To all of you folks regularly driving through or live in Dekalb county, be extra careful. I'm sure most of you folks already know, but Dekalb county and its police department has this "zero tolerance" thing going on right now, with some fishing expeditions thrown in. It apparantely started last week and will last up until the end of December. I came to know of this when I was stopped by a police officer on I-85 last Saturday afternoon. The officer first ticketed me for doing 85 in a 55 zone and wrote me off for "failing to yield to an emergency vehicle", with the emergency vehicle being his own bike. (how do you yield to a police officer who is behind you to ticket you?) There were no ambulances of any kind near me. Anyway, I was more or less going with the flow of the traffic as usual; because I know my STi has a wing and is blue colored I know better than anyone not to stick out like a sore thumb. I was also surrounded by other cars when I was stopped, so there is no way I was going faster than them. This happened right after I merged into highway and I was not street racing or anything. After I stopped the officer immediately displayed some kind of attitude towards me. He asked me why I didn't stop sooner; I told him that I didn't hear his siren at all and the only way I saw him is because I still periodically check my rear view mirror when I'm not changing lanes. Then he says he clocked me going at 85 and askes me if I knew how fast I was going. I told him I wasn't particularly looking at my speedometer at the time. (Interestingly my Escort solo S2 never went off during this whole ordeal) I frankly did not feel the need to see it because I was going just as fast as the innermost lane and the lane right next to it was moving. So then I was handcuffed and my STI was impounded. I was thrown into the Dekalb PD jail that afternoon and was released on the bond the following day in the morning. My question is what is the best way to fight the ticket? I'm pretty sure I can get the stupid "failing to yield to emergency vehicle" dropped but not sure how I should approach the speeding one. The officer simply put down 85 in 55 and didn't specify if he used radar or laser. I also am not sure if I should mention my radar detector or not, even though I'm pretty sure the officer saw it in my car. Any suggestions would be welcome. ETA: This is my first ticket of any form and I was wondering if I have some kind of driving school options to mitigate the charge?
Sorry to hear that man, I was over that way last week and noticed A lot of cops out also thought it was weird cause it wasnt a holiday or anything. Sounds like you may want to get a lawyer on that and dont say nuthin about the radar dector. He may not have even got you on his radar and if he did he has to prove it in court. when the last time cal. and all that. I've heard of ppl gettin off on this type stuff hope it works out for ya.
Get a lawyer for sure. Preferrably a Dekalb local who's well connected. Getting arrested for going the same speed as everyone else sounds odd. But if you're young, male & in a sports car they try to really put the screws to you. Also, I noticed they were really out on Sunday in Dekalb. One of the cars was a dark colored Dodge Magnum. I couldn't tell it was a cop until I was about 50ft away.
Dude that fuc%*ng blows I'm sorry to hear that. If in fact it is your first ticket you can plead NoLo I'm shure its speld wrong but I ran a traffic light about a year ago and I didn't have to pay the fine because it was my first citation ever....
how can they take you to jail for a speeding ticket? that just doesnt seem right! granted 85 mph is speeding but on I-85 that is really not that fast considering that is a major interstate.
30 over you can be nailed i think for a few other charges from reckless driving to attempted vehicular manslaughter(at least in LA), and the cuffs can go on i believe.
if you are under 21 you're most likely screwed i got a ticket once for going 101 in a 70 and the state trooper didn't arrest me. that is the most odd thing. if you're not under 21 then you should get a lawyer for sure and they can probably get it reduced and you can plead nolo or depending on how much he reduces the speed ou can just pay it and save your nolo b/c the nolo is a one time thing only at the discretion of the judge...best thing is get a lawyer and i wouldn't mention the radar detector but do mention that the officer didn't indicate what method he used b/c that's where the proof is...any way good luck and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask
I was wondering the same. I have been written a ticket and told the pigface that I would beat this shit in court, refused to sign the ticket and accused him of being unlawfull as well. I did not go to jail and did win the court case. something is missing although I am over 30, but I look 21.
also at the time i was under 21 so even so you should not have been arrested for something so little as speeding
Man, I think i saw the same cop, west bound on I285 after the spaghetti junction, he was parked right on the shoulder of exit 30 Peachtree Industrial/141 exit. I was going to change lane and pass a car, but as i was merging into another lane, I let off throttle quiuckly and remained in my original lane. The black magnum was parked perpendicular to the higyway, i didn't see it until I saw "dorville police" letters reflecting off it's black painted background. As soon as I took exit 29 and and slowing down in the offramp, I look to my left and those blue lights are already flashing...so the moral of the story is NEVER speed on 285, especially if you are going through Dorville/Chamblee, Dorville PD are some very serious people. For those who are over 21, is it still a good idea to get laywer if someone falls in the same situation (30 over in 55mph zone) and say officer used laser. How does a lawyer help at all, curious.
They got me once right around Spagetti Junction. The cop didn't even say anything to me. No, "Do you know why I pulled you over." Just came to the car, asked for my license and registration, went back to his car and wrote me a ticket for 85 in a 55, handed me the ticket and turned and went back to his car. Guy said 3 words to me and that was it. And I knew the ticket was BS, I had just set my cruise control for 80. It was early in the morning, no traffic, on my way to Gwinnett for the first Porsche Auto X this season. Should have plead no lo and got out of this one.
Wow, arrested for a speeding ticket? Did you say anything else to him that you didn't post? What were you wearing?
That Doraville Magnum is always on traffic patrol. He's either at exit 30 or somewhere on Buford Highway close to 285.
