Another ticket thread.

[yu]

I was following my friend to the movie theatres. We were at his friends house and after that he decided we should go the long way so we can show off our cars (he drives an STi). So we're driving around town and we get stopped at a stop light. He started driving off really fast and I tried catching up to him. At the second stop light, I try to race him again knowing I would never win. Then we turn on to another street and at a stop light, I see a cop behind me. Then seconds later, two more cops roll up beside us. That's when I knew we were screwed. After the light turned green, they flashed their lights and pulled us both over. One cop came up to me and asked me if he knew why he pulled me over and I replied like any teenager would "no." He asked me if I was racing my friend and I said that I was just following him which I kinda was. Then he asked me if I was following him or trying to catch up to him and I said, "both kinda." He said he saw my friend and me racing and said we were going around 55-65 in a 35 which is not that fast at all. But I know he didn't clock us because I know what my car can do in 7 seconds. And he said he pulled us over on Timberlake which is a street with a speed limit of 45. So I knew he was lying about that, too. While I was waiting, this other cop came up to my car and started looking inside. He started asking me questions about it so that made things less stressful. After waiting about 15 minutes, the cop called me out of my car and talked to me about the ticket. He gave me a ticket for reckless driving (racing on highway). I know pretty much he assumed that we were racing and had no hard evidence. I know what I did was wrong, but what should I do about it?

Here is the racing law in my state:
§ 46.2-865. Racing; penalty - Any person who engages in a race between two or more motor vehicles on the highways in the Commonwealth or on any driveway or premises of a church, school, recreational facility, or business property open to the public in the Commonwealth shall be guilty of reckless driving, unless authorized by the owner of the property or his agent. When any person is convicted of reckless driving under this section, in addition to any other penalties provided by law the driver's license of such person shall be suspended by the court for a period of not less than six months nor more than two years. In case of conviction the court shall order the surrender of the license to the court where it shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of § 46.2-398.

[northerncalguy]

Consult a lawyer, fast. In California, the laws are very strict and you could have your license taken away for this kind of driving. Hopefully, your legal counsel can try and get your ticket reduced to simple speeding.

Good luck and sorry for the misfortune.

[D-Rock]

Damm man you got lucky reckless driving in Florida is a 1st degree feline meaning they will impound your car and you wont get it back for a week and you get a 400 dollars and something ticket.

[rs1985]

ouch sucks to be you
well
aii
get a good lawyer!

[Robert]

Well he doesn't really need hard evidence. In court it's your words against his and judge will take his words over yours. Traffic laws are kind of grey sometimes. See if you can reduce it to something else. Kind of stupid how a fun drive on a weekend can turn into such headache better luck next time at a drag strip :-(

[D-Rock]

Originally Posted by bobbo

Well he doesn't really need hard evidence. In court it's your words against his and judge will take his words over yours. Traffic laws are kind of grey sometimes. See if you can reduce it to something else. Kind of stupid how a fun drive on a weekend can turn into such headache better luck next time at a drag strip :-(

VERY true

[Accounting4Speed]

You are pretty much screwed. Only things I can say are, don't street race and be glad you don't live in Oregon, because current Oregon law permits the police to permanently impound any vehicle if caught street racing, so at least you still have your car.

[D-Rock]

Originally Posted by Accounting4Speed

You are pretty much screwed. Only things I can say are, don't street race and be glad you don't live in Oregon, because current Oregon law permits the police to permanently impound any vehicle if caught street racing, so at least you still have your car.

Same thing in Florida

[D-Rock]

that means we caint do this

[Jay_328]

I hate Lynchburg cops, some of them seem to target younger drivers in nice cars. Did you purchase from Hammersley ... and from whom?

Oh yeah, never do that again and consult a lawyer!

[yu]

I purchased mine car from Richmond because the guy from Hammersly was being an ass.

[ZenDriver]

You are an idiot.

I wrote a long explination of how you are an idiot, but I realized that you have a yellow piece of paper that sort of proves the point.

[Broken1]

If it is a ticket you can pay, then pay it. :/

You should have specifically told the officer you were not racing, you were following your friend, and he was driving fast. give me a speed ticket

[Xens]

If it's only a ticket, pay it, go to traffic school and be thankful that's all the punishment you got. The cop could have given you more trouble.

