OK well, let me give you all the whole story.
Last spring, around March or so, I got a speeding ticket in Lisle on Warrenville Rd. for doing 15 over. Learned the lesson on this one about NEVER admiting to the officer that you exceeded the posted limit. Problem was that I was doing about 90 in a 45, and in an effort to minimize the damage, when he asked me haw fast I though I was going, I replied "about 60??" at which point the nice officer wrote me for doing 60 in a 45. Mistake I made was that he was never able to get me on radar and therefore had no idea/couldn't prove how fast I was going. The mistake I made was stating a number over the posted limit which was in effect an admission of guilt; lesson here kiddies is to NEVER admit guilt to the friendly officer because in essence you are sealing your own coffin. Do not let them trick you into the "nice cop routine" thinking that your honesty will be rewarded w/ a warning. :nono :nono Setup.
Anyway, I figure I got lucky on that one so I just sent in the money, admitted guilt on the form, and requested supervision which I received because my record was completely clean at that point.... Interesting point here is that Lisle only seems to have a 90 day supervision period for moving violations??? Can someone here confirm this??
Next ticket:
Last Oct. on my way back form a friends house I was going southbound on Essington rd. in unincorporated Bolingbrook. This is a 1.2 mile run of straight, clean road with soy bean fields on either side which grants you an unubstructed view of the nearest intersection over a mile away. In short, if you are going to do a banzai run, this is about as safe a place to do it as one could hope to find, and was the only place I had gotten into the triple digits as a rule. The stretch starts @ 111th and Naper-Plainfield Rd. by the Sids Nursery and ends at 119th. Short for the Sids Nursery at the corner of 111th and Naper-Plainfield Rd. there is only one other driveway (southbound) connected to that road and that is for a farm house about 1/4 mile down Essington on the east side which is visible for quite some distance before one would pass it. On the other side of the driveway (south) there is a group of bushes which on this particular night was unfortunately hiding a friendly Bolingbrook police officer whom I didn't see until my hibeam reflected off the Bolingbrook branding on the side of his cruiser. At the time I realized he was there I was doing about 120. I instinctively grabbed a handful of front and was able to get down to about 70 by the time I passed in front of his cruiser; the posted limit for this 1.2 mile stretch is 35. Obviously he came after me and I was pulled over w/ the engine stopped by the time he pulled in behind. He came up to me asked for license and proof of ins. and went back to the cruiser for about 15 mins. When I next heard his car door close, I saw the shadows of two sets of legs walking up behind me and it was then that I realized that I was going to jail. He clocked me on radar @ 112. Anyway, I have a clean record at this point, m class on the drivers license; good insurance and I showed nothing but the utmost respect for the officer throughout the entire ordeal even after he put the braclets on me and put me in the back of the cruiser. We sat for about 15 mins. as he waited for a call from his watch commander to see if he could let me go w/ a ticket for speeding 41+ mph over posted limit which is, by default, a reckless driving ticket in Illinois. I had to sign a "arrest and booking form" as well as the ticket issued, and he then let me go on my merry way without having to deal w/ my bike being impounded. Essentially, legally I was arrested but without having to go through the motions so to speak.
Court date was ~ 1 1/2 months later and of course I had retained legal representation to accompany me. Long story short, 750.00 fine, 20 hours community service, and traffic school (additional 40.00 fee), as well as 1 yr. court supervision; combined with the 200.00 for said attorney = 1000.00 total.
Next ticket:
Last Sunday north bound on Weber (Renwick?) coming from Joliet. 50 mph posted speed limit as I am approaching an intersection, a farmer going East bound on cross-street turns left to go north bound an Weber. He is in the number 2 lane (fast lane) and is only capable of ~ 15mph. I have now come to a stop because I am also in the fast lane about 3 or 4 cars back form the tractor. I am concentrating for the most part on my six because I am afraid that some idiot isn't paying attention and is going to wind up rear-ending me at 50 mph. Of course the line behind me is starting to pile up now and I am contemplating changing to the no. 1 lane so that I can get out of what I perceived as a somewhat hazardous situation. The problem was, as we all have experienced, the last vehicle to come up to the back of the line is still at speed and quickly changes to the no.1 so that he won't be the last in line. Now I am concerned that I will be struck as a secondary in a collision when one of the vehicles stopped behind me pulls out in front of someone at speed in the no.1 lane. So I look to my left, has a double solid line and I look down the road which is a good mile or so before there are any intersections to speak of and the closest approaching car is approx. 1/4 down the road so I decide to break the law and go around the left side crossing over the double yellow into oncoming lane and pass the 3 or 4 cars that are immediately behind the tractor and in front of me. I grab a handful and hit about 50 (2 to 3 secs) as I pass the tractor on his left. I didn't "buzz him" as I was at least a car width away from him on his left. Well as soon as I passed him and looked into my mirrors I saw the cherrys. I have no clue where he came from but he followed me around the left side of the tractor which only went to show that it was a safe (although illegal) manuver to make.
Despite my relaying to him why I chose to do what I had done, and despite the fact that I again adressed him with nothing but the utmost respect, I still received the ticket; crossing over center line 75.00 standard moving violation.
So now I am thinking I am f#*ked. I am also angry because I do not think the punishment I received for the one in October was appropriate when taking everything into consideration, mainly that if I f up at 120 on the stretch in question, I will hurt NO ONE but myself and even then we are talking maybe a few broken bones and some rash as I was in full gear and there is absolutely nothing to hit on this stretch, not even a curb just gravel and dirt. And for this I get arrested?!?!? If I was in a car, or even on the bike for that matter, amongst other traffic then yeah, I should get cuffed and spend the night in jail as well as a grand in fines and community service, but here?? No, I am sorry but this is simply a matter of f'n me out of my money. That cop should have let me go w/ lesser of a ticket when taking into consideration the terain and the fact that I have never been arrested as well as the respect I afforded him.:mad
Anyway, what do you guys and gals think, assuming you took the time to read this entire rant? I am pretty much f'd, aren't I?