wanna drive fast and not get caught??? Just jack up the back of the car and watch you speedo go nuts!

Jeffrey...speeding ticket...what's a speeding ticket?

 

When I hooked up to S2000 on line[a couple of weeks ago]
I was so impressed by how most people conducted themselves.
Not everyone can express themselves well or even make sense
all of the time, but in general being polite does wonders.
In regard to this ticket, the one word I kept on hearing was "Moron".Moron is such a negative,insulting way to treat a person and like my daddy use to say,if anyone calls you
moron....they really can't add anything contructive to a
conversation.-stew

01 red....never went over 65mph but frequently travel to 9000

 

Whew!

.....And I'm spent.

Thanks for the entertainment guys.

 

JRM,

I agree with your take about reaping what you sow. If a person gets a ticket for driving fast, it's their own fault. But, you have to take it easy though, because you're kind of beating people over the head. Don't get me wrong. I agree with you. Hopefully, you can find a kinder/gentler way of expressing your ideas to others. All you're going to do is just alienate the person you're trying to reach.

 

Definitely check out the online traffic school - at least in California, it's the easiest way out. The basic idea is that you can keep one ticket from going on your record by passing traffic school, once every 18 months. In practice, you can generally ask the judge to allow you traffic school a little more often, but that's not guaranteed.

I just went through this after getting a speeding ticket, and while it takes a little time and costs about $55 total ($35 to the court, $20 to the web site), it's well worth avoiding an insurance hit.

My own ticket was for 75 in a 65, but was really for passing someone on the right as I merged - it was 10pm and all the traffic in the left lane was moving at 75mph. As someone said above, there's smart speeding and dumb speeding, and passing on the right is definitely the latter.

Jason

 

Online traffic school is one of the truly useful applications of Internet technology.

And, I can't believe I'm getting into my second non-tech thread in a week, but I feel strongly about this.

Don't swallow the "speed kills" line, it just doesn't fly as the traffic law zealots like to apply it. If you get a ticket, go ahead and fight it. Its your _right_ and in more cases than not, its largely a financial decision, not a moral one. More on that in a second.

Now yes, as speeds increase, so does crash energy, but by that standard, you shouldn't move at all. In the real world, there is a balance point determined by many factors (and usually reflected by the 85th percentile speed). Unfortunately, speed limits rarely reflect this balance point accurately.

The NHTSA and IIHS are notorious for distorting the whole causes database for fatal accidents in their studies and reports. There are all sorts of possible causes provided when police fill out accident reports. Of course, excessive speed is one of them. However, if there is a fatal crash that involves alcohol, but the person was also speeding, both boxes get checked. Guess what, another accident caused by speeding, even though I think we all know that a drunk would have been dangerous at virtually any speed. And of course, if you aren't sure what the real cause of the accident was, speed is an easy one to check without needing to provide much support. Cross reference all causes and you'll see that speed is very rarely the sole cause. In fact, inattentive drivers are a far more significant problem.

And then there are the ridiculously low speed limits on many roads, particularly freeways, here in the U.S. 55 mph on an open divided highway? Yep, there are still plenty of them out there. And what's sad is that there are plenty of roads where engineering studies have said that higher limits are safe. Until speed limits are adjusted to appropriate levels, your speed should be determined by conditions, traffic and your willingness to risk a ticket. The sign on the side of the road means very little, especially as your experience level goes up (ask anyone who has gotten a ticket for speeding while travelling below the posted limit).

In the end, the reason you should fight a ticket is that most speeding tickets in the U.S. are simply a driving tax. Officers really aren't even given the discretion in many areas (short of not issuing tickets, not many locales provide for tracking warnings) of discriminating between truly unsafe speeding and simple violations of an arbitrary and unsupported limit. If you're doing 50 mph in a 25 mph residential neighborhood, handcuffs might be a good idea IMO, but 80 mph, with the flow of traffic, in a 65 zone on a divided freeway really isn't worth a ticket (and here in LA, you probably won't get pulled over for it either). In fact, here in LA most cops seem to look for the guy that stands out in traffic - i.e. moving in and out of traffic, blowing by people, etc. which is how it should be IMO - they are causing a disruption, breaking the flow. If everyone fought their tickets, perhaps laws and enforcement would be more in line with the constraints of the real world.

The whole idea of traffic school as we have it also supports the notion of a speed tax. Does sitting in class for 6 hours listening to a hard-up comedian talk about traffic safety make you a better driver? How about answering a few questions over a 90 minute period in an online class? Hell no, it doesn't mean a thing. It's just a way to let you off the hook without too big a cash outlay (no insurance surcharges) and without offending the moral zealots. If they really cared, they'd pull your license after one offense, or at least put you through a real driving school (or maybe tighten licensing standards?). And why every 18 months (here in California)? Could it be that the average statuatory speeder will get a ticket every 18-24 months? The system lets local and state governments tax a significant number of drivers without causing too much a stir. At 1000 miles/month, a $150 ticket every 18 months amounts to just under $0.01/mile tax. Interestingly, I believe state gas taxes are about $0.35/gallon, which at 30 mpg (not for my S2K) comes out to be a little over $0.01/mile. Cool.

The constraints on the easy outs are setup so that truly problematic speeders (getting tickets on a frequent and regular basis, or doing more than 20 mph over the limit) don't get off so easy. The state really doesn't care if you are a casual speeder and the system is setup so that you don't have to change. Your decision really comes down to this. As a casual and "safe" speeder (yes, the two words can coexist), are you willing to pay an average of an extra $0.01/mile for the ability to speed on a regular basis? Whether you are trying to save time, or just feel better doing it, that's the decision. Now, if you are "unsafe" - i.e. too fast for conditions, high speed differentials, weaving, etc. then the costs may be substantially higher and non-cash in nature.

Kinda long, but hey, its a free world and its just my opinion.

UL

0 accidents since 1993
Avg 19 months between speeding tickets
(my favorite was 88 mph in a 70 mph zone on a divided highway, clear weather and the nearest car 1/2 mile ahead of me travelling at a similar speed. CHP pulled out of a rest stop and got us both - man were we unsafe).

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by redtoy
[B]When I hooked up to S2000 on line[a couple of weeks ago]
I was so impressed by how most people conducted themselves.
Not everyone can express themselves well or even make sense
all of the time, but in general being polite does wonders.
In regard to this ticket, the one word I kept on hearing was "Moron".Moron is such a negative,insulting way to treat a person and like my daddy use to say,if anyone calls you
moron....they really can't add anything contructive to a
conversation.-stew

Couldn't have said it better myself...z

 

Anyone who drives a stook in the US and says they never break the speed limit is a liar - plain and simple. Don't even try to convince me otherwise.

Dean, do whatever you can within the law to get the ticket reduced or changed - that is how the game is played and there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so.

When someone rants by calling Dean a "speed racer" for doing 80 on a hwy and that speeding causes everyones ins rates to go up (still trying to figure that one out) I have to laugh.

Folks, its crystal clear that what we have here is a control-freak that wants nothing more than to dictate what everyone else does.

[Edited by winter on 04-29-2001 at 05:53 AM]