well, i got my first ticket in almost 30 years last week on my way to bellingham. happened at night, i was in the winding road just before b'ham. got boxed in behind 7-8 cars going between 50-60 mph. i was carefully trying to maneuver through this mess. when i finally got through, turns out that one of the cars that i was behind and got around was an unmarked state patrol.

voila - the blue lights were quickly bearing down on me. he sure got through the mess of cars quickly.

anyway, i was polite and accomodating, but despite my friendly and cordial demeanor and the lack of any record of driving infractions, he gave me a ticket for:
1. following to closely
2. speeding - 70 in a 60 zone. he did say that i was going 80 but since i seemed sincere during my interrogation, he lowered it to 70.

i did have one ticket that was dropped and stricken from my record for expired tabs on my suv. this was about 1 1/2 years ago.

i personally dont feel i was following any closer than anyone else in this herd of cars i was stuck behind. i certainly wasnt riding anyones tail. as far as the 80mph estimate. i dont think so! he said he paced me. how could he when we were both stuck in this herd and he was right behind me when i finally made it through and thats when he hit the blue light show. i feel like he was baiting me.

there are 3 options on the ticket - 1. not guilty and get a court date - 2. guilty but want to explain circumstance to judge - 3. guilty and pay the fine. the fine is about $200, but that is only like a down payment. the increase in insurance rates over the next several years are what im concerned about.

any thoughts or experiences on how to get this thing dropped or the best way to deal with it.

thanks,
chuck

 

allways contest the ticket and get a court date. never suppiena the officer. They get time and a half to show up. The state has to have evdiance that you did it and if the cop forgets to do the affidavid then the case is dismissed. if he did it you can ask for deferment. You pay court costs, usually about $125 for court costs and the case reamains open for one year. After a year the state checks your record and if you have not gotten another ticket in that year, the case is dismissed. If you have you have, then you have to pay the ticket in full. And, do not get the $125 in court costs back. but all ways choosoption 1 cause even if you just pled your case to the judge he will still allways lower the fine.

 

I will agree with that. I got pinned for speeding when I was late getting to work when I worked overnights over a year ago. It was past 10pm and there was abnsolutely nothing on the raod and out of no where lights pop out and I get pulled over literally a block away from work off the exit. turns out the officer had his car lights completely off and was backed up unvisibly on the other side of a freeway guardrail. I contested the ticket because the officer was a dick about it and refused to take my reciept from paying my insurance a few days earlier as proof of insurance (even though the reciept had my name and policy number and also showed that I had insurance way before he pulled me over and it was current that day). When I came to court the judge read the afidavit (spelling) which he said was incomplete and dropped the $500+ ticket for no proof of insurance and dropped the $242 for speeding. I lucked out because I was in fact speeding but I presented proof of insurance, had a good attitude, and the judge refused to believe that I was able to do 80+ MPH in my Festiva. Life was good, but my wife wasn't so lucky. She got stung with a $101 ticket for failing to stop for a jaywalking pedestrian . Farmers market was in town and cops found it a perfect opportunity to sting people for not stopping for every damn person that was wondering accorss the street regardless of crosswalk. Oh well, win some, lose some... At least insurance rates didn't go up and it was a hell of a lot cheaper that it would have been to pay for the other ticket I got waived.

 

I agree, I would contest the ticket, go to court, take deferred. Court costs will probably be $101.00 and off your record in one year.

 

They got to get there 20 tickets a month or there in deep stuff lol. That aside, check the day of your court hearing at the cashier, alot of time you can pay them before court for 1/2 of what ever the ticket is; don't set what i say in stone it's been a while but that was what my experiance was. It would be worth checking out the cashier thing if you don't want to take the chance of the judge making the fine more than 1/2.

 

For my one ticket (58 in a 35) in the past 20 years, I hired a lawyer for $300 (Felix Landau). He got the ticket thrown out of court. I never met him and didn't have to go to court. He handled the entire mess. Do a search on this forum for the couple "who's a good lawyer" threads for other opinions.
Cheers,
Jim

 

thank you all for your input.

i have to admit that since i got my 7, my desire for a little bit of spirited driving has increased - as you all know being 7 owners. its hard to overcome "the fun factor". but im certainly not reckless - too old and a bit wiser than in my youth to go there.

thanks,
chuck

ps - is there any place one can go, to legally take the car to its limits - safely?

 

autocross and track days are your best bet.

check out www.wwscc.org

 

That's probably the best advise I've heard yet on this forum.

 

If your car is a 3rd Gen RX-7 there is probably no place you can drive it to its limits and be truly safe. A blown tire at those speeds is always going to be bad. The Salt flats at Bonneville during an organized event is your best bet!!

 

autocross doesnt let you take a car to its limits, especially a highly modded one, you have about one minute of MAYBE 50-60mph driving. road racing like SOLO I and II road racing events are your best shot. If you can get ahold of gfelber on this forum he can give you more info about it than i can. Im still new to the road race thing.

 

one of my buddies was telling me about car club groups going to a local race track and running their vehicles on the road race course. apparently there was a fee for use of the track which was available several times a month. i believe they had to sign some kind of disclaimer as well.

chuck

 

depends on which limits you're talking about. i'm sure you could easily take it past max grip pretty easy on a cone course.

 

Not that he cant help you get info, but I think Gene just sold his car and is taking a break from it at the very least from what he has posted.

Gene seems like a knowledgeable great guy so I am sure if you are interested he could give a few great tips.

 

he did just sell his car and i almost bought it but someone else had first dibs and ive tlked to him a couple of times about road racing events and such.

 

Okay so i just got a speeding ticket yesterday, 10 over on the freeway in spokane, i was with a group of traffic going slowing down into a speed zone. Now my ticket has 3 options on the back which one would i choose on the ticket in this case #2: plead guilty and explain circumstances or #3: Completly contest the ticket? Now is this deferment thing always an option that you can take and does washington do a bond forfiture? I dont care too much if i have to pay out the *** for this ticket I would just like it to not go on my record.