Hey ya'll,

I really need to get this off my chest, I apoligize for the rant. Anyways, me and a few of my buddies decided to head up to presque isle in Erie, PA, a short drive from my residence in Western New York. We drove up in my friend Chris's Trailblazer, as it is the most logical choice for a road trip.

The day was going great, we basked in the sun, swam, and just chilled on the beach. For the return drive home I decided that I would drive as I knew the way back better than the rest. We were about 3/4 of the way home when my cell rang, and it was my parents wondering where I was. I told them I was about 10 minutes away from being home not thinking, when in all reality I was at least a half hour away. The time was now about 9:30 p.m.

So I decided in all my wisdom that in order to save my ass I would have to speed, I mean after all I have my trusty radar detector with me. And then it happened, I was doing about 90 when I look up towards the next no u-turn type deal and I see what appears to be a cop car, and I panicked, slamming on the brakes. Radar detector never went off until I was pretty much right in front of him, but by this point he had already turned his lights on and was in hot pursuit.

Officer was quite friendly and polite, prolly becuase he knew how screwed I was going to be, as I am only 17. I didn't even have my liscence with me, nor did the trailblazer have its registration papers. I hand to cop the insurance tell him my name and address so he can look up my liscence. He comes back, ticket in hand, for an 87 in a 65.

Now I haven't told my parents yet, as I know they are going to be absolutely furious. But this isn't the worst part. I know that I will be booted from their insurance, and will have to go out on my own. I'm expecting very high rates, given the fact that I'm only 17, now have a ticket for 22 over, and drive a car with a v8 engine.

What sort of fines and penalties should I expect, and what are the chances that my lisence is going to be suspended? This whole situation seems like a terrible terrible nightmare, but I know that it won't go away. I thank you in advance for your advice.

Andy

go to defensive driving, get straight a's and talk to maybe progressive they are kinda teen friendly (at least they were when i was 19 y.o. with 12 points on my license). its not gonna be cheap anywhere you go. i think your lokin at 6 points whick is alot for one ticket check out this site http://www.formercop.com/pointsfc.htm.

my full coverage insurance on a 6 cyl sebring coupe was $400+ a month for a while there

Your DL's shouldn't be suspended as long as you pay your fines...What is the exact cost of the fine anyways? Do you have to go to court?

If you have to go to court because of the speed you were going, then make sure you go: you don't need a warrant at your age! If you don't have to go, I would go anyways just to fight the points so they don't take them off you DL's. If you do go, make sure your parents are with you to give you the support you need...Which brings up another thing: TELL THEM! Ask them about everything I've said because I don't know the laws in NY or anything.

If you go to court and argue against them taking the standard 2 points (standard in Ohio for under 20 mph over the limit) off your DL's, you might get away with just paying the fine presuming you plead guilty, which you should so you don't have to argue with the officer who issued the ticket, in which case you'll have the 2 (presumed) points and the fine to worry about...I would just make sure you have the facts in order and don't lie about things...

As far as insurance goes, sorry about your soon to be luck if you don't fight those points being taken off...If you're unsuccessful with the judge (assuming you go to court), then expect them to drop points off of your DL's.

Also, since you are a minor, you *might* be able to get the ticket expunged from your record if you take a defensive driving course and you don't do anything else stupid during a probation period (in Arkansas, the probation period is 6 months). They, of course, may do it differently up there in NY, but I'm just telling you how they do it down here.

my full coverage insurance on a 6 cyl sebring coupe was $400+ a month for a while there

Holy shit! :eek:

My sister back in '87 only had to pay $7.00 per month liability for a Chevy Celebrity...That was before insurance was made mandatory...

sh1t happens, feel better, it will be an expensive scenario.....now if you haven't already paid the ticket or signed guilty, then you may want to consider hiring a traffic lawyer. In serious cases like this, it is often cheaper to pay the laywer than to pay the ticket +insurance hikes to result. My friends ALWAYS uses the lawyer and ALWAYS gets off or seriously reduced....I think the tactic his guy uses is keeps rescheduling the hearing at different courts until the cop misses the court date. It can take a long time but it seems to work.....just something to think about.

hey, tough break on the 87 in a 65. i got pegged for 78 in a 55 about 3 months ago. its no fun. luckily i had a nice judge, she reduced it to a parking ticket for me. but i noticed that your from bemus. im from jamestown. i didnt know anyone on cadillac forums was in western ny. ill talk to you later.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Don't feel so bad mate, just SLOW THE FU*K down next time, that 5-15 min just usually isn't worth the 100+ ticket.

If it makes you feel better I got pegged burning back from FL to GA in my CT plated Eldo (the 90) 3 miles from the state line. I managed to come around the one turn in all of I-75 in FL to see a trooper sitting in the back of a field behind some trees. I just pulled over but I thought I was really hosed because I had 108 on the speedo in a 70 when I saw him. He comes up to the door and goes "Sir I think I had you at 108 but by the time I hit the button it only said 90." I said "I don't think I was going 108, but I was definatley speeding." To which he replied "Yeah it's funny, I've never had anyone just see me and stop like that." At which point I replied "well I knew I was toast so it's pointless to deny it."

Your insurance is gonna go up big time, I don't know what you pay annually now (or your parents pay) but like they others said take the defensive driving course, go see the judge and take responsibility. Your parent's insurance company will most likely drop you and don't be suprised to pay $2500+ /year till you're 25 cause that's what 3 of my friends are doing for speeding tickets. But there's one mistake you've made in all of this, you'd better tell your parents ASAP, cause they're gonna be more disappointed you didn't own right up to it and take responsibility than just avoid the situation. You can either lie down and take what crap comes your way or face it with determination, at least then you know when it's gonna come down on you :) goodluck!

