Posts: 990
Threads: 22
Joined: Dec 2007
I can't believe you guys are so sure you're more than a step away from becoming a killer or the killed. Where alcohol is involved in a lot of fatalities, speed is involved in most! Sure you don't do that often, right, just that one time and the awful old cop was there, but that's how we drive backhome! I think you should loose your license for a year for 20 over! And if this is the downhill from Waimea through Kahua ranch coming straight down on Hawi, then you should have your car impounded and seized too!
SLOW DOWN, this aint the MAINLAND.
Gordon J Tilley
quote:
Originally posted by LadyJane
..... I was issued a $162 speeding ticket in North Kohala yesterday. ........The fact is that I was going 21 over... 56 in a 35 just outside Hawi - coasting downhill, appreciating the beauty, and no clear limit signs were posted.....
Um... I forgot to mention, consider yourself lucky you weren't going 9 mph faster!
....Because speeding is involved in a large number of fatal accidents in the islands, there will be harsh penalties for excessive speeding (which is 30 miles an hour over the limit or any speed over 79 miles an hour ).
Fines begin at $500 for first offenders and also include a 30 day suspension of their license and either community service or jailtime.
Hawaii's New Speeding Laws
-------------
Happy Birthday Aaron
Posts: 4,533
Threads: 241
Joined: Jan 2006
If you know you were going that fast - pay the tix or do the community service. Or at the very most - ask the judge to bring the fine down to how far off the calibration might be (10 mph? as example). Then ask for the fine at 46 miles (11 miles over speed limit).
I got tix going uphill from Kawaihae just over the little bridge that veers left off to Kohala, and on to Waimea. ( The cop said I was doing same 56 in a 35). Even though a car passed me - (it was late at night) - and I thought it was them he got on the radar - I was going to fight it. I finally decided that for all the times that I really was speeding .... one tix wasnt bad.
Now that I am older and hopefully wiser - I drive like a auntie...
Posts: 990
Threads: 22
Joined: Dec 2007
If the offense took place on the real Hawi Hill, that drop is steep enough to warrant a 35, just basic common sense would tell you that. the people in Hawi don't need LA drivers rippimg around their neighborhood, Get over to the belt road where everyone drives stupid, and hang your life out for your speed!
My idea of fair patrol cars are ones with no lights at all, but a large pop up light for after the clock and movie of the crime! Even portable trees to hide behind , totally agressive campaign against speeding, with the side benefit of getting a lot of drunks in the process! I bet we would cut our fatality rate a bunch!
Any way to stop the roadway carnage! Big island has the most people dying on the roads. 20 mph over is reckless endangering, and 30 over Terroristic threatening. 6 months for 20 over, 1 year for 30 over!
Gordon J Tilley
Posts: 2,314
Threads: 59
Joined: Jun 2003
Forget the "admit guilt with an explanation" because once you admit it the judge will uphold the fine. Your only chance to get out of the fine is if the sign was obscured or misplaced. I successfully challenged a ticket once when the cop wrote down the address wrong and the speed limit sign was one block away.
I would fight every ticket because when I had my yellow 911C4S they ticketed me even when I was parking.  (Lesson: don't have a high profile car!)
Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
Posts: 447
Threads: 27
Joined: Sep 2006
Just my two cents of course.
But rather than stewing, I'd pay the fine immediately.
Not so much because of the law.
More like a mea-culpa/heavenly-insurance/karma-thing.
A "thanks!-god(s}" for the bloody wake-up call and letting me off so easy...
...since I'd consider myself very very lucky there weren't bicyclists, runners, walkers, horses, children, motorcycles, skateboarders, ATVs, or stranded-drivers-replacing-flat tires sharing the road with me that day.
Y'know?
KITV reporter Daryl Huff used computer databases to examine thousands of tickets and discovered surprisingly few people are actually getting convicted of excessive speeding.
-------------
On this day in History:
State of Hawai'i and City of Honolulu pledge $1 million to clean up a noxious weed, the invasive species Salvinia molesta, in Wahiawa's Lake Wilson, 2003.
Posts: 1,581
Threads: 26
Joined: Jun 2007
Are they getting convicted of a lesser offense or was it being dismissed outright? Due to the legal ramifications of Excessive Speeding, they may be pleading to a lesser speeding offense to save the ordeal of a conviction for Excessive Speeding. Very common in places where similar excessive speeding laws are also criminal. Plead immediately to a deal of the lesser non-criminal speeding and avoid the possible conviction of a criminal offense.
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Orts
Are they getting convicted of a lesser offense or was it being dismissed outright?...
I don't like posting entire articles... so here is a snippet from This Article
The biggest bugs are in court, KITV reported. Oahu police gave out more than 2,700 excessive speeding tickets in 2007. However, only 491 people, about 18 percent, have been convicted. Nearly 1,600 tickets, more than half, are still being fought in court.
"More defendants are fighting the cases. They are hiring attorneys and then thereby drawing the cases out," Fujii said.
Defense attorneys are challenging the accuracy and operation of laser guns and police vehicle speedometers. In most cases, police and prosecutors have not been able to come up with documentation to defend the equipment. Those cases are delayed, dismissed or plea-bargained.
-------------
On this day in History:
State of Hawai'i and City of Honolulu pledge $1 million to clean up a noxious weed, the invasive species Salvinia molesta, in Wahiawa's Lake Wilson, 2003.
Posts: 2,979
Threads: 177
Joined: Aug 2006
I don't have enough information here and certainly cannot recommend in Hawaii, but what I once did with a nephew once who was driving 135 on the 405, is we did what I will call "deep sixing" the ticket, which is easier here than it may be there. You set a court date, preferably for a "night court", then continue as many times as the law will allow (at least once). If, as sometimes happens, the cop never shows up testify, case is dismissed. Cops are very busy over here and may be scheduled for the first appearance, but not the second. That's what happened with us, but I cannot recommend, as I only tried this technique once.
Nephew was scolded until his bark came off. He has a kid now, so drives slow.
My brother wanted to admit guilt because nephew was, ahem, guilty, but I pointed out that is not how we do it here: You are presumed innocent, and the state has to prove their case.
|
