designergrey

I was driving home from the dealer and I thought I was going th speed limit and I got pulled over for going 72 in a 60. In El Paso, TX. Meanwhile the officer tells me I have a beautiful car as he writes me a ticket.

The part that sucks is that I live in New Mexico and it is 45 minutes to Texas and I have to go to court in Texas. Now I have to take a defensive driving course to get out of the ticket.

The know good and well that speed limit should be 70.

Is there anything that I can say to the judge that might get me out of this stupid ticket?

DWP

Nothing like a ticket to dump all over your new-car experince. My sympathies. About the only thing worse is the experience of a former neighbor of mine, who got in a wreck with his brand-new BMW Z3 as he was driving it off the dealer's lot.

In some states you can challenge the process used to set the speed limit in a given location, but (a) I have no idea if Texas is such a state, and (b) such challenges usually work at lower speed limits - not 60 mph.

Also, you didn't say whether the officer used radar or paced you. The latter tickets are easire to challenge in court, although the odds are against you in both cases. You really need a lawyer experienced in traffic cases to challenge a radar ticket, which of course isn't worth it unless your license is on the line.

Don't go to court to tell the judge the speed limit should be higher; only go if you think you can challenge the accuracy of the 72 MPH. Remember, you have to convince the judge that the officer was off by 12 MPH, even if the officer's ticketing threshold was 65 or 70.

Unless there are special circumstances that you haven't mentioned, I would suck it up, take the traffic course and move on. Keep in mind that most traffic cops in your part of the world can't afford your car and probably resent that fact, so set your speed accordingly.

jangy

You can't do traffic school?

Haha!! At least I went a day before my ticket.

A kid smashed up a motorcycle pulling out of the dealership on a test drive while I was in signing the papers to buy mine. He had to pay. That would really suck.

designergrey

I'm not sure if I can go to traffic school or not. The rules say you have to be a Texas resident. Since I am a New Mexico resident I have to go to court and ask the judge if I can take traffic school.

jagata

Never drive through Texas if you don't want a speeding ticket, that state is the second largest and has the slowest speed limits with cops at every mile looking for out of state drivers. You need to be slow there like that Bush fellow.

mbuskuhl

jta00r1- The only fact in your post is we are the second largest in terms of square miles... how many other states allow you to do 80mph on the interstate?

mkmojay - I'd fight that ticket at any expense, 72 in a 60 is ridiculous

State - TX
Interstate (rural) 70-80mph
Interstate (urban) 60mph
4 lane (rural) 70,75mph
2 lane (rural) 70,75mph
County (rural) 60,55mph
Residential (urban) 30mph


* All roads have 65 mph night limit if day limit is higher.
* 75 mph only in counties with fewer than 15 people per square mile.
* 80 mph only in west Texas counties specified by statute.
* Truck limit is 70 if regular limit is higher.
* Harris County may post up to 70 mph limits Harris County Toll Road Authority tollway system.

Texas's 80 mph limit is higher than any limit authorized by another state, it is equivalent to the 130 km/h recommended speed on the Autobahn and the actual 130 km/h rural expressway speed limit in 13 other European countries[14]. It is lower than the 150 km/h (95 mph) speed limit allowed on certain Italian roads and an experimental 160 km/h (100 mph) speed limit on an Austrian road.

C43AMG

You stand ALOT better chances of fighting a radar ticket then a "pace" ticket.

X72

mkmojay, they are counting on the fact that most out of state people won't go through the time and expense to fight the ticket.

I have done several cross-country trips on I-10. You can speed in the urban/suburban areas of Texas with lots of traffic where it is less safe to do so with minimal risk of being ticketed as long as you are not the fastest speeder in the pack. I go with the main flow in the right lane; the left lane flow can be 85 to 90 mph with cars all bunched together.

However, once I pass San Antonio and it is wide open with nearly no traffic until El Paso, I keep the car at the posted speed limit (and I know that my speedometer is accurate because I have timed it on the 5 mile marked stretches that the police use to calibrate/check their equipment).

I am from out of state and I am a mark for the troopers/ highway patrol when I leave Florida. I behave the same way within 75 miles of Tallahassee, FL which is the captal of the state and loaded with state troopers. I am from South Florida, but our plates say what county we are from so we are not treated nearly as well as someone from the panhandle (of Florida).

If you accept that some things in life are not fair, it will be easier for you to enjoy your car. Driving around in a luxury car out of your home state makes you a mark to be ticketed.
William

DWP

I was talking about a pro per (self-represented person), not somebody with a lawyer skilled in busting traffic tickets. It's easier for a pro per to argue that the officer didn't pace long enough, had obstructed vision, etc. than to argue the technical shortcomings of radar/lidar.

C43AMG

Ok, thanx for the clarification.

jagata

Sorry for the offense taken, I was just trying to make light of the situation. I did not think anyone would be sensitive of the remarks.

mbuskuhl

No offense taken, as we say here... "Don't mess with Texas"...

jagata

HA HA, I was thinking of the other saying. J/K

Cheers

John

AndrewAZ

Well out here in AZ its kind of strange. Away from the city we have 80MPH posted speed limits, but here is the "law".

Arizona law is confusing. There is a state maximum 85 MPH limit, and with that restriction the main speed limit law allows the state to set prima facie speed limits at any speed. But there is a separate law which says that a 55 MPH limit is absolute; driving less than 65 in a 55 zone is "waste of a finite resource" and driving 65 or more is speeding. There is another law which sets absolute speed limits of 65 and 75 on rural Interstates. In fact the rural Interstate speed limit is 75 (and a court has accepted a challenge to a ticket on the grounds that traffic engineering standards call for a higher limit) and the limit on most other rural roads is 65.

After doing a little more looking into it. We had a law that passed that moved the speed limits on highways outside of phx area to 80 mph, and the state maximum 85mph limit was moved to 90 mph, so you can go 89 mph and not get a felony speeding ticket. Most drivers out here in the city with posted limits of 65 and 55 go 80.

X72

Exactly. In the urban/suburban areas, you are much less likely to get a speeding ticket than you are when you are out in the rural areas of the country. By the way, we in Miami, FL have a terrible (and deservedly so) reputation for driving behavior, but I was shocked when I first went through Phoenix and saw people routinely driving at insanely high speeds in suburban areas with lots of cross-traffic and and access points. It is almost like driving on an Interstate highway, but with the added thrill of lots of people turning in an out of the road. It is nearly impossible for us in urban South Florida to get up to the speeds I routinely saw people driving at (75 to 80 mph) on the surface streets in Scottsdale because our roads have fewer lanes, are more congested, and have poorly timed traffic signals. The brake pad replacement business must be good in Phoenix.

SushDawg

That should not be a problem to fight the ticket - you won't have to show up.

I can give you a name of a lawyer who can get you off.

You may have 2 options:
#1
He will 1st postpone the court date.
2nd - if The cop ever shows up for the new date - most don't as they don't remember, you are off. if he does show up, he will make sure that you just have to pay a fine and promise that you won't speed \ get another ticket for 90 days in that area. Just a hassle of coming to court for that day.

#2
Just pay the ticket and promise that you won't speed \ get another ticket for 90 days in that area. Won't even show on your record. DOn't have to show up.

PM me if you want his details.