"Exhibition of *excel*eration" ticket question...

[te72]

Guys, looking for some experience here, lawyers, LEO's, people who have had this happen themselves (not looking for 'friends of friends cousins' stories).

I got pulled over and given a ticket for "exhibition of exceleration" Friday. Yes, I'm fully aware that isn't spelled correctly, it took conscious thought to not inform the officer that "exceleration" isn't a word... However, the ticket also has a statute number on it, so I figure it's gonna stick, not to mention two separate officers saw me (I saw only the one, and it wasn't the one who pulled me over). Also, the ticket says the car is "PUR" listed under the color, when my registration clearly says "BLU".

My questions then, in order of importance are:

1) Does this sort of ticket stick to your driving record or count as points against your license/insurance?

2) Would it be worth the time to fight it on the conditions listed above? I don't own a purple car, so how could I have been pulled over in one? How important are details to a judge and/or the detaining officer?

If it's not gonna stick to my license, I'm inclined to just pay the fine and be done with it, surprised it's taken this long to get pulled over and charged with something meaningful... but if it is gonna stick, it gives me a bit of incentive to fight it, *if* I have a decent chance of winning a case... I'll be looking into whether or not driving school/classes are an option around here to get this off the record, but assume that it's not for now.

Discuss.

 

[Supracentral]

I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, etc... However, if I recall correctly, Exhibition of Acceleration is a legislators cutesy way of saying "drag racing". It's going to stick, badly. And it's going likely cause your insurance carrier to drop you or raise your rates.

I'm going to give you my generic advice for tickets:

I always hire a lawyer, and I always instruct them to plead it down to "lesser offenses" (i.e. - equipment and non-moving violations). This gives the solicitor/prosecutor a high conviction rate and keeps the money flowing to the ugly monster of government. It sucks, but it placates the beast and gets his teeth off of your nuts.

It's been a long time since I've actually gotten a ticket (older and wiser and all that crap I guess), but fighting a ticket without a lawyer is a crap shoot at best. Either pay it, or pay a lawyer to fight it. Trying to do it yourself rarely works out.

Want to know why?

Because these judges, lawyers, prosecutors and cops work together every day. They have a professional relationship. Sometimes, on top of it, they have personal relationship as well. Maybe their kids go to school together, maybe their spouses are friends. For all you know, the prosecutor had dinner at the judges house last night. Odds are they all run in the same social circles. All of that adds up to the fact that even 100% honest people are going to tend to believe people they know before a stranger. And who are you? You're the stranger. Ever had a ticket before? Any problems with the law? If so, now you're a stranger who is a known problem, they've got even more reason to not believe you.

Odds are they are viewing you as some punk ass kid they don't know driving what (to them) appears to be an old piece of crap rice rocket, speeding around and being irresponsible. One of their own, the cop, who they know and trust, says he saw you do it. You say that isn't true. They don't believe you.

It's not "right" but it is how it is. You need someone who is a part of their club to represent you. You need someone who can plead this charge down with the solicitor before you go to court. You need someone who not only knows the system, but is a part of the system. You're an outsider.

Hire a lawyer - give him those specific instructions - you won't regret it.

 

[Clint]

I think that's the best advice I've read about how to deal with a severe speeding ticket.

 

[gurley0916]

Yup that pretty much sums it up...I had one last summer and fought it on my own and got real lucky and settled a deal with the prosecutor and walked away with a civil ticket. You can look up the statute online and see what the penalty as every state is different. The color doesnt matter or even if the address is wrong...the judge will ask you if the address is right or not to begin with and the color is close enough. They said mine was blue but its teal so it doesnt really matter as the have the license plate to relate to the car.

I would get a lawyer and deal with this...we always think getting on it isnt a big deal because your not racing but that is where its wrong exhibition of speed/ acceleration usually are the same punishment. Good luck Brad hope you didnt admit any guilt when the officer talked to you.

 

[Poodles]

Exactly, it's a gray law and as such you're screwed. It's up to the opinion of the officer. Been there, done that, get a lawyer.

 

[te72]

Good advice gentlemen, figure that's what I'd need to do if I wanted to fight it. Gonna do a little more homework before making a solid decision on this, but if I do decide to fight it (would be tough simply because I know he saw me, as did the city cop in the other car), I will lawyer up.

