Am I fucked
Posted by CaptainGibbs96@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 75 comments
Long story short. Traveling east bound in the morning and sun in my eyes. Didn't see the school zone sign and got popped for 35 in a 20 school zone. Tried fighting it but the prosecutor won't knock it down. Company is gonna terminate me because of it. Otherwise I have 2.5 years of experience and clean record otherwise. Am I gonna have to resort to working for Welfare express or do I have a shot at driving for a decent company. If I have to go to the bottom of the barrel companies than I might as well just get out of trucking.
BedAdministrative619@reddit
Am I the weird one for taking my break during that time of day? Avoiding the glare while getting to watch the sunset, win-win!
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
I was on my way to do my fuel stop a town away where I was gonna take my break
BedAdministrative619@reddit
Do you make a habit of driving blind? Fog, snow on the windshield, broken headlights at night, nothing can stop this guy.
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
No it was a mistake. This is the one and only time I've had anything negative on my driving record other than a seat belt ticket when I was 19
Trappin4DaSport@reddit
“sun in my eyes” was probably the worst excuse you could give man
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
It was the truth though. Is there really any good excuse?
PraetorianHawke@reddit
No, well maybe being chased by gangsters shooting at you..
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
"Yup that's it Mr prosecutor. I was chased by a car full of hoodlums at moderate speed in to your shit can of a town of less than 2000 people in the middle of rural Kansas. Thank God they saw the errors of their ways as they approached a school zone and stopped so that the cop could catch the real criminal."
PraetorianHawke@reddit
I've seen Tulsa King! It could happen!
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
I guess I'll actually have time to watch that show again. Loved the first season
PraetorianHawke@reddit
I just finished the 2nd season. Great show!
deezkeys098@reddit
Did you hire a local lawyer or did you just call the courthouse yourself? You need to hire a local lawyer
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
Company made me go through Interstate Truckers. Kinda like truckers legal plan. $500 just for them to do nothing and I still have to pay the fine
navlgazer9@reddit
I’d hire my own lawyer
The company can’t decide what lawyer you use .
Was this a camera ticket or a ticket written In person by a cop ?
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
By a cop but I can't afford to go to trial anyway. Place im at already pays shit. Literally came here just to get my "recent experience" cause I had to take time away from the truck to handle my dad's stuff when he died and no one would take me. I've been here since January.
CarolinaPunk@reddit
Ask for a public defender
leadpoem@reddit
Public defenders are only for felonies. Also, they're overworked, overtired, and don't have time for this stuff.
navlgazer9@reddit
The court doesn’t want to wast time on a traffic ticket
That’s how you get them to reduce the charge , by making the prosecutor or judge think you’re gonna show up with a lawyer and question the police officer for an hour about their training and certifications etc
That’s how “the ticket clinic “ works
If a judge won’t reduce their customers tickets , they schedule about ten of their clients on one day , Then they spend about an hour on the first client , and then the judge will call the lawyer in the back and ask if they are planning on doing this for all ten clients , the lawyer will say absolutely!
Then say , I want all my clients today AND in the future reduced to $100 fine and no points , and the judge will agree to it . Because they have no other choice,
Traffic court is about revenue collection and nothing else .
And it has to be about ten minutes per person max
Usually less than five minutes per .
They wanna get 70 or 100 tickets run through per day of their whole system collapses .
If a lawyer can drag it down to ten tickets per day they can collapse the court system
donny_pots@reddit
Public defenders are definitely not only for felonies
1morepl8@reddit
Never getting legal aid for a non criminal matter. In court you can just talk to a prosecuter before your ticket is on the docket. I live in a small place so need to pay full trial lawyer price even for traffic tickets so I just go to court myself. Haven't lost yet. (it's been twice lol)
perVERSIONofme@reddit
The point everyone is trying to get you to understand is you can’t afford NOT to fight this. What you will lose from your career futures will be much worse than those costs.
halpmybrainhurts02@reddit
This is exactly why I encourage newer drivers to earn and save at least $3000 just in case they need to fight something in court
navlgazer9@reddit
Hiring an attorney is cheaper than the pay cut you’re potentially gonna have to take if you get fired from where you’re at .
