Fighting reckless driving...

Timmah! · 11-07-2009, 03:54 AM

First off, I just want to start off by saying I'm not an aggressive or bad driver (unless you count taking turns quickly as i love the twists), I don't race with idiots on the streets, and in my 6 years of driving (until this morning) I have been pulled over once. I was pulled over at the age of 16 for speeding in a 15mph residential zone on an air force base. This did not go on my record, and all I got was a slap on the wrist.

Flash forward to tonight. I'm driving home from work, which for me is about an hour drive. I'm about a mile from my house, and as I take a right on to the final road before I turn off to my house, I start to speed a little bit. Yes, I will admit that I was slightly speeding, I'm not going to lie about that. The speed limit in that area is 35 mph, and I would say I was pushing an unreasonable rate of travel. If I cannot post that I'm sorry, but it does not seem like a rediculous speed. As I'm driving along there are a few hard curves before some double train tracks that are a little rough, so as I was hitting it through the curves a little, I slow up as I come to the train tracks, and that was the end of it (or so I thought). As I go up the road just a little, I see the flashy blue lights, and say "Shit, I'm finally going to get a ticket".

I pull over close to a stop light, and the cop puts his damn light right in my eyes as I keep my hands on the wheel. After about 5 minutes, he finally comes up to me sounding like he's all outta breath and shit. The guy was not fat from what I could see so I don't know what thats all about. As he came up to my window, he asked me in a very pissed of voice how fast I was going. To which I replied "Yes sir, I believe I was going over the limit." He said more like way over the limit... whatever. At this point he gets my information and goes back to his car for about 25 mins. I made damn sure the whole time that I went through the drill. AKA: Hands on the wheel at all times, say "yes sir, no sir", and wait patiently. I don't say that cause I was trying to suck up to him or anything, but regardless or whether or not you like the cops, you should show respect and not make the situation any worse. In addition, this cop was really really assertive with me, which really didn't make me feel any more comfortable in the situation. I'll even admit that an hour after this has happened, and now that's I've had some time to calm down, I'm still a little off/nervous about what happened, and I'm not that kinda dude.

Continuing on, he dicks around in his car for about 20 minutes while I sat there in my car waiting with my hands on the wheel at all times. He comes back with a clipboard in hand and begins to explain some things. I'll just give you the cliffnotes. The paper he has me sign is a "Virginia Uniform Summons" document that explains why I am being summoned to court. It has my info, my vehicles information, blah blah. However, there are a few interesting bits of information. I'll go into that in a second. Anyway, I was reading the paper as I read EVERYTHING before I sign it. I also asked him to make sure I was not admitting guilt by signing it. At this point he gets really assertive with me and says "boy, I already told you that", and kinda motions me to hurry up. To be honest, I took no more than a minute to quickly skim over the document to make sure I wasn't signing my soul away. Certainly less that the amount time he wasted of mine while he was in his cop car. At that point, I sign, and that was the end of it.

Now, the interesting points:

1) He cited me for reckless driving claiming I was doing a high rate of speed in a 25. He told me that when he came to my vehicle the 2nd time. I had questioned him about it before I signed saying "I drive that road everyday, and have never seen a school sign or anything". He just kinda laughed that off and said it was a school zone (I promise you it's not). In addition, the area he listed on my ticket for where the violation occured (and intersection) is not a school zone. I drive by it everyday. On top of that, after the cop left I went back and drove the road slowly to make sure I was not retarded. Again, two 35mph signs going both ways.

2) This may be a moot point, but I don't believe I could do a high rate of speed through those curves without atleast having some severe skidding and chirping from my tires (which did not occur as I did not hear it as my music was off at the time).

3) If it is even remotely possible that it was a school zone at 25mph, this was at 0212am, and it wouldnt even apply at that time.

4) My ticket says I was arrested... I never even got out of my car, so obviously that's not possible.

Anyway, thoughts, opinions? I'm going to obviously fight it, I know a friend who knows alot of good lawyers so I'm sure I'll get the hook-up. Reckless Driving in VA carries a maximum fine of $2500 as a misdemeanor and up to 1 year in jail. In addition, you can lose you license for 12 months. Seems a bit extreme to me considering people get away with DUI (and murder, hah) for less or nothing.