Have had one ticket in the past, but that was 5 years ago, and I was able to take traffic school to get it off my record. Aside from that I have a clean record.

 

[Supracentral]

Good advice gentlemen, figure that's what I'd need to do if I wanted to fight it. Gonna do a little more homework before making a solid decision on this, but if I do decide to fight it (would be tough simply because I know he saw me, as did the city cop in the other car), I will lawyer up.

Don't fight it - plead it down to something that won't destroy your driving record...

This is not about right or wrong, this is about dealing with the state. If you feel guilty, go see a priest...

Have had one ticket in the past, but that was 5 years ago, and I was able to take traffic school to get it off my record. Aside from that I have a clean record.

I'm telling you again, this is a bad thing to have on your driving record. Aside from the possible insurance and negative perceptions for future employers, it will make fighting future tickets very difficult. Once you've been convicted of being a street racer (which is basically what this is), no cop, judge or solicitor will ever cut you a break.

Trust me on this. You need a lawyer and you need to do whatever you can to make sure this stays off of your record.

 

[te72]

I wonder if I could play the "unintended acceleration" card with this...

In all seriousness, what could the ticket be reduced to? Speeding? Doing my homework, need to figure out who's a good lawyer around here...

 

[Supracentral]

I wonder if I could play the "unintended acceleration" card with this...

In all seriousness, what could the ticket be reduced to? Speeding? Doing my homework, need to figure out who's a good lawyer around here...

Those are questions for your lawyer. They will be able to tell you what can and can't be done. Generally you want to try for a non-moving violation that doesn't cost you points or effect your insurance rates.

For finding one, ask around, try to get a personal recommendation from someone you trust.

 

[fixitman04]

i got that same ticket in laramie while i was in school. mike is correct dont try fighting the violation. you should be able to plead it down to speeding at a minimum which will disappear with time from your record. a good lawyer should be able to differ the ticket as well. which is probably your best bet here. if they did not write a specific speed on the ticket they will plead it to the lowest possible speeding ticket for the speed zone, if they did well thats what they will plead it to. differing a ticket basically states that you do not contest it. it will remove the violation from your record as long as you do not get another ticket in a certain period of time following the first violation.

you will still have to pay the ticket, but that way it will disappear from your record. if you go alone you could still strike this deal with the prosecutor... but your chances are better with help. dress nice, be courteous, and remember dont be argumentative.

questioning the ticket on the basis of the car color wont work, and you will come off looking like a punk to the judge.... dont try that!

 

[Scott 88-1JZ]

Some good advice in here. I would say research the ticket and find out what it really means, Look up the violation number. I got caught doing a fishtail in my supra when I was younger. The cop gave me excessive acceleration (I thought I was going to get an exhibition of speed ticket, which is a 3 point offense and would have lost my license) When I looked it up it was not a traffic violation and therefore put no points on my record. It was more like a noise pollution ticket. I got really lucky.

 

[Supracentral]

questioning the ticket on the basis of the car color wont work, and you will come off looking like a punk to the judge.... dont try that!

This is why I said get a lawyer. No insults intended towards Te72, but I can tell from some of his statements and speculation that he's not well versed enough in this stuff to go it alone. Whatever it costs in legal fees, it's better than just rolling over and letting the state convict you of a crime that's going to follow you around for a few years.

 

[fixitman04]

This is why I said get a lawyer. No insults intended towards Te72, but I can tell from some of his statements and speculation that he's not well versed enough in this stuff to go it alone. Whatever it costs in legal fees, it's better than just rolling over and letting the state convict you of a crime that's going to follow you around for a few years.

exactly. what it boils down to is it isnt gonna be cheap either way. you gotta pay to play... id assume anybody with a supra would know this....
luckily for him wyoming does not communicate well with other states on this kind of thing as long as it is taken care of properly... that and they have a deferment program for people with good records. the key to those programs is that you must not get into trouble during your probationary period... if you dont get any tickets (parking included) in that period it is expunged from your record like it never happened. at least thats how it worked for me in 97.

i was being an idiot at a stoplight, doing a burnout in a lifted bronco(i know....but i was young) and did not realize i had a cop behind me (laramie has some off the wall unmarked cars. this one was a early 90's toyota pickup with a flatbed). since i had no tickets in 3 years the judge offered to defer the ticket. i lucked out and did not have a lawyer. you still have to pay the fine.. but the ticket was reduced to wreckless driving in my case and deferred. 6 months later i had a clean record. no evidence of the wreckless driving at all. when deferring it it never showed up on my record... not even while on the probationary period so my insurance never knew about it.