Although one ticket isn’t usually a problem
It’s the second ticket that’s the problem
deezkeys098@reddit
Na you always hire your own lawyer and hire a local one it’s your license
Naborsx21@reddit
Lol , you're fine if that's the only incident in 2.5 years.
Just don't hide it on your application and I don't think that many people will care tbh
adidaman@reddit
Nope. 15 over is one of the worst things that can go on your record, not even mentioning the school zone. I get you're trying to be nice but we have to be honest here
Naborsx21@reddit
I had a careless driving on my record , a lot of places considered that reckless driving.
Ive always found work pretty easily tbh.
It's not great, but one thing doesn't torpedo your whole career. Maybe some places will say no, but that's fine.
I don't like when people say "oh this thing is a career ender". Yeah a DUI will be, or an accident where there's a fatality or a rollover. But a 35 in a 20 is like, its not great, some places will say no, but you'll be able to find work with okay places still.
BRICH999@reddit
if there was a child crossing, what do you think the settlement would have been? 50m? 100m? if they didnt see the school, the road, signs or flashing yellow lights, probably safe to say they wouldnt have seen lil suzie crossing the road either. doubt many if any insurance companies are ok with that risk
Naborsx21@reddit
Oh now we're just making up crazy hypotheticals that didn't happen? Lol
Yeah what if he was drunk with the ex wife of Kadhoogi and he was on his way to the Saudi embassy, then we have an international conflict worth over 100s of millions of dollars on our hand. On top of the school zone. Lul
No_Ocelot4019@reddit
Because thats how insurance companies work yea dude will be able to find another job but its not gonna be great on pay for a while. Insurance companies make a living looking out for THEIR pockets not yours if someone or something is going to be even a potentially higher risk theyre going to reject it or charge significantly higher for it and most well paying companies are not willing to even consider it. 15 over? Debatable depends on the company. 15 over IN A SCHOOL ZONE? no... sorry OP sure you might get lucky but odds aren't great pal.
polarjunkie@reddit
Bro a car lost control, went across the median and hit a truck that did absolutely nothing wrong head on and a jury award $110 million. Running over a kid while doing 15 over in a school zone is a death sentence for a trucking company.
Naborsx21@reddit
Why do you do this
He didn't hit a kid lmao
So it's just a speeding ticket in a school zone
Yeah putting a 4 year old cock in your mouth would be a death sentence for anyone too.
I just don't understand why y'all do this,
"What if he hit a kid"
Yeah uhhh injuring children usually makes situations worse.
YEAH BUT HE VOULDVE HIT A KID
Yeah I mean I guess, but he didn't lmao And it's just x points on your license and whether or not someone will want to hire you and pay the slightly higher insurance.
polarjunkie@reddit
Because that's what insurance companies are doing. I've owned my own company and couldn't hire people that I wanted to because insurance companies said so. I've gone through their appeals process and they say thing exactly like this.
BRICH999@reddit
Schools are VERY marked for a reason. If OP couldnt tell he was passing an active school zone, I dont imagine they wouldve seen anything else. Like i said they are at minimum marked by a school, road markings, school speed limit signs with lights etc.
This isnt like missing a no parking sign in an obscure spot at night.
Naborsx21@reddit
Lol idk why every tard on this subreddit says one ticket and you'll never be able to work again.
Idk why y'all such doomers.
I've had a careless driving with a failed drug test and always found work. It kinda is tough sometimes but not impossible.
I'm not gunna discourage people from doing a career they might like
Don't know why y'all so hell bent on saying this shit lmao .
But whatever man,
halpmybrainhurts02@reddit
It’s not really being a doomer, you just don’t wanna get a guys hopes up when we know 15+ over is one of those big insurance red flags. It’s up there with “unsecured load” and shit.
