speeding and extenuating circumstances

[nllm_oo_mlln]

I got nailed for 70 in a 55

reason: stuck behind two cars and the first was burning oil badly w/ their flashers on going about 50. I wear hard contacts and the smoke was burning my eyes and blurring my vision there was on coming traffic a car behind me and a soft shoulder. the smoke was worse in the right side of the lane. so dropping back nor pulling over weren't safe or appealing options. so when there was a break in oncoming traffic I passed-- just then the car directly in front of me started pulling out so I opened it up and took off. mind you my eyes are still burning and vision is blurry from my watering eyes but the fresh air was helping. I got around the cars and slowed down and started blinking and letting my eyes wash away the irritant. thats when I saw the cop and I instinctively looked at the speedo and it looked like it was in the 65mph zone but my eyes weren't quite i00 percentso I completely let off the throttle. and got down to 55. I was shaken from what just happened and realized the cop had turned around and was behind me. so now I'm really shaken.

he pulls me over and I explained the circumstances above but not as in depth-- but kept it brief stressing my vision and ultimate safety. he said I was doing 70 I didn't agree or disagree. I knew my licence was missing that morning when I tried to buy some smokes. he didn't give me a ticket for that but did for 70 in a 55 and said speeding is speeding, and I get that but felt this was an extenuating circumstance. no dice.

I am gonna fight it but really would like to know if my extenuating circumstance are enough. i got a 60 in a 55 last summer and another one a few weeks ago. shoulda fought the first one but the second one I felt had merit. i didn't contact the court (flat broke) and it's past the ten days on the second ticket that I intended on paying once I had money; can I still deny responsibility on the late one in hopes of it getting tossed? If it goes to trial I would cite the speed survey which I am sure 60 is under the average. since that ticket may have been a tad generous (I may have been going faster) would it even be wise to challenge that one, could they increase it to the speed he may have stated that I was going? given the break I may have gotten would it even be wise to look that gift horse in the face?

slow down? I sure will, but considering I have 19500 miles of commuting on the monster the odds of me getting pulled over are particularly high. I'm thinking about hanging it up because I can't loose my license or I'll loose my job.

optional rant about speeding-- I know it's already long

I got 4 warnings and the stock gearing put 55mph right on the upward peak of the torque curve so keeping it down was hard. I started pacing my self with cars that seemed to be on cruise control. when I got the ticket I was doing my best to obey the law pacing a rusty brown pick up for 15 miles that I coulda passed at will. I really conveyed this to the ... uh you know, but with all the warnings he said his hands were tied.

at that point I became incensed at the law and any where but the hotspots that I were already pulled over I was doing tripple digits. If I'm gonna break the law I may as well have fun. Ironicaly the speeding ticket had a brutalizing effect on me and made me not really care about my safety. it took three weeks to come to my senses. I'm getting that way again and without going where we can't here at the DML I'm really pissed, upset and defeated. I love riding but when I get on the bike now I can no longer enjoy it. thanks for letting me vent if you read the rant.

[ItsaDuc]

Wow, this really is a bummer for you. You seem to have very few options as far as getting out of the tickets. And to think you already have 19500 on the dial blows me away. I think fighting this one is in your best interest. If I can picture the situation, you exceeded the speed limit in order to move yourself out of a dangerous situation. Use as much detail in order to explain to the judge. this way you are making the impression you weighed your options in the situation and saw passing as the best one.

Not sure what else to say other than hope it works out in the end. Hate for you to lose the liscence. Good luck and keep us posted.

Erik

[mucky]

The odds of you getting pulled over are high because you keep speeding!

You will probally have a hard time fighting the ticket because of the others you have. You will not be able to fight the one you missed. In fact, I'm not sure what the time period is maybe 90 days,but you will have a warrant for your arrest and your liscense will be suspended. You basically didn't show up for your court date. Call the court and get the one you got a few weeks ago taken care of

Anyway, it's always good to fight it, the cop may not show up, then your in the clear. But they love to show up and get paid for basically nothing.

If your broke you should still contact the court and deny responsability. It usually takes a month to get a court date, sometimes longer.

Good luck and slow down. You should know where the cops are now

[nllm_oo_mlln]

anyone else with experience on this?

I missed the chance to not accept responsibility by one day for the record they give you twenty days but that might be different in different courts

I'm just on a run of bad luck here. both tires show cords at the second big service--that's one pay check. the banks takes another in overdraft fees-- I was a big spender that week 40 some dolars each fill up and 38 dolar bottle of water. All the while my mom and sister are both getting their hearts diagnosed with nerve racking waits between tests and appointments. ma's gonna be off work for a while so I'm trying to save up somthing in case theres a delay in the benefits procedure.

please dont lecture me about what I should have done there's no changing that and I'm very frustrated right now. not talking about you mucky because there was more helpful info than lecture-- and it's already been adressed. I go 5 to 10 over in my comute and 55 in the hot spots. I re geared my bike so it would do 60ish without lugging or screeming. I'd like a sport vue and a good detector but I can't afford one for a while. sometimes I do make a concious decision to open it up like my last ticket-- when everything is right it's very exhilerating-- if I get caught in one of those moments it's definatly worth it. but now it's like I can't even do any recreational riding out on some twisty road or go for a group ride.

I'd like to shrug it off and just regulate it to trivial status like I ussualy would but it's not working.

if I get a lawyer is the court and city gonna knuckle up because I'm going for backup? go ahead and say it: Are my extenuating circumstances flimsy?

[stenbough]

Wow, just read the whole thing. That sucks man. I think hiring a lawyer won't matter much. It's going to cost a lot of money to be represented for a speeding ticket, but that is your third in the past year (I think?). Your insurance is going to really suck if you've been collecting points on all these tickets as well.

I'd say, without a lawyer, you probaby don't have a fighting chance in getting this speeding ticket eliminated or reduced enough for it to pay off. If this was your first ticket, it would be a different story, but the judge will take into consideration all of your past convictions.

Oh, and your extenuating circumstances are very flimsy. Good luck. Slow down. :-\

[punker248]

Just for starters, what city was this in, what freeway were you on?

[nllm_oo_mlln]

M-22 North of Manistee- rural highway psl is 55.

did the informal hearing but lost, woulda appealed but had too much going on at work to be stressed out any more about it.

both the majestrate and the officer excused the defective minivan from pulling off because as they said "there really isn't any place to pull off on that road" but that's exactly what they expected me to do with impaired sight on two wheels >

but I'm not bitter

on a related note I video taped myself riding and saw for the first time what they see-- the monster looks fast and evil, I lean forward quite a bit in my black gear looking quite reckless. in their eyes even if they believe me they probably think I deserve it for making all the babies cry and old biddys wet themselves-- I'm a good guy though honest :angel:

blurry proof(no camera op available)
[img width=600 height=317]http://www.ducatimonster.org/gallery/albums/userpics/23713/goodguy.png[/img]