I think the title pretty much says it all...

But to recap: during my week long road trip last month, I got pulled over in Fort Bragg. The nice officer issued me a ticket for doing 60 MPH in a 55 MPG zone. Well I finally received a notice from the Mendocino County Courts, and if I want to keep the ticket off my record, it is going to cost me $454.95!

What a crock of Well I guess they have to make their money somehow since they can no longer go after the pot growers...

*sheesh* Talk about highway robbery!

So consider yourself forewarned; do NOT speed on Highway 1 in or around Fort Bragg... At all!

That one is worth the lawyer.

Construction zone, or close to one?
Didn't move over or slow down for a vehicle on the side of the road?

5 over seems pretty unusual to get a ticket unless something else makes it a special circumstance.
Seems expensive as hell for 5 over no matter where it is unless it's one of those "Fines are Doubled" areas.

Or you just got lucky and passed a cop with a hardon.

I am a traffic control supervisor and I set the lane closures and whatnot for highway construction work....speeding in one of my construction zones will get you tagged with 4 points and a MINIMUM $738 fine BubbaKahuna wrote:
Construction zone, or close to one?
Didn't move over or slow down for a vehicle on the side of the road?

5 over seems pretty unusual to get a ticket unless something else makes it a special circumstance.
Seems expensive as hell for 5 over no matter where it is unless it's one of those "Fines are Doubled" areas.

Or you just got lucky and passed a cop with a hardon.

Doc_V That sounds like some of the ones in south Louisiana.

From personal experience I can tell you those parish fines for simple stuff are staggering.

Nothing to do with a construction zone.

I was guilty --- but three times the dollar amount for the same thing here in Northwest Florida is ridiculous.

I had been going to Louisiana numerous times a year my whole life. After that traffic stop I did not go back or spend one tourist penny in their state for ten years.

I just read the original post again.
Does the $454.95 include Traffic School to keep your record clear?

I would laugh if I got pulled for 5 over. Ive passed cops going 5 over.

The ticket itself is $357, plus $74 if I want to go to traffic school to keep it off my record, and another $24 for the online traffic school. [Which is surprisingly inexpensive.]

The officer said I was doing over 65 MPH when he clocked me, but I was slowing down so he only gave me a ticket for 60 MPH... But no, no construction zone, etc.

FWIW- The road continually rises and falls about 50-80 odd feet in that area. Even at constant throttle, if you're doing 55 MPH at the crest, your speed momentarily rises when you hit the downhill portion and gravity kicks in. That's when he stopped me. I'd backed off the throttle to compensate for the downhill, but I was over the limit for moment. So yah, technically I was speeding.

It probably didn't help that at a stop light a mile before, I quickly accelerated away when the light turned green. Even though I did level off when I reached the speed limit, I'm sure my loud exhaust is what got his attention, and he just followed me until he had a reason to hit the lights.

Still, that's a mighty steep fine even for that kind of ticket.

Man, we must be really lucky with cops here in MI. State troopers don't even look at you (me anyway) for doing 80 on the expressway (70mph zone). I got pulled over on a back road on July 4th on the Roadie this year for doing 20 over. Told him about my gun permit right away. He was very nice. Didn't even give me a ticket. Just checked to make sure I didn't have any warrants and told me to slow down in a pleasant way.

It's a tough time to be a cop. I'm wondering if they are treating certain people differently (better) if you know what I mean...

As much as I like going there, that 10 year ban from my immediate family cost the state of Louisiana a minimum of ten thousand dollars in lost revenue. I still get pissed off every time I think about it.

We treat our tourists better in Florida. That is probably the reason I see so many Louisiana tags on cars here every weekend.