 

[GrimJack]

There is also another factor to consider - cost. Not the cost to you, but the cost to the system.

If you simply roll over and pay the speed tax, the state has collected from you the cost of the tax, and invested the cost of the police officer for 15 minutes, his equipment, and probably another 15 minutes for various record keeping staff. They make a profit on this - the costs are likely in the order of $35, and if the ticket is for $200, they get a profit of $165. Most people will simply pay.

Now, if you could convince most people to go to court... things change. The fine (which is their gross profit) will get reduced, and the costs go up, because now they need to add in the cost of a courtroom, all the associated staff - including a judge - plus they need to pay the LEO his wages as well. All of a sudden it's not such a fantastic money making prospect for the state anymore, now it may very well cost them money instead.

Then there is the raw time involved, as well. The number of violations the traffic officers can write is limited by several factors - the size of the traffic court, how efficient they are, and how many people on average will go to court over a violation. If that average goes up, the number of tickets they can write must drop by an equal amount. So, if everyone went to court every time, the number of tickets they could write would have to drop by a huge amount. IMO, we should take every ticket to court.

Bottom line - the current speed tax system is only workable when used to control a population of sheep.

 

[te72]

No offense taken Mike, I am certainly no expert when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing. I've only had one prior ticket, but have been pulled over plenty. Usually I get out of these sorts of things, but not this time, so... not offending me in the least.

Lotta good advice in here guys, and this is yet one more reason I love this forum. I have most of my evening free, I'll be trying to find out about this particular statute and it's consequences. I may get lucky and find out it's not such a big deal out here in the sticks, but if not, I'll be fishing for a lawyer. I have friends in the local/state government, I'm sure I can find a good lawyer without too much trouble.

 

[Supracentral]

I have friends in the local/state government, I'm sure I can find a good lawyer without too much trouble.

That's a a great resource. Get a personal recommendation for a lawyer from a few and then pick one. Do not hire a lawyer who advertises on television...

 

[te72]

But, but... TV wouldn't lie to me would it? :icon_roll

Did a lot of research last night on the particular statute, but couldn't find anything on whether or not it sticks to the record, is reported to insurance, nothing. Looks like I'm gonna have to talk to a lawyer on this one, at least get an idea of what they could do for me...

 

[trucker]

for some of you guys, you might want to look into pre-paid legal services. some of the plans are very reasonable, a few bucks a year, and usually about $100 per ticket. I have one(forgot who with off the top of my head, my briefcase is in the truck) and the plan paid for its self a few years ago on just one potentially career-ending ticket(got an outright not guilty on that one). my dl is my living, and a lot of the tickets i see you guys getting would kiss it good-bye.

it might not make financial sense to someone who gets tickets once every five years or so. but if you are getting pulled over every other month, its something worth looking at. i keep my "card" visible on my log-book. more often than not, the cop won't even bother looking at it any deeper, because if he writes a ticket, he knows he's gonna have to waste a day in court only to have it plead out after he sits a couple of hours waiting.

 

[iwannadie]

I've herd bad experiences with those type of pre-paid lawyers. One guy had a setup and showed up in court to fight a simple ticket and the lawyer stood up in court and then didn't know his own clients name. The guy said the look on the face of the judge and the DA said it all and he knew he was sunk right there. I'm sure it comes down to getting personal recommendations as with any other lawyer but it is also luck of the draw because you are issued a lawyer from a pool right not the same one each time?

 

[trucker]

it is a pool deal. and while i appreciate your insight, i didn't hear of experiences with these plans, i use them. i don't have time to go establish relationships in the legal communities in every county of every state i drive through. everyone has different needs. if your exposure to LEO meetings is limited to every couple of years, then it isn't really a needful thing for you, just give the local lawyer $4-600 to deal with it and you are good to go. If you see the red lights a couple of times a month, even for warnings, then it may well be worth it to you, eventually officer friendly is gonna get tired of just chewing you out.