Thanks for help all.

sleepyboy · 11-07-2009, 04:56 AM

You know its those few times when you do let loose that it bites you in the rear. Also I do believe its possible to go fast through some turns with out making squealing noises. I do feel for ya though. Cop trying to make a huge thing out of something. Though you should know better than to do that kind of driving. I fight the urge every time I get behind the wheel. It truly is hard to do

2wheeladict · 11-07-2009, 05:48 AM

it never fails, there ALWAYS there when you dont need em, and NEVER there when you do. example today im on my way to my second job at the family resteraunt doing over the posted limit in a 45 (its a safety thing i have to do 5 over) im all the way in the right lane of a 3 lane road, fairly scattered traffic, the kind that doesnt suit crazy driving, as i look up in my rearview i see this 90's ish Tbird on my ass big time, so i did something extremely wreckless as always when someones on my ass, the guy was just about to switch lanes with no blinker when i did and had to lock up and fishtail around me, gets up next to me and starts yelling that i dont know how to drive, i say nothing and brandish a weapon like a punk. he speeds up, swerves in front of me and slams on his brakes, i kindof expected this so i was already halfway into the next lane so i was good there. i decided to commit another traffic violation to avoid stopping next to him (i dont exactly want to USE the weapon, its there in the worst case), luckily the resteraunt was up on the right and pulled in to find 2 cops eating and my huge stepdad greeting me in the parkinglot so i was releived a bit. these crazy ass people are out on the road every day and some of them NEVER get a ticket. meanwhile young poeple are targeted for wreckless driving and this stupid shit late at night, nobody on the road but ourselves when all we could do is hurt ourselves.....rant over

BigRed03 · 11-07-2009, 10:14 AM

Since your going to court anyway, start ARMING your defense. Take pictures up and down the road, showing that there are no school zone signs like you say. Also, include at this point the time of day the tickets were issued.

Also, take pictures of the curves, saying how could I be doing that speed down these?

And if you were "arrested," there would be booking information at the preceinct/jail for that city or county. GL, get a decent traffic lawyer and be totally honest with them.

OO, and a final thing, how did he "clock" you at that speed ? Was he tailing you or trying to catch up? In which case he can't use his speedometer....and if you radar'd you, where? Was it on the main road where you could have bumped it up to sixty?

karguy427 · 11-07-2009, 12:11 PM

Good advice from Big Red.
Sounds to me like something else was going on with the cop. Why was he out of breath? Could it be that his adrenaline level was elevated from a prior call? If so, that may have affected his attitude. Might be worth your while to check the police log calls for just prior to the time you were pulled over (usually posted in your local paper).

Timmah! · 11-07-2009, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRed03

Since your going to court anyway, start ARMING your defense. Take pictures up and down the road, showing that there are no school zone signs like you say. Also, include at this point the time of day the tickets were issued.

Also, take pictures of the curves, saying how could I be doing that speed down these?

And if you were "arrested," there would be booking information at the preceinct/jail for that city or county. GL, get a decent traffic lawyer and be totally honest with them.

OO, and a final thing, how did he "clock" you at sixty? Was he tailing you or trying to catch up? In which case he can't use his speedometer....and if you radar'd you, where? Was it on the main road where you could have bumped it up to that speed ?

Ya know, I'm not 100% on how he clocked me. When I turned on to the street I looked over and didn't see but one vehicle (some SUV), and that was it from all other directions. I'm really not sure where he wouldve come from as I didn't see him pointed out anywhere. My guess is that he was well to the left of where I turned right as there were some trees there and had to catch up to me. I can tell you he wasnt tailing me for sure though as I was a good minute up the road before I saw lights. Not to say that I would, but if I wouldve kept on it he prolly never wouldve caught me.

MaroonZX3 · 11-07-2009, 12:41 PM

I hate it when cops do that, you are not endangering anyone but possibly yourself and they act SO pissed off, like you are public enemy #1. I haven't had many tickets either, but I have had a few officers who seem unduly angry for a mild infraction. I had one in Indiana who gave me a ticket for speeding in a 65 zone, and he said I was going so fast it took him seven miles to catch up to me. And I probably was going 12 over, no denying that, but he made it seem like I was going 30-40 over.

Anyways, good luck with it. You might beat the reckless driving rap in court, but still get a speeding ticket. Also never plead guilty, always plead no contest or innocent. If you say guilty just to get it over with, they give you the max fine. If you say no contest, there is some doubt and they will pro-rate the fine based on the judges opinion of the situation.

WRCwannabe · 11-07-2009, 12:45 PM

fight it

coppertits · 11-07-2009, 12:46 PM

Yeah dude, fight the hell out of that one.

