2 Sides of a Speeding Ticket

[Fievel]

While I'm firmly on the side of the law (hey...I gotta be ), I will say that my seatbelt saved my life in college. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, and rear-ended a car at full speed (approx 40 mph). Paramedics on scene figured the combination of the seat belt and airbag saved me from eating the windshield.

I never drive without one...I've seen the other side...people who get brought into jail after being released from the hospital for DUI.

...people disfigured and missing body parts...and for whom jail is now the least of their concerns.

 

[sbkline]

What a terrible tragedy - and what makes it even more tragic is that you could very well lose your father to the identical scenario. Sometimes laws are there to protect us (as well as others!) from our own foolhardy decisions.

Ever since I was a little kid, my Dad has used the same rationalization for refusing to wear a seatbelt...he likes to cite the cases where a seatbelt actually killed the driver instead of saving the driver's life. And he doesn't want to listen to reason when I tell him that such cases are the exceptions to the rule for one thing, and that for another thing, if the accident was so severe that the seatbelt killed the person, then he wouldn't have stood a chance had he not worn the seatbelt. :brick:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I'm not sure where I am on seat belt laws. I always wear mine, but I'm generally of the mindset that government shouldn't be your mommy and stand in the way if you want to do something that might kill you.

On the other hand, if you're in a wreck and suffer injuries that a seatbelt could have prevented, then you're probably going to expect health insurance to cover procedures that could have been avoided if you were smarter. Enough of those payouts and premiums go up for everybody else, so you're not just affecting yourself.

 

[Monty]

I'm not sure where I am on seat belt laws. I always wear mine, but I'm generally of the mindset that government shouldn't be your mommy and stand in the way if you want to do something that might kill you.

On the other hand, if you're in a wreck and suffer injuries that a seatbelt could have prevented, then you're probably going to expect health insurance to cover procedures that could have been avoided if you were smarter. Enough of those payouts and premiums go up for everybody else, so you're not just affecting yourself.

And that's why it's the law as opposed to free will. If the decision to talk on a cell or wear a seatbelt legitimately only impacted the life and livelihood of the person making it, legislation wouldn't need to be passed. Government steps in to protect those of us who would make the right decision from the morons who think they're smarter than the laws of nature and physics.

 

[unkadug]

Don't ever drive in Alabama, then. The only people here who use blinkers are those of us who learned to drive in Georgia.:lol:

I don't think there is any option in this matter. :shrug:

 

[Ilovewishes]

Maybe I have a very black and white view of these things, being a non-driver, but surely if you are not speeding, you won't get a ticket. If you are speeding, you will get a ticket.

I have this debate with people all the time and I've been told that it's "very hard to stay exactly on the speed limit and sometimes, you end up going faster". Simple - drive slower than the speed limit, even just by a few miles and then you have a margin for error that won't get you in trouble with the law!

Or am I looking at this all wrong??:shrug:

 

[MouseMadness]

Maybe I have a very black and white view of these things, being a non-driver, but surely if you are not speeding, you won't get a ticket. If you are speeding, you will get a ticket.

I have this debate with people all the time and I've been told that it's "very hard to stay exactly on the speed limit and sometimes, you end up going faster". Simple - drive slower than the speed limit, even just by a few miles and then you have a margin for error that won't get you in trouble with the law!

Or am I looking at this all wrong??:shrug:

With logic and a shred of sense?

Apparently :lol:

It seems we all act like my kids sometimes :lookaroun "But it was just this once!" "But it was only by this much!" I speed, I get caught, I pay the fine. :shrug: I don't go whining about it and making excuses.

 

[sbkline]

Maybe I have a very black and white view of these things, being a non-driver, but surely if you are not speeding, you won't get a ticket. If you are speeding, you will get a ticket.

I have this debate with people all the time and I've been told that it's "very hard to stay exactly on the speed limit and sometimes, you end up going faster". Simple - drive slower than the speed limit, even just by a few miles and then you have a margin for error that won't get you in trouble with the law!

Or am I looking at this all wrong??:shrug:

Like I said, I'm not saying I disagree with cops issuing tickets for speeding. I just don't hold an impersonal, legalistic black and white view of it. I think there are things that need to be taken into account besides the simple fact of exceeding the speed limit. What are the road conditions? By how much was he exceeding the speed limit? Where was it at? Etc, etc...

