"Dr. Meredith: A bit

“Dr. Meredith: A bit of advice…

Mitch: Oh, uh, thank you…

D: Always…no, no…never…forget forget to check your references.

M: Uh, ok, thank you. I’d better be going.

D: [to his wife] I think the young people enjoy it when I “get down” verbally, don’t you?”

This weekend I was the delighted recipient of a speeding ticket and a reasonable and prudent speed violation. I’ve never received two citations in one day but that doesn’t change the routine. I thought I would document my ticket fight for my personal edification and anyone else that’s curious.

In the case of the speeding ticket it was an assembly line operation so he probably got a number of people. In cases such as those the very first thing you need to do is make a motion for continuance. This means that you will postpone your court date while you prepare your case and gather more evidence. It will throw off the officer’s schedule because his plan is to schedule all the cases for the same court date and be there when they go through the meat grinder. You increase the likelihood he won’t be there for your court date. In most states that means your case will be dismissed. Apparently some states don’t require your accuser to be present if it’s a traffic violation. One thing I did like about the Texas ticket is the fact that it says “alleged speed.”

In the case of the reasonable and prudent speed citation this is a curious one. I’ve never heard of this law. They can apparently issue citations when conditions mandate a lower speed than the speed limit based on the officer’s judgement. I wonder if they are handled differently by the court, i.e. they aren’t reported to insurance companies. If so that’s not so bad. The big problem I have with speeding tickets is the double jeopardy situation where the municipality punishes you and then your insurance company dings you. Okay, I also have problems with speed limits that aren’t set according to the traffic study and are artifically lowered creating a traffic hazard. I’m going to have to talk with the court clerk and get a better feel for what the law is and if it’s worth my time to defend myself.

This is just the beginning. I bear no grudge or malice towards the officers, clerks and judges that enforce the laws. I have some issues with the city councils that set unsafe speeds for roads, the insurance companies that have forgotten their purpose and the poorly educated civil engineers that build bad roads in the first place. I highly recommend fighting a citation or at least going to the court with someone who is. The experience will give you a really great appreciation for the law and you will learn a lot of things about people along the way.

lp: