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Joining "the other" Grabber Orange gang....

daveSanborn

Active Member
Saturday afternoon I took my car out for a drive. There was an SCCA event aboard the local Marine Base and Saturday was reserved for active duty personnel, but figured I'd stop by to see what was ahead of me on Sunday. All went well as I sat and watched the cars run through some agressive driving on the closed course. I watched for about an hour and then left for home looking forward to Sunday.

Upon exiting the base there was "zero" traffic on the 4 lane divided highway (in either direction). A rare occurance around here and I decided to take full advantage of it. With Van Halen launching into "Unchained" at eardrum-shattering volume I nailed the gas, hit third at 5500 and picked up speed quickly.

And then I saw him coming towards me.

I immediately let off the gas, but the damage was already done. I put my blinker on and pulled off the road at the next intersection and waited for him to catch up to me. I was standing/leaning against the car door when he pulled in behind me.

I got one of those speeding tickets that can't be mailed in. The State Trooper was nice enough, but no amount of groveling was going to get me out of this. He admited that he couldn't blame me, liked the car and stated that he'd be tempted to do it himself. He did reduce the speed from 87 to 78 mostly because of my 100% spotless driving record dating back to the early 1980's.

Motherfucker. How could I have been so stupid? Okay, don't answer that. After I spotted him coming towards me I looked down at the radar detector and sure enough it was lit up like a fucking christmas tree, but the audible warning went un-noticed due to fuckin' David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen. I actually blame ALL of this on Dave&Eddie. It's got to be somebodies fault and it can't be mine so Dave&Eddie are taking the fall for this. I somehow doubt that they'll be summoned to appear though and I'll get stuck with this. Motherfucker. I am well beyond pissed off at myself.

I need a lawyer. In the State of NC 15 MPH over the speed limit is grounds for an automatic 30 day loss of driving priveleges. That isn't an option for me.

I have options... it's just that none of them are good ones.

- Lawyer = $$$, possibly $$$$.

- I've never been to "driving school", but I'm not sure if the excessive speed would allow me to pursue this route.... and.... driving school is a full weekend of sitting in a classroom full of other losers. Between now and MBBIII most of my weekends with losers are booked solid.

- NC has the "prayer for judgement" escape clause, but I'm not sure I want to play that card in this situtation.

- Faulty equipment? Not available, I've used it before and the judge wouldn't buy off on that one with the excessive speed.

- Fuck it. Do the time wearing Grabber Orange. Not just because of the color, but this really isn't even an option.... State Farm would butt-rape me for the next 3 years on the 5 vehicles we have insured with them, not to mention what will happen if Haggerty finds out.


I'll see a lawyer this week and let you all know how screwed I am.
 
Ouch, that's a butt raping worthy of a ko67 joke....except it's not funny. Sorry to hear you got busted Dave.

Been there, done the school and paid the fine, it sucks...period. Do what you have to so the insurance rapers don't raise your rates.
 
How fast can you drop a toyota engine in there and blame faulty accelerator pedal? That does suck. I know its a matter of time before I get nailed in the Mustang. I got nailed in the DD a few months ago. I decided to take it to court since the police officer put someone else's drivers license number on the ticket he gave me......
 
"Fast68back" said:
How fast can you drop a toyota engine in there and blame faulty accelerator pedal? That does suck. I know its a matter of time before I get nailed in the Mustang. I got nailed in the DD a few months ago. I decided to take it to court since the police officer put someone else's drivers license number on the ticket he gave me......


and how did that turn out?
 
I called the DA's office and they don't have a copy of the citation yet. I told them the speed and they immediately recommended I seek legal counsel.

Funny details from conversation with young lady at the DA's office.....

Me: Yes, I have an appt. with a local attorney scheduled for this afternoon, but hypothetically what are potential outcomes of this offense?

Her: Any proposal submitted by your attorney would be considered by the DA's office.

Me: Well that's some good news. If we propose that you dismiss all charges would you accept that?

Her: No.

Me: Bummer, but thanks anyway for considering it for 1 second.


Prior to calling the DA's office I'd already scheduled an appointment with a local attorney.... appointment time is 4PM. I'm getting real curious how bad this is going to be and now it appears I'll have to wait until late this afternoon to find out.
 
recently the city I live in had a "free dumpster" week, you know, when you can throw away anything sitting around your yard for free. Anyway, I took down a rotting wood fence and had several rotting RR ties from old landscaping. I made about 4 pick-up full trips to the dumpster. The guy helping me unload was rather talkative. He offered up that he was serving "community service" for just such an offence! He was required to work for the city every Thursday for some ungodly length of time (which I forgot). The good news, he didn't have to wear the orange jump suit!
 
I understand the tempation as I partaked in a little excessive driving myself yesterday... I will remember your story next time.

