It is just their nature.
Speeding ticket. Pay it. Get over it. Keep your speed in acceptable levels. Move on.
Most Leos target out of state plates because they know you won’t come back to fight it.
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