Should I have gotten a ticket?

Question

First off the cop was sitting with no lights on what so ever at midnight just over a bridge. I was definitly speeding. My sister who is 26 weeks pregnant was in the hospital with an appendicitis 60 miles away from where I was. She also started having contractions after the surgery. I explained all to the cop and all he said was "well we don't want you to end up there too!" I was going 82 in a 65, should I fight it, and do you think I have a good chance in winning?

Answer 1

Yes,

the cops don't care about you or your family. If you were breaking the law, they'll give you a ticket.

Answer 2

try to fight it the cop was an b******e it was a matter of life and death, the judge may have sympathy for you

Answer 3

Unless you were going to perform the operation, you have no excuse for endangering your life our the lives of others.  What difference could it have made if you were 15 minutes later at the hospital.  What difference would it have made if you had an accident trying to get there faster?  You just made an error in judgment and got caught.  Pay the ticket and learn from the experience.  Good luck and God Bless.

Answer 4

60 miles away is kinda far about an hour away. don't take it to court your speeding so accept the consequences of your actions. anyways when you go to court to fight a ticket the hearing officer or judge depending what that court house has can mack the fine even higher and suspend your driver license for just fighting it. alot of people don't know that. Besides imagine what would of happened if you did hit a deer at 82 miles and hour. where i live the fine for that speed would of been 234.00 dollars. tickets are expensive. a question you might want to ask yourself is if i don't make it to the hospital because i was speeding and got in a wreck what help would i be. NONE. plus she is already at the hospital other than moral support what could actually do when you get there even if the doc lets you see her.

Answer 5

The officer was correct in what he told you and then issuing you the ticket.  Best thing is to just pay the fine and take a safe driving course to try to avoid points on your license/insurance.  I don't see as you have any chance of beating the charge in court.  Consider it a lesson learned, you are still alive to go see your sister in the hospital and be there after the baby is born.  You driving 82 MPH instead of the posted 65MPH would have only saved you 11.4 minutes, but instead you lost that time plus most likely more as the officer wrote the ticket and now you have a fine to pay.

Edit:  I've seen people hit deer and it went through the windshield and killed them.  Faster is never better.

Answer 6

Based on your comments, you feel that 82 is reasonable at mdnight in a 65 zone.  Sounds like you'd be going that fast no matter what your excuse is.  Are you going to tell that to the judge?

Just because a lot of other people drive stupidly doesn't mean that you should.

Unless you get lucky and the cop doesn't show up, I wouldn't plan on winning here.

Answer 7

WOW.  yeah, you could try to fight it, but chances are that you will not win.  your only hope of winning would maybe be the cop not showing up for court.  you would walk in and the judge would ask 'where you speeding' you would say 'yes' and he would reply 'guilty'. yeah, it doesn't matter WHY you were speeding, just that you were speeding.

A cop doesn't need to be visible to clock you.  He can sit anywhere that his radar will reach... as long as he isn't causing a hazard by blocking a road.

first, that's almost 20 over the limit, which in some places will give you an automatic ticket for 'reckless driving'  so, legally, you were driving recklessly.  regardless of if you felt you could handle it or not.

second, your sister was already in the hospital.  so, the outcome wouldn't change based on how fast you get there.  I realize that you wanted to be with her... but legally, that is not an excuse.  By the way, if the speed the whole way was constant, that would've only saved you about 12 minutes.  Were those 12 minutes really worth your life.

Third... it is not better to hit a deer at a faster speed... believe me.  I've hit one at a low speed (around 35mph)  and i've seen people hit them at faster speeds... yeah, i had a small dent and everyone else's cars were almost totaled.  My brother's girlfriend hit a deer at 65 and it dented the front of her car, smashed her windshield and almost killed her.  If she wasn't short, it probably would've.  And speed is the second highest factor in deadly car accidents, second only to DUI.

Just some things to think about next time you want to speed.

Now, I'm not saying that I don't speed, but I tend to keep it around 5 over.  I don't care if people pass me and give me nasty looks... my life isn't worth their comfort, but apparently yours is.

Answer 8

of course you should have received a ticket, 17 over, most definitely. People are being ridiculous because 82 in a 65 zone is far excessive and it was dark out, I hope he adds driving to endanger to it as well. You say your sister had appendicitis and was about to deliver a baby, were you going to do the surgery,or deliver the baby? If not, why was your presence so desperately needed?your sister was already at a hospital where definitive medical care was available. The officer was quite right, and it is a shame he didn't put some more violations on the ticket. I hope you challenge it so the officer and judge both have something to chuckle about  when you tell them how safe it is to do 82 mph at midnight.

