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Need some quick help - court date in a week..
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alright so way back in may on the way to stowe i got a speeding ticket in vermont for going 80 in a 65, actually 86.. but it was down a massive hill. it was pretty shitty because the whole way i was keeping it at 10 mph over the limit and of course on the one massive downhill i don't pay attention to my speedometer and there happens to be a cop..
well the cop got me on laser.. which i believe is 100 percent failproof.
so in massachusetts, if you are under 18 and get a speeding ticket then you automatically lose your license for 3 months.. so i decided to appeal it. 4 months later i get my court date and it happens to be this coming monday.
so i am thinking that i should just own up to my irresponsibleness to the judge and explain how i drove 8 hours that day and it was just one slip up.. and that i have had my license for 10 months now.. and that speeding ticket is the only problem i've had with the police.. and just explain how much i need my license to drive to school and work.. etc.
my question is, will this method work? i'm not sure if admitting i was speeding and apologizing is enough, or if i should go with some "i was going with the flow" bullshit.
it just sucks because some of my friends have been pulled over atleast once or twice for going the same speed and the first time i do i get a speeding ticket..
any help would be appreciated.. as losing my license for 3 months would really suck.
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I had to go to a traffic court date this summer. I got a ticket for not having a life jacket on a boat, but I saw a kid who seemed to be in a situation similar to yours while I was there. He was apparently speeding, and was there to appeal his ticket. He admitted to speeding, said he was sorry, and got a $375 ticket. His slip: he made a bullshit excuse about how he wasn't used to the manual car he was driving so he sped (past tense of speeding?). So anyway, what I gathered from the situation is be honest, don't dress like a dump and don't have a crappy excuse. Good luck to you man.
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sean, i dont think the ticket will affect your liscense in mass. i got 2 in VT and decided to just pay them and nothing happened to my points or my insurance. id just pay them...
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^word thank you.. i have to drive 3 hours for the appeal which also sucks.. but i'll def be wearing a shirt and tie too.
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yeah i was hoping that too.. i'm really not sure because i don't know anyone under 18 that got a speeding ticket in a different state... all i know is that the new law is "if a massachusetts junior operator gets a speeding ticket then they lose their license for 90 days".. so it's really not specific to getting a speeding ticket in massachusetts or other states as well..
i figured i would appeal it just in case because i'm really not sure.
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I'm not exactly up to speed on VT's state laws but you should be able to request some sort of court supervision/probation if this is your first offense. You will probably have to pay a little bit of extra cash, but if you make it xx number of months without any problems then the ticket is dropped from your record. Good luck dude.
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thanks for the help guys.. can anyone else help me out with any advice?
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if i were the judge id like to hear what you stated first, not the going with the flow stuff
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aight first....if u get a ticket outside of ur state u dont get points on ur license or anything its just a fine but idk what the rules are if u have a junior or ful license or watever but i was in a similar positioin i was goin 66 in a 45 in upstate ny and idk if anyone knows upstate ny but its like super straight roads that change from like 55 to 35 and shit but anyway i went to court i did have a lawyer cuase i only had my junior license and i needed my license for work and stuff but just tell the judge that you were driving for along time slipped up one time not a big deal just have to be nice and stuff also if the cop doesnt show up u get off the ticket and if he does hopefuly hes nice about it cuase then it influences the judge a lot. oh also tell the judge that u are a good kid, never been in trouble with the law, etc, etc ( idk if u have)
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id just tell the judge to suck-a-dick
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i know it doesnt sound like much, but you should def dress up and look classy and tell the person what happened and like you said, just say, that this one time, you forgot to look down at the speedometer, and cuz it was so long ago, im sure theyll let you off
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oxford or dress shirt, red tie, khakis, leather shoes and belt, blue blazer. the white man's uniform, a prerequisite for anything important in life, it tells the judge that you shouldn't be hindered on your path to contributing something useful to society. its sad that such things make such a big difference, but on the other hand even someone working minimum wage can afford at least the shirt and pants. showing up to court in tims and a jersey is just lame.
the state systems sometimes let you slip between the tracks, but I had no such luck. in VA its 8 hours of driving school if you're under 19 and I had to do it even though it was a nonmoving violation. one of the shittiest days of my life, hope your luck is better. although a suspended license still allows you to drive to school or work.
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Out of state rules can be weird. Somethings apply, some don't. Points usually don't carry over. However, I was in a similar situation (driving for 8 hours, got pulled over out of state 6 hours in) and I have a mandatory court date next Wednesday in the middle of Delaware (I live near Philly). I'm planning on going the apologetic route, hopefully it works out.
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you really should be fine, there is a ggod chance that it will be reduced. Just explain your story in whole and youll be golden. I did somewhat the same thing and I was fine
dont worry about it bro youll be fine, but really dress well. It will make you look more responsable and mature
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Sean. your best bet is to slip the judge a few g's of bostons finest and get on with your existence. you made it out of africa and slavery, you can easily make it out of a speeding ticket.
