I just had to post and share my thrill.

I never related the story here, but a few months ago I got ticketed for Speed Racing on Highway(the blanket charge here in Oregon that includes Exhibition of Speed/Acceleration) while on a coastal vacation with the GF. I squeeled my tires coming around a corner in a small coastal town and got nailed with a $427 fine and risk of losing my license for a short period. I researched the charge on many different forums, including S2ki, getting a feel for what my best chances were. I ended up doing a written affidavit pleading not guilty and fought to get the charge dropped. Huge letter, lots of supporting articles and a prayer.

I just got a letter from the court today saying I was found Not Guilty! Full fine will be refunded with no court costs or anything!



That is all. Had to get it out of my system.

 

Congrats!!!

 

What kind of supporting article would prove that you racing on the highway (or exhibition of speed, wahtever the charge was) was legal?

I'm curious.

 

call the court and find out if the officer actually wrote back, most of the time, it's dropped because the officer didn't write back. If he did, your chance wouldn't have been so great.

 

That's fantastic. Sorry if it ruined your vacation. A little tire chirp around a corner with no other cars around sounds like a small town money making ticket.

You should post up the articles in a .pdf file so other S2k'ers can benefit from your misfortune if we get into a similar lousy situation....

 

I wasnt going to go into it too much but I may as well answer the specifics and give the details

I actually went to the initial plea hearing to get a feel for the judge. The judge gave me the impression that he would side with me based on some of the things he told me.

AlpineFD: I agree that the officer probably didnt write his testamony..I never got a copy. I also found that he is the only street cop for the department there (VERY small town). There is a chief, and one other officer who deals with city ordinances. Doesnt leave the street cop much freedom to do paperwork. Even if he did write in, (in my opinion) he left me too many loopholes to fight on.

Spec_Ops: I wasnt racing..I squeeled my tires.

Speed Racing on a Highway is a general statute here that covers drag racing, exhibition of speed (showing off) and making of a speed record and more.

There were no other vehicles nearby AT ALL. Even the officer questioned "where did you pull out from" when he pulled me over.

He screwed up in a way because on the ticket he wrote down that he was charging me with Exhibition of speed AND acceleration. Makes it so he would have had to prove both.

I focused on the "fact" that the officer did not see it happen, he only heard squeeling and then engine noise. I provided reviews from magazines that mentioned how the S2k is like a motorcycle requiring high revs, that it has a very high noiseower ratio (worded from the article itself), as well as a specification comparison of the S2k, Viper, Z4, and Vette from Road & Track. I specifically highlighted the 60mph cruising rpms of the S being twice that of much more powerful sports cars, so that the officer just misjudged what he heard.

The speed limit on the highway through town was 30mph, I didnt break it, he didnt radar me..he was focused on the tire noise. I listed magazine times, and timeslips from drag races (not mine..I dont race ) showing that the S 0-30 times would be 1.5-2.0 seconds...hardly enough time for any officer to make any kind of judgement about racing.

I also was pulled over exactly 1/4 mile from the corner I pulled out from. The location the officer wrote down was 1/8 of a mile after I pulled out, and 1/8 before he pulled me over. I pointed out the dragstrip times showing that at 1/8 of a mile, the S could technically be doing 70-80mph if I were racing (more than double the speed limit, which I did not break).

So I like to tell myself that even though the officer probably didnt even bother to fight it...I still would have won...even if I were just kidding myself

 

Ah I misread what you said earlier.

Yeah I hate it when they give you crap and really they didn't even see anything

 

I give this advice to many here on this forum,

 

Congrats!! Awesome victory!!

 

sickk...