[bk_g80_m3]

Unfortunately I got nailed this morning. 61 in a 30. I was on a country road with no one around, and I just decided to have a little fun on my commute. Straight road with good visibility. Traction control on.

Anyway the cop said I was "reckless" and that I will need to make a "mandatory" traffic court appearance. He wrote me up for a CVC22350

-Is it a mandatory court appearance?
-What would the fine be usually in this case?
-Would it make sense to get a traffic lawyer?

I realize I was in the wrong so I'm ok paying the fine and taking the traffic school penalty, but i want to make sure that it's not going to be worse.

I'm in CA

[roastbeef]

22350 is the basic speed law; "Unsafe speed for conditions".
Should be reasonable to fight if the conditions you described are correct.

[bk_g80_m3]

Any tips for fighting?

[lorinzo]

22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.

[lorinzo]

Double the posted speed is going to be tough.

Does the ticket indicate the method used to estimate your speed?

If it was radar, then, you might have something to talk about.... but going to be an uphill battle.

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by fjork_duf

Any tips for fighting?

[paddy335]

Get a good radar detector!!
Good on you being man enough to take your medicine

(You would have potentially got a 28 day license suspension on the spot down this way....and had to find your own way home without your car. But oddly enough you'd have to be at 62mph in a 30 to get reckless/dangerous driving charge here)

[foolio2]

You might be able to contact the prosecutor and plead to a lesser violation. My only concern for you would be if indeed it is viewed as "reckless driving" by your insurance company, that could really affect your rates.

[SUBFRAMERIPPER]

Originally Posted by foolio2

You might be able to contact the prosecutor and plead to a lesser violation. My only concern for you would be if indeed it is viewed as "reckless driving" by your insurance company, that could really affect your rates.

If it was reckless driving the ticket would indicate so. Mandatory court does not mean you cannot plead it down. I say show up and take defective vehicle and pay the fine. No moving violation.

[V8FunNaturally]

2 yrs ago I was 59 in a 45mph. Cop was positioned right after a hill so could not be seen or radar detected (i don't have one anyway). Mind you i was trying to meet an HVAC repairman at my home during a hot summer heat wave the evening before the 4th of july holiday business shut down where I would have had to wait 3 days. Road had no traffic. Cop had absolutely no understanding nor mercy, total mofo. Got a lawyer to avoid points being taken. Ended up paying the full amount $340 (ticket) + $60 (lawyer) but violation got move down to a failed instrument offense. I used to drive conservatively under speed limits, but seeing how you get abused if you're out of luck in this system, completely changed my views...

[mjposner]

Radar will be detected even with hills, still should be enough time to slow down. Always be prepared so detect!

[foam]

A radar detector wouldn't help much on straight road with good visibility and no traffic around.

[Prince_of_Persia]

Originally Posted by foam

A radar detector wouldn't help much on straight road with good visibility and no traffic around.

Huh? A KA band can be detected a mile or two before by Passport Max or V1 or by a couple of miles by Redline (KA segmented). If the cop uses Laser or IO KA, that will be a different story.

Anyway OP, good luck with the ticket, hopefully you can get it reduced. If I were you, I would not speed that much over even with radar detector and laser jammer.

[Rupes]

Originally Posted by sunsweet

2 yrs ago I was 59 in a 45mph. Cop was positioned right after a hill so could not be seen or radar detected (i don't have one anyway). Mind you i was trying to meet an HVAC repairman at my home during a hot summer heat wave the evening before the 4th of july holiday business shut down where I would have had to wait 3 days. Road had no traffic. Cop had absolutely no understanding nor mercy, total mofo. Got a lawyer to avoid points being taken. Ended up paying the full amount $340 (ticket) + $60 (lawyer) but violation got move down to a failed instrument offense. I used to drive conservatively under speed limits, but seeing how you get abused if you're out of luck in this system, completely changed my views...

Yes, everyone with a good story should not receive a ticket. Give me a break...All people do is lie to cops all day long.

[Vic311]

Originally Posted by fjork_duf

Unfortunately I got nailed this morning. 61 in a 30. I was on a country road with no one around, and I just decided to have a little fun on my commute. Straight road with good visibility. Traction control on.

Anyway the cop said I was "reckless" and that I will need to make a "mandatory" traffic court appearance. He wrote me up for a CVC22350

-Is it a mandatory court appearance?
-What would the fine be usually in this case?
-Would it make sense to get a traffic lawyer?

I realize I was in the wrong so I'm ok paying the fine and taking the traffic school penalty, but i want to make sure that it's not going to be worse.

I'm in CA

That is criminal violation citation NOT a traffic citation and yes you have to appear.

Overall, California classifies three types of crimes in descending order of severity:
1) felonies (which are the most serious, punishable by imprisonment in the California state prison for a period of years),
2) misdemeanors (which are punishable only by local county jail time, not more than one year), and
3) infractions (such as traffic violations, also referred to as moving violations).

CVC 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.

