Got the thrill of the ride get the best of me.

State trooper gave me a citation, license back and I have to appear in court.

Anyone here from Illinois with similar experience?

Should I lawyer up?

You have options. You can pay the fine, do the traffic school thing and go your merry way with the violation expunged. You can hire a lawyer for somewhat more money unless you know one who will do it for next to nothing and end up with basically the same result. One caution though. If you have a laywer and lose it is a lot more expensive. I live in Chicago and got busted near DeKalb at 22 over in another car. I paid the fine and went to traffic class in Elgin. They wouldn't let me do the class in Chicago. Sorry but no sympathy here.

Unfortunately as of Jan 1, 2011 going 30 over is an automatic Class B misdemeanor (EDITED), which in theory could entail up to 6 months in jail.

That is my worry. What is the real possibility of that happening?

Got the thrill of the ride get the best of me.

State trooper gave me a citation, license back and I have to appear in court.

Anyone here from Illinois with similar experience?

Should I lawyer up?

"Poop happens", now it's time to buy toilet paper. :D

Oh dear Rauls. I think you just have to grovel. Use all the excuses you can think of, such as "it's a new car and I didn't realise how fast I was going" or "I've been having some trouble with mis-firing at low revs so I just touched the accelerator to see if it would clear. I was only above the speed limit for a few seconds when the trooper caught me". And of course promise never ever to do it again. Good luck matey

WOW, up here in BC, Canada, going over by 30 is just a fine and 3 points on your licence. No schooling or anything else.

Although with some of the drivers on the road, more schooling is a good thing.

We also have a new law i pasted below which is more severe and can even result in complete forefeiture of your vehicle:

The B.C. government has changed the Motor Vehicle Act to impose harsher penalites on motor vehicle operators travelling 40 km/h over the posted speed limit on any road or highway in British Columbia, beginning on September 20, 2010.

Commencing September 20, 2010 British Columbians driving in their vehicles found speeding 40km or over, any posted speed limit can expect higher fines and will see their vehicle’s impounded on the first offence and each subsequent offence, committed within a two (2) year period of the first offence.

For a first offence, there is a mandatory vehicle impoundment for seven (7) days, thirty (30) days after a second, and sixty (60) days for any subsequent violations within a two (2) year period.

In addition to impounding vehicles, drivers face fines of up to $483, three demerit points will be charged and ICBC will be able to charge an additional $320 ‘risky driver’ premium on top of any insurance premiums. The law follows similar such laws in Ontario and B.C. is only the second province to seize vehicles for excessive speeding.

Got the thrill of the ride get the best of me.

State trooper gave me a citation, license back and I have to appear in court.

Anyone here from Illinois with similar experience?

Should I lawyer up?

Good job you didn't get caught that fast in the UK we send all our crims to Australia LOL.Mick

Good job you didn't get caught that fast in the UK we send all our crims to Australia LOL.Mick



Yes - however we give them further training and new skills before sending them back :D:D.

37mph [60kM] over the posted limit in NSW will result in immediate confiscation of your licence with a 6 month suspension together with a fine of $1915 and 6 demerit points. If you go to Court and unsuccessfully challenge the infringement, the penalties can be higher however sometimes you can be lucky and escape with a lower penalty. We do not have "naughty driver" schools and jail time for speeding offences yet.

Just don't get me started on our problem of unrealistic speed limits to pander to incompetent drivers with skill and attitude problems who should never have passed their driving test in the first instance. I regularly drive on a section of expressway/motorway that I used to travel safely at 200+kM/hr in the days of unrestricted open road speed limits which now has a speed limit of 100kM/hr and I now get "highway hypnosis" as a consequence.

Being this is Illinois, you are pretty much at the mercy of the judge. Having a lawyer plead your case may be a good idea. There are many factors he hopefully will consider such as past traffic violations. I would hope your case will be judged less severely than driving under the influence. People get busted for drunk driving and causing an accident and get away with a light penalty. I would suspect you would not get 6 months.

Ok Silvershadow point taken,It does seem like the authorities in most countries now see the driver as a cash cow (and want to make normal citizens into criminals)and I suppose its easy to catch speeders than burglars. Mind you if you were doing 37 mph over the speed limit outside a school you should expect a hard time from the old bill. IMHO Mick.

I would just like to point out that the highway I was caught on has most everyone driving and average of 70mph. The past few days I have been driving the limit and people get pissed at me and zip beyond me at hight speed. Just today 2 separate sheriff vehicles were easily doing 85 on the left lane. not attending any emergency, just cruising.

I am not saying that what i did was right but I was passing a couple of vehicles on this road when I reached the high speed I mentioned. I was just one of many going much faster than the limit. I just got caught.

The best way to deal with this is to think about ALL the times you got away with speeding. No matter what you do unless some judge drops the charge, you're going to take another hit on your insurance for at least a couple of years. And let's face it, 37 over the limit is a bit over the line.

Suck it up, pay the fine, move on, do a brain dump and forget about it.

Know the feeling. Just turned onto a 30 mile an hour road and was doing over 60 without realizing it, got caught, go to court Feb 15. Hoping for school again. It is just too easy in an Eos. Still love the car and I am an old woman in Tennessee. Good luck!

My past experience has been that a line of cars doing 10 over draws fewer police than the one or two in the fast lane doing 5 miles an hour faster than the rest.

Good luck to you too lcason!

Tell us how you get on Rauls please