[BMW Lawman]

Originally Posted by Accounting4Speed

You are pretty much screwed. Only things I can say are, don't street race and be glad you don't live in Oregon, because current Oregon law permits the police to permanently impound any vehicle if caught street racing, so at least you still have your car.

There is no such law in Oregon. Speed Racing in Oregon is only a violation, not a crime.

[BMW Lawman]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

You are an idiot.

I wrote a long explination of how you are an idiot, but I realized that you have a yellow piece of paper that sort of proves the point.

I agree.....Total Dumbass. Pay the ticket and learn your lesson.

[BMW Lawman]

Originally Posted by Broken1

If it is a ticket you can pay, then pay it. :/

You should have specifically told the officer you were not racing, you were following your friend, and he was driving fast. give me a speed ticket

Yeah, cuz after what the officer saw, he would surely believe that.

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by BMW Lawman

There is no such law in Oregon. Speed Racing in Oregon is only a violation, not a crime.

Law or violation, Street racing is illegal BY law. If you get caught
in street racing(or a.k.a. speeding competition),
(I've heard these cases from people who actually went through it
and some from the police officers.)

1. If extremely lucky, get a ticket for speeding.
2. If lucky, 3 tickets at once. Including reckless driving, speeding, and involved in speeding competition(big points).
3. If out of your luck, your car will be impounded for 30 days, can be fine up to $5000 including possible holding-cell time for few days.
4. If you are in bad luck, your car can be permanently, yes permanently impounded, fined up to $5000 and can be sent to jail anywhere from few days to 2 years(if caught over 100mph).

Yes, there are alot of lucky cases out there, but regulation regarding
street racing in oregon is getting REALLY strict day by day since almost exactly 5 years ago.

HATE to admit it, but when I was young and dumb and out for
street racing every night, I learned my lesson the hard way.

Trust me on this. You don't want to street race in oregon.

[ZenDriver]

Lux:

Not to be an asshole, but when a sworn PPD officer assigned to the traffic detail tells you how the Oregon Vehicle Code works, you best simply agree.

[fredtoo]

Traffic cops lie, and the Judges are there for screw kids like you that go to court without a Lawyer.

The system thrives on people that "Just Pay the ticket". The whole system revolves around revenue, not safety.

Get a lawyer. I know in most of the South, they do this stuff where you can get probation for a year. If you do not get another ticket, the original ticket is dropped.

Keeping the points off of your liscence will save you big on Insurance down the road.

For example, in NJ, the simple $100 ticket can cost you $300 a year for three years in insurance surcharges.


Hey BMWlawman - If you caught another officer doing this, would you ticket them

[stressdoc]

The one and only ticket that I got in 35 years of accident-free driving was during my first year. Just got off work at about midnight, my friend who had been waiting outside finished smoking a joint, and took off on his motorcycle, but forgot to turn on his lights. I had to wait for my girlfriend to hop on the back of my motorcycle, by which time my buddy was a mile or so ahead. I was doing about 70 trying to catch up to warn him -- deserted roads, not a safety issue for me. Nailed in a stretch of road that went through part of the U of Michigan's north campus, where the university-wide speed limit was 25 at the time. The officers asked me why I was speeding, and I could not think of what to say, because if they went after my friend he might have gotten busted. They started laughing at me, reciting stupid speeding excuses. My girlfriend was much more savvy and just told them to get on with it and write up the ticket. In hindsight they were incredibly unprofessional.

We used to always go out driving during good snowstorms, sliding around. Not sure how that would be viewed. I know I am a much better driver for the practice I got, and it may have saved my life a time or two. Seems to me that "street racing" is a fuzzy area. How do you define it? Should folks zooming off from toll booths or green lights be ticketed? They are 'racing'. From your description you seemed to be just tagging along, there was no organized racing effort. Street racing laws were enacted to prevent explicit racing, not casual speeding. I would definitely seek legal counsel. I imagine you have already explained the situation to your parents (ouch!). Most reasonable people can understand how you were tempted into the situation; openness and humility are likely to be rewarded.

[E90Toad]

Originally Posted by YuBimmer

He said he saw my friend and me racing and said we were going around 55-65 in a 35 which is not that fast at all.

This is your problem, 55-65 in a 35 is pretty fast. 20 or more over is usually a pretty serious violation even if you weren't racing.

A good lawyer is your only hope.