What am I going to do? What should I do?

My son is facing a similar dilemma in NJ, so I’ll be following this question…

Well, why did you get three moving violations in the first place? Do they do traffic violator school in MD to clear tickets? CA does- and, frankly, if you have three moving violations in 16 months, this may be a good idea.

Are the tickets for speeding, for coasting thru a stop sign, driving under the influence, running a red light? The nature of the ticket would affect how I feel about the punishment. I guess if you did the crime you gotta do the time.

Best advice is find a friend who has a similar schedule and will let you ride along.

What did you do during your 30 day suspension?

Has it gone to court yet, or did you just get the ticket?

I had my license taken away when I was 17 for a similar thing (it’s 2 strikes in Ohio :( ). ANYWAYS, the judge allowed me to maintain school/work privileges. If you ask you can probably get them too.

Driving properly hereafter sounds like a good idea.

I hope they didn’t get you in that speed trap they always have on Hwy 50 near Salisbury.

What should you have done?

Not driven like an idiot. Suck it up, you fucked up.

Well… The first time I got a ticket it was for failing to control my speed during a collision. Basically I was behind an unmarked police car who immediately breaker in front of me and I rear ended him. There was no damage to either vehicle but of course I got a ticket because he was a cop. At that point, I had my provisional for over 18 months so I was eligible to get my full license but like an idiot I didn’t and so that was my first strike and the 18 months started over. Somewhere in between 10–12 months I got my first speeding ticket. The officer told me my lisense was suspended and gave me a ticket for driving with a suspended license . He did not arrest me because I had no idea it was suspended. So I went to the DMV, they said I had not taken my drivers ed in result of the first ticket. So I went to drivers ed and they gave me a new license. That same day, they sent out my 30 day suspension letter for the ticket I had just recieved. My mom had to drive me everywhere for 30 days, it was a nightmare. Also keep in mind that the 18 months does not start until you turn your license into the mva. So I had 17 more months to go, again. And I just got my 3rd ticket.

Driving is a privilege, not a right. Either learn to slow down and obey the traffic laws, or accept being dependent upon others for your mode of transportation.

I’ve noticed that younger drivers have a tendency to: (1.) follow too closely, (2.) drive too fast and (3.) think they are better drivers than they really are. I am not picking on you; I have been driving for thirty years, and ten of those years was behind the wheel of a large truck. I’ve seen a lot of people do some really stupid things, (some of them died) and it doesn’t help that there are so many distractions (iPods, cell phones, CD players, etc.) in cars nowadays.

I say take your lumps and find someone to drive you around until you get your license back. Maybe you’ll learn from the experience.

I really am considering just moving to a city where I don’t have to drive. I love driving and for the most part I’m a great driver. I have a friend that got a DUI and can still drive. This system just makes me so mad. I have enough on my plate to stress out about. I’m trying to graduate! I keep telling myself I only have 1 more month until the semester is over & then it won’t be so bad. This system is made to stress people out & cost them more money & keep them down.

So no one on here has ever gotten a speeding ticket before? No one speeds? I’m the only one?

@evelyns_pet_zebra I will have to take my lumps but I am a safe driver. I don’t speed all the time & when I do it’s often with the flow of traffic. I don’t follow too closely or do any of the things that you complain about.

@nayeight
“The first time I got a ticket it was for failing to control my speed during a collision.”
Rear-end collisions are always the fault of the person who rear-ends another. There’s no excuse for being so close behind a vehicle that you hit it if the vehicle stops suddenly. That’s what “following distances” are for.

“for the most part I’m a great driver.”
Great drivers don’t rear-end people. Great drivers don’t get their license suspended.

“So no one on here has ever gotten a speeding ticket before? No one speeds? I’m the only one?”
You’re being awfully defensive, aren’t you? You don’t like the nearly-unanimous advice you’ve been given, so you’ll try to pass the blame. That isn’t going to help.

“I don’t follow too closely”
If that was true, you would have never rear-ended a cop. An alert driver would give a cop even more following distance than any other car!

@ crisw I understand that it was my fault and I was not following him too closely. I was younger & a new driver so I probably wasn’t paying attention or just had a slow reaction time. It wasn’t a normal police car, it was a black crown victoria so I’m sure that his brakes were a little better than mine. In fact, it was raining that night and he nearly rear ended the person in front of him. Still, I was at fault and I have no problem admitting that. I should have been 3 cars away from him or something, just to be safe. It has been probably about 2 years since that accident so its safe to say that I’m more experienced because I do drive alot and know more about how to handle my car. I’m not saying that any of this is not my fault, because it is, I should have controlled my speed. I just asked this question for advice on what do to now. And for your information, I got 3 tickets within the past 30 months.

