At times, I use the ramp to access the interstate where I live to let the beast go wild. From holding position at the traffic light I normally hit 120 mph before I get on the interstate itself. Then I slow down to the legal speed and exit at the next exit. I do that when there is no one around to scare.
Last time, in the middle of the night, I decided to have a ride, warmed up the engine and drove to the ramp.

I thought I was the only car in a mile around. Wrong.
Soon after entering the interstate as I was slowing down, he got me at 105 mph. Well, the guy liked the car (1971LS5 vert) and decided to ticket me for 99 mph which is a $200 ticket instead of a $300.

I am wondering if I should consider this cost as part of the cost of driving my beast.

Your thoughts ?

Sounds like the officer is trying to do you a favor under the circumstances.

What I would do (what I did do some years ago), is take the case to court, admit what I did, and ask lenience (probation) from the judge based on that I have collector's car insurance and I don't want to risk losing that. It worked for me, but it also assumes you have a clean driving record. If you don't, it likely won't go in your favor.

I used to be a police officer (my incident was before that, but I've received a lot of "professional courtesy" since), and if you go to court, dress professionally, be respectful to the judge. So many people dress and act very disrespectfully toward the judge and the court. If our society has anything close to a human God, it is a judge in his court. I've seen too many times defendants screw themselves by their behavior. Show the judge respect and he may well return it.

You may also luck out...the officer who cited you may not show for court and your case gets dismissed.

|UPDATED|8/12/2004 7:15:14 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

The advice given above makes a lot of sense. A $200 fine isn't killer really, CT wanted 260$ or something for 88 in a 50... I certainly wouldn't cry over spilt milk on this one, contesting often can go well if you have a clean record(I don't even bother any more)...

Just be thankful he wasn't sitting at the end of the on ramp and consider renting track time next time you feel the urge to blast...although it just seems more fun on the interstate! Oh, and don't forget to wave!!

Scot

Paragon75Ray said:|(I don't even bother any more)...

Scot, are you implying you,ve been naughty a time or two?

you could have probably saved all that money if you had one of those little cards you get for donating 50$ (I usually give 60$) annually to the policemans benevolent fund.

i hand it over with my license..

havent had a ticket in years.. (5 or so) its gotten to the point that i dont even get stopped anymore..

|UPDATED|8/13/2004 11:32:20 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Just goes to show that in order to have fun you have to pay Just be glad you weren't in Ohio. The cops there get in trouble if they write a ticket for less then what the clock you at. I wasn't paying attention one time in my company car and got hit for 81 in a 65, $110. In Michigan, I would have been just going with the flow. Anyway, that was a $110 dollars gone from my car budget.

HAHHAHA, I love talking about tickets... When I was 17 I was not the most law abiding citizen. Nothing major of course, just traffic violations. 2 weeks before I left for boot camp I was traveling at a very high rate of speed (115 in a 45), in the rain, in a 70 GTO. Well, it also happened to be the night of my going away party so I had a few beers in me (seriously only a few, 3 over 4 hours)
Anyway, there I was, flying down the road. I knew I was close to my exit and saw some dashed lines so I sarted to exit. Just as my right tires touched the line (still in my lane) I realized it was in fact a school and the exit was still about 200yds down the road. I turned the wheels back to the left and hydroplaned, down a small grass enbankment, ran over a "Drug Free School Zone" sign and ended up in the parking lot of the school. I got out the look at the bumper, and of course, a cop pulled into the parking lot and flipped his lights on.
Well.... he accused me of trying to run from him, apparently he was behind me when I was doing 75 and then decided to speed up to 115. Well, I argued with him for a while that I had no idea he was there, he never turned his lights on, and actually I sped up because he was tailgating me. He wound up "letting me go" with a reckless driving, driving to fast for conditions, excessive speed, and destruction of property.
Needless to say my recruiter wasn't very happy with me. He called the DA and got my court date bumped up, my recruiter went with me in his blues, and the judge dropped all charges. Amazing....

yeah but did you hurt the goat ??

Davii said: my recruiter went with me in his blues, and the judge dropped all charges. Amazing....

while we are talking about recruiters..

my recruiter helped me out of a little trouble also...

I had a reckless, no insurance, no tags...

it all went away..

and my recruiter changed my life forever.. the rest of my family spells my last name "Van Wagner"... my recuiter spelled it "Vanwagner"... its been that way ever since..

Last year I ran into a middle aged guy at a cruise-in (I was driving my '67 Charger that evening). He told me he used to have a '69 Hemi Charger back in his youth. I told him me must wish he still had it considering that anything with a Hemi has reached stratospeheric values these days.

His reply was "The judge didn't give me a choice!"

He ended up selling the car to a Pennsylvania State Trooper who still has the car and as the other part of his agreement with the judge, enlisted into the Marines.

The criminal justice system was different back then!

|UPDATED|8/14/2004 1:45:22 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|