[JeepTransformer]

Ok,

So I am 17 with a clean record... untill sat night.

I was heading from keystone to dillon colorado doing 60 in a 45... Well, I am almost possitive i was only doing 54 or so... OOps...

First, I was pulled over about 100ft from a 55 limit sign, and also the speed om guage is not correct because i have 35"s...

Anyone have any suggestions or comments that might help me in court???

What can i do to fix this problem?? Can i get the speed guage fixed and bring the receipt in, and also bring in a pic that i took that night with the 55 limit sign right in front of me?? Or is that too much for court??

Atleast the cop was chill and really nice... Except he had to ticket me cause the cheif was there also...

Thanks GUYS!!

[notch4u]

plead insanity..no one in thier right mind would speed in a lifted jeep

[Joe Dillard]

Maybe you want to buy one of those "How to beat tickets" books.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=how+to+beat+tickets&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8

You can also easily replace the gear in the transfer case to help correct speedometer issues after putting in larger tires or diff gears.

[JeepTransformer]

ya i might... think barnes and noble has it???

[Redskinswin]

Get your speedometer fixed before you go to court....show them the difference and they might reduce the fine.

[JaySpencer66]

This is not really the right place for this post, but here goes:
You are 100% right that you need to fight it. This is not, however, something that you will really want to do on your own or with advice from a forum. It will be pricey, but get a lawyer, at 17 this is a SERIOUS violation in many states.

I do not know the laws where you live so I can only tell you things from my perspective and that is having fought and won for myself and friends or helped mitigate the "damage." At 17 you have two strikes against you in many places. If you recently changed the tires have receipts to prove you did. There is a proper procedural way to request that the police officer advise you, if he did not, as to what was used to clock your speed. There is nothing wrong with asking for the information and it may actually give you grounds for dismissal.

When you aks the officer for the logs of that day and calibration records and his qualifications you are only asking for what you are entitled to have as part of the discovery process. . . .if I lost you already then heed my initial advice, get a lawyer! What you need to do is have all the facts in front of you to look for any and all discrepancies in the reporting, anything at all that may give you some wiggle room.

You will most likely not get this dismissed but you may be able to reduce it if you have a clean record and good excuse with a lenient prosecuter or a decent cop who will remember the foibles of being young.

The thing about being on top of the sign, well I think that the speed limit signs are to advise you of the speed limit ahead, not for where you are; In other words, speed up after the sign, not before it in anticipation of the speed coming up.

Again I advise you get a lawyer because the cost to you could be very high. High enough I think just for the jack you would get in your insurance to pay for it in about a year or two for the lower insurance. (Your insurance could double in some places for this.)

[JeepTransformer]

ok cool... thanks. Where can i go online to get the piece i need to fix it?? I cant find it on google?

[nudosimmons]

i dont know where you are from but in NC you can get a prayer for judgement where the court wont fine you and drop it, but if you get another ticket you are screwed(if theycatch the pfj wich they probably wont)
best thing to do is get it checked and take the papers to court and its a good chance the will drop or at least reduce the fine

[JeepTransformer]

wow... thanks for the long story. 91sahara!! Thanks! I will try to get as much info as possible on that side! Argg...

[pushead]

You are stiffed. It is your responsibility to make sure your vehicle is in working order before you drive it. The judge is going to tell you the same thing. Be a man and fess up to your wrong doing and hope he is nice to you. Almost every time I have been to court you same story has been told. Now when you go to court here before you even see the judge the clerk warns the court room not to try "I had put on bigger tires and my speed was off" you are not the first or the lasta among other warnings, but you are responsible to make sure it is correct.

[notch4u]

in NY wether is broken or not they will usually drop the lower speeding tickets to a broken speedomter..yours is actally broken...you didnt consiously(SP) break the law

[toomanytoys]

States vary from one to another. As a former Officer, in most cases like yours, this is how I've seen it go. (bear in mind this is in Va., may be different where you are).
Go have your speedometer calibrated somewhere. Bring that paper to court with you. Forget the 55 sign picture, it's overkill. Simply put, just be honest. Such as, "Your Honor, I did not realize I was going that fast, and I applogize. I have had my Jeep calibrated, and my speedometer is off by X mph. I have bought a new speedometer gear to correct the problem. I'm not questioning the actions of this Officer, just simply asking for the courts mercy since this is my first offense". Judges have to deal with attorneys and everyone elses excuses all day, every day. They often find it refreshing to have someone say, "Hey, I messed up, I'm sorry, please forgive me, and I won't do it again". Obviously don't say it like that, but that's the general gist of it. 9 out of 10 that I ever wrote, that came to court with that attitude, walked away with a dismissed charge. Just my experience.

[FarrellX]

yea, you may have to pay a little more now, but if you can get no points on your license, youll be set with the same insurane payments and no driving record.

[84 400]

i agree with the above statement by the former officer. it is your respponsibility and it is fairly easy to estimate your speed. doing 20 over is not a good start at all. It sucks that you got the ticket but if your diserving then just fess up. i think books like the one in the link are a joke. why can't people be held responsible for there actions any more? I think your being honest about it and the tires do throw the speedo off too so it was an honest mistake. Good luck with it and hopefully they let you off for being an honest person then trying to pull a fast one or make a bogus excusse

[JaySpencer66]

Originally Posted by notch4u

in NY wether is broken or not they will usually drop the lower speeding tickets to a broken speedomter..yours is actally broken...you didnt consiously(SP) break the law

Yes, equipment failure that was not foreseen or potentially unpredictable is sometimes an out, but not always and not often, especially when you do something that may have caused it. In NY also I think that if you are under 18 there are stiffer penalties for moving violations too, like over a certain milage gurantees the loss of a licence if you are under 18 or x amount of months from havng gotten your license.

Nudo, that "prayer for judgement" may be known as an Acquital Contemplating Dismissal or ACD in New York. I know this because I talked a speeding ticket into one for myself. The idea is that they grant you a probationary dismissal for a moving violation or other traffic infraction. Typically it is 6 months, but can be longer. After the period passes, if you keep a clean nose clean with no other moving violations it is dismissed; you get an aquital of the charges. The problem is that if you get another violation in the time period of contemplation if you are charged for it or plead guilty the other charge will be judged as guilty; You get a double and at 17 that could certainly lose you your license in NYS.