Bet someone was being raped, murdered or beat up while he was sitting in his car writing the s.a. of lies...

***focusin*** · 11-07-2009, 01:06 PM

Get a lawyer, I did for my reckless driving (for aggressive driving not speeding) and kept it off my insurance and license had to pay only court costs and was sentenced to 40hrs community service (worked 5 saturdays). I did not have to pay the ticket or have any other fees included with it, I am on a 6 month driving probation where if I get another ticket in 6 months I'll loose my license. Considering it was 3 years since my last one this should be easy.

DrkKnight614 · 11-07-2009, 01:35 PM

Posted via FF Mobile def fight it theres way to many things that dot add up. I think you havr a case. Btw yhe first thing you did wrong was admit to how much you were going...i unfortunatly did the same thing more or less. You shouldnt of said you were going a lesser illeagal speed you should of said you were not sure. Saying you were doing lesser illeagal speed or whatever just grants you a ticket. But good luck i think you have a case.

Hotniks · 11-07-2009, 02:30 PM

If you're going to fight it, get a lawyer, otherwise you'll just be wasting your time.

11-07-2009, 04:56 AM	#2
sleepyboy The Sleep Master Join Date: Nov 2004 FF Member#: 15335 Location: SW Houston, TX What I Drive: 01' Yellow ZX3 euro Posts: 4,789 FF Reputation: 12 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (1)	You know its those few times when you do let loose that it bites you in the rear. Also I do believe its possible to go fast through some turns with out making squealing noises. I do feel for ya though. Cop trying to make a huge thing out of something. Though you should know better than to do that kind of driving. I fight the urge every time I get behind the wheel. It truly is hard to do __________________ "H-A-I-L to the King, baby!" Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:10 AM. Reason: speed removal

11-07-2009, 05:48 AM	#3
2wheeladict Focus Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2009 FF Member#: 69029 Location: winterhaven, fl What I Drive: 2005 focus zx4 ses Posts: 528 FF Reputation: 4 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (0)	it never fails, there ALWAYS there when you dont need em, and NEVER there when you do. example today im on my way to my second job at the family resteraunt doing over the posted limit in a 45 (its a safety thing i have to do 5 over) im all the way in the right lane of a 3 lane road, fairly scattered traffic, the kind that doesnt suit crazy driving, as i look up in my rearview i see this 90's ish Tbird on my ass big time, so i did something extremely wreckless as always when someones on my ass, the guy was just about to switch lanes with no blinker when i did and had to lock up and fishtail around me, gets up next to me and starts yelling that i dont know how to drive, i say nothing and brandish a weapon like a punk. he speeds up, swerves in front of me and slams on his brakes, i kindof expected this so i was already halfway into the next lane so i was good there. i decided to commit another traffic violation to avoid stopping next to him (i dont exactly want to USE the weapon, its there in the worst case), luckily the resteraunt was up on the right and pulled in to find 2 cops eating and my huge stepdad greeting me in the parkinglot so i was releived a bit. these crazy ass people are out on the road every day and some of them NEVER get a ticket. meanwhile young poeple are targeted for wreckless driving and this stupid shit late at night, nobody on the road but ourselves when all we could do is hurt ourselves.....rant over __________________ sedan revolution member #44 4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the SOUL Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:14 AM. Reason: removal of illeagal speeds and other criminal activity

11-07-2009, 10:14 AM	#4
BigRed03 ( o Y o ) Join Date: Feb 2006 FF Member#: 32177 Location: Ft. Laudy What I Drive: 2003 CD Silver ZX5 SVT Posts: 3,143 FF Reputation: 7 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (3)	Since your going to court anyway, start ARMING your defense. Take pictures up and down the road, showing that there are no school zone signs like you say. Also, include at this point the time of day the tickets were issued. Also, take pictures of the curves, saying how could I be doing that speed down these? And if you were "arrested," there would be booking information at the preceinct/jail for that city or county. GL, get a decent traffic lawyer and be totally honest with them. OO, and a final thing, how did he "clock" you at that speed ? Was he tailing you or trying to catch up? In which case he can't use his speedometer....and if you radar'd you, where? Was it on the main road where you could have bumped it up to sixty? __________________ 2003 CD Silver ZX5 SVT [#1943 of 2173 ZX5's][1 of 591 CDSilver ZX5's] 2003 Infra-Red ZX3 R.I.P Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:15 AM. Reason: speed removal