Sorry about the bum luck though.
 
That totally sucks!

your $$$ + your time = :rp



I recently got a photo enforced ticked for not completely stopping at a red light before making a right. I thought... how the hell can the "photo enforcement" know if I came to a complete stop or not. Well, come to find out it isn't just a photo, the damn camera takes full video footage of the event. On the info mailed to me there's a web link to the actual footage, and it clearly shows I did not come to a full stop. It's gonna cost me $450 for the ticket and another $50 for traffic school, not to mention the time I have to spend in traffic school.

Good luck with the lawyer. Hopefully, you can get it reduced to a level where you can take traffic school and keep it off your record.
 
"garner67" said:
On the info mailed to me there's a web link to the actual footage, and it clearly shows I did not come to a full stop. It's gonna cost me $450 for the ticket and another $50 for traffic school, not to mention the time I have to spend in traffic school.

HOLY SHIT.
 
"daveSanborn" said:
Holy shit at the $450+50?

If $500 would make this all go away I'd be all over it like white on rice.

I agree 100%. But $500 for a rolling stop..? THAT sounds stupid high.
 
"silverblueBP" said:
Ouch, that's a butt raping worthy of a ko67 joke....except it's not funny. Sorry to hear you got busted Dave.

Great... more recognition as "captain butt rape." I guess I only have myself to blame. Actually Dave, my day job in Texas is practicing law. I do not know NC law, but you should ask your lawyer if your alleged offense is eligible for a deferred prosecution plea. Under this kind of deal, you plead guilty, or at least "no contest" and you pay a big fine and accept probation for a fixed period of time, which you also pay for. If you complete the probation and are not arrested for any offense during the term of the deal, they drop the charge and keep your money. It never goes on your record. If you are arrested/ticketed during the period, they pound you into a greasy stain with a BFH. Many local courts in TX love deferred plans because they get to keep the money. Since there is no conviction, they do not have to pony up to the state. Again, NC may not have this plan, but it is worth a question. there are also some games that clever lawyers can play that involve continually resetting a case for trial over and over until the officer does not show up and getting the case dismissed. Most cities have figured that out and stopped it. If your lawyer knows the system, he will know how to game it if it is possible. If you have to go in front of the judge, just give him the URL of stangfix and give him the PW to this forum. He should take pity on you under an insanity defense. Good luck.
 
"garner67" said:
how the hell can the "photo enforcement" know if I came to a complete stop or not. Well, come to find out it isn't just a photo, the damn camera takes full video footage of the event. On the info mailed to me there's a web link to the actual footage, and it clearly shows I did not come to a full stop.

I dont want to hijack the thread, but there is a funny joke about that. Cop lights up a guy for a rolling stop. Guy argues that "stopping" and "slowing down" are really the same thing. cop takes out the nightstick and starts pounding the guy. pow pow pow pow. After a dozen smacks, he says 'do you want me to stop or slow down?"

Again, I am sorry for injecting humor into an unfunny thread, but I could not resist.

Kev
 
"ko67" said:
I dont want to hijack the thread, but there is a funny joke about that. Cop lights up a guy for a rolling stop. Guy argues that "stopping" and "slowing down" are really the same thing. cop takes out the nightstick and starts pounding the guy. pow pow pow pow. After a dozen smacks, he says 'do you want me to stop or slow down?"

Again, I am sorry for injecting humor into an unfunny thread, but I could not resist.

Kev

LMFAO!!
 
Dave you're cool. Been there, done that, got more than one t-shirt. An attorney is gonna go in and either get it to improper equipment or use prayer for judgement. At that speed, the second will likely occur unless your attorney is a friend. It's amazing what they'll do. He'll go to court for you, get it to where you never see it, unless pj is used and then you have a 3 year window which they'll use pjc, and you'll be out for LESS than $500. Your court cost/fine is gonna run you under $200 and the attorney fee, if not a friend, will run you about the same. I tend to get out of my tickets for the fine only but I know an attorney pretty well. Good luck and don't sweat it. If the attorney is gonna be too high, use the class but keep in mind you can only do it once. I'm still saving my "class". Good luck, don't sweat it, and forget the insurance co. They'll never see it with a lawyer. Let me know how it goes.


BTW Kev, probably the funniest joke you've told yet. I was a little scared when the nightstick was mentioned though. Thanks for not going there.
 
"daveSanborn" said:
I immediately let off the gas, but the damage was already done. I put my blinker on and pulled off the road at the next intersection and waited for him to catch up to me. I was standing/leaning against the car door when he pulled in behind me.

So maybe there in lies the problem...how fast could this dude turn around. Maybe you should have punched it instead.

Just kidding.

In Texas a ticket is a pretty minor thing, you can even rent the "driving school" tape at the local Block Buster and phone in the answers.
 
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