I have fast and the furious rims....

[SCCA MX5]

So,4am this morning I was taking a friend home, and I got pulled over for speeding. I was in the Subaru Wagon. Turned off of Mt. Tabor road in blacksburg going into town.

When the officer came up to the car, after license and registration stuff, the officer says the following.

"I see your Fast and the Furious Rims, your car is sitting on the ground, I can hear the exhaust a mile away, and I can tell your Vehicle has been illegally LIGHTENED for street racing."
then said he could issue multiple tickets, but he was going to be nice. (lol)

He also gave me crap for waiting to pull over until I got to the food lion Parking lot (less than 1/4 mile), where I figured it would be more safe and well lit for both of us.

He then said something about my "racing stickers" aka my SCCA membership decals, and how I was a street racer... (those are the only decals on my car)


Anyone think I should file a complaint about this? It feel that it was completely uncalled for, and I felt like he saw my car, he had me in some stereotype of a "street racer" or whatever. Or is it going not worth pursuing? I have to go to court in Jan for my speeding ticket.


And seriously, how could I Illegally lighten my car for street racing?... (sounds like a cheap mod!!!)
(my car has EVERY interior trim panel/exterior panel, wtf?!?)

[brokenplastic]

Personally I would just let it go. You don't need some douche nozzle local cop hounding you over trivial stuff.

[drum3]

I think he was just trying to make conversation , you know , relate to you and all that stuff He has just seen too many movies . If all he wrote was a speeding ticket I would just let it go

[SCCA MX5]

yea, the speeding ticket was for 56/35, which my wagon is not capable of doing.
In that distance, from a dead stop, turning onto main st.

I can mathematically only hit around 44mph, and thats not including the
passenger, full tank of gas, toolbox, steep uphill grade, etc.

somewhere on a closed circuit, identical to the spot, I've tried to obtain that speed, only to hit around 40-42mph. I just cant decide if I am better off just letting it go, or trying to show my case in court. I really dont want my insurance to go back up, exp. for something physically impossible for my car.

[dankimber]

If you had a wagon like this you would have been just fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ZzqBPz4sY

Dan

[brokenplastic]

Dude we all get tickets. You only have a few options. Go to court, give the judge a story he has heard a million times and get the full fine. Talk to the officer, in a nice way, before court and try to get a reduced charge + driving school. Or get a lawyer, spend some cash and maybe walk away with a non moving violation +driving school. PM me if you want the name of a good traffic lawyer

[SCCA MX5]

yea, I'm not mad about getting the ticket, I just don't want a reckless charge on my insurance since I was not even doing 45mph. As long as they lower it to 54 or less, I dont really care.

[jimmay]

Depending on your driving record, I would seriously consider getting a lawyer for a reckless driving charge. If it was a normal ticket I would let it go. James Turk is an attorney in Radford that I consulted with when I was charged with reckless. My ticket was in Roanoke County so he recommended me to a local guy who helped out.

The only other advise I can offer is to go with a local attorney as they probably interact with the judge and DA for your case on a regular basis. Turk is known well enough and may be local enough that he would take your case. Otherwise he might recommend someone like he did for me.

From my interaction with Turk, I don't think he would BS you about your options and likelihood of reducing the ticket to a non-moving violation. It's worth a shot, especially since the initial consult should be free.

[914geezer]

For what its worth, probably not much, Jim Turk owned a 911 for a while years ago and I think that Subaru sports car, can't recall what it was called.

Not a real car guy, but has or did have some interest in the past. No idea what he drives now.

In any case, lawyers can usually help and their cost versus lower insurance costs may be worth it?

[fspmx6]

traffic court is guilty until proven guilty. pretty much without a lawyer in tow, you'd almost have to have a recording of what the officer said. It's possible to stump a cop in the courtroom and prove he's just filling his ticket requirement, but how much trouble is that going to bring down on your head in the future?

[aged racer]

Definitely lawyer-up. I've had two "encounters" in the last 12 months, Roanoke City and Pembroke. Beat the first one when my guy asked for the officer's radar calibration (oops). Atty got the second one got reduced from 15 mph over to "defective" equipment. Pick a local guy who has the contacts. Get your DMV driving record from the website- if it's reasonably clean you have a good chance of getting a reduction with the right atty.

Won't be cheap ($300-$400), but less than your insurance going up...

Steve

[SCCA MX5]

I went to court for it, just told the judge I was driving a STATION WAGON and I haven't taken the Drivers class ina few years- he got me in the class and charged me with 9 over.

easy enough...