Lay off guys. Three tickets in over 2.5 years isn’t THAT bad. Granted it’s not that great either, but she’s hardly a bad driver (we’re all young once). In my first 2.5 years I had 3 tickets, and since then (nearly 6 years) only 2. My step father, bless his soul, has been averaging 2 a year since I was 6. Not sure how he even has a license.

For that matter, at least she’s TRYING to do it right. There are PLENTY of people out there who would just drive without a license all together. And ironically enough, those drivers all seem to be god awful.

@nayeight: I’ve never gotten a moving violation, I don’t speed, I don’t cut people off, I signal, I do as I should. I’ve been driving for four years, and I’ve never even been in a real accident.

We’re the same age. This has nothing to do with youth and everything to do with your attitude. If you were looking out for your best interests, you would have gotten your license already and this wouldn’t have been an issue. If after TWO OTHER INSTANCES you had the time reset on your provisional license you didn’t learn to drive like a senior citizen this is your own doing and I’m shocked you don’t just suck it up and move on.

It’s about damn time you learned this lesson the system as been trying to teach you.

nayeight, just ignore the goody-two-shoes replies which are not answering your question and are moralizing at you about speeding tickets. You are already aware of the potential consequences to your education and life in general of not obeying the nonsensical speed limits that few people actually obey, yet traffic cops persecute and insurance companies punish.

Practical options include contesting the ticket (if you subpoena the officer in an urban district for a minor speeding ticket, he often may not appear and if he doesn’t, the case is dismissed), hiring a lawyer, or possibly requesting a deferment (though that last option might not exist in your state or your circumstances). There are some traffic ticket law specialists who claim to have never failed to get speeding ticket defeated in court, and may charge say $300–400, which is less than you might pay for the ticket plus insurance, and leaves nothing on your driving record and keeps your license. That fact alone makes the injustice of the whole speeding situation pretty clear to me.

Other options include figuring out some sort of carpool deal with a friend, changing habits, or moving closer to school. Or, frankly, driving illegally but very carefully conservatively so you don’t get pulled over again.

I would consult a traffic lawyer or two – generally there are some everywhere who offer free initial consultations.

I’ll ‘fess up, @nayeight. Two years ago, I got two speeding tickets within 6 months. One on the expressway for going 80 mph on the expressway at 6:30 am out in the boonies. The other for going 45 in a 25 mph zone. I went to traffic school. Those were the only two tickets since I’ve been driving (36 years) but I would go though periods where I would hit inanimate objects. And then it would stop…the insurance agent sends me a birthday card. We’ve bonded.

@nayeight, yet you rear ended a cop. Hmm, okay, you’re a great driver, my bad.

@Zaku: You realize that giving her advice on her situation extends to how she could have avoided said situation? She needs to grow up, we may not be addressing the issue at hand but we are addressing it’s cause.

Perhaps the realization of what can and is happening will cause nayeight to suddenly grow up and never ever exceed the speed limit or procrastinate again. Then she will be perfect and it will be a wonderful world.

I myself have to admit to having been caught on camera speeding once or twice and did rear end another car years ago. So I can’t claim the perfect title myself, only human and lucky enough to have committed these offenses not in a time frame that caused me to lose my license.

Good luck on your appeal and from now on, be careful!

Okay nevermind. I guess next time I won’t ask any questions like this again. I understand that I was wrong and as rooeytoo said, we are only human & no one is perfect. I asked this question for help on what to do now not for people to ridicule me on my past. If you don’t have something today that can help me besides grow up & the obvious slow down then keep it to yourself.

@asmonet: See what nayeight wrote above. Community participation starts with acceptance. It looks to me like she was already being over-punished and made aware of what she could have done. Having her Fluther friends jump on the bullshit bandwagon that says that the posted speed limit is always right, and speeders are always wrong and deserve what they get, I expect will only backfire. I get that you mean well, but it seems to me this is just adding more shit to the already overloaded wrong side of the teeter totter of this juvenile cultural issue.

Meh, I still stand by it, she should have learned the first time.
I’ve had friends, young friends, who have been seriously injured and disfigured because of stupid drivers. She wouldn’t be in this mess if she hadn’t been following too closely, speeding and breaking the law. She’s lucky that’s all that’s happened to her. I don’t accept those behaviors, sorry.

And every law that’s been put in action for drivers is there because somebody learned that lesson the hard way. They’re designed to protect us from each other. I don’t consider that to be a bullshit bandwagon message.

Two weeks ago I got a speeding ticket, I was doing 92 in an 80 (that is KPH not MPH) zone. It was in an area where the speed limit changes from 80 to 90 to 100 and back to 80. And I thought I was still in a 90 zone, but I still would have been speeding. Gave me 1 point. So I am a criminal just like you nayeight. But don’t feel badly, according to another question, people would still donate their organs to us if we needed them!