Despite what other people have said, it has nothing to do with reckless driving...... yes you can be charged with reckless if you're speeding, but very rarely just speeding alone. It has to do with points. If you're under 21, any violation that carries 6 points is an arrestable offense...... this includes speeding 24 over and passing a school bus while it's unloading kiddies. That doesn't mean you must go to jail, just that it's a possibility. And yes, license suspension is part of the package. Whether it's to the court or to a lawyer, you're gonna shell out some cash. Either talk to a lawyer or do the research yourself if you're thinking about fighting it. Oh, and in my experience, you can believe the stories that everyone's throwing up, but take them with a grain of salt...... people very often omit important little details when they talk about their criminal or traffic record.
I got pulled over for doing 28 over in a 45mph zone, 2 lane each side. I had open downpipe, was (still am) only 19, red car. the officer was angry, but hell, I wasn't even arrested. I pleaded guilty in couty though, and took defensive driving before the courtdate and it dropped to 23 over, 200 dollar fine, and got to keep the certificate from Defensive Driving to give to insurance. I probably got lucky or something. When I said "guilty" to the judge, he said "this looks like it'll be a problem" So I had to wait a while longer than go to the window to pay for fees like everybody else. I was really nervous.
Cop got me for 72 in a 35 back in the day. I didn't know a cop was behind me and lost him while "having fun". Unfortunately he knew me & where I lived! Ahhh, being a teenager.
http://www.dds.ga.gov/drivers/DLdata.aspx?con=1744060376&ty=dl Just to clarify Aggresive driving, passing a school bus, and 34+ over are all 6 points. Reckless is defined by the judge & the court, in City of Atlanta 30+ is one of the ways in. Hope this helps!
I'm 23 and I have no points or tickets prior to this incident. I have attended two driving classes so far just to reduce the insurance premium in the past. Yes I thought it was very odd that I was being arrested for speeding alone. I think he threw in that BS "failure to yield to emergency vehicle" just in to help justify the arrest. He didn't say a word about me recklessly or agressively driving; just asked me how fast I was going, which I replied as in original post. He already had an attitude when I got the driver's side window down. It sounded like to me that me not immediately responding to his siren really pissed him off. As soon as I saw the light I pulled over ASAP safely. You can't just pull over from innermost lane to outermost lane on I-85 in two seconds you know...thats more than 4 lane changes. With traffic on the road it will take longer obviously. On the ticket he wrote that it took me 990 ft or something to finally come to a stop. Thats like less than 1/5 of a freaking mile. How much faster am I supposed to stop? This isn't a two lane country road you know. I didn't act like I was scared shitless but I was more than courteous and respectful to him. I'm seriously thinking about lawyer...fine does suck but what sucks more is if this thing remains on the record. Nevermind the insurance it might affect other things as well. I already paid about $400 for the bond...this just sucks.
Oh that's not near as bad then At least you don't have to worry about losing your license! If it were me I would eat the fine and the 4 points as long as the fine is less than the lawyer fee's. Can probably talk the judge out of the other charge if you plead guilty to speeding. You should be able to call the clerk tomorrow and find out how much it will cost. Points aren't all that bad as long as you don't get more than 15 per year. :hs: --Justin
Even If I don't get the lawyer I'm still going to plead not guilty and fight this. "Failure to yield to emergency vehicle" is just crap - what happened was he said he was going to charge me for "failure to stop" but then he said he would put the other instead. How am I supposed to stop immediately when I haven't heard the siren quick enough or had other traffic blocking my way? (aggressive driving doesn't cut it either because after I merged into I-85 I didn't change lanes after I got to the innermost lane) I think I can logically drop this charge if I explain my situation well to the judge. About the speeding...my aim is to mitigate it under 20 and then maybe use other options to keep it off my record as much as I can. I still can't believe I was ticketed 30 over in a busy traffic in broad daylight going +/- 5mph relative to the flow of the traffic.. Last week just totally sucked for me. First I picked up some nasty scratches on my STI, then my video card died, then I got the ticket. What a week...geez.
This does suck. Couple pointers for everyone for future reference...as for speed, your speedometer is rarely correct on the money. I know that when I was a police officer I had some of my buddies check all my vehicles with laser (lidar) and none of them were spot on. One was even off 5 mph at 55 (read 50 at 55 mph). Further, these things are often times a percentage off...say 10% so at 80 mph your speedometer could read 10% less or more so a range of 72-88 mph. At 50 it could read from 45-55. Just an example, but I found that out of the vehicles we checked none of them were spot on. The best was still 2 mph off at 55 mph. That, I think, is one reason they give you 10 mph in GA as a gimme. Chances are this officer caught you when you were going your fastest, not when you were finally settled in. I know I have caught myself several times going faster than I thought while getting up to speed on the highway. As for the arrest, I really have no clue. I can't honestly say as I was not there. I know some officers will arrest for anything possible. I always tried to look at the situation and be reasonable...some guys wanted to arrest the world. My best option if I were in the situation is talk to the solicitor. Sometimes they can really be quite reasonable. I'm not going to say not to get a lawyer, but they some times cost you more. Their advise is worth money and their contacts too. But talk to the solicitor or ADA or whoever there is to talk to. Sometimes it helps and that at least does not cost anything.
I got hit a couple years ago for 101 in a 65. I have always heard that they have to take you to jail for more than 30 over but he let me go with just a ticket. Granted it was a $600 ticket but it wasnt jail. Might have had something to do with it being Georgia State Patrol and on Thanksgiving Day. Sounds like you just got the raw end of the deal on that one!!