What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
Hi all, thought i'd post my case here:
This past Saturday, I was driving through Illinois through a 65 mph zone on a one-lane road. I went down a hill, and at the bottom was a traffic re-routing, with several cops on the side of the road, with lights flashing. I slowed down with traffic, and saw a cop pull out behind me. After I got through the re-route, I pulled over and he followed me over.
He walked up to my car and said "I pulled you over because you doing 66 mph in a 55 mph zone, and you broke Steven's law." "What is Steven's law?", I asked, being a resident of Iowa. "Steven's law says you must yield to stationary emergency vehicles, you didn't slow down at all."
He gave me my court date, and said I was required to show up in court, because I received two citations at once. If I don't show, it looks like either
a) Illinois tells Iowa to suspend my driving priveleges
b) I get fined more, amount unknown
c) court issues a warrant for my arrest
So here's my two questions: first, is there a way to avoid going to court, and if I have to go to court, how should I fight the tickets?
On the first point, this particular court room is 2.5 hours from my house, on a working day. Not only would I lose a day's wages, I would lose the money for gas. So I'd rather not go if at all possible, even if it cost me $150 more or so. Do I have any options? Like transferring case to a different district, suspending case, getting a ticket knocked off for a higher fine, etc?
On the second point, I'm not sure how to fight a speeding ticket. He pegged me from behind. Can I subponea to see if the gun hasn't been calibrated? On the second ticket however, the law says "exercise caution and slow down." However, he only took one data point of my speed, and so it would be impossible for him to factually determine I slowed (or did not) slow down. Due to lack of evidence, I was thinking I might be able to get that thrown out.
Of course, I'm a newb at law, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you much, and looking forward to your responses!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Hi all, thought i'd post my case here:
This past Saturday, I was driving through Illinois through a 65 mph zone on a one-lane road. I went down a hill, and at the bottom was a traffic re-routing, with several cops on the side of the road, with lights flashing. I slowed down with traffic, and saw a cop pull out behind me. After I got through the re-route, I pulled over and he followed me over.
He walked up to my car and said "I pulled you over because you doing 66 mph in a 55 mph zone, and you broke Steven's law." "What is Steven's law?", I asked, being a resident of Iowa. "Steven's law says you must yield to stationary emergency vehicles, you didn't slow down at all."
He gave me my court date, and said I was required to show up in court, because I received two citations at once. If I don't show, it looks like either
a) Illinois tells Iowa to suspend my driving priveleges
b) I get fined more, amount unknown
c) court issues a warrant for my arrest
So here's my two questions: first, is there a way to avoid going to court, and if I have to go to court, how should I fight the tickets?
On the first point, this particular court room is 2.5 hours from my house, on a working day. Not only would I lose a day's wages, I would lose the money for gas. So I'd rather not go if at all possible, even if it cost me $150 more or so. Do I have any options? Like transferring case to a different district, suspending case, getting a ticket knocked off for a higher fine, etc?
On the second point, I'm not sure how to fight a speeding ticket. He pegged me from behind. Can I subponea to see if the gun hasn't been calibrated? On the second ticket however, the law says "exercise caution and slow down." However, he only took one data point of my speed, and so it would be impossible for him to factually determine I slowed (or did not) slow down. Due to lack of evidence, I was thinking I might be able to get that thrown out.
Of course, I'm a newb at law, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you much, and looking forward to your responses!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
