two separate court appearances , actually. In separate locations across town, both appointments within 50 minutes of one another (assholes!)

Anyways, my point was that at one of the hearings, i actually had to do that raise your right hand and swear in shit. We still do this shit? Seriously? In this day and age? Granted, they omitted the "...so help me God" part, but still...modern society requires me to use some old, hokey, religious hand gesture to confirm that i'm telling the truth? I thought that's what my signature was for. Just cuz they take it off the walls, don't mean we still aren't "One nation, UNDER God." nonsense...

If that's your biggest concern after a court appearance, consider yourself lucky.

i am, so far. $125 ticket reduced to $50, and gotta wait 2 weeks for the other.

nice! good they got reduced!
the rev is going to contest and ticket and i\'m so happy, he had best get off scottfree!
~carina

did the cop who gave you thew ticket show up scott?

can you give some details as to what went down>
~carina

I got a $115 84 in a 65 ticket the other sunday... I'm going to fight it. The cop in no way what so every could have clocked me cause I was behind a bigger truck in the passing lane.
I saw the cop for a split second around the front of the electricians truck as I pulled into the right lane and took my foot off the gas.

cops basically just make up the speed you are doing anyhow. my tickets thus far have all been 1-mile under a fine limit.
49 in a 35 MA (1995)
44 in a 30 NH (1998)
79 in a 65 NY (1999)
84 in a 65 MA (the cop was tailgating me for miles why didn't I fight this one?) (2004)
84 in a 65 (2005)

i have yet got a speeding ticket, knock on wood

Damn ,leadfoot

hahaha you always speed, I'm sure you were speeding, and you say I'm a grandma going 75 in a 65.

if you're 20 miles over the speed limit it's criminal speeding isn't it? I thought technically they could take you to jail if they wanted too. Would you rather them have it at 85 in a 65?

if I didn't drive fast, I would get to shows even later than 1/2hr late.

my 1st ticket I got I was doing 80 in a 65, he put 79. If he had put 80 the ticket would have been like another $20-50 or something.

i speed, get pulled over..no tickets so far...
so when my day comes...i\'ll accept it..

as for the rev...i told him to contest the last one...but he didn\'t lsiten...i told him to contest this one and he wants to..so i\'m happy
he clocked the truck in front of us who ended up WAY ahead of us

~carina

Oh, this is about traffic court.

Rev. if you pleaded guilty to all those tickets they're going to look at your record and not find you very believable. Once you plead guilty, the circumstances of the ticket no longer matter.
They will probably offer to reduce the fine to the minimum, but you'll still get fucked on insurance (though you live in NH and it may not matter to you)

RustedAngel said:

It can be. But only if the cop is really pissed at you. Its called "Operating to Endanger". Even with that, you have to really piss off the cop to get hauled in, they'll ususally just send you a summons in the mail. It alomst never holds up in court, its just the cop's way of making sure you have your day ruined with a court appearance.

if you hit a guard rail they mail you a ticket...

how retarded is that?

~carina

anonymous said:

The cop who gave the ticket doesn't show up to just a hearing.
A hearing is held with a clerk magistrate acting as judge, and a state trooper acting as prosecuter. The outcome is usually based on your driving record (clean record, they'll let you off, lots of tickets, they'll finds you guilty)
If you don't like the outcome, you can appeal in front of a real judge. THEN the cop who wrote the ticket has to show up. If he doesn't, you win automatically. If he does, you're pretty much fucked because it comes down to his word against yours. From what I've seen, there's about a 50/50 chance of the cop showing up.

anonymous said:

how do they know you hit the guard rail?

ok, and you\'re refering to troopers right? if it\'s not a trooper then they do show up..
what do you know about hitting guardrails?
i hit one (i wasn\'t drunk) and i thought all was ok so i left, but i got home and saw the damage on my truck, i had to report it on my insurance and the lady told me i might get a ticket in the mail .. a fine for hitting the guardrail because i have to pay to fix it.
she told me to contest it because i obviously was not going fast...and that i should be able to get away with it due to poor weather and unplowed roads.
it\'s all lame..bad enough i was going 30-40 on the highway that was unplowed and had two 18 wheelers up my ass...
i slid and ended up hitting it and damage to my truck is just under $2000
with a $500 deductible
~carina

I dunno. Wait until you get the ticket (if you get it) and see what you're actually charged with. Then I can help. I've never heard of somene getting a ticket based on an insurance claim. Especially for a one-car accident with no witnesses on record. I wouldn't worry about it.

