1st speeding ticket in my M4. Advice needed

[hecho.in.626]

Forum members have a wealth of knowledge and definitely more experience than me, so any advice is appreciated.

I was traveling on the 71 fwy in the fast lane. Old lady in front me was cruising at 60 mph. Very light traffic. I was hoping she would move over one lane to the right so I could pass but she never did. I followed her for a short distance then decided to pass her in the lane to the right. I changed lanes and then stomped on the gas pedal. My intentions were to make it loud so she would notice me as I passed her. As soon as I did that, a California highway patrol officer entered the fwy at an entrance to my right. He was slightly behind me so all he saw was me accelerate. I looked at my speed and it was 90 mph. I then braked to get to safe speed but of course he pulls me over. The CHP officer was super nice. I was honest with him and explained I was passing the slow car in the fast lane when he entered the fwy. He agreed I was going about 90 mph when he saw me but nice officer put that I was going 70 mph in a 65 mph zone. He then confirmed I qualify for traffic school if I don't want a point on my driving record.

Here is my question....should I be happy with that outcome, pay the fine and do traffic school and forget about the whole incident?
Or should I try to fight the ticket? If I request a court date, there always is a slim chance that officer won't show and the ticket gets dismissed. Or can I fight it because the ticket states my approximate speed was 70 mph and maybe the judge will throw it out since it's only 5 mph over the posted speed limit? Can I argue that he has no concrete evidence (speed gun)that I was going 70mph?

[saleen556]

I would pay the fine and consider yourself lucky. Gotta pay to play.

[bradleyjb]

Pay the fine, go to traffic school, and be happy you got a break from the officer. If I were him and realized you were contesting a ticket that I gave you a 20mph break on, I would definitely show up in court, and I would be on the lookout for you in the future too

[Lups]

Yeah, the rule I follow is to never deny anything.

"why you pulled me over? Considering I have a working speedometer and my radar detector informed me I got hit by a laser, guess is you wanted to ask me out for a lunch?"

[saxon]

always plead not guilty...

[TAL2GK]

Fight it. Cool of the guy to give you a break but you need to cover your ass for the next time. If you show up, you'll get pled to a non-moving violation and pay a fine and be done with it.

[DBV]

When I lived in CA I followed this procedure for every ticket (several) and it seemed to work for me:

1) Accept ticket, take note of date of arraignment
2) Show up at arraignment, plead guilty
3) 9 times out of 10, the judge will be lenient (unless it's a reckless driving charge) and grant no points assessed, and usually just the civil penalty (fine)

All in all, it takes a bit of time out of your day, but well worth it considering the alternative is points and/or traffic school... I prefer no points assessed.

[TAL2GK]

I forgot to add: stupid left lane drivers. We can learn a lot from ze Germans!

[Cajun1]

Originally Posted by bradleyjb

Pay the fine, go to traffic school, and be happy you got a break from the officer. If I were him and realized you were contesting a ticket that I gave you a 20mph break on, I would definitely show up in court, and I would be on the lookout for you in the future too

I'd have to agree with this. Do the online traffic school (which is a breeze) and call it good.

[saxon]

if he didnt measure you going the speed , they can not uphold the ticket

trust me... fight it, at least in PA if the cop doesnt show up the ticket gets dropped

[pikkagtr]

Originally Posted by TAL2GK

I forgot to add: stupid left lane drivers. We can learn a lot from ze Germans!

like how to cheat and lie on the clean diesel engines CPU calibration so it passes smog.....

[Lups]

Originally Posted by TAL2GK

I forgot to add: stupid left lane drivers. We can learn a lot from ze Germans!

Frankly, that is just the Germans way to piss us off. First they tried with a few wars and a couple of million of innocent people killing, now they make us all feel like shit every time we find ourselves behind the wheel.

Sure, they make us these fast cars and sure they are awesome with rules but every time some damn hippie in a Prius has parked his car on my way, all I can think of is the words of my old german professor after a failed exam:

"you suck, you'd be better off living in the states."

[Ross61]

1. Go to court
2. Accept the consequences of your actions
3. Slow down unless the first two are pleasurable.

[SEXY-BEAST]

I feel for you OP-- after driving a lesser car for 3 years, I've had to dial back my freeway onramp and passing speeds as it's ridiculously easy to hit 90 mph in this car without even trying.