Court Fine
$154.00 (1-15 MPH Over Limit)
$280.00 (16-25 MPH Over Limit)
$400.00 (26 or More MPH Over Limit)

There are some additional penalties the court may add of between $21 and $26 and a court penalty of $7 for every $10 of base fine, plus a surcharge of $15 for a misdemeanor and $7 for an infraction and a court fee of up to $7, plus there is an additional $40 court security fee per violation and a conviction assessment fee ($35) where applicable. Late fees can easily add another $200 to a fine.

I would definitely hire a lawyer. I still believe you have to appear in person regardless if you hire a lawyer. A guilty outcome is going to really hurt you insurance wise.

[bk_g80_m3]

Originally Posted by Vic311

That is criminal violation citation NOT a traffic citation and yes you have to appear.

Overall, California classifies three types of crimes in descending order of severity:
1) felonies (which are the most serious, punishable by imprisonment in the California state prison for a period of years),
2) misdemeanors (which are punishable only by local county jail time, not more than one year), and
3) infractions (such as traffic violations, also referred to as moving violations).

CVC 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.

Court Fine
$154.00 (1-15 MPH Over Limit)
$280.00 (16-25 MPH Over Limit)
$400.00 (26 or More MPH Over Limit)

There are some additional penalties the court may add of between $21 and $26 and a court penalty of $7 for every $10 of base fine, plus a surcharge of $15 for a misdemeanor and $7 for an infraction and a court fee of up to $7, plus there is an additional $40 court security fee per violation and a conviction assessment fee ($35) where applicable. Late fees can easily add another $200 to a fine.

I would definitely hire a lawyer. I still believe you have to appear in person regardless if you hire a lawyer. A guilty outcome is going to really hurt you insurance wise.

Wow you really know your stuff. So this is an infraction correct? Yeah I'm probably just going to hire someone to help me handle this.

So I suppose the judge could yank my license right? But no jail time?

EDIT: I see the courteous officer circled "infraction" not "misdemeanor"

[Vic311]

Originally Posted by fjork_duf

Wow you really know your stuff. So this is an infraction correct? Yeah I'm probably just going to hire someone to help me handle this.

So I suppose the judge could yank my license right? But no jail time?

EDIT: I see the courteous officer circled "infraction" not "misdemeanor"

They could suspend you depending on your driving record, jail is not going to happen, especially if it's your first offense.

What is really go to hurt you is that you were +26mph over. That's a pretty big deal both fine wise and insurance wise.

I would absoluetly get a lawyer.

[bk_g80_m3]

Thanks for the responses. I am pretty sure I will pony up for a lawyer. I haven't gotten nailed speeding in years and that one was dismissed as with the others before it. It's not like I am getting tickets all the time.

[WillC310]

Originally Posted by fjork_duf

Wow you really know your stuff. So this is an infraction correct? Yeah I'm probably just going to hire someone to help me handle this.

So I suppose the judge could yank my license right? But no jail time?

EDIT: I see the courteous officer circled "infraction" not "misdemeanor"

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7175920AA1cmuC

[RR-NYC]

My only ticket in the last 10 years was doing 89 in a 65.

I ended up pleading it down to defective equipment. The magistrate was kind enough to allow me to keep my pristine driving record pristine and still collect the fines. I paid $200 in court costs. I was happy, the magistrate was happy, but the trooper - not so much

[Vic311]

Originally Posted by WillC310

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7175920AA1cmuC

You find the same answer on pg 38 from the Judicial Council of California

Final-2012-CA Judicial Council Bail & Penalty Schedule.pdf

[WillC310]

Originally Posted by Vic311

You find the same answer on pg 38 from the Judicial Council of California

Not to derail the topic, but my point was that it was a copy-paste from the Yahoo post 2 years ago. Also that PDF you linked to is from 2012 and the fees listed there are slightly higher than what you posted. You should have provided the numbers for 2014 since they have gone up slightly from 2012. This is one from 2014: www.riverside.courts.ca.gov/uniformbail.pdf

Those additional penalties will vary by county so the OP may want to check with the county how bad the fees are.

"Traffic fines in California are difficult to pinpoint due to additional penalty assessment fees and surcharges that vary by county. Consequently, a ticket with a $35 base fine may actually cost you $146. For help with fee explanations contact the county court listed on your citation."

http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/tra...-penalties.php

To the OP, the short answer is that it's going cost you a lot. CA is pretty broke so the ticket costs have gone up a crazy amount over the last 10 years. A lawyer will cost some cash but it may be cheaper to just suck it up and take traffic school. If you don't get any points on your record it won't cause your insurance to go up. Give some lawyers a call and see what the say they'll charge, then you can go from there.

[Vic311]

Originally Posted by WillC310

Not to derail the topic, but my point was that it was a copy-paste from the Yahoo post 2 years ago. Also that PDF you linked to is from 2012 and the fees listed there are slightly higher than what you posted. You should have provided the numbers for 2014 since they have gone up slightly from 2012. This is one from 2014: www.riverside.courts.ca.gov/uniformbail.pdf.

I still don't see your point. What difference does it make if the info was correct and previously answered by a LEO? Why recreate the wheel if the info already exists? Also quoting 2014 vs 2012 is just being petty. Ok the fines went up by $10. You win..