I Fought The Law And The Law Won

26 posted on March 26, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts

Ok, so maybe I didn’t “fight” the law but the law definitely caught up earlier this month.

I was driving down 116th on my way back from lunch with someone. I was actually paying attention to the speed limits and adjusting my speed accordingly because there are stretches where it drops to 35mph. What I must not have paid attention to was the bright yellow sign denoting that I was driving through a school district. They wrote me up for 43mph in a 25mph school zone. Ouch.

So this is my first time getting a ticket for exceeding the speed limit in a school zone. I’m guessing it’s a pretty big deal because they bypassed the ticket writing altogether and scheduled me a court appearance. Turns out they only save the truly henious offenders like me for the judge to deal with.

So I’m heading to the court this morning to plead what little case I have. I’m guessing my large repetoir of legal arguments I’ve learned on TV won’t help me much.

When was the last time you got a ticket? What was it for and how much did you end up paying?

TWEET THIS

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:37 am and is filed under Blog Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

16 Comments

Share yours!

Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

1 Curtis Honeycutt said:

Brad, I hope you look good in orange…

Curtis Honeycutt’s last blog post..The Thursday Question 03.26.09
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

2 Charlie Pratt said:

Just remember, referring to yourself in third person as either Perry Mason or Matlock is always a good idea.

Charlie Pratt’s last blog post..Interview: Kate VanDevender
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

3 Jason Ruggles said:

Brotha, you goin’ DOWN

Hopefully not. But they’re not gonna be that happy ’bout the school zone thing.

Jason Ruggles’s last blog post..Jewelry Party
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

4 Kiel said:

Well, you were going almost 20 miles over the speed limit, which I think is considered reckless driving. Bundle that with a school zone and they will definitely just send you straight to court so the judge can try and scare you so you’ll pay attention next time.

I was pulled over on 116th and I-69 for running a red light. I kept hitting every red light, so I sub-consciously ran the next light. I got a warning. My last ticket though was for speeding on my way to school and it was probably around $125.

Kiel’s last blog post..Citizen’s Police Academy – Week Five
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

5 Brad Ruggles said:

Ended up with a $220 ticket which probably could have been much worse. And, contrary to what I may have made it sound like, I didn’t intentionally go that fast in the school zone. I was actually going pretty close to what I thought the actual speed limit was. Missing the yellow sign, I take responsibility for that. Oh well.
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

6 Patty Lundy said:

The only time I got a ticket was in 1989 or 1990 and it was for speeding. It was over a $200 ticket but when I got to court the judge had such mercy over me I only ended up having to pay $20.00. I’m sure he saw how repentant I was!
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

7 Adam said:

I was pulled over a few months ago for speeding. 48 in a 35. the ticket was for $185.. ouch.

But my sister/in/law takes the cake. She got pulled over doing 90 in a 65mph TWICE in the SAME day. Apparently she didnt think the first $380 ticket was enough and wanted to get a second.
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

8 Christopher Hopper said:

I was on a business trip for CiCi’s in Dallas two weeks ago and got pulled over for doing 39mph in a 25mph school zone. It was an officer on a motorcycle to boot! (Never had that happen before…I almost asked if he was one of the guys from CHIPS!). Anyways, I called the court that day and they already had the fine calculated for me (gotta’ love capitalism): $241.00. So I got you beat by $21.

ch:

Christopher Hopper’s last blog post..Watertown Principals
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

9 Janaki said:

I don’t know if they have these where you are but in Portland they have photo-radars that take your picture if you’re speeding. We were in the process of buying our house at the time and I was totally stressed out because we had to move out of our rental a week before our closing date… anyway, we were homeless and I was upset and got my picture taken going 65 in a 30… ooops. I went to court to plead my case and only ended up paying $75.

Janaki’s last blog post..Sunday Setlists 03/22/09
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

10 Pokinatcha said:

My last one was last September. I was doing 36 in a 25 & the cops were doing their, “We’ve been getting alot of calls in this area so we have to give you a ticket!” That was my 2nd ticket (failure to come to complete stop) within a couple of months.

I paid the $100+ ticket right away and ended up getting my check back. It was stamped paid within 10 days. The first one I got I paid on the due date & got nothing back.

I don’t know if that meant anything, but when my friend got ticketed I told her to pay it a.s.a.p. and see if she got hers back too. I still need to ask if she did.
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

11 Justin Davis said:

You could have eaten more Avocado Wraps from Kona Grille last night if you didn’t have to pay that large of a ticket. Great hanging out last night…let’s do it again!

Justin Davis’s last blog post..8 Things that Restored Our Marriage-Pt. 7
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

12 Gary Gillim said:

Can’t even remember the last time I got a ticket?????
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

13 Lori Wilhite said:

A couple of Easters ago … on Easter Sunday … I got two tickets about a block away from the church parking lot on my way to service.

The first was because my license plate was expired.

The second was because I got super flustered and couldn’t find my insurance card, which of course I promptly found as soon as I got into the parking lot.

They both got dismissed. So … I got super lucky.
Visit My Website

March 26, 2009

Permalink

14 Abbey said:

I’ve never gotten a ticket, even most of the time I deserve one. lol
I guess one of these days I’ll probably end up getting caught speeding. Still waiting, though!
Visit My Website

March 30, 2009

Permalink

15 Juli Jarvis said:

Need a “Get Out of Jail Free” card? My husband is a Judge and he happens to have one in his wallet…

Juli Jarvis’s last blog post..Loose Moose
Visit My Website

March 31, 2009

Permalink

16 Nick said:

Several years ago…

I got a ticket in Georgia when I was not speeding. The traffic was heavy and I got picked on. I did a lot of research and found several ways I could fight and in my mind win. When I got to the courthouse I found out I qualified for a public defender, so I signed up. What I didn’t realize was I had not changed my license yet from where I moved. The Public defender told me they would take care of everything and contact me for what I needed to do next.

I never heard from them, so I thought I was cool. (Yeah, they had my wrong address & the forward service was expired).

In the meantime, I was driving to a youth event…late…and this time I was speeding. We lived in South Carolina (5 minutes from the GA border) and I got a ticket from the South Carolina cop.

As the ticket date approached for SC, I got a letter in the mail from GA saying I had a bench warrant out due to my failures to appear in court (several times), somehow they tracked me now to my correct address. As I was preparing to pay all fees for that offense, I was scheduled to arrive on the 15th in SC. I was not going to fight but ask for leniency. Well, it was not the 15th, rather the 13th, the cops handwriting was horrible.

So bottom line…I had to warrants in 2 states at the same time. One a little more severe than the other, but needless to say I could not drive for about a week until I got it all squared away (and I found Jesus and he transformed my life from my sinful and criminal ways). So, that is the last speeding ticket(s) I received and I cannot even recall how much they both were.

Nick’s last blog post..Mad Church Disease By Anne Jackson