Heh funny story Raze.

I got a reckless driving ticket 2 days ago, and I already got one and got out of it with driving school a few months ago. That time I pulled a donut, this time I raced a Mark VIII... Yep I'm gonna be screwed. 6 points. At least he didn't gun me at 78 or so in a 40. :banghead:

Make sure you go to court even if a court appearance is not required. I'm not familiar with the PA statutes, but a traffic lawyer could help prevent you being convicted of the 22 MPH over or could even plea down to a non-moving violation. If the cop were really nice he'd have written you for failure to exhibit documents so you'd have something to bargain with in court. The municipalities just want their money so what they do is drop the moving violation and increase the fine on the non-moving violation so that they get the same $$. Then you plead guilty to the failure to exhibit documents. The insurance company doesn't care about the non-moving violations.

Good luck and learn from it (said the 30-something-year-old hypocrite - I still can't keep my license clean).

Jim

Whenever I am thinking about speeding, I always ask myself... Is it worth it?

Tickets...Accident...hurting me or worse someone else....

Think about it...


:lightbulb

My first instinct is to get judgemental on you, but then I remember when I was 16, and the 56/45 ticket I got that was immediately followed up with a 76/55 two weeks later.

I don't know how insurance companies handle things now, or what the legal penalties are today, because things were a lot looser when I was your age.

I can tell you this, it's not the end of the world, you'll live through it, and someday you'll be allowed out of the house on your own again. But you're probably in for a miserable month or two. Too bad it had to happen to you in the summer.

Do the time, grit your teeth, be pleasant with your parents--they didn't do this, you did. Learn from it and move on.

but then I remember when I was 16...
Same here. I may be rough sometimes with old farts like you (or me, of course), but when it comes to a kid... man, I can't but remember how it used to be.

Bummer, Sseville. But don't worry, as everything else, it will pass. I like that you are taking it like a man.

Raze, that story was teh phunny, man... :histeric:

Sseville, as said by others, you will make it through this though not without consequences. Based on my personal experience I would advise you this;

1. Come clean with your parents, tell them everything and ask them for help. In this whole situation they are the only ones who love you.

2. If you have the opportunity to go to court, go. Stand up straight, maintain good eye contact, speak clearly, be respectful and be honest. You know your were speeding, the officer knows it and the judge will too. You might be pleasantly surprised at the judge’s reaction. He sees teenagers in his court every day and they are not usually there by accident. It might be very refreshing for him to see a polite, respectful young man who is willing to answer for his mistake. He might be very lenient, possibly reduce your points or offer a way to improve you situation.

3. Insurance, you never know what they will do. It may be expensive especially if you have had prior points. They may drop you they may not. In any case, you might want to be thinking about a job soon if you haven’t already got one.

Welcome to adulthood!

Good luck! :thumbsup:

while were talking about tickets and im not telling you to do this but ill give it a shot next time i get one (which is hopefully never) knock on wood. somone told me if you get a ticket and you just have to mail in the fine payment say the fine is $100, send a check for $101, they are required to give you that 1 dollar refund, when you get your one dollar check dont cash it, and when they cant say the transanction is complete they cant apply the points. kinda sounds like bs but i will try it.

while were talking about tickets and im not telling you to do this but ill give it a shot next time i get one (which is hopefully never) knock on wood. somone told me if you get a ticket and you just have to mail in the fine payment say the fine is $100, send a check for $101, they are required to give you that 1 dollar refund, when you get your one dollar check dont cash it, and when they cant say the transanction is complete they cant apply the points. kinda sounds like bs but i will try it.


Heard that too....I think its an urban legend though

Thanks for the replies....I have court on the 21st so I'll be telling my parents a good while before that. I"ll take what you have said into practice, and hope for the best. Thanks again.

Better tell them now. They want to know the minute it happens. Every minute you let pass makes it worse.

defensive driving was fun. i just had an old guy who told stories for six hours. shoulda told them right away dude. have them put you on driving probation. then you have to go so long w/o a moving violation and they wipe it off your record. see if you could get a public defender for this instead of tossin a grand to a lawyer for a few minutes of their time. doesnt seem worth it. you shouldnt get dropped from insurance. its only 22 over, not 30+. no more speeding until you learn all of the traps in the area u do it in.
btw ... YOU'RE GROUNDED MISTER!!!!:madtalkin

while were talking about tickets and im not telling you to do this but ill give it a shot next time i get one (which is hopefully never) knock on wood. somone told me if you get a ticket and you just have to mail in the fine payment say the fine is $100, send a check for $101, they are required to give you that 1 dollar refund, when you get your one dollar check dont cash it, and when they cant say the transanction is complete they cant apply the points. kinda sounds like bs but i will try it.


yup its BS

here it is

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/ticket.asp

Next time run from the cops! It works every time!

It is BS. YOu cant ditch a speeding ticket unless you get a good lawyer. I have had many tickets when I was younger. YOu will live through it, just be happy nobody got hurt from a serious accident going that speed. just dont break the speed limit until you get a better radar detector.

My dad has tons of tricks to get out of speeding tickets, lol. Our last ticket was about like yours 90 in a 65. What he did was write "I contest this" on the BACK of the ticket and mailed it in with the full payment. The person running the tickets will very likely just flip through them because there are usually so many. They will miss the "I contest this" and not set you a court date. If they do not set you a court date after about 30 or 60(not sure) days you call them and tell them that you contested the ticket(wanted to take it to court) but now it is to late and now they must refund you and the ticket never shows up on your record. It worked for us twice in Washington.

My dads a public defender

thats awesome majax, what are some of his other tricks? can you share?

I can certainly ask him, I'll see if I can get you guys another one.

alright, much appriciated. take any advantage i can get, lol.