Bridgman, MI—In my previous column, I told the story of the last speeding ticket I had and the promise I made to my wife, Sharon, to change my fast-driving ways.
Prior to that ticket in 2004 for going 92 mph, I had gained plenty of experience over the years in dealing with speeding tickets.
Sometimes I would just pay them, either by mail or over the phone. Many times, however, I would go to court and plead for mercy. Over time, I learned what seemed to work best for achieving a reduced level of fine, and/or points. Occasionally, I met the good fortune of having the officer not show up in court, in which case my infraction would be thrown out.
I'll never forget the time while living in Washington Parish, Louisiana, when I didn't have to deal with traffic tickets. On my way from a United Way lunch meeting in Bogolusa to a Rotary meeting in Franklinton, I was stopped by the police for speeding.
As I was arriving at the meeting, I put the ticket in my inside coat pocket and went into the meeting and sat down next to a friend, who is an insurance agent. As I was ordering an iced tea, my friend said to me, "I passed you on Highway 10 while you were stopped by the police." Sheepishly, I said, "Yes, they caught me in a radar trap."
"Give me the ticket,” he said emphatically. I looked at him with a questioning expression, suggesting I didn't hear him properly. "Give me the ticket,” he said again, with a firm tone of demand in his voice.
I hesitantly pulled the ticket out of my coat pocket and handed it to him. Without examining it, he immediately placed it in his shirt pocket.
"My friend, the sheriff, will take care of this," he said with enough authority that I believed him. True to his word, I never again heard anything about that ticket.
However, in 2004, after receiving a ticket for going 92 mph on the Falmouth Connector in Maine and promising my wife Sharon I would change my ways, I still knew I was going to have to deal with the ticket. There would probably be a hefty fine to pay.
I put the ticket in my briefcase and pulled it out the next day at work. In reading the details, I noticed that not only was I clocked doing 92 mph, but the speed limit in the zone where I was caught was only 45 mph. Consequently, the ticket was for speeding 47 mph over the posted limit.
The location where I was stopped was on the connector between Interstate 95 and Interstate 295. While the road had been a divided highway with a speed limit of 70, there was a transition to a much lower speed limit area of 45 mph, which is where I had been pulled over.
Instinctively, I knew that 47 mph over the speed limit wasn't good, and I knew I should get the help of an attorney.
So I called my good friend Jeff, an attorney in Washington D.C., and explained the ticket to him. Jeff told me he would call me back the next day.
Hearing from Jeff the next day, he explained to me that this was not your typical speeding infraction with a ticket and moving violation.
His research had discovered that in Maine at that time, driving more than 30 miles over the stated speed limit was a Class E offense, which could result in a fine up to $1,000, some possible probation and the possibility of a license suspension. In addition, my car insurance rate could go up significantly.
Jeff said I really needed an attorney in Maine to help me with this. After checking his handbook of Maine attorneys and contacting one, he had a recommendation for me.
Later that afternoon I called the Maine attorney Jeff referred me to.
Expecting some words that would indicate a challenging situation, I was shocked when he said to me, "Ted, this is your lucky day."
What? How could this be my lucky day?
He then explained that his son, just a couple of months prior, had received a speeding ticket almost identical to mine. The attorney took the ticket to court to plead for the court's mercy on his son.
While he was in court with his son, the county prosecutor pulled him aside and said, "What are you doing wasting my staff attorney's valuable time with a piddly case like this? The next time you have a client with this type of infraction, give me a call and I'll work something out for you."
The day after our conversation, my attorney called the prosecutor, and an agreement was worked out to drop my case in exchange for paying some court fees.
I didn't even have to appear in court.
I learned two lessons from this experience: it really pays to have a good attorney, and always give thanks when it's your lucky day.
Theodore Lewis is the former CEO of Guam Memorial Hospital and has a healthcare consulting business in Bridgman, MI. He is collecting stories about lessons learned in life and can be reached at theodorelewis@yahoo.com.
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