Speeding Ticket on I-5 Sb Towards SAC International Airport, 22349 a VC

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: California

I was driving my roommate to the airport in her car, and was flowing with the traffic. I was headed south on the I-5 from Woodland towards Sac Int'l Airport. There is a large hill right before the airport exit.

I am unfamiliar with the car as it is the first time I am driving it, and was cruising with the traffic. Upon reaching the hill, I pressed on the accelerator as to not piss off the drivers behind me. When going down hill, the car picked up speed rather quickly, and although I was decelerating, I didnt slam on my breaks. Apparently, I should of, because for the mere seconds I was speeding was when the cop caught me. He clocked me at 86 in the 65 zone.

I explained the situation, never admitting guilt, but the officer was not very nice. He was condescending, and treated me like a criminal. I felt awful already, and was very upset.

I dont know what to do, as this is my second speeding ticket.. The first has a court date in september, which I also dont know how to fight, and was a violation of the basic speed law.. I was also driving a car that wasnt mine (it was a fleet vehicle) as I was dropping it off for an event and simply didnt realize how fast I was going down an empty road in sac.

I need one of these to be dismissed so that I may take traffic school for the other.

Any recommendations?

I am a 21 yr old female if that may help. Other than these tickets, I have absolutely no other citations... my clean driving record is about to be dirtied... :(

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Quoting crewl4e

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My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: California

I was driving my roommate to the airport in her car, and was flowing with the traffic. I was headed south on the I-5 from Woodland towards Sac Int'l Airport. There is a large hill right before the airport exit.

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"Large hill?" The grade on that stretch of I-5 is not even great enough to require a sign warning the truckers. This is essentially a flat stretch of roadway.

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for the mere seconds I was speeding was when the cop caught me. He clocked me at 86 in the 65 zone.

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That is all it takes.

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I explained the situation, never admitting guilt, but the officer was not very nice. He was condescending, and treated me like a criminal. I felt awful already, and was very upset.

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Sorry. But, he probably also did not buy the "hill" story. If that gentle - almost level - grade was sufficient to cause you to accelerate 21 MPH over the limit, you should probably not be driving.

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I dont know what to do, as this is my second speeding ticket.. The first has a court date in september, which I also dont know how to fight, and was a violation of the basic speed law.. I was also driving a car that wasnt mine (it was a fleet vehicle) as I was dropping it off for an event and simply didnt realize how fast I was going down an empty road in sac.

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22350 is easier to fight that 22349. You might want to reconsider how you drive. Apparently speed is a problem for you.

If you search for 22350 defenses on this site and others you will find a wealth of information on how to try and make a defense fr that offense. 22349 is much harder as it does not allow for a speed trap defense and surveys. Since you essentially admit to violating 22349 you might want to consider pleading guilty to that one quick and taking traffic school, and then working hard to combat the 22350 later on. On the other hand, you can always hope the officer does not show for the hearings and you get off.

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I am a 21 yr old female if that may help. Other than these tickets, I have absolutely no other citations... my clean driving record is about to be dirtied.

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You did the dirtying, and you can prevent any further sullying of your driving record by either watching your speed or not driving other people's cars.

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Quoting cdwjava

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Sorry. But, he probably also did not buy the "hill" story. If that gentle - almost level - grade was sufficient to cause you to accelerate 21 MPH over the limit, you should probably not be driving.

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It didnt cause a 21mph acceleration =/

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22350 is easier to fight that 22349. You might want to reconsider how you drive. Apparently speed is a problem for you.

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Speed isnt a problem. The 22350 ticket was 49 in a 45, on an empty road with one other car in front of me and no pedestrians around, on a nice 78 degree day with not a single cloud in sight. Dont be so quick to judge.

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Since you essentially admit to violating 22349 you might want to consider pleading guilty to that one quick and taking traffic school, and then working hard to combat the 22350 later on.

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I never admitted guilt to the officer.

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You did the dirtying, and you can prevent any further sullying of your driving record by either watching your speed or not driving other people's cars.

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I have no trouble driving other people's cars. Two mishaps that just happened to be in a car that was not mine doesnt mean that I am not able to drive other vehicles. I do a lot of driving, and most of it is fleet vehicle driving. To be cleared to drive them, I must have a clean record. A few honest mistakes does not make me a bad driver or a speed demon. I dont speed on a regular basis. I am like any other normal driver, and have never driven in a way that was ever unsafe. I came to this forum for help, not to be talked down to.

