On a 90 mile trip the other day I was stopped by a trooper for going 69 in a 60. I seemed a bit surprised by that amount over the speed limit as all the while I was driving I looked down at the speedometer and was never driving anywhere close to that speed. I was puzzled, the trooper explained the ticket (for $69) and offered that there was a S.T.O.P. program that would erase the ticket from my driving record if I chose to take that program. He said that program cost around $150. I politely told him that I'd probably just take care of the ticket, meaning that I'd just pay up.
I was about 10 miles from my destination, I spent a couple hours there and then drove home. I noticed on the way home that my speedometer was lazy and slow at times, once I was going down a hill at 62 mph and I knew I was gaining speed but the needle stuck at the 62. Another time I entered a small town at 40 mph, I eased off the pedal and dropped speed to what I thought was around 30 mph yet after a half mile of this speed the needle was stuck at 40 before slowly coming down.
Obviously my speedometer is having issues as it's behaving irregular, I'm wondering if there is a cheap and easy way to present this to the authorities and get the ticket nullified. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to dodge responsibility, I've gotten tickets in the past where I knew I was speeding and just took the hit because I knew I was speeding and had fully deserved the penalty. I just think in this case I was duped by my car into thinking I was driving slower than I was. Had I known it earlier I would have explained it to the trooper and possibly could have avoided the ticket and just gotten a fix-it-ticket instead.
The county seat my ticket was issued in is about 80 miles away, Ideally it would be nice to have some documentation from some mechanic or law enforcement agency that claims my speedometer is retarded, it isn't worth dragging a $40-50 an hour witness to court over a $69 ticket, say if my mechanic could verify my position and get the ticket thrown out. I have a friend who is a good mechanic that states he can probably put a scanner on my car to verify the accuracy of the speedometer.....he has already been privy to a ride in my car and has seen the oddities. I know it's reacting differently than normal because in a stretch of road that I drive everyday to work, there's a "reduced speed ahead" sign that I normally drive by. On past occasions when my gauges kept timely speed I would let completely off the gas when I was at that sign, from doing 60 mph to coasting I would meet a 45 mph sign at 45 mph and subsequently meet a 35 mph sign at 35 mph. All I had to do was take my foot off the gas to meet both those speed limits in order. Now I try this same thing and the speedometer reads at least 5 mph faster at each speed limit sign. The odometer appears to work correctly, turning a mile at every mile interesection. The tachometer appears to work correctly.
My other issue is about my insurance. It's due next month so they may not find out about it in time to jack my rate, if they would choose to do so. I should get my insurance payment notice in a week or two for April, the court date for my ticket is on the 15th of April. I also have a motorcycle policy with the same company that I had to buy a whole year for, that started in late January.
What I'm contemplating for this issue is to pay the ticket, if my insurance rates get jacked because of this then I'll explain the whole situation and just threaten to get another insurance provider, explain that maybe I'll still be paying a higher amount, I just won't be paying them. Works for somebody I know but then again he has multiple houses and multiple cars with the same insurance agency, last time he had some hail damage and they were pronto about dealing with him knowing that they were looking at a major premium loss if he walked. I know, doesn't have the same weight with me having just a car and a bike with my provider.
This all happened yesterday, for now I'm just going to watch my speed more closely, tachometer helps as I know highway speed to tach normal ratio. I just need some advice from the forum brothers and sisters here about if there is a cheap way to go about bringing this issue to that county to try to get it nullified. If I go back by myself it'll only cost about $10-15 gas out of pocket and about a half-day of vacation time. That's if I had some written testimony or legal documentation available to get it overturned. That part for me would probably be worth it. Taking someone else along for that amount is probably out of the question.
What to do now?????
I was about 10 miles from my destination, I spent a couple hours there and then drove home. I noticed on the way home that my speedometer was lazy and slow at times, once I was going down a hill at 62 mph and I knew I was gaining speed but the needle stuck at the 62. Another time I entered a small town at 40 mph, I eased off the pedal and dropped speed to what I thought was around 30 mph yet after a half mile of this speed the needle was stuck at 40 before slowly coming down.
Obviously my speedometer is having issues as it's behaving irregular, I'm wondering if there is a cheap and easy way to present this to the authorities and get the ticket nullified. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to dodge responsibility, I've gotten tickets in the past where I knew I was speeding and just took the hit because I knew I was speeding and had fully deserved the penalty. I just think in this case I was duped by my car into thinking I was driving slower than I was. Had I known it earlier I would have explained it to the trooper and possibly could have avoided the ticket and just gotten a fix-it-ticket instead.
The county seat my ticket was issued in is about 80 miles away, Ideally it would be nice to have some documentation from some mechanic or law enforcement agency that claims my speedometer is retarded, it isn't worth dragging a $40-50 an hour witness to court over a $69 ticket, say if my mechanic could verify my position and get the ticket thrown out. I have a friend who is a good mechanic that states he can probably put a scanner on my car to verify the accuracy of the speedometer.....he has already been privy to a ride in my car and has seen the oddities. I know it's reacting differently than normal because in a stretch of road that I drive everyday to work, there's a "reduced speed ahead" sign that I normally drive by. On past occasions when my gauges kept timely speed I would let completely off the gas when I was at that sign, from doing 60 mph to coasting I would meet a 45 mph sign at 45 mph and subsequently meet a 35 mph sign at 35 mph. All I had to do was take my foot off the gas to meet both those speed limits in order. Now I try this same thing and the speedometer reads at least 5 mph faster at each speed limit sign. The odometer appears to work correctly, turning a mile at every mile interesection. The tachometer appears to work correctly.
My other issue is about my insurance. It's due next month so they may not find out about it in time to jack my rate, if they would choose to do so. I should get my insurance payment notice in a week or two for April, the court date for my ticket is on the 15th of April. I also have a motorcycle policy with the same company that I had to buy a whole year for, that started in late January.
What I'm contemplating for this issue is to pay the ticket, if my insurance rates get jacked because of this then I'll explain the whole situation and just threaten to get another insurance provider, explain that maybe I'll still be paying a higher amount, I just won't be paying them. Works for somebody I know but then again he has multiple houses and multiple cars with the same insurance agency, last time he had some hail damage and they were pronto about dealing with him knowing that they were looking at a major premium loss if he walked. I know, doesn't have the same weight with me having just a car and a bike with my provider.
This all happened yesterday, for now I'm just going to watch my speed more closely, tachometer helps as I know highway speed to tach normal ratio. I just need some advice from the forum brothers and sisters here about if there is a cheap way to go about bringing this issue to that county to try to get it nullified. If I go back by myself it'll only cost about $10-15 gas out of pocket and about a half-day of vacation time. That's if I had some written testimony or legal documentation available to get it overturned. That part for me would probably be worth it. Taking someone else along for that amount is probably out of the question.
What to do now?????
