110 mph ticket DISMISSED

[socalrob]

Last January I did a really stupid move, and twisted the throttle up on my R1150R. It was a bright, blue sky day, about noon, and the freeway was empty, had just had its surface ground down to a perfect smoothness, about zero traffice, and about 2 mile or more sight distance.

I saw 120 on the speedo. I had backed off and was down to about 80 when I saw the blue lights.

I was busted. LEO wrote me for 110, which given my speedo's about 9 percent error, I'd say the guy was spot on.

Turns out in Cali a 100 mph ticket is bad juju. $1,000 fine, loss of license for 30 days (explain that to the kids), $2-$3K per year increase in insurance for how many years.

I hired a ticket attorney (most expensive in LA), Sherman M. Ellison, 818-994-8888, his web site is 866speeding.com. $3,600 later, my ticket has been dismissed.

No points, no fine, no traffic school, no loss of license. I went to work today instead of court, so did not see it, but it worked.

He says 97 percent win rate. I believe him now.

BTW, I have learned my lesson, and I do figure there is at least one Highway Patrolman out there that is looking for me.

[joel]

Thats pretty cool. I checked out his web site. Your case is already listed on his victory list tab. So what was the technicality that he used in your case?

[boxermania]

I wouldn't call it a technicality it works more like this

A) He knows people at the DMV and the "ticket" gets pulled from the stack....Oooops or
B) The case gets called but the officer "forgot" to be in attendance and the charge is dismissed or
C) He knows someone in the judge staff that pulls the ticket

In the long run everyone that participates will enjoy some of the $3600 payola.....

BTW, some of the smaller comunities have bypassed this form of enrichment and the ticketing officer will even inform you that the ticket can be paid directly to the city for a modest amount and it will not be reported to the insurance companies.

I love this country, money and influence are tops.........

[DJ Downunder]

Socalrob...congrats..

DJ

[JCsman]

Good for you SoCal.

But you might want to re-think that tag line about ferro being the stealthiest color.

Anybody out there got any of the stealth fighter, F-117, paint in a rattle can?

[iowabeakster]

excellent! but $3600, holy macaroni!

had a similar incident in the car. the cop was real nice and only wrote the ticket for 85 in a 55. I probably was doing 85..... after stomping on the brakes for a quater mile.

a week later got the letter from the state saying they were going to take my license for 30 days and had an addtional $200 civil penalty (on top of the $150 ticket).

simply wrote a letter of appeal myself, they waived the loss of license and sent back the $200.

[wncbmw]

Boxermainia is correct to a certain extent. Years ago, I got a ticket in a jurisdiction where we had a good client. I talked to the Town Attorney (the Town was our client), he took the case for $25 since he was in court that day anyway. A little talking before they call my case, the Trooper (who had suggested I go to court since I had been very coorperative) agreed, wham! Ticket reduced from 75 in a 55 to exceeding 55! No points, no insurance rate rise! Best $25 I ever spent!

[mnnden]

Boxermania (Quote: I love this country, money and influence are tops.........

Gotta Love it:

I don't see any one slapping OJ Simpson on the back, or sending out congratulations, I say if you "can't do the time, Don't do the crime". A great lesson for the kids. I think you should have stepped up to the plate and been a man, and paid your dues!! that would have shown some character. Good Luck Den

[Tripton]

Just my opinion, but I dont recall socalrob killing his wife and a spectator and getting off scot free, (meaning innocent), then having to pay megabucks in a settlement afterwards(bulls%^t).

A little bit of inconsistency in the comparison IMHO.

Besides, is one speeding ticket, no matter how fast, the same as a DUI? No.
Was anyone harmed? No. Would paying those insurance rates and a 1000 dollar fine be rediculous? Yes.

Socalrob, you beat the system, congrats. For this one time when the system worked FOR the accused, how many times has it failed and sent innocent people to jail and the like?

[solitario11]

I got a lawer for $425 and he got it down to broken speedometer and $100 fine. is the insurance that force me to fight it!. I have 3 cars and 2 motorcycle and drive at work. if you have 5 points they wont let me drive at work and I would loose my title and money so there is the reasen. is not fair or the right thing but this is america. hey thats what mr bush would had done, no?

[socalrob]

It was definately my bad for not knowing how draconian the penalties were. I know now, and have slowed down considerably. Should I have just bent over? Maybe, but then again, I just availed myself to the legal avenues that are out there.