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Quoting crewl4e

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Upon reaching the hill, I pressed on the accelerator as to not piss off the drivers behind me. When going down hill, the car picked up speed rather quickly, ...

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:rolleyes:

If you go to court and say hill the judge will laugh. It's the valley, there are very few hills and virtually none that you can pick up that kind of speed by not realizing it. I'm going to play smart for a minute and say you were referring to the...Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge which crosses I-5 in Yolo County (right at the Sac County line).

Even if you were driving someone else’s car how hard is it to look at the speedometer to reference your speed? Every manufacturer installs them. Since you drive fleet vehicles you should know how to control your speed in other vehicle's which are not your own. Knowing that much about you kills the argument about driving someone esle's vehicle.

Who gives a darn what the other drivers think about your speed. After all YOU are the one who has to pay YOUR speeding ticket...not them. Especially when your job requires you to have a near clean driving record. If you have an issue with someone riding on your tail then stay in the right lane.

You have to weigh this one out. Is it worth fighting teh 22349(a) knowing you are guilty and wasting your time as well as the officers (the officer gets paid for going to court, you do not) or should you save yourself the time and grief and pay it, take the traffic school and move on? I'd fight the 49 in a 45. Something tells me the 85th percentile speed for that road might be higher than 49...if it is, almost every judge will throw out a speeding ticket for a lower than 85th percentile...unless the officer can testify WHY he thought 45 is the SAFE speed for that moment of time he saw you driving 49...just sayin.

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Quoting sniper

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I'd fight the 49 in a 45. Something tells me the 85th percentile speed for that road might be higher than 49...if it is, almost every judge will throw out a speeding ticket for a lower than 85th percentile...unless the officer can testify WHY he thought 45 is the SAFE speed for that moment of time he saw you driving 49...just sayin.

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I've contacted Caltrans to get a copy of the ETS and the kind guy at the office referred me to someone else, who said they only dealt with highways and cannot get me the survey. I dont know how else to get it, so if you could advise further, I would appreciate it.

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Quoting crewl4e

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I've contacted Caltrans to get a copy of the ETS and the kind guy at the office referred me to someone else, who said they only dealt with highways and cannot get me the survey. I dont know how else to get it, so if you could advise further, I would appreciate it.

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What street was it on? (with the cross) City or County as well.

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Quoting crewl4e

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It didnt cause a 21mph acceleration =/

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Your post implied that this was the reason you sped up. And if you intend to argue that this was the flow of traffic, that doesn't fly, either.

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Speed isnt a problem. The 22350 ticket was 49 in a 45, on an empty road with one other car in front of me and no pedestrians around, on a nice 78 degree day with not a single cloud in sight. Dont be so quick to judge.

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I was basing my opinion on the fact that you had two speed violations in a short period of time. And there may well have been other factors that caused the citing officer to issue a cite for the offense ... and, perhaps you were issued a ticket for 49 but the officer had originally estimated your speed much higher. Who knows?

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I have no trouble driving other people's cars. Two mishaps that just happened to be in a car that was not mine doesnt mean that I am not able to drive other vehicles.

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Then why did you even bother to mention that you were in other people's cars? If it is not relevant, then why mention it? The fact that it was mentioned and the tone in which you posted it implied that this was part of the equation.

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I do a lot of driving, and most of it is fleet vehicle driving. To be cleared to drive them, I must have a clean record. A few honest mistakes does not make me a bad driver or a speed demon. I dont speed on a regular basis. I am like any other normal driver, and have never driven in a way that was ever unsafe. I came to this forum for help, not to be talked down to.

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If you need to have a clean record to continue driving, then you need to be much more cautious about your speed. You were WAAAAY over the limit on I-5 by your own admission. The local cite may be for 49 in a 45, but since the offense also includes all acts of unsafe speed it could imply some other act (maybe even a higher speed) that caught an officer's attention sufficiently to cause him to issue a citation.

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I've contacted Caltrans to get a copy of the ETS and the kind guy at the office referred me to someone else, who said they only dealt with highways and cannot get me the survey. I dont know how else to get it, so if you could advise further, I would appreciate it.

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CalTrans only deals with state highways. This would be a local matter. As Sniper posted, if you can indicate the road, and the city/county it was in, we might be able to direct you to the appropriate agency for the speed survey.