OP can expect to not drive for at minimum a year, simply so the citation isn’t reported on an annual review. After that, it’s 3 to 5 years of “maybe” depending on how far back a company looks in the record
Naborsx21@reddit
Yeah the average person commenting in this thread is like 60 IQ that got their CDL yesterday.
If you wanna doom and gloom for people's careers then fine, lmao.
Plenty of shit happens and people can kinda understand too.
BRICH999@reddit
They will likely find work, but maybe not driving for a decent company. It's up to insurance and insurance entire business is risk assessment. Driving blind enough you cant tell you are in a school zone without slowing down is a big risk for anyone remotely associated.
Usual-Guarantee6346@reddit
Fatality won’t be the end you’ll probably just have to become an owner op I know a guy that had that type of “accident”while he was asleep on the shoulder and another one where drag races flew into his semi while he was driving he made out fine
adidaman@reddit
Careless driving is weighed nowhere near the same as 15 over. I'm not saying it's right but that's how companies look at it
Naborsx21@reddit
Oh right Google doesn't exist lul
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
Bar and Bar and Bar Nunn already disqualified me. Looking at some small mom and pop companies to see if they'll take pity on me.
Usual-Guarantee6346@reddit
Maybe landair transportation but they might be the same as western when it comes to pay but as someone that was at western it wasn’t so bad at least on the flatbed side I made 1200-1900 take home 4 loads a week when they kept me busy and spent most of my 34 hrs at home only didn’t make it home 2 times out of the whole year
Freightliner15@reddit
Could try Western Express
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
Rather work at McDonald's
Freightliner15@reddit
Don't blame you honestly. Just threw it out there because it's always mentioned when this kinda stuff happens and no one will give a second chance.
Tricky_Big_8774@reddit
Prosecutor won't knock it down, but the judge might. Depends on the judge, though. I knew a guy that had a similar case and the judge just dismissed it. His wasn't a school zone, so I would make a totally unqualified guess that you won't be quite that lucky.
polarjunkie@reddit
Judges no longer can under the new anti masking laws for CDL holders. It's either innocent or guilty.
https://assets-staging.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/ndaa3/pdfs-and-documents/publications_videos/Masking-Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf
madtowntripper@reddit
I’m in Texas and they emphatically do not fuck around about school zones.
The_Chimeran_Hybrid@reddit
Speeding through a school zone is for sure up there on the “worst things to do” list for truckers.
aacawe@reddit
Dude. This is your CDL, your company can’t dictate what Lawyer you use. Look up lawyers in the town in county where you got the ticket. Start your phone calls based on Google reviews. You have to talk to the lawyer directly. He wants to tell him that this is your job, your career, the way you feed your family. Ask him how long he’s been doing this. Ask him if he knows the judges and the prosecutor. Ask him if he feels he could get the ticket dismissed, or at least work it down.
Lawyers won’t give you a straight yes or no if they can defeat the ticket. That’s why you gotta talk to him and kind of get a feel for how comfortable they are with whether or not they can succeed.
My dad is retired, but he’s still trucks just for fun. He got a ticket earlier this year for 17 over. He paid 300 to a local lawyer who came back and said there was nothing they could do. He found a different local Lawyer, it cost him 1500 bucks, but they got it knocked down to a minor in fracture that only cost him one point. It’s a lot of money, but he ran hard the next week and made it all back. - the last ticket I got a few years ago, I paid $800, and it was completely dismissed.
polarjunkie@reddit
With the new CDL anti masking laws even a lawyer can barely do anything. Pleading down doesn't change how the charge reads on your mvr or psp.
polarjunkie@reddit
There's a relatively new law called the cdl anti-masking law. I watched the training through CVSA for cops, prosecutors and judges. Federal law is now no moving violation while you have a valid CDL can be negotiated down, even in your personal vehicle. You are either found not guilty of that specific offense or it counts as a guilty finding on your federal driving record. They will start auditing court records to ensure your psp reflects actual charges as well.