There is zero possibility in my mind that there is any "payola" going on in a big urban judicial system over this type of tiny fee. Sherman's methods, as far as I understand, are to supeana the LEO with 25 or 30 different demands for documents and evidence, maybe things like an affidavit that the mechanic that works on the police cruiser had the correct training, much less that the cruiser had a calibrated speedo. If the LEO screws up on bringing the correct stuff to court, out goes the case. I believe its called a proceedural defense. I personally don't need to know exactly how he did it, as I am a surveyor, not a lawyer, and I would not go into court without a lawyer.

The attorney did not even talk to me about how the traffic stop went, I just had to fax a copy of the ticket.

5 years ago I might have felt a bit uneasy about this whole thing, but if you all remember, I am currently involved in a lawsuit where a condo association is sueing me for $1,009,000 for what truthfully I had absolutely no fault over, from work done in 1991.

We did not settle as we did zero things wrong. Everyone else in the case settled, the homeowner's got $1,900,000 (from the developer, contractor, architect, and others). The civil engineer, who was really at fault, could not be found, so they said I was the defacto engineer. As I performed all surveying work flawlessly, they could not sue me as a surveyor, so instead sued me as an engineer, which I am not. We were in a full on jury trial for two weeks. It took 3 days of having 60 fellow citizens waste their time just to choose a jury. We won a unanimous jury verdict in our favor. Even the 2 alternates said they would vote for us. My legal bills for that were about $160,000 (I could have caved in and settled for $25K at one point years ago). The judge then tossed the jury verdict, and said we have to do the trial over. We are in appeals ($20,000), if we lose there another trial ($35,000 or so), non of which I can recover. My insurance premiums are now $40,000 per year v. $10,000 per year before the trial. If I loose too much more in legal fees my insurance carrier will cancel me & there goes my business, even if I win the case.

So excuse me if I don't see the legal system as something to give much respect to. I was more than willing to "man up" & take my medicine, but saw no reason to do so prior to fighting a screwed up system every step of the way.

[beekstersocal]

great tip rob especially me ,i mean having the gto and the bike its only a matter of time

[beekstersocal]

oh ya .more power too ya ROB, i pay out the ass for insurance and workers comp [ i am a general contractor] and all the other B.S that goes with it and its only a fraction of what you have incured, my heart goes out to you brother ,hang in there

[jfbarron]

Geez Rob,

That's some legal system that you have there in California. How the hell does a surveyor get screwed for a Civil Engineers (Structural discipline?)errors and ommisions? Isn't the guy licensed in California?

We have ticket fixers here in Ontario as well, but I have been fortunate enough not to have to use them.

Someone once told me that if a problem can be solved with money, then it's not really a problem.

I'm still pondering that one!

[Tripton]

"So excuse me if I don't see the legal system as something to give much respect to. I was more than willing to "man up" & take my medicine, but saw no reason to do so prior to fighting a screwed up system every step of the way."

Damn Straight!!!!!!!

[towerworker]

I'm happy for you that you that you avoided a more serious consequence to the speeding ticket (loss of license etc). It seems that paying $3600 was serious enough.

I won't add my .02 about our system-----it is what it is. With all the faults in our system, America is still the best place to live! (in my opinion)

I would hope that we could all gain a lesson from all of this. We all need to ride safely and responsibly.

Wayne Bowyer
Staunton Va

[Deano]

Paying $3,600 for a speeding ticket sounds like "maning-up" to me, regardless of where the revenue went. Lesson learned.

[JCsman]

if you "can't do the time, Don't do the crime". A great lesson for the kids. I think you should have stepped up to the plate and been a man, and paid your dues!! that would have shown some character.

Hmmmm... is that only when caught (now wouldn't THAT be a "great lesson for the kids")? Or does your moral purity extend to sending in the fine amount to the local court should you ever look down and discover (horrors! ) you have exceeded the posted limit?

[popgazer]

Congrats Rob. With you all the way.

"So excuse me if I don't see the legal system as something to give much respect to. I was more than willing to "man up" & take my medicine, but saw no reason to do so prior to fighting a screwed up system every step of the way."

I would add this: speed traps aren't always setup in most dangerous time and places (to prevent accidents), but rather in areas where motorists are likely to go over the posted speed limit under certain conditions. In effect, the police agents are not out to protect motorists, which the job they are paid and SUPPOSED to be doing, but to collect money.

BTW: on which freeway exactly did you get tagged ?

[socalrob]

The northbound 2 freeway between the 134 & the 210. Its wide, smooth, and in places, straight. Was built in the 70's to very good design standards. I should know better as I ride it all the time. The LEOs definately patrol it very heavily because it is an open stretch that invites speeding.