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Quoting cdwjava

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The local cite may be for 49 in a 45, but since the offense also includes all acts of unsafe speed it could imply some other act (maybe even a higher speed) that caught an officer's attention sufficiently to cause him to issue a citation.

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Nope. It was 49.. he showed it to me. I drive down that road everyday, twice a day... scarce traffic.

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CalTrans only deals with state highways. This would be a local matter. As Sniper posted, if you can indicate the road, and the city/county it was in, we might be able to direct you to the appropriate agency for the speed survey.

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Industrial Boulevard, cross street Parkway boulevard, in West Sacramento, CA. It was issued a while back, but my court date isnt until september... and I will be requesting a continuance because I will be out of the country in september until november.

Also, another question. I was reading around, and saw that some people recommended pleading for the lesser offense of 21710 that still includes a fine around the same amount as the speeding ticket, but does not result with a point on your record. Is it true that this violation does not put a point on a driving record?
As much as I cannot afford the fine, I would rather have no points on my record and would gladly pay the fine in that case. Is this advisable?

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Quoting crewl4e

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Industrial Boulevard, cross street Parkway boulevard, in West Sacramento, CA.

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Try Planning and Engineering first.

http://www.cityofwestsacramento.org/...es/contact.asp

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Also, another question. I was reading around, and saw that some people recommended pleading for the lesser offense of 21710 that still includes a fine around the same amount as the speeding ticket, but does not result with a point on your record. Is it true that this violation does not put a point on a driving record?

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Oddly enough, it appears true that 21710 has no point count, but I have not heard of this being plead to. Of course, without a DA being present at traffic court, making such a plea may be impossible.

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As much as I cannot afford the fine, I would rather have no points on my record and would gladly pay the fine in that case. Is this advisable?

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Since most DAs offices do not attend traffic court, it might be impossible or difficult to arrange any kind of a plea deal. Some local attorneys might know how to do this, but it might cost a couple times more than the fine to do this.

I sent an email using this interactive online contact system they had. Hopefully that does the trick. I will also try calling on Monday.

With regards to the 22349, the court date the officer placed on the ticket isnt until the end of october.... isn't that a little late? By my count, it is over 13 weeks (91 days!!) from when my ticket was issued.

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Quoting cdwjava

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Since most DAs offices do not attend traffic court, it might be impossible or difficult to arrange any kind of a plea deal. Some local attorneys might know how to do this, but it might cost a couple times more than the fine to do this.

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Are they more likely to attend the preliminary hearing, the one where the officer doesnt show up? Can such a plea be written in a TBD for the ticket?

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Quoting crewl4e

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With regards to the 22349, the court date the officer placed on the ticket isnt until the end of october.... isn't that a little late? By my count, it is over 13 weeks (91 days!!) from when my ticket was issued.

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A little late for what?

Certainly not a "speedy trial" issue considering the fact that the clock starts when you enter a plea at your arraignment (the October appearance unless you choose to extend it)!

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Quoting crewl4e

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Are they more likely to attend the preliminary hearing, the one where the officer doesnt show up? Can such a plea be written in a TBD for the ticket?

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There are no preliminary hearings for traffic infractions. You appear before a judge/commissioner at your arraignment, and if you plead "not guilty" and request a trial, then you and the officer will be scheduled to appear before a judge/commissioner... No appearance by a prosecuting attorney will be made at any time during the process.

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Quoting crewl4e

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I sent an email using this interactive online contact system they had. Hopefully that does the trick. I will also try calling on Monday.

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A phone call or physical trip is always preferable.

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With regards to the 22349, the court date the officer placed on the ticket isnt until the end of october.... isn't that a little late? By my count, it is over 13 weeks (91 days!!) from when my ticket was issued.

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That seems to be within the accepted time frame. There are others here that are more up on the time frame thing, though. Most the time it has to do with time until trial AFTER arraignment.

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Are they more likely to attend the preliminary hearing, the one where the officer doesnt show up? Can such a plea be written in a TBD for the ticket?

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The court cannot simply accept a plea as they have to address the charges as presented. The first hearing you have will be the arraignment, there will be no preliminary hearing for a traffic infraction or misdemeanor. Some counties might have a DA present at arraignment, but I think that has gotten far less likely as budgets have been whacked.