As we drove down the interstate yesterday, I had my cruise control set at 65 mph, which is the speed limit here in Illinois. Some vehicle came blowing by me and left me in the dust. Unless that person was on his way to an emergency, I would feel no sympathy at all for him had he been nailed by a cop, because IMO, there is no reason for that. If a person is driving through town and is speeding, I see no injustice in issuing him a ticket. And for those times that I have been pulled over for legitimate infractions (such as doing the U-Turn on the interstate or going 55 in a 45 zone), I felt like there was no injustice done to me because I was in the wrong...although I did appreciate getting a warning rather than a ticket.

However, there are other times when I think common sense needs to come into play and not just a black and white approach. Such as times when you're going down a steep incline and it's extremely difficult to keep the car from slowing down. I think any cop with half a brain would realize that this is an instance that warrants overlooking it a little.

On the other hand, there are times when the roads are horrible, such as in an ice storm, and I don't care if the sign does say "speed limit 65"...you should be pulled over and ticketed for going 65 because that is too fast for conditions.

I used to hold to a much more black and white view of things until reality started setting in and the realization began to occur to me that there are a host of other mitigating circumstances that could come into play other than the black and white letter of the law. Being black and white is how you get the Barney Fife's of the world...people with no brains and no common sense...people who only know what some rule says on paper but who have no clue how to properly apply it with a little common sense.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

And for those times that I have been pulled over for legitimate infractions (such as doing the U-Turn on the interstate or going 55 in a 45 zone)

There's one I haven't tried! :lol:

 

[TwoTigersMom]

There's one I haven't tried! :lol:

We had someone here try it about a year ago and killed 2 motorcyclists.

 

[sbkline]

We had someone here try it about a year ago and killed 2 motorcyclists.

I'm not sure what the interstates are like in the states you guys live in, but just to make sure we're all thinking of the same thing...here in Illinois, we have the Northbound lane (or eastbound as the case may be) and the southbound lane (or westbound as the case may be) and periodically, you'll come across a paved drive between the two lanes which provides quick access from one lane to the other. There are signs which say no U-Turn; authorized vehicles only. We were on our way home one day and there was a big traffic backup, so I thought I would take the u-turn thingy and get back into the westbound lane and catch a highway up a mile or two back and take a different way back home, bypassing the backup. I checked for cops, of course and, seeing none, I proceeded to do the U-Turn. In my mirror, I saw a white car coming up on me and then I saw the equipment in the car and I knew it was a cop that I had apparently failed to see. She pulled me over and gave me a warning. Had she given me a ticket, I would not have cried foul and would have totally understood, because I knew I wasn't supposed to do that (although I won't say that I would never do it again if I felt like I needed to, LOL). I appreciated only getting a warning, of course, but I knew I was responsible for it and would have felt no injustice in getting a ticket had it come to that.

So contrary to what some of you may think, I do believe in personal responsibility and I do believe in ticketing speeders. I just don't hold to such a black and white view which leaves no room for mitigating circumstances and no room for a margin of error (such as taking into account possible discrepancies in speedomoters, for example).

 

[TwoTigersMom]

I'm not sure what the interstates are like in the states you guys live in, but just to make sure we're all thinking of the same thing...here in Illinois, we have the Northbound lane (or eastbound as the case may be) and the southbound lane (or westbound as the case may be) and periodically, you'll come across a paved drive between the two lanes which provides quick access from one lane to the other. There are signs which say no U-Turn; authorized vehicles only. We were on our way home one day and there was a big traffic backup, so I thought I would take the u-turn thingy and get back into the westbound lane and catch a highway up a mile or two back and take a different way back home, bypassing the backup. I checked for cops, of course and, seeing none, I proceeded to do the U-Turn. In my mirror, I saw a white car coming up on me and then I saw the equipment in the car and I knew it was a cop that I had apparently failed to see. She pulled me over and gave me a warning. Had she given me a ticket, I would not have cried foul and would have totally understood, because I knew I wasn't supposed to do that (although I won't say that I would never do it again if I felt like I needed to, LOL). I appreciated only getting a warning, of course, but I knew I was responsible for it and would have felt no injustice in getting a ticket had it come to that.

So contrary to what some of you may think, I do believe in personal responsibility and I do believe in ticketing speeders. I just don't hold to such a black and white view which leaves no room for mitigating circumstances and no room for a margin of error (such as taking into account possible discrepancies in speedomoters, for example).

First of all we have the same interstates in the South. Yes the driver was doing the exact same thing you were and it caused a major accident that killed two men on motorcycles.

As far as dicrepancies in speedomoters, if you get a ticket and you can prove your spedometer was not functioning, you can take that to court and as long as you got it fixed they will usually drop the fines and such. Certain things are illegal and they are that way for a reason. We may not understand the reason or may not agree with the reason, but there IS a reason.

 

[sbkline]

First of all we have the same interstates in the South. Yes the driver was doing the exact same thing you were and it caused a major accident that killed two men on motorcycles.

As far as dicrepancies in speedomoters, if you get a ticket and you can prove your spedometer was not functioning, you can take that to court and as long as you got it fixed they will usually drop the fines and such. Certain things are illegal and they are that way for a reason. We may not understand the reason or may not agree with the reason, but there IS a reason.

But my whole point is there shouldn't be any need to go into court to prove that your speedomoter was wrong...at least in the cases I'm talking about. I'm not talking about getting ticketed for going 20 MHP over the speed limit and then protesting it because your speedomoter is wrong. I'm talking about the customary "grace zone" if you will...where most cops let it slide if you're only going 5 MPH or so over the speed limit. It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and depending on what part of the jurisdiction you're in. But some departments will overlook it if it's 10 MPH or less over the speed limit, and with others, it's about 5 MPH or less. I think part of the reason for that is to account for a discrepancy in speedomoters. Yours might read 55, but the radar gun reads 60, for example. Or you might be sticking mostly to the speed limit, but accidentally gun the gas and speed up briefly before catching the error. If you'll pardon the TV reference again, most cops are the Andy Taylor type, fortunately, and not the Barney Fife type who feel the need to chase down those desperate outlaws who are going 3 MPH over the speed limit. Rules are fine and necessary, but so is a little brains and common sense, and the ability to be flexible with the enforcement and application of rules, rather than just mindlessly spouting off regulations like good ol' Deputy Fife. And, to be perfectly blunt, a cop who pulls you over for going 5 MPH over the speed limit is just a plain ol' idiot. Simple as that. And that's me being black and white.

 

[TwoTigersMom]

But my whole point is there shouldn't be any need to go into court to prove that your speedomoter was wrong...at least in the cases I'm talking about. I'm not talking about getting ticketed for going 20 MHP over the speed limit and then protesting it because your speedomoter is wrong. I'm talking about the customary "grace zone" if you will...where most cops let it slide if you're only going 5 MPH or so over the speed limit. It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and depending on what part of the jurisdiction you're in. But some departments will overlook it if it's 10 MPH or less over the speed limit, and with others, it's about 5 MPH or less. I think part of the reason for that is to account for a discrepancy in speedomoters. Yours might read 55, but the radar gun reads 60, for example. Or you might be sticking mostly to the speed limit, but accidentally gun the gas and speed up briefly before catching the error. If you'll pardon the TV reference again, most cops are the Andy Taylor type, fortunately, and not the Barney Fife type who feel the need to chase down those desperate outlaws who are going 3 MPH over the speed limit. Rules are fine and necessary, but so is a little brains and common sense, and the ability to be flexible with the enforcement and application of rules, rather than just mindlessly spouting off regulations like good ol' Deputy Fife. And, to be perfectly blunt, a cop who pulls you over for going 5 MPH over the speed limit is just a plain ol' idiot. Simple as that. And that's me being black and white.

I'm sorry Sbkline, I just have a hard time accepting your rationalization. First of all, a speed limit is just that, a limit. It's not a suggestion. It's the maximum speed allowed safely for that particular stretch of road. Police do not need to use common sense or "brains". If you are going 1 mile over the speed limit you are breaking the law. Yes it is that black and white. There is no gray area. Perhaps, whoever is getting the ticket is extremely respectful and shows remorse, then the officer, if they chose to could give a warning. It's entirely up to the officer and the peron being pulled over's attitude.

Personally, I don't think it's very nice to call any person who puts their life on the line day in and day out for your safety an "idiot" even if they just gave you a ticket for doing 1 mile over the speed limit.

Just to throw something out there, you mentioned gunning the gas for a second and not noticing. If you don't notice that you're gunning the gas, are you going to notice you are about to hit a child that ran in the road to get their ball? You should always be aware of your driving and surroundings while driving.

