hows my case

[smonska]

I hit some sand on a backroad near my house at about 35mph, my RWD car fishtailed a bit in front of a cop and he wrote me a ticket "failing to stay in marked lanes" and "violation of speed regulation" though he did not write anything in the MPH in what zone section of the ticket. I was going to go the spot where I slipped tomarrow and take a picture of the sand and challenge the ticket based on this as well as the speeding since he didn't write in any info on the ticket. Is this a wise defense? I live in Northampton, MA and have never been ticketed before.

 

[Vincent Cosent]

Thats part of a wise defense. Was this a construction zone with a sign that said reduce speed or something similar?

 

[smonska]

Today I went back with my camera, there weren't any skid marks like I had hoped showing I stayed on my side of the road, but there is a dirt road where dump trucks come in and out of about 30ft away. The should is also broken up with no curb and there is no soft shoulder sign. How many points is a "failure to stay in marked lanes" ticket? I hope it's not like 5 or something.

 

[Vincent Cosent]

I cant help with questions on points because in Illinois we dont have that. Hope someone else can.

 

[dubhloaich]

Would be surprized if it was anything other than two points, at least from what I remember from Ohio and Washington State. Almost every routine ticket is two points. You have to get into things like speeding more than 15 mph over or reckless driving or dui before you get into more than two.

I'm wishing they would adopt the point system in Oregon. They are in the process of adopting a 4 tickets and you're suspended rule. Hell, it's not that hard to get two at once (e.g. speeding through a red light).

Their thinking is that it's a short suspension - 30 days. And it is, but what they aren't thinking about is how screwed people are going to be on insurance.

I've got three, including one for 5 mph over. The others were 10 and 11 over. Under the point system, I believe I'd only have 3 or 4 points, depending on the state. You typically need 12 to get suspended, but it's like a 6 month suspension.

But, Oregon likes to do things their own way.

Anyhow, pick up a copy of your state driving pamphlet, it should all be described in there. If not, it's probably on the DOT or DMV website.