Driving home tonight

[1999marg]

On rt 93 in MA you are allowed to drive in the breakdown lane during rush hour time periods. I was driving home today and was in the breakdown lane @ 255PM. I normally drive home between 4 & 5 PM and never think twice about it because all the traffic seems to migrate to the left lanes.

Today I just forgot about the 3PM to 7 PM allowable time period. I moved into the breakdown lane with about a dozen other cars and Behan my trek north to NH. About 30 seconds later I was last in line and noticed the blue lights behind me. Bummer, it was 255PM when I was pulled over. Should I pay the $105 fine or take a chance and pay the $25 court fee and beg for forgiveness? This is my first violation in at least 7 years. I was driving my Saab wagon at the time.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

 

[silver03svt]

Going to court will never hurt you unless a person is a total ass to the officer or they have a really bad driving record. Perhaps taking an on-line traffic school prior to court and presenting that certificate to the judge would be a helpful step in the right direction too.

 

[LS2GTO]

If the court room is conveniant to you then I would say take the chance and fight it, or at least ask for forgiveness and say it was so close to 3pm that you didn't realize it was actually a few minutes before.

Now I wouldn't go out of my way to get to the court and then have to take part of the day off from work, but if it works with your schedule then it's worth it.

 

[RedRocketMike]

Does it carry points? My own rule is if there are no points and I am at fault I pay.

 

[RedRocketMike]

Maybe you can blame this on daylight savings somehow.

 

[DaleM]

Does it carry points? My own rule is if there are no points and I am at fault I pay.

I pretty much practice the same.

 

[tvspower]

Five minutes too early,, I say the officer was over zealous.. If your schedule allows you to go to court and admit your mistake of 5 mins.. Your car clock is off by 8 mins, for example.. In my experience, courts will either suspend the sentence(based on you driving history) and /or give you the lowest fine ( not cost on tag) and let you go. Most times the officers do not show up for such a minor offense.

 

[RDJ]

Five minutes too early,, I say the officer was over zealous.. If your schedule allows you to go to court and admit your mistake of 5 mins.. Your car clock is off by 8 mins, for example.. In my experience, courts will either suspend the sentence(based on you driving history) and /or give you the lowest fine ( not cost on tag) and let you go. Most times the officers do not show up for such a minor offense.

you really shouldn't be comparing your experience in Canada to what goes on in the U.S. here in MOST states the officer gets into hot water if they write a ticket and don't show up unless they have a really good reason. and your clock being wrong is a really stupid way to try to get the court to cut you some slack.

Personally I take EVERYTHING to court if the court is within up to a couple of hours drive from me. I have never failed to at least get a fine reduction. Over Zealous or not the law says not before 3 and the op got caught in the lane before 3. guilty as charged even by his own admission.

way I would handle it ... go to court ... plead guilty with an explanation if they have that, not guilty if they don't. when it is your turn to speak, own up to the mistake with something reasonable, "others were doing it and I failed to double check my clock before I moved over, my apologies for being inattentive to the time, can I at least perhaps get a reduction of the fine since this is my first infraction in 7 years" I would also have a copy of my driving record with me so if asked I can hand it up.

 

[oldmodman]

Same here. I always go to court.

I also bring a cooler and a couple of sandwiches. I always get called up last :whine:

 

[R.D.P.]

I would try court. BTW - seems like a stupid law, what happens when there is actually someone changing a tire and here comes a pack of cars going 60mph with no where to go.

 

[1bad]

Seems to me that if you were not successful convincing the officer you made a simple mistake, and you admit you were in the wrong, why fight it? By the letter of the law, you were in violation.

My own standard is that if I am wrong I am not going to waste my time and the Courts time on the off chance the LEO drops the case. I say take your lumps; lesson learned. My .02.

 

[13COBRA]

Tell the judge you have your clock set 10 minutes fast since you have a tendency to be late all the time..and this time it bit you in the ass.

If you really want to show some balls, show up to court 10 minutes late and tell the judge ever since being pulled over, you set your clock to being the correct time...thus making you late to court.


Ok, ignore the second part.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

I would try court. BTW - seems like a stupid law, what happens when there is actually someone changing a tire and here comes a pack of cars going 60mph with no where to go.

When Massachusetts made active breakdown lanes on I 93, they then added pull off areas for breakdowns or emergencies.