Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Farewell to Contour and ask for your urgent advice

Last week I drove my contour 95 V6 to see my friend in South Carolina in a huge rain.
The tour was running at 60mph on the left lane. Suddenly
I feel the steering wheel is loosen and the car lost its
control. It slided to the grassland in the middle of high
way and hit the steel cord, after turning several circles.

When I step out of my car,being seriously scared, I found
the car is totally wrecked with two air bags popping out
and three tires flattening. Luckily I was just slightly injured.

A policeman came and gave me a ticket,writing "Driving
too fast under conditions",though I never speeded. The
ticket cost $130, but the increases in car insurance would
go as high as $1000 for three years if this ticket stays
in my record for 3 years as usual. I think I will probably
win if I argue in the court. But the travelling expense
from my home to that town is exp.,plus time inconvenience.

What can I do to get this ticket waived?
or I just refused to pay, what would be caused? This cop
said my driver license will be suspended if I don't pay.

Thanks for your suggestion!

In many places, a "Too Fast for Conditions" ticket is standard fair for any accident that occurs in adverse weather. They are generally pretty easy to fight if you appear in court -- not an easy option for you. I'd call the Courthouse and see what they say. They may be able to work something out, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Sounds like someone started hydroplaning.... 60 mph might have been below the legal speed limit but if this was a hard rain (and I know how torrential those storms can get down south) you probably were going too fast.

Not sure what kind of recourse you might have in this one... you'd almost certainly have to show up in court to contest it. Paying the fine will probably cost the same amount of money that it'd cost you to travel back there.

If you really want to contest the ticket, then you'll have to show up, or the court may allow someone to represent you in your absence.. i.e. a lawyer.

http://www.traffic-ticket.com/ is run by a (former?) CEGer and offers a free laywer referral service. Maybe see if you can find someone in that area and talk to them about what you can/should do.

If you refuse to pay, then a bench warrant can be issued and your privelege to drive can be revoked. If the two states have some sort of non-resident violator agreement signed, then the privelege can be revoked in your home state...

It is possible at times to just pay the fine, and have the violation never show up on your record. If it was a state trooper who gave you the ticket, you're probably out of luck. If it was a small town cop, you may have better luck. On some occasions, if you will go ahead and send in your money, with a legitimate excuse of what happened, they will take your money, but just fail to enter the violation in the records. A lot of small towns see traffic violations as a source of revenue, so as long as you are courteous and give them what they