well today it happened....and by that I mean i got pulled over. The charge? Reckless driving of 85/45mph. BUT the only problem is I WASNT EVEN SPEEDING, AND NO PROOF OF THE SPEEDING by the officer! The story is i was on a 2 lane road approaching a stop light as i slowed down to about 45mph, the light turned green so i went. There was a mercedes at the light as i passed him @ 45mph meaning i had quite a good distance on him. The lane i was in was a turning lane and @ about 50mph and i had to get into my left lane cause it turns into ONE lane. AS i was about to the mercedes flew past me as i got over. Well right as i got behind him a cop was coming the other direction and flipped a u-turn pulling the M over and then getting me. He EVEN ADMITTED he clocked the mercedes at 85mph and said that i was behind him so that means i must have been going 85 as well and HE WROTE ME A TICKET for reckless driving of 85 in a 45 and now i have to appear in court. Im only 18 and cant take this kind of hit especially in an S2000 cause insurence is all ready sky high. Now my question is what are my chances of winnning the case presented i had a lawyer? I mean he has NO PROOF of my speed. Guys i could really use your help right about now. i havent told my parents cause they are gonna be pretty upset so thats why i want to find out my chances of winning this first. And believe me guys dont assume just cause im a young driver that i was driving in the manner the officer says because i wasnt. I mean if you all read my post about mid-a ages, im sure you could all tell that im not the sterotypical young kid with a fast car. Well again guys thank you in advandce.

Chris

 

Chris,

There are too many factors to even begin to gauge what your chances are. But your chances will be much slimmer without a lawyer. Have you started calling lawyers yet?

I also think you should tell your parents. At 18 I wouldn't tell my parents anything, but as I've gotten a little bit older I've realized just how much my parents are on my side.

Also talk to Black Nugget - he is getting ready to fight this same kind of thing.

Good luck!

 

Get a lawyer. Its amazing what they can *do* even in the face of evidence. 85 in a 45 (guilty or not) is not something you want to defend on your own. You may go into the courtroom thinking, "I'm above reproach and they'll understand because I say it 'this way' or 'that' to prove my own case"...but you're just a number to a judge and the state. One of probably a hundred or more cases a day...and one multiplied by many days of the week, month, year.

Get a lawyer under the circumstances.

- Dave

 

sorry this happened, but it's gonna be tough to beat that. I would have to agree w/ others and say get an attorney. I have ton of friends who are attornies but they don't specialize on traffic court and also, they are in DC and MD. where were you ticketed? MD or VA?

paying for an attorney will be cheaper on the long run. they should be able to drop the charges per se and bring it all the way down to a fine for speeding 10mph over posted speed limit and 0 points on your insurance record and court fee, that is if there are no priors on your history.

there was a thread on s2ki about how if you delay, and delay, and delay the court date, you may be able to show up to the court and the cop won't or something to that nature and the ticket could be thrown out. maybe worth your while to look, but definitely get a traffic attorney to represent you in a court.
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=175116

 

i dont think its going to be tuff at all. with a lawyer you should be fine. being that the cop is only going to have one radar sheet and not two, you should be fine. especially since he ADMITS that he clocked the mercedes doing 85. get a lawyer and im about 99% sure that yours would get lowered if not dismissed.

 

What a mess...Sorry bout this. Most of the time I recommend not getting a lawyer, but 85 in a 45 is bad news. If what you say is true, then I think you have a good chance to get a reduction in the speed. That will be a big plus - to go from reckless driving to just speeding. You may not be able to have it thrown out completely, but at your age you need all the help you can get.

I'm afraid you have to tell your parents...Good luck!!!

 

Okay lets see. not to long ago i got a ticket for 82 in a 45, in fact i have to call my lawyer today to schedule an appointment to have him take my case. Anyways, keep in mind that a Reckless Driving ticket isnt a small thing, its actually pretty large.. it can include up to 1yr jailtime, $2000 fee, and suspension of license. so you DEFINTLY want to get a lawyer, even if you didnt do it. because remember its the cops word vs yours.
Now, if by some chance the cop still doesnt lay down, and the judge fines you.. your gonna have something on your record, which will go to insurance... which since you are 18 i have a HUGe feeling its in your parents name. so, not telling your parents and letting them find out when insurance renew time comes up is a VERY BAD IDEA. its likely to get yourself in a bit of trouble.
please your case to your lawyer, then plead it to your parents. then let your lawyer take care of the judge

hope this helps,
chad

 

i'm with everyone here. Get a lawyer.

I made the mistake a few times of thinking i can beat those reckless driving tickets. boy, am i paying for them now... a lawyer is a good thing. expensive, but much needed.

plus, the more you give them business, the less likely they will have their stupid commercials on the TV.

 

hey guys,
thanks for all the input. Im just so scared on what my parents are gonna say...they know i sometimes i let her loose but we all do, its just i know if they find out i have a ticket let alone a reckless im scared they're gonna make me get rid of the car and honestly i dont think they'll believe me on the story even though its the honest truth. My insurence is already 3500 a year. For sure i will be getting a lawyer to fight this situation. Ive havent been able to sleep all night, ive been online looking up what the system has to do when it come to reckless driving and im sure you all already know but all sites say they have to provide some pretty good evidence whether it be by rader, pace, or visual estimate which that being the least accurate. I mean the officer is gonna state that he got the Mercedes at 85mph but what about me? Just because i was behind him at the time he clocked 85 that means i was as well doing 85? Thats ridiculous. I didnt even argue with the officer b/c it was all up to the courts from there. The court date is March 2nd, well anymore input would be great guys and thanks for all the advice so far.

-Chris

 

Forget for a moment that you are an adult at 18...okay

Do you live under your parents roof? Are you on their insurance? If the answer is "Yes" to either of these questions, then you absolutely owe it to your folks to tell them the situation.

I got "nabbed" as one of 13 S2000s that were essentially pulled over at the same time for 87 in a 55 on our way to the OBX a couple years back. Cop PULLED 1st two cars that were weeeeeell ahead of us...cuz they'd decided to romp & play. Rest of us?...probably doing something well less than that, but certainly not 55 either. Unmarked Crown Vic floooooooored past all of us and caught up with the front two cars. We of course sloooooooowed down to 55 (hell, probably 40, right?) and when we approached the other two on the side of the road with the trooper, we opted via FRS radio to just dump off the side of the road and wait out those two guys tickets. Problem? Trooper (with the 2 guys drivers licenses in hand), makes a quick U-Turn back on us, thanks us for stopping...and summarily writes each and every one of us up! . I was rear in the group...he was haulin' maaaaaaajor azzzzzz past us to get to the front...and said he clocked me at 74. So he wrote up every person including myself that was in the "lagging" group for 74 in a 55 . We hired an attorney who represented all of us before a judge (actually, we didn't even show as we submitted Power of Attorney forms to him allowing him to represent us out of state, etc.) and all of us received a PBJ (this was NC) which essentially meant, as long as we were not caught speeding again in NC for 1 year, there would be no ticket, no record, etc. for any of us. All we were responsible for was the court costs....and the lawyer. But all things being equal...that lawyer was well worth it . The cop?...trash IMO .

- Dave