11-07-2009, 12:41 PM	#7
MaroonZX3 Focus Addict Join Date: Aug 2007 FF Member#: 49579 Location: Livonia, MI What I Drive: 2003 Red ZX3 Posts: 851 FF Reputation: 10 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (2)	I hate it when cops do that, you are not endangering anyone but possibly yourself and they act SO pissed off, like you are public enemy #1. I haven't had many tickets either, but I have had a few officers who seem unduly angry for a mild infraction. I had one in Indiana who gave me a ticket for speeding in a 65 zone, and he said I was going so fast it took him seven miles to catch up to me. And I probably was going 12 over, no denying that, but he made it seem like I was going 30-40 over. Anyways, good luck with it. You might beat the reckless driving rap in court, but still get a speeding ticket. Also never plead guilty, always plead no contest or innocent. If you say guilty just to get it over with, they give you the max fine. If you say no contest, there is some doubt and they will pro-rate the fine based on the judges opinion of the situation. Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:21 AM.

11-07-2009, 12:45 PM	#8
WRCwannabe Wings & Teeth Join Date: Jul 2007 FF Member#: 48696 Location: Arlington, TX What I Drive: a wide svt Posts: 1,809 FF Reputation: 4 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (7)	fight it __________________ Wings & Teeth ™ ("I'm U.S. with a little bit of U.K. swagger" ™ ) Hey Mr. Hangman go get your rope.

11-07-2009, 03:54 AM	#1
Timmah! Focus Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 FF Member#: 36324 Location: Manassas VA What I Drive: 2k7 Silver ST Posts: 71 FF Reputation: 1 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (0)	Fighting reckless driving... First off, I just want to start off by saying I'm not an aggressive or bad driver (unless you count taking turns quickly as i love the twists), I don't race with idiots on the streets, and in my 6 years of driving (until this morning) I have been pulled over once. I was pulled over at the age of 16 for speeding in a 15mph residential zone on an air force base. This did not go on my record, and all I got was a slap on the wrist. Flash forward to tonight. I'm driving home from work, which for me is about an hour drive. I'm about a mile from my house, and as I take a right on to the final road before I turn off to my house, I start to speed a little bit. Yes, I will admit that I was slightly speeding, I'm not going to lie about that. The speed limit in that area is 35 mph, and I would say I was pushing an unreasonable rate of travel. If I cannot post that I'm sorry, but it does not seem like a rediculous speed. As I'm driving along there are a few hard curves before some double train tracks that are a little rough, so as I was hitting it through the curves a little, I slow up as I come to the train tracks, and that was the end of it (or so I thought). As I go up the road just a little, I see the flashy blue lights, and say "Shit, I'm finally going to get a ticket". I pull over close to a stop light, and the cop puts his damn light right in my eyes as I keep my hands on the wheel. After about 5 minutes, he finally comes up to me sounding like he's all outta breath and shit. The guy was not fat from what I could see so I don't know what thats all about. As he came up to my window, he asked me in a very pissed of voice how fast I was going. To which I replied "Yes sir, I believe I was going over the limit." He said more like way over the limit... whatever. At this point he gets my information and goes back to his car for about 25 mins. I made damn sure the whole time that I went through the drill. AKA: Hands on the wheel at all times, say "yes sir, no sir", and wait patiently. I don't say that cause I was trying to suck up to him or anything, but regardless or whether or not you like the cops, you should show respect and not make the situation any worse. In addition, this cop was really really assertive with me, which really didn't make me feel any more comfortable in the situation. I'll even admit that an hour after this has happened, and now that's I've had some time to calm down, I'm still a little off/nervous about what happened, and I'm not that kinda dude. Continuing on, he dicks around in his car for about 20 minutes while I sat there in my car waiting with my hands on the wheel at all times. He comes back with a clipboard in hand and begins to explain some things. I'll just give you the cliffnotes. The paper he has me sign is a "Virginia Uniform Summons" document that explains why I am being summoned to court. It has my info, my vehicles information, blah blah. However, there are a few interesting bits of information. I'll go into that in a second. Anyway, I was reading the paper as I read EVERYTHING before I sign it. I also asked him to make sure I was not admitting guilt by signing it. At this point he gets really assertive with me and says "boy, I already told you that", and kinda motions me to hurry up. To be honest, I took no more than a minute to quickly skim over the document to make sure I wasn't signing my soul away. Certainly less that the amount time he wasted of mine while he was in his cop car. At that point, I sign, and that was the end of it. Now, the interesting points: 1) He cited me for reckless driving claiming I was doing a high rate of speed in a 25. He told me that when he came to my vehicle the 2nd time. I had questioned him about it before I signed saying "I drive that road everyday, and have never seen a school sign or anything". He just kinda laughed that off and said it was a school zone (I promise you it's not). In addition, the area he listed on my ticket for where the violation occured (and intersection) is not a school zone. I drive by it everyday. On top of that, after the cop left I went back and drove the road slowly to make sure I was not retarded. Again, two 35mph signs going both ways. 2) This may be a moot point, but I don't believe I could do a high rate of speed through those curves without atleast having some severe skidding and chirping from my tires (which did not occur as I did not hear it as my music was off at the time). 3) If it is even remotely possible that it was a school zone at 25mph, this was at 0212am, and it wouldnt even apply at that time. 4) My ticket says I was arrested... I never even got out of my car, so obviously that's not possible. Anyway, thoughts, opinions? I'm going to obviously fight it, I know a friend who knows alot of good lawyers so I'm sure I'll get the hook-up. Reckless Driving in VA carries a maximum fine of $2500 as a misdemeanor and up to 1 year in jail. In addition, you can lose you license for 12 months. Seems a bit extreme to me considering people get away with DUI (and murder, hah) for less or nothing. Thanks for help all. __________________ Interior:Interior Trim Paint Exterior: Street Appearance Package 1, 5% rear tint, 50% front. Engine: Steeda SRI Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:09 AM. Reason: speed and vulgarity cleanup

