Approx 2.5 hours south of Atlanta, lies the speedtrap of a city called Ashburn. About 6 years ago,…read moresome friends and I were traveling to the SuperBowl and got pulled over in this stretch of I-75S and she was able to convince the officer we weren't speeding, this has stuck with me for all these years, so imagine my disappointment when this past May, I was pulled over for doing 91 in a 70.
I told the officer that I wasnt speeding, and since Georgia has imposed the new super speeder fine if caught going more than 20+ over the posted speed limits, I knew that I would be fighting this ticket.
Last week, I received my letter to appear before the judge in my case. I called the Turner County Offices, because the letter stated that if you chose to plead Not Guilty, u must appear in court....I'm thinkin...drive 2.5 hours to say Not Guitly.....I have to be able to do that over the phone. NOT!!! Not only did the letter say it, but the clerk that answered the phone told me....if u dont appear, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest and your license will be suspeneded. SHEESH!
So I get to court today to find out, that if you plead not guilty, you will have to appear on TWO other occassions, one to get on the court calender, and then for the trial, if the officer doesnt show up for the first trial, the case will be re-set and thus you may have to go a third time.
We were not allowed to enter the courtroom until right at 9am...and not one minute before....all men were required to tuck their shirts into thier pants, no white tees or tee shirts with pictures, sayins or other graphics are allowed...no ahtlethic gear, no mini skirts or sweatpants....Telephones are not allowed...not..make sure your phone is off...but NOT ALLOWED...as in the metal detector guy tells u to take it back to your car, or turn it over to the bailiff to retievie after court.
After the calender is called, the soliciter will meet with you and offer to reduce the fine, and poliety remind you that if you plan to plead Not Guilty, you will be required to come back to court at least twice again.
In the end, i went with the reduced fine and 60 days to pay it off....instead of committing myself to the 2.5 hour drive at least twice more....My fine was reduced from $440 to $282,....overall the entire court session took less than 20 minutes....I just don't see the sense in blockin off at least 5 hours of driving time for two more court apperances...at least two more....and IMO this is what little towns like this expect....u either are gonna pay the fine...or get frustrated...and pay the fine!
Funny thing....the judge showed up the same time as me...he had on a seersucker suit with a pink shirt/tie combo....and got upset when the courtroom wouldnt audibly say the Pledge of Alligeance with him. I'm thinkin half of the court room was hispanic...and the other half was pissed about rigged speeding tickets.
Be very careful on this stretch of I-75S