Careless Operation in South Carolina

[n4rb]

Hey, I got a ticker for careless operation, 65 in a 45. Well, I highly highly doubt I went 65, the speed limit was 55, and it went into a town, where the speed limit was 45, and instead of hitting my breakes, i just kind of rolled in, and a cop pulled me over.

Now, I have a radar detector in my car, one of the very new ones, and it never went off until the cop was right behind me and turned his blue lights on.

I asked him if he can show me some printout of my speed (Im actually 90% sure I wasnt going 65) he said he doesnt have to show me that.

Unfortunatly, that happened sometime back, and I have to leave for court in an hour and just found this site, and wanted to see if anybody could help me out, whether I have a chance of pleading not guilty...

and another thing, if guilty, will my insurance increase? careless op carries no points on my license...

thanks.

[aaron]

Now, I have a radar detector in my car, one of the very new ones, and it never went off until the cop was right behind me and turned his blue lights on.

Generally speaking, mentioning a radar detector when defending against a speeding ticket is not a good move. You risk a reaction of, "People who don't speed, or for that matter speed frequently, don't need radar detectors".

I asked him if he can show me some printout of my speed (Im actually 90% sure I wasnt going 65) he said he doesnt have to show me that.

Officers may be willing to show a driver a radar reading, but that doesn't mean they have a print-out. If an officer clocks speed from the spedometer of his patrol car, there's not even a radar reading to show.

and another thing, if guilty, will my insurance increase? careless op carries no points on my license..

Insurance companies sometimes maintain their own points system, but they don't always check a driver's record each time the driver renews; so whether or not your rates go up depend first on how your insurance company regards the offense, and second whether or not they find out about it.