My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: New Jersey.
Hi everyone, I am new here and this was my first ticket. I want to retell what happened and get some opinions.
I was driving on I-80 west, about 10 miles from Delaware Water Gap. It's a 65 MPH zone and I had been going between 70 to 80 MPH. There had been rain and although at that time the rain stopped, the road was still wet. Because of the weather, I was very alert to my surroundings and that's why I remembered the incident clearly. I probably shouldn't drive that fast but I-80 there was wide with 4 lanes and every other vehicle was going at that speed.
I was driving in the left most lane and trying to pass a truck on the right because of the splashes from the truck was blurring my view. It's probably a slight decline when I saw the police car because I remember looking down at the patrol car which parked on the grass area between the opposing highways, facing me. At that moment I looked at my odometer and it was below 80 MPH and I noticed that there were vehicles both in front and behind of me in my lane, and I was going slightly faster than the trucks on the right. I didn't think there was any issue but still slowed down a bit and drove on. For the next minute or two my attention was focused on safely passing a long queue of trucks on the right. Because of the weather and road condition, I only went slightly faster than the trucks. Only when I was parallel to the truck I sped up a little bit to quickly get ahead because I didn't want to stay inside their blind spot. But call it bad luck there were a lot of trucks and only trucks, one after another, dangerously close to each other. On a dry day I would have changed lane to the right when I see a small gap between the trucks. But with all the trucks in the front splashing up the water my visibility was limited so I didn't want to risk it.
So one or two minutes after seeing the police car and trying to pass the trucks, I actually considered just to slow down and let all the trucks to pass me. I checked the rear mirror and saw the police car following me closely. I didn't think he was pulling me over because he wasn't flashing. Even at this time, there were still other cars in front of me. Because the police car was really close to me, I couldn't slow down, and as before I was slightly faster than the trucks. I kept on driving and probably passed another one or two trucks and I finally saw a gap large enough. So I changed lane, and the police car followed, and then he put on the flash and pulled me over.
He told me I was speeding at 86 MPH and asked for my driving license etc. Asked me where I am from and where I'm heading to. I told him I was keeping up with the traffic and trying to pass a long string of trucks. I'm from New York and we are on vacation. He said speeding is dangerous, especially with kids in the car. I said I would never endanger my family and tried to explain to him with some more details but he said wait and took my driving license to his car, then came back with a ticket and said I was summoned at the court. I asked: "Officer may I explain?" He said, "It's too late. It's issued already." Then He drove off. I was baffled and took a picture of the location just so I know where did this happen.
The ticket is $200 and I am summoned to the court unless I pay by July/11th. Also it says unless I notify the court at least 7 days in advance of the pay by date if I decide to go to court, I might need to go more than once. 7 days before 7/11 is July/4th, how convenient! I tried to call today July/3rd, nobody was there...
I wasn't going at 86mph unless my odometer was way off. The only time I might go that fast was when I sped pass the parallel trucks. And when I think back the whole thing, I still don't think I did anything wrong intentionally to endanger my family. The only thing I could have done differently was not starting to pass the long string of trucks, but I started to pass ONE truck when we were all still going slower. But then probably every vehicle sped up because of the decline and there were endless trucks on the right.
Any input? What do you think my chance is if I go to court and just tell my story? Problem is that I don't have any proof other than my words. What options are there other than guilty or not guilty? Is there any way that this won't affect my insurance?
Sorry about the very long post...I just wanted to write down every details that I remember. Thank you for reading it!
Hi everyone, I am new here and this was my first ticket. I want to retell what happened and get some opinions.
I was driving on I-80 west, about 10 miles from Delaware Water Gap. It's a 65 MPH zone and I had been going between 70 to 80 MPH. There had been rain and although at that time the rain stopped, the road was still wet. Because of the weather, I was very alert to my surroundings and that's why I remembered the incident clearly. I probably shouldn't drive that fast but I-80 there was wide with 4 lanes and every other vehicle was going at that speed.
I was driving in the left most lane and trying to pass a truck on the right because of the splashes from the truck was blurring my view. It's probably a slight decline when I saw the police car because I remember looking down at the patrol car which parked on the grass area between the opposing highways, facing me. At that moment I looked at my odometer and it was below 80 MPH and I noticed that there were vehicles both in front and behind of me in my lane, and I was going slightly faster than the trucks on the right. I didn't think there was any issue but still slowed down a bit and drove on. For the next minute or two my attention was focused on safely passing a long queue of trucks on the right. Because of the weather and road condition, I only went slightly faster than the trucks. Only when I was parallel to the truck I sped up a little bit to quickly get ahead because I didn't want to stay inside their blind spot. But call it bad luck there were a lot of trucks and only trucks, one after another, dangerously close to each other. On a dry day I would have changed lane to the right when I see a small gap between the trucks. But with all the trucks in the front splashing up the water my visibility was limited so I didn't want to risk it.
So one or two minutes after seeing the police car and trying to pass the trucks, I actually considered just to slow down and let all the trucks to pass me. I checked the rear mirror and saw the police car following me closely. I didn't think he was pulling me over because he wasn't flashing. Even at this time, there were still other cars in front of me. Because the police car was really close to me, I couldn't slow down, and as before I was slightly faster than the trucks. I kept on driving and probably passed another one or two trucks and I finally saw a gap large enough. So I changed lane, and the police car followed, and then he put on the flash and pulled me over.
He told me I was speeding at 86 MPH and asked for my driving license etc. Asked me where I am from and where I'm heading to. I told him I was keeping up with the traffic and trying to pass a long string of trucks. I'm from New York and we are on vacation. He said speeding is dangerous, especially with kids in the car. I said I would never endanger my family and tried to explain to him with some more details but he said wait and took my driving license to his car, then came back with a ticket and said I was summoned at the court. I asked: "Officer may I explain?" He said, "It's too late. It's issued already." Then He drove off. I was baffled and took a picture of the location just so I know where did this happen.
The ticket is $200 and I am summoned to the court unless I pay by July/11th. Also it says unless I notify the court at least 7 days in advance of the pay by date if I decide to go to court, I might need to go more than once. 7 days before 7/11 is July/4th, how convenient! I tried to call today July/3rd, nobody was there...
I wasn't going at 86mph unless my odometer was way off. The only time I might go that fast was when I sped pass the parallel trucks. And when I think back the whole thing, I still don't think I did anything wrong intentionally to endanger my family. The only thing I could have done differently was not starting to pass the long string of trucks, but I started to pass ONE truck when we were all still going slower. But then probably every vehicle sped up because of the decline and there were endless trucks on the right.
Any input? What do you think my chance is if I go to court and just tell my story? Problem is that I don't have any proof other than my words. What options are there other than guilty or not guilty? Is there any way that this won't affect my insurance?
Sorry about the very long post...I just wanted to write down every details that I remember. Thank you for reading it!
Speeding Tickets: Speeding Ticket in New Jersey While Passing 10+ Trucks
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