RagTop69

I got my first ticket in the Vette on June 9 and I just received my "Courtesy Notice" from the court in Stockton, CA where I was apprehended doing 71 in a 55. The last ticket I had gotten was about eight years ago in my '69 Vette doing 71(I must like that number) in a 50 in the Santa Cruz mountains south of San Jose, CA. I paid around $250 for that one. My Stockton courtesy notice says that my fine is $426 plus $52 in admin charges for opting for traffic school. Looks like CA is trying to make up the unsecured retirement obligations on the backs of drivers. After I add the $20 for the traffic school, I'm looking at a total fine of nearly $500. Damn! I guess if you can't do the time don't do the crime but, ho-lee cow, that is one hell of a chunk to swallow. CA is a humorless place these days. I may have to start taking the bus.

TerryL

A couple years back a motorcyclist friend of mine got a crossing the double yellows tkt in San Mateo Co. and paid nearly $350. Also a clear record. I'd appear and plead guilty and ask for a reduction or elimination of the fines, minus the court costs of course, by pointing out your long clean DMV history. He opted for TS and it cost him a bundle. You certainly couldn't do any worse by appearing.

sharkva

Only 71... you weren't trying hard enough. 25mph over the limit here can get your car impounded and a free night sleeping on a hard bench. The times are changing....

Allan

5 big ones for 17 over. Well, someone has to pay for the illegals there.

jrose7004

They're all fines for revenue enhancement anyway.

RicardoFors68

How about 80 days in jail reduced to 10 days plus $2,500 fine plus court fees for going over 80 in a 70mph zone? 1st offense. That was after hiring a lawyer (paid him too), going in uniform with my superiors (was active duty at the time). VA don't play, Hanover County really don't play....
I would gladly pay any fine if it keeps me out and free...

COMMANDER2OOO

MY last speeding ticket was $125, I paid a lawyer $600 to get it changed to a none moving violation. I paid the extra to keep the points off my record and my insurance .

Bruze

Nowadays cops are just armed revenue collectors.

Cruisers

Locked up? Plus $2500 fine? Maybe I understand a supercharger now.

HOXXOH

I guess I got off easy for 97 in a 70 on I-10 near Banning. It was 5 years ago and CA apparently wasn't broke yet, since the fine was only $250.
The LEO was more concerned about my quick lane change than the speed. I had been stuck in lane 2 for several miles by a lane 1 squatter. When the window temporarily opened, I hit it just as the CHP was checking radar. Oops! I won't be doing that again.

csf

Well . . . not in Baltimore.

Vet Interested

My last ticket was in 1977! Going 65 in a 55 in Fillmore, UT on I-15. The cop had me follow him to the Justice of The Peace's house (it was Sunday morning). He was in the middle of getting ready for church. I figured I am really screwed! The Justice of the Peace looked at the cop and said,"I think a $35 donation to our church will do just fine". The cop agreed. I couldn't give them the money fast enough. He had me place it in a church envelope! (I can't make this stuff up)! The cop asked me if I needed help getting back to the Interstate? I told him no thank you and left. Wow!

csf

Well . . . not in Baltimore.

owc6

Wow! That makes me feel so fortunate.

I can tell this story, as it was long enough that the statute of limitations is past. I got written up in Caroline County (just north of Hanover Co). I was doing 95 in a 55, but got a KA radar hit, and shut it down quickly. The officer clocked me at 78 (I had the RD below the dash, and KA is short range ).

The nice officer only wrote me up for 73. Not only that, but he explained that he's never pulled a Vette over before in his long career (apparently we don't speed or we know how and where to not get caught ), and how to approach the judge who he knows is on the bench for our day in court. He proceeds to tell me how this judge is known to be lenient for those who have gone a long time between tickets.

I show up in court, and sure enough, he is lenient to those who have been good for awhile. Most are judged guilty with fines and court costs. The occasional one comes in with 8, then 10 years with no guilty and court charges. Then the gal directly in front of me has been 40 years since her last ticket! DISMISSED! No court charges.

My 26 years since a moving violation meant less than the guy who only 10. "Failure to obey a highway sign" No moving violation, but I still had to pay ticket and court charges.

In this particular case, it sucks to have your last name be at the end of the alphabet.

ruxvette

My last citation was for 135 on the freeway in Montana. Trooper said the fine was $40. I paid her on the spot.

Bruze

Now Mrs. Ow, when I learned the alphabet, "O" was around the middle somewhere -- not the end.

owc6

I never said my last name started with "O".

Bruze

torquetube

After the first sentence I knew you must have been in Virginia.

LMB-Z

Last ticket I got was when I had my 01 coupe...probably 2004. Texas DPS clocked me at 75 in a 55, wrote it for 71. Went to judges office to pay ticket, $100 bill. Over.