HELP!! Ticket for 74MPH in 65MPH

[Lomeinhu]

What awful luck! My friend and I were driving our cars (with other ppl) to PA for skiing trip. I wanna pass by a trailer truck in the middle lane, so I pick up some speed, go into express lane and go a little quicker than usual so my friend behind me will have enough space ahead of the truck once we go back into the middle lane. But gosh darn it! i get pulled over for going 74 in a 65mph stretch of Route 80. Now, is there any tip you guys can give me to possibly get out of the ticket, reduce fine, etc. besides just showing up in court (which, BTW, is quite a number of towns away from me)? Court date is the 28th, so I need the info ASAP! Thanks! (The troopers are quite picky!)

[boxologist]

tell them you were trying to get out of the way of the truck.

And haven't learned where the speed traps on I80 are yet?

[BlackGT]

Ummm, in MA the tickets are for the first 10mph over the limit is $75. Im surprised he pulled you over doing 74 in a 65. The best thing to do is explain the story that the truck kept braking and was "driving somewhat wrecklesly" and to get out of the way you had to pass him in the fast lane.

-Tim

[SlasherX]

$50 and 2 points on your record...

come back when you get a 74 in a 55 ;)

[TCelica GT]

I've driven between Philly and Harrisburg a few times, as well as from Baltimore to Harisburg. The PA people drive VERY differently then we do here in the midwest.:D I'm used to driving in the left lane because I'm usually passing everyone, and when you come upon someone in the left lane, they usually move over. In PA, if you come flying up on someone, they hit their freaking brakes. :mad:
When I did the stretch between Philly, and Harrisburg to visit some friends, they asked me how long it took and I did it about 30 minutes faster than they had ever done it. :D I'm surprised that I didn't get busted.

[R K e 1 C A]

Never hurts to have witnesses [friends] who can vouch for you about the trailer truck. Most likely you

[Lomeinhu]

Thanks guys for the tips. Oh, BTW, in NJ, the fine is for 1-9mph over the limit and $78 fine. I don't really mind the $78. It's the increased insurance that's gonna kill me. My dad got a $50 fine for making a right turn into the left lane b/c the guy in the right lane just stopped and now his insurance is $500 more every year. I have 2 points now (I got that when I first started driving almost 3 years ago and have been clean ever since). You think the wreckless truck idea will be convincing enough?

Sigh...seems kind of harsh to give me a ticket for doing 74mph when ppl are flying by at 85...oh well. Wish me luck!

[PhatCellyGT]

Boy do your states suck!!! In Va, for goin 9mph or fewer over the speed limit you get a 50 dollar fine and no points. I've gotten 8 of those!!!! Damn cops

Wil

[Lomeinhu]

Shoot, maybe I should move...a speeding ticket here gets you at least $78 and 4 points. 2 point reduction if you show up in court (generally)

[boxologist]

In the NJ 65mph zones, the fines and points are doubled, iirc.

[kocheroni]

A few things you can do. I generally drive route 80 between my house and college like 2 times a week (this is in NJ though). Seeing as how it was 74 in 65, that REALLY isn't that much over that the prosecuting attorney won't give you a break. Definately dress nice. Tell the prosecutor that you were passing the truck so that your friend could get in, and you didn't realize that you were over the speed limit that much. I don't know, 9 mph really isn't that much, and I think they'll give you a break just for showing up. Tell him/her you have a clean record and everything should be fine. If your that worried, you might wanna draw out the situation (on paper) or something and show him what you were trying to do so that he can clearly understand. Lucky for me I haven't gotten a ticket, I usually do like 93 in the 65 mph zone on route 80. I have a good radar detector, but Im just a very paranoid/causious driver. Anyway good luck.

[VZV21]

That's my daily commute (exit 310 on the PA side to exit 34 on the NJ side).

Let me guess: either the state trooper parked in between the Dover & Mt. Arlington exit or Blairstown & Columbia exit.

Ask for no points, but you'll gladly pay more fine.

[SilverNico]

invest in a valentine one next time :)

[Lomeinhu]

VZV21:

I think you might be right...I've never really gone far west beyond my town, so i don't know the speed traps on route 80 over there. The ticket that i got is for Mount Olive, so i believe that's between Dover and Mt. Arlington. Gosh, double the fines, so that's at least $156...

[Maelfyn]

Jesus that is brutal. In MD I'm pretty sure the ticket has to be 20+ mph to get a point on your license.

[Raw Iron 1]

Hello.

PA is tight on their speeding enforcement on their interstate highways. I go to PA every few months. The trip is 265 miles one way. 120 miles of the drive is in PA on I-70, Rt-30, I-99, and I-80. I know where all the speed traps are and they are there almost every time.

In order to avoid speed traps I run with a radar detector, CB radio, and a police scanner tuned to the local frequencies. I take my speedin' seriously. If you are gonna win ya gotta play to win. I have found the best weapon against speed traps is the Citizen Band (CB) radio. The truckers are always calling out "smokey the bear at mile marker 60", "got a five-o head'n north in a plane blue wrapper (un-marked, blue in color) at mile marker 50", etc.

I have been driving since 1990 and I have gotten two tickets. "Speeding" 70 in a 55. Charge reduced to "defective equipment" in court. No point loss. And my second ticket was "failure to obey highway sign". I pre-paid the ticket. I think I got 4 points for this one.

Jason

[Iverson-GT]

Originally posted by PhatCellyGT
Boy do your states suck!!! In Va, for goin 9mph or fewer over the speed limit you get a 50 dollar fine and no points. I've gotten 8 of those!!!! Damn cops

Wil

Damn!!! That's $400, didn't u learn your lesson tha first time?



HOLLA BACK!!! :mad:

[oodolbyoo]

BFD!...look, i have a court date in march for an 85 in a 30....want to talk about screwed

[GTS LAID]

you must be sh!tting me complaining about 74 in 65...

in the last 2 months I've gotten the first 2 tickets since i started driving ( i got one when i started driving) 82 in 55 and 65 in 45

both times i was in my mom's tl-s ... cursed freakin car i tell ya.

[VZV21]

Originally posted by lomeinhu
VZV21:

I think you might be right...I've never really gone far west beyond my town, so i don't know the speed traps on route 80 over there. The ticket that i got is for Mount Olive, so i believe that's between Dover and Mt. Arlington. Gosh, double the fines, so that's at least $156...

Mt. Olive is right before exit 19, Rte 517 to Hackettstown.

[oodolbyoo]

you must be sh!tting me complaining about 74 in 65...

I am definately getting a lawyer for this one...last time I had an incident must worse than that and the lawyer hooked me...BTW I still had the paper tags on my celi when it happened