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Originally Posted by Steven
Erm... was driving around on some country road out in the middle of no where doing speed limit and came upon a hill. I got to the top of the hill and there was a hairpin turn so i slammed on the brakes and the tailend spun around. Well.. unfortunatly there was a cop sitting right there. Got a wreckless driving ticket and I left my license at home :-(
He told me that I should have been going slower since I have never been on the road before, and he acknowledge that i was doing the speed limit.
I was summond to court later this month and was wondering if i should pleade guilty to this?
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Prior to going to court and entering any plea, you might want to go back to the spot where you got the ticket & carefully go over the area looking for roadsigns or any other type of warning signs advising of road conditions..aka hairpin turn ahead. If there is NO Hairpin Warning sign posted, then you could possibly argue that that is an unmarked dangerous corner. You'll have to bring proof though which means that you might have to take a trip to the County's Road Surveyor's office. Check the road surveyor's office to see if their maps/notes indicate that a hairpin warning sign should be posted or not. If there is, try to get copies of those maps/notes. Take pictures of the approach along with pictures of the hairpin turn. That way you can show pictures to the judge to prove your case.
Also check the spot where the cop was sitting. If it looks like a regular turnout spot, that cops usually sit at, then you might want to check with the courts to see if any other citations were written at that location in a certain time frame. If there are, then you could possibly argue that the cops are using that hairpin turn area as an entrapment area.
Best bet is get an attorney to represent you. If you decide not to, then go dressed in a suit & tie to court that day & address the judge as Your Honor with plenty of Yes Sirs & No Sirs. Try to be as humble as possible & be prepared to state your case clearly. Judges HATE when you waste THEIR time. They usually have a shitload of cases they have to hear every day & hate when someone comes along & ties up their courtroom.
Try to make it sound like you were just driving along, got distracted as you approached the top of the hill, over-reacted when you saw the hairpin turn, slammed on your brakes & lost control of the car. If you can successfully argue that you're not the only one that's done that at that particular spot on that road, and can prove it with court records...aka tickets that cops have issued to other people at that same spot, AND that there is NO posted warning sign informing of a hairpin turn ahead, then you might get lucky & the judge will throw the case out.
Sounds like you've got your work cut out...
Good luck!!
ID
'95 SE