108 in a 55 - - - Ohio

[Njc0las]

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[Tampa03cobra]

i was cited last weekend for 120 in a 65. i got caught street racing (i'm an idiot) and was stopped along with the other car i was racing by a MA state trooper. i was totally honest with him with all his questions and he told me he could charge me with drag racing which is a criminal offense and i'd lose my liscense, go to jail, and have my car impounded and i'd have to appear in court (pay court fees, lawyer fees, fines, licvense reinstatement and probably take a drivng class). and on top of that he would charge me with 120 in a 65. he said becuase i was honest with him he would give a written warning for the drag racing and only charge me with the speeding (which is civil and only required that i pay a fine). although the fine is $550 (ouch), i apreciated him giving me a break and realize things could have been much much worse for me. all my firends told me to appeal the ticket in court but i'm gonna just accept responsibility for my stupidity and pay it. the officer already went out of his way to give me a break and it would be a slap in the face to him if i showed up in court to appeal when i was caught red handed.

my question for the leo's is, can anything come of this. i mean after i pay the fine am i going to get a letter in the mail telling me my liscense is suspended for x number of days for 55 over the speed limit. or do i just pay the fine and thats the end of it? i know my insurance is going to go up but i'm not worried about that. the ticket says drag racing with warning written next to it and says no action required by offender and then theres the speeding charge. no charges of wreckless driving, driving to endanger, etc. any input is apreciated.

Frank

EDIT: this is in Massachusettes by the way, no Ohio

I lived in Norton,MA for 5 years. I was actually lucky enough back in my more ignorant years to never run into the MA troopers when I used to try to make it from the wrentham outlets to the Rt123 exit in under 10 minutes ( 145+mph, *sigh :bash: )

Let me first say, you have no idea how lucky you are to be stoped by a MA state trooper and not one of the locals. You live there im sure you know why.

From my observations a couple things to note.
1. When you have a ticket in mass of the civil nature, before you go to court you are refered to a magistrate if you choose to challenge it. If you havent been there before its basically a guy behind a desk who you can plead your case to without court costs. There will be a man reading the charges from the trooper, but the trooper himself will not be there, its your chance to have a heart to heart with the magistrate before it gets to court. This is your best chance to get that fine reduced and the officer wont even know that you did it. However if your not satisfied with the magistrates ruling you have to go to court. MA's system is really in favor of the law breaker not the law enforcer (now thats a shocker....). My best advice to you is, if he didnt radar you, go before the magistrate and tell him, I was not going that fast and you will be able to work him down. I worked a 99 in a 30 down to a 40 in a 30 (not proud of it, I was young and stupid), so this shouldnt be that much harder. If he radared you, either go to step 2 or just pay the fine =)

2. The trooper will show up if you choose to take it to court, MA troopers are some of the best in the business and if you challenge it he will be there, and he will put up one hell of a case. Him telling you not to take it to court may be a good idea, however, take advice you get from LEOs with a grain of salt, because they are not going to reccomend something to you that is not in their best intrest, thats not to say they are out to trick you, it may very well be in your best intrest, but its always wise to talk to counsel to make sure thats the case if you believe you need to take it to this level.

3. The good news is, you live in the only state where a judge might let you off for this, ive seen crazier things be reduced to a minimum fine in Mass. It comes down to whether you feel lucky or you want to spend twice to three times what the max fine on that ticket is to retain a "decent" lawyer (Shop around, law offices are like dunkin donuts around mass, there are probably 30 of them in your area =). I guess you need to ask yourself how much your driving record is worth to you.

 

[Fdawg97lx]

I lived in Norton,MA for 5 years. I was actually lucky enough back in my more ignorant years to never run into the MA troopers when I used to try to make it from the wrentham outlets to the Rt123 exit in under 10 minutes ( 145+mph, *sigh :bash: )

Let me first say, you have no idea how lucky you are to be stoped by a MA state trooper and not one of the locals. You live there im sure you know why.

From my observations a couple things to note.
1. When you have a ticket in mass of the civil nature, before you go to court you are refered to a magistrate if you choose to challenge it. If you havent been there before its basically a guy behind a desk who you can plead your case to without court costs. There will be a man reading the charges from the trooper, but the trooper himself will not be there, its your chance to have a heart to heart with the magistrate before it gets to court. This is your best chance to get that fine reduced and the officer wont even know that you did it. However if your not satisfied with the magistrates ruling you have to go to court. MA's system is really in favor of the law breaker not the law enforcer (now thats a shocker....). My best advice to you is, if he didnt radar you, go before the magistrate and tell him, I was not going that fast and you will be able to work him down. I worked a 99 in a 30 down to a 40 in a 30 (not proud of it, I was young and stupid), so this shouldnt be that much harder. If he radared you, either go to step 2 or just pay the fine =)

2. The trooper will show up if you choose to take it to court, MA troopers are some of the best in the business and if you challenge it he will be there, and he will put up one hell of a case. Him telling you not to take it to court may be a good idea, however, take advice you get from LEOs with a grain of salt, because they are not going to reccomend something to you that is not in their best intrest, thats not to say they are out to trick you, it may very well be in your best intrest, but its always wise to talk to counsel to make sure thats the case if you believe you need to take it to this level.

3. The good news is, you live in the only state where a judge might let you off for this, ive seen crazier things be reduced to a minimum fine in Mass. It comes down to whether you feel lucky or you want to spend twice to three times what the max fine on that ticket is to retain a "decent" lawyer (Shop around, law offices are like dunkin donuts around mass, there are probably 30 of them in your area =). I guess you need to ask yourself how much your driving record is worth to you.

yea, i dont mind paying the fine. i'm just wondering if my license will get suspended for excessive speeding or anything.

Frank