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I am pissed...

4K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  sgip2000 
#1 ·
I got my first traffic ticket in 25 years last month. When I paid it yesterday... all I could think to say was. "Usually I get dinner before being screwed."
What was the ticket for? Going 35 in a 25 zone and unsafe lane change. Cost me $531.45
$440.00 for the fine
4.50 for tax
52.00 processing for traffic school
34.95 for traffic school

Why so much? The street I was on is a major east/west street with 3 lanes in each direction. Up until 3 months ago, the street was 35... Then they lowered the limit to 25 and made it a double fine zone. 35 is reasonable for that street and is consistent with the limit for other streets in the area that are only 2 lanes in each direction. It now amounts to a speed trap. 10-12 motorcycle cops sit on a side street with a radar gun and are in constant motion giving tickets.... 40-50 per hour. Then they move to the other side or down the street a ways and sit there for another hour or so giving out more tickets.

This hit me hard because my only income is Social Security Disability and this represents 2 months of savings for things like getting away to go riding and other stuff.

roadkill (broke)
 
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#2 ·
sorry to hear that. since it was just changed to a lower speed they sould of just given you a warrning may have been able to fight it with that stand.
 
#5 ·
I am, but it's an un-paid volunteer type thing. What I do get is free room and board, no utility costs, company truck 24/7, free insurance... no living costs at all and I work the hours I want and take off when I want. Actually, I'm working right now... if you can call what I do work. Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
My SSI is free and clear. How many people have $1000.00 per month fun money left over after paying things like rent/mortgage, utilities, food, car payment, insurance... etc.?

roadkill
 
#7 ·
And I thought I had an expensive ticket. My 165 in a 75 was $411.50
 
#10 ·
That's a fair question. I have coronary artery disease, hypertension and take meds for my heart and blood pressure. I also have to carry nitro with me at all times. I also had my second stroke last August. This left me without the use of my left side at first... couldn't dress myself let alone walk. Much of the stroke effects are gone now... but still not 100% My left side is still quite weak with poor fine muscle control... Think about slipping your clutch without good control of your left hand.
I put away $500.00 per month for long term savings and for big ticket items (my quad, Utah trip next year... etc.)
The rest is ready cash for things like gas to go riding, movies, ball game, and anything else I want to do or buy each month. This is the fund that got hit with the cost of the ticket. I don't tap into long term savings for ready cash.... Ready cash gone = no riding, no movies, etc.
I didn't mean to make it sound like I was bragging... I was just trying to draw a comparison in anticipation of a next question like... How do I live being un-paid? A harder question would've been something like why I do it? Hard to explain and harder to understand. Lets just say it's all about being happy, being fulfilled in your work. Lots of money for my work does not equal being happy. I get offers all the time (even now with economy in the toilet) for jobs with for profit alcohol and drug programs... lowest last month was for 72k. But then, the job would've been about a paycheck and not the work itself. It is the work and not the money involved that makes what I do fulfilling. All the big $$ did not make me happy or fulfilled before and didn't keep me clean and sober. Been there, done that.
As for riding a quad and being disabled... I refuse (denial) to accept that I can't do this or that... simple as that.

roadkill
 
#11 ·
How many people have $1000.00 per month fun money left over after paying things like rent/mortgage, utilities, food, car payment, insurance... etc.?
It did a bit like sound like bragging..

It's California, nothing there in the way of laws, or policy's makes sense to me.
 
#13 ·
i swear i just read in the paper a couple weeks back that you can fight that type of ticket and win... there was a big story here in WA about basically all the roads in snohomish county (i think) and how the speed limits were off from similiar roads in other countys in the state and theres some federal regulation that all similiar roads have to maintain consistent speed limits between them or some crap....

anyway, snohomish county ended up paying back something like 250,000 tickets to the tune of $2.2 million dollars or something like that. basically for adjusting speed limits on roads without performing studies to determine if the federally set speed limits needed to be changed, the roads were constructed with federal grant money and that money came with all kinds of stipulations, to include speed limits.

i dunno... but id be tryin to get my $500+ back.
 
#15 ·
That would be great... except it was not a county or state road... it was a city street. One of several streets that our broke ass city declared as "special enforcement zones" (speed traps)

roadkill
 
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