That being said, IMHO -- you got off pretty lightly with the CHP. I'd apply for online traffic school and call it a day.

[BEMR]

Look on the back of your ticket..........notice one of the options is "by declaration" not hard to do actually if you learn what that means. Google it, fill in the form and start the ball rolling. Got three tickets in one month about 5 years ago after going 10 years without one, contested all 3 by declaration and beat them all.

PM me if you want I can give you a couple other tricks to even make the process even more ironclad, for now and in the future! Most people have no idea what I'm even talking about, and its been around in California for 50 years.

[Yeoman]

So you admit to going 90, and the cop gives you 70, and this is still a question? Count your blessings. Unreal

[SubjectMatter]

If you're going to fight the ticket, do it by declaration. Probably worth it to just pay the fine and maybe do traffic school.

Do NOT try the appear in court and assume the officer won't...he'll remember you and show up for sure, all while getting paid OT. Fighting the ticket because he didn't use a radar gun is useless, the CHP are empowered to estimate speed and he has all the evidence he needs based on his speed and the car you were passing. If you don't believe me, search the Bay Area Rider Forum and they explain it in detail. You will be convicted if you go this route and suffer the crushing feeling of defeat.

Consider yourself lucky about the speed he wrote you for, that was a very nice thing of him to do. Source: I have a few CHP friends.

[DaBean]

Agreed with all of the above. Pay the fine, do the traffic school. You lose a few hrs of your live and a few $$, but you get no points.

To those in the know: how does fighting by declaration differ from showing up in court? Why is it more effective?

[nicknaz]

you admitted guilt already, so personally, I think the best option is traffic school or go to court and plead guilty and ask the judge or DA to be lenient

[MyFragileHalogen]

do traffic school if you can. if you get another ticket and you don't have traffic school chance, you will have to fight it.

[DocWeatherington]

Originally Posted by hecho.in.626

Forum members have a wealth of knowledge and definitely more experience than me, so any advice is appreciated.

I was traveling on the 71 fwy in the fast lane. Old lady in front me was cruising at 60 mph. Very light traffic. I was hoping she would move over one lane to the right so I could pass but she never did. I followed her for a short distance then decided to pass her in the lane to the right. I changed lanes and then stomped on the gas pedal. My intentions were to make it loud so she would notice me as I passed her. As soon as I did that, a California highway patrol officer entered the fwy at an entrance to my right. He was slightly behind me so all he saw was me accelerate. I looked at my speed and it was 90 mph. I then braked to get to safe speed but of course he pulls me over. The CHP officer was super nice. I was honest with him and explained I was passing the slow car in the fast lane when he entered the fwy. He agreed I was going about 90 mph when he saw me but nice officer put that I was going 70 mph in a 65 mph zone. He then confirmed I qualify for traffic school if I don't want a point on my driving record.

Here is my question....should I be happy with that outcome, pay the fine and do traffic school and forget about the whole incident?
Or should I try to fight the ticket? If I request a court date, there always is a slim chance that officer won't show and the ticket gets dismissed. Or can I fight it because the ticket states my approximate speed was 70 mph and maybe the judge will throw it out since it's only 5 mph over the posted speed limit? Can I argue that he has no concrete evidence (speed gun)that I was going 70mph?

Leave it.. do the school, pay the fine..

DO NOT FIGHT IT. The cop has the right to bring up the fact you where doing 90 and were passing cars in the right lane. Trust me its documented and CHP has dash cams, they did you a solid by just 5 over. I know in some area's the officer has the right to amend the ticket. An things can go south fast in a courtroom. There is a reason why they ask ..do you know how fast you where going. Why yes officer on the dash cam with audio.. I was doing 90 in a 65, and I know I passed her in the right lane but *********

Yeah it's 50/50 they don't show up... But since CHP did you a solid why play the odds.

Also, some areas will throw aka reduce it to a non moving violation, but often times fines plus court costs are way more than the original ticket.

Just pay it

[Donger Kim]

Ive never heard such a thing where you go to some traffic school = no points on the driving record.