You are driving over the speed limit. The car in front of you and behind you are clocking in at about the same speed as you, and the police pull you over. What are you guilty of? SPEEDING. The fact that others are doing what you were doing does not make it ‘legal’ for you to be driving over the speed limit too. Neither does the fact that the police pull you over and not them make what you were doing permissible. As to the law, people act, or drive in this case, at their own risk. Explaining to the Judge that you were “…just following the car in front of you and trying not to slow down the car behind you” as a justifiable reason for speeding is less successful a defense that when you tried to tell your folks at home that the reason you disobeyed them was because your friend ‘dared’ you to do something you had been explicitly told not to do.
If there were extenuating circumstances why you were breaking the law, like you were transporting victims of an accident to the hospital, or a tidal wave was close behind you, then tell the officer that and see if the officer will give you an escort to deal with the emergency. Otherwise get ready to try to negotiate a plea deal with the Prosecutor and hope the Judge will accept it as a way to resolve the traffic ticket.
If you have a speeding ticket or a moving violation that can result in fines or driving penalties that can seriously impact you financially or professionally due to loss of license or perhaps even jail time, invest in a lawyer ASAP. A phone consultation to me is free. It could be a call than can save you from unforeseen impact of a guilty plea to a moving violation.
SPECIALIZING IN CRIMINAL DEFENSE THROUGHOUT NEW JERSEY
Howard W. Bailey, Esq.
24 Commerce Street, Suite 1000
Newark, NJ 07102
973-982-1200