For example:
If you are charged with speeding in a school zone and the cop doesn't show up- not guilty.
if they do deferred judgement and drop charges after a defensive driving course - guilty of speeding in a school zone
If you plead down to a seat belt offense - guilty of speeding in a school zone
If the judge drops the charges because you agree to make a donation to the police windows find - guilty of speeding in a school zone
RebelTvshka@reddit
Brother, I don't care what anyone says, light in your face isn't an excuse. You should always slow down by 10-20 if you can't see. You're basically admitting to driving with your eyes closed. I don't see a way out of this other than the prosecutor liking the lawyer you hire.
qaf0v4vc0lj6@reddit
Always go 10 under in a school zone and a max of 45. Always. Regradless of whether it's 1pm or 1 am.
DepressedDragonBorn@reddit
Yeah, it sucks but he basically is saying he was driving tge normal speed while he couldn't see well.
BRICH999@reddit
through an active school zone
Naw_im_sayin@reddit
It’s a little too late now, but the reason why I still have Garmin truck GPS running when I already know the route is because it makes noises and alerts me when there is a speed limit change.
CaptainGibbs96@reddit (OP)
I have a dezl 1000. Didn't catch that either. Caught the regular speed limit but not the school zone
Financial-Prize9691@reddit
That's wild, my dezl changes the speed limit to the school zone speed, even at 1 am. It's not always accurate though.
chazzzzmak1972@reddit
Check out all the local moving companies they’re desperate for class a drivers this time of year
Mental_Chef1617@reddit
No we aren't. Volume is down.
chazzzzmak1972@reddit
I am seeing a lot less moving vans on the road
Mental_Chef1617@reddit
Recession along with PODS and mini storage containers that are cheaper to ship. Household volume has been down for the last few years. And doesn't look good for the rest of this year either. We would normally see an upswing in moving volume by now if this was going to be a good year.
Excellent_Pay_8782@reddit
Not an expert but would say the school zone thing would be pretty severe in most companies eyes. They will always say "you could have ran over a child!" That would be the end of the hiring process pretty much
TwoToadsKick@reddit
Sun so bright must've missed the whole ass school too
dstrezzd@reddit
Ehh I drive through a school zone that has no school in sight daily.
gothic-moon-bite@reddit
Most mid-sized carriers won't touch a school zone violation for insurance reasons, so you'll probably have to grind it out at a bottom-tier company for a year until it falls off.
CVU03@reddit
Look for a yard jockey job
halpmybrainhurts02@reddit
15 over usually means it’s the carrier’s insurance provider that won’t cover you, not so much the carrier themselves. You’ll probably be insurance blocked for that one for at least 3 years. You might have a chance with welfare express but that’s 100% dependent upon how strictly they follow their insurance providers policies.
I know this is rough to hear man and I wish you luck, but I’d hate to lie to you about the situation you’re in and give you a false sense of hope.
LastMongoose7448@reddit
Isn’t WE self-insured? I’m pretty sure that’s how they’re able to take on charity cases.
ChiDaddy123@reddit
Self insured in the trucking industry typically means “we self insure up to X million dollars and then have a policy rider that covers the ambulance chaser cases…”
halpmybrainhurts02@reddit
Probably being as big as they are and yeah, that’s a possibility as well.
Like it’s not 100% fucked for the guy, just like… 90% fucked. If a carrier isn’t self insured, it’s automatically tits up. And from there it really depends on company policy on how they insure drivers which I’m sure, still has to be approved by some government agency (I hope at least, I’m not sure).
But yeah, either way, mans here will have to rough it, while simultaneously being pretty much perfect for 3 to 5 years.
LastMongoose7448@reddit
Dude, the fuck?
Off the Record has gotten two citations completely dismissed for me, and those were from CHP! Best part is they have a money back guarantee. You got fucked outta $500.
hoppertn@reddit
Damn, bad bad luck. Feel for you bro.