11-07-2009, 12:11 PM	#5
karguy427 Focus Addict Join Date: Mar 2006 FF Member#: 32830 Location: Springfield, Oregon What I Drive: 2003 French Blue ZTW 2.3 Posts: 562 FF Reputation: 10 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (0)	Good advice from Big Red. Sounds to me like something else was going on with the cop. Why was he out of breath? Could it be that his adrenaline level was elevated from a prior call? If so, that may have affected his attitude. Might be worth your while to check the police log calls for just prior to the time you were pulled over (usually posted in your local paper).

11-07-2009, 12:46 PM	#9
coppertits Focus Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2005 FF Member#: 22585 Location: cleveland, oh What I Drive: 07 silver MS3 gt Posts: 409 FF Reputation: 1 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (1)	Yeah dude, fight the hell out of that one. Bet someone was being raped, murdered or beat up while he was sitting in his car writing the s.a. of lies... __________________ ~zoom-zoom~

11-07-2009, 01:06 PM	#10
*focusin* I miss normality. Join Date: Mar 2004 FF Member#: 4322 Location: Bay Minette, What I Drive: 06 SonicBlue ZX3,04 CDSilver SVTEAP Posts: 11,197 FF Reputation: 58 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (15)	Get a lawyer, I did for my reckless driving (for aggressive driving not speeding) and kept it off my insurance and license had to pay only court costs and was sentenced to 40hrs community service (worked 5 saturdays). I did not have to pay the ticket or have any other fees included with it, I am on a 6 month driving probation where if I get another ticket in 6 months I'll loose my license. Considering it was 3 years since my last one this should be easy. __________________ focusin - FF Moderator gumpCrew Member #1

11-07-2009, 01:35 PM	#11
DrkKnight614 GO Green Join Date: Oct 2004 FF Member#: 14522 Location: Long Island, NY What I Drive: 2003 2.0L Grabber Green Zx3 Posts: 7,748 FF Reputation: 32 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (0)	Posted via FF Mobile def fight it theres way to many things that dot add up. I think you havr a case. Btw yhe first thing you did wrong was admit to how much you were going...i unfortunatly did the same thing more or less. You shouldnt of said you were going a lesser illeagal speed you should of said you were not sure. Saying you were doing lesser illeagal speed or whatever just grants you a ticket. But good luck i think you have a case. Last edited by ShamrockSVT; 11-09-2009 at 12:23 AM.

11-07-2009, 02:30 PM	#12
Hotniks Focus Enthusiast Join Date: Feb 2009 FF Member#: 62959 Location: Saratoga NY What I Drive: 2002 Grey SE Posts: 256 FF Reputation: 1 Buy-Sell-Trade Rating: (0)	If you're going to fight it, get a lawyer, otherwise you'll just be wasting your time.

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