Answer 9

No, your sister was already in the hospital, there was no emergency that would require you to get there any sooner than you would, using the posted speed limit (moral support is not part of the emergency medical treatment).  

  There is nothing in the law that says a cop has to be visible when running radar.

  The cop was right, speed is a CONSTANT cause cited for injury/fatal accidents.

Answer 10

just pay the tkt if i were a cop you wouldn't have got one but you did. and you don't stand a chance

Answer 11

Your sister's appendix does not make your reckless driving any safer, nor you any less a danger to innocent drivers and pedestrians along your route.  The cop was right.

Answer 12

No.They have heard every kind of excuse that you can imagine.Pay the ticket or better yet take a defensive class to dismiss the ticket and lower your insurance at the same time.

Answer 13

don't bother fighting it. you were speeding, pay the fine.

Answer 14

If you fight it and give the court your same reasoning, you'll probably get off, but there is no guarantee. Also, cops don't have to have their lights on. They can hide behind camoflauge and still pull you over. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean anything.

Answer 15

Cops can be anywhere they want to be.  (As long as it doesn't cause a crash of course.)  I doubt that you will win it if you fight it - although, you can try.  Stranger things have happened.  He was right.  However, I'd probably speed to the hospital under the same conditions.  But, I'd just pay the ticket and take it as the cost of getting there faster.

PS  Hope your sister and the baby are doing okay.

If a cop doesn't show for the ticket - it doesn't mean he or she is lazy.  It means they've just gotton off of an 18 hour shift and need to go home and sleep.  Otherwise, the cops I know - go to court for those things.

Answer 16

There's nothing wrong with a cop sitting there in the dark trying to catch speeders.  You won't have any chance of winning based on your sister's condition but if you have the time to fight it, go ahead - maybe you'll luck out and the cop won't show up or they'll reduce it to a "non-moving" violation.

Answer 17

speeding is speeding most police don't care why your speeding. I don't think you will win in court unless you have a lawyer and that will cost more than tour ticket. Maybe you can get court supervision and pay a fine and it won't go on your record.

Answer 18

Don't try fighting it.  Even though you did have a reason why you wanted to be somewhere quickly, it still doesn't mean you are allowed to endanger yourself and others by driving faster than permitted and faster than others expect.. It's so annoying to get a ticket but the cop kinda has a point about you not ending up in hospital too.  It's better to be late than dead on time.. Rules are rules :(

Answer 19

going 82 in a 65

pay the ticket

your sis was in a hospital

not sprawled on the floor where you had to rush in and save the day

Answer 20

go to court and tell the judge what happened tell him/her the truth maybe they will let you off with a warning or may cut the ticket in half just don't make any rude remarks about the cop and be honest  and talk to the judge with respect and dress casual

Answer 21

yes u should,sorry for being rude but your sister was in the hospital so there isnt much of a chance at winning and not much of a bother,i know you were worried about your sister (hope shes ok) but she was in the hospital and 82 in a 65 is perty much a no chance at wining,maybe if you were going 70-75,sorry to tell you this but theres no sense in paying for someone to help win and lose then pay for the ticket i would just pay for the tickety but thats just my opinion

Answer 22

Unfortunately speeding is speeding and you were going quite a bit over!! Understandably you wanted to rush to your sister, but better safe then not at all.. as for the cop sitting with no lights yeah that is so you do not see him first and slow down.. Fight it if you want the only way it may get dropped is if the cop does not show..

Answer 23

You dont get to make excuses to get out of being a responsible adult like everyone else has to, JUST BECAUSE YOURE A GIRL

Answer 24

You in no way dispute that you were going 17 miles over the speed limit.  Of course that's ticket worthy.

If you had your pregnant sister in the car, suffering from appendicitis, and having contractions and you were taking her to the hospital, the cop probably wouldn't have given you a ticket.  But you, yourself driving to what wasn't a life or death situation... you've got little chance of winning.

Answer 25

Fight it.  Chances are, the cop will be too lazy to show up in court, even though you were legally speeding.

Going 82 is probably a bit too fast though. Your sister was not dying of a heart attack, so you didn't have to speed.

Answer 26

yes you deserved the ticket play the what if game for a minutwhat if a deer ran out in front of you what if a car was stopped in the roadway what if some was walking down or across the road i have been a professional driver for the past twelve years and have seen counless acciddent for the above reason that could have been avoided if they were doing the legal speed

Answer 27

Nope.