Next time tell them you hit a tree.

heh..i should have, but i was on the highway when it happened, i wanted to say it was a hit and run but aaron told me not to lie

anonymous said:

i think Josh's response best sums it up.

for me today, it was another brockton officer in his place. my ticket wasn't for speeding, it was for allegedly running a red light and blocking an intersection. after listening to him describe how to obey the traffic laws of that intersection(with a visual aid, no less) i simply told them that "i understand traffic laws, i'm the kind of guy that goes 60mph in the slow lane on the highway. I use my turn signal to pull into my driveway." I went through a green light. It's not even a case of trying to make the yellow. I entered the intersection fully aware of the two police officers standing at the corner. It was a green light, and i couldn't have blocked the intersection based on the fact that the officers pulled me over, the car in front of me, and the FOUR CARS behind me. There is no way 6 cars would run a red and block a small intersection in full view of 2 policemen." -this isn't an exact quote, and it definately wasn't said in the hard assed tone that this seems, but it is the jist of it.

please keep in mind that i have virtually no record, and that definately aided me in their decision. so none of this probably helps.

careful with saying it was a tree... i know someone who had to pay the city for damage to a tree he hit while driving.

oh yeah. this was an obvious case of cops trying to fill quotas, and the magistrate knew this. The fact that i showed up to fight it meant that they'd bring it down, but not walk away empty handed. they make $50, and i walk away happy i just saved $75. a shitty system, but that's how town law works

oh yeah, oh yeah. the other court appearance:
homosexual rape and murder

dread_104 said:

It seems like you saved $75 now but wait until you renew your insurance next year. You will get fucked because of that ticket for the next 7 years. If you truly were innocent you should've appealed.

George Carlin (paraphrased):

"Swipe the ticket from the cop and tell him you're going to CHECK IT FOR MISTAKES. Then after you read it, crumple it up and THROW IT AT HIS FEET. Then say, 'FUCK YOU AND YOUR TICKET TOO.'"

hahahaha, that would go over real well

"Say, aren't you a public servant? Get me a glass of water!"

yep! that's the bit!

traffic court is dumb. i got a ticket just down the street from my house this past november on my way to work...most bullshit ticket i've ever gotten. here's the situation:

i was driving to work at 5:30 am on a friday, came around a corner literally less than a minute from my house going 36 mph in a 35 (that i actually thought was a 40). once i came around the corner, i saw a cop sitting on the left side of the road, parked, facing me, with no lights on. before i even passed the guy he threw his lights on and pulled me over. he told me i was going 52 in a 35...for me to have been going that fast on this corner i would have flipped over, that's first of all. second of all, it was "estimated" and "radar," which the magistrate told me is clocking and radar. but how the fuck can you clock a person when the cop is sitting still?? and he didn't do any math right, didn't sign the ticket properly blah blah blah. so now i have to go before a judge in april since i appealed it after contesting it. i better win or else my insurance goes through the roof since i have a new car and 2 tickets on my record already.

Upon Review of the governing laws and regulations, the evidence presented, and in consideration of the basis of the appellant's appeal, it is the determination of the Hearing Officer that the appellant did demonstrate a showing necessary to rebut the governing presumption of the applicable standard of fault.

The Hearing Officer therefore finds:
(i) the appellant IS NOT more than 50% at fault for the accident; and,
(ii) the surcharge IS NOT in accordance with the Standards of Fault promulgated by the Board and the provisions of the Safe Driver Insurance Plan established by the Commissioner of Insurance.

The Board hereby orders the surcharge be VACATED and orders the insurer to delete the related SDIP surcharge points from the appellant's premium. Fuck tha Police.