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Go with the good kid thing, say it's your first slip up and were hoping it could be excused, and that you need your car to drive to school/work etc. Wear a suit, cut your hair if it's long, be respectful to the judge.
If i didn't read the thread right, sorry.
PS: Holy shit karma-post ratio
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yah in VT its one slip and your out for like 3 months if your goin fast enough...id say go wit the good looks and tell the truth...if the cop doesnt show then your case will be thrown out
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dress nice, be apologetic, be polite, don't expect him to give you a break, don't beg, talk about why you need your car to go somewhere that will benefit others if this is the case. Like talk about a job you need to drive to or about school and what your studying and just seem like a nice positive contributer to the community and wear an american flag pin cause it would be funny.
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I think the best thing would to tell the truth and how it happened and say that this is your first problem with the law and stuff, also i know it has been said before but dress nice
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Yeah man just be honest and play the innocent kid role... good grades? no trouble with the law, etc. good luck man
and yeah dress professionally
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well, lying isnt going to help at all, just be honest, if the judge is a nice guy you might get out of it or at least the penalty lessened
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i would ditch the go with the flow bullshit, thats gonna get you screwed. playing the 8 hours/i have a clean record card is good, and then after that speech, just own up to it, say you made a mistake and you will accept the consequences, and it will never happen again. that should work, providing the judge isnt a douchebag
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usually in cases like this honesty is the best way to go.
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if you got busted 4 months ago, the chances of the cop even showing up are slim.
but i think apologizing and telling him your story would be enough for you first offense.
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similar thing happened to me....62 in a 45...i was behind a huge truck ..mud tires and the hole 9 yards...a real truck you know? It was a steep long hill and i tried passing him cuz it was pouring out and i was getting sprayed bad so to get around him i sped up and once my spedometer hit 60 i started breaking to slow down and right when i did that i passed a cop....she pulled me over at the bottom of the hill and i just told her i wasn't trying to speed and just wanted to get aorund that truck....soo because i was honest and polite she let me off
hopefully this same technique can work for you and you can get out of the ticket
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have you ever gotten a ticket in another state? i live in mass and i got two tickets in nh like 10 months apart from each other. i paid the first one and nothing happened i was like sweet im off the hook. then i got the second one and what do ya know...my insurance went up. so i called my insurance lady to ask her why my insurance went up for the second one and not the first and she told me that you dont get a surchagre for the first one, just everyone after that.
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o and hey sean how did everything turn out?
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This has probably already been said in here, but I'll just say it again because its my POV...
Smart adults (like the judge?) will know when you're bullshitting them. That's what they get paid for. If you go in there and try and lie and make excuses, he/she will see that you haven't learned anything from your experience and that you're just a little douchebag kid trying to get off clean. That's what they'll see.
However, if you go in there and you're polite, respectful, and you apologize and own up to what you did, they'll see you as a responsible kid who is truly sorry and willing to accept the consequonces and learn from his actions. That's when they let you off, when they see that punishment will only make you more miserable because you've already learned your lesson.
Good luck man, shitty situation. Make sure you come back and tell us what happened, because I'd be interested to know what you did and where it got you...
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my older bro has had his license (N) suspended twice and each time he had to start his 'n' over so he still has it and hes 20, the last time he lost his license he went to appeal and said he was going with the flow ,because he was, and he was the only one who got caught but that didnt work out and he just had to catch ride for 2-3 months, it sucked
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dont tell your life story, but mix in some personal details. the more they know about you, the worse theyl feel about punishing you
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Shit, I realized that his court date would've been about September 15th...lame on my part. Whatever...
So how'd it go?
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thing's got kinda fucked up.. 4-5 days or so before the scheduled court date my dad called to see if there were any alternatives than me missing school to drive 3 hours for a court date.. lady he talked to said that it's possible to do it by phone instead, and that I would have to write a quick letter requesting that to happen..
so i did that, faxed a quick letter about how I just started high school as a senior and it's very hard for me to miss school, and asked them to do it by phone after school.. so they wanted to do it one day at 1:30 but i obviously couldn't because i wasn't out of school yet..
then i get a letter saying that since i missed the court date that i would have to pay the ticket fine ($130) plus $30 for not showing up.. which is BS because i didn't show up because i chose to do it by phone instead.
so i gotta call tomorrow and figure this shit out.
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Just own up and pay, you won't win.
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they might let you use your lisence only to go to school and work. lik at might you wouldnt be allowed to drive. thats what they did to my brother
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most of the time the cop doesn't even show up
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just say shit like its your first offence and that you need your car for school and work and shit.
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that sucks dude. i would try and work it out. but if not ask for a Cinderella license which lets your drive from like 6 am to midnight or something so you can get to work and school and stuff. i cant remember the exact times but it something like that. and did your dad write down the name of the lady he talked to. i would have him call back and talk to her and ask what happened.
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