 

[Hrudey3032]

I'm sorry Sbkline, I just have a hard time accepting your rationalization. First of all, a speed limit is just that, a limit. It's not a suggestion. It's the maximum speed allowed safely for that particular stretch of road. Police do not need to use common sense or "brains". If you are going 1 mile over the speed limit you are breaking the law. Yes it is that black and white. There is no gray area. Perhaps, whoever is getting the ticket is extremely respectful and shows remorse, then the officer, if they chose to could give a warning. It's entirely up to the officer and the peron being pulled over's attitude.

Personally, I don't think it's very nice to call any person who puts their life on the line day in and day out for your safety an "idiot" even if they just gave you a ticket for doing 1 mile over the speed limit.

Just to throw something out there, you mentioned gunning the gas for a second and not noticing. If you don't notice that you're gunning the gas, are you going to notice you are about to hit a child that ran in the road to get their ball? You should always be aware of your driving and surroundings while driving.

Very Well said.I understand your gripe SBK but as has been stated before a law is in place for a reason.There isn't a law that says "Well he was only 5 over the speed limit he didn't mean it so he is ok" You keep referencing a cop who upholds the law the way it is written in the book a Barney Fife well if you are a basketball player and your job is to score points wouldnt you do all you could to score as that is your job?? That Barney Fife is paid to enforce the law. I don't fault him if you,me or someone else breaks the law and get caught.He is doing his job that we citizens pay him to do. If you don't like a law then form a committee to get it changed by your local government if you can.

 

[kstella]

I'm always amazed by people who complain that they were speeding and pulled over, but the person in front of them was sppeding even more so why not get them instead. As I understand, law enforcement is under no obligation to get the "bigger offender". If you are speeding, you are stil breaking the law. I am familiar with the county that the letter writer is complaingin about. The roads are very hilly and curvy, not to mention the possibilty of animals running in front of you, and anyone who goes 65 one them is driving very dangerously.

 

[MouseMadness]

I'm sorry Sbkline, I just have a hard time accepting your rationalization. First of all, a speed limit is just that, a limit. It's not a suggestion. It's the maximum speed allowed safely for that particular stretch of road. Police do not need to use common sense or "brains". If you are going 1 mile over the speed limit you are breaking the law. Yes it is that black and white. There is no gray area. Perhaps, whoever is getting the ticket is extremely respectful and shows remorse, then the officer, if they chose to could give a warning. It's entirely up to the officer and the peron being pulled over's attitude.

Personally, I don't think it's very nice to call any person who puts their life on the line day in and day out for your safety an "idiot" even if they just gave you a ticket for doing 1 mile over the speed limit.

Just to throw something out there, you mentioned gunning the gas for a second and not noticing. If you don't notice that you're gunning the gas, are you going to notice you are about to hit a child that ran in the road to get their ball? You should always be aware of your driving and surroundings while driving.

:sohappy: Thank you!! I am so sick of the people thinking of cops with this "Barney Fife" mentality Guess what, Mayberry doesn't exist anymore.

 

[unkadug]

:sohappy: Thank you!! I am so sick of the people thinking of cops with this "Barney Fife" mentality Guess what, Mayberry doesn't exist anymore.

Did it ever?

 

[MouseMadness]

Did it ever?

I was thinking that as I typed it :lol: Only on tv, I suppose.

Though I dunno... we've got the complete series on dvd, and I've noticed more than a few shady characters roaming around that place

:lol:

This has me thinking of the last time I got a ticket... driving home from the airport, it was around midnight, and I was almost there. Kids asleep (in a 2000 Ford Windstar, if you want the scene :ROFLOL: ) MIL with me in the front, and here go the lights behind me My MIL kept saying "You'd better not get a ticket! You'd better not get a ticket!" LMAO Well, I was going a hair over 50 in a 45... maybe 52 or 53, so :shrug: So anyway, the guy comes up and asks where we're coming from, where we're going, etc. sees the kids snoozing in the back, and I guess decided that I wasn't drunk or speeding TOO awful bad, and let me go with a warning that he didn't want to see me out this late going so fast anymore.

Yeah, because as a mother of four, that's totally a habit of mine :ROFLOL: So I said thanks and off I went. Didn't flirt rolleyes: ) or whine rolleyes: ) and it was all fine.

 

[Erika]

I was pulled over for speeding once and I honestly had no idea I was doing it. I blurted out what I knew was a lame excuse but, strange enough, was also true- I HAD been told my speedometer was a few MPH off - but still was shocked that they let me go (it was 2 officers; I believe one was in training).

I was on my way to work and therefore in scrubs, so maybe they thought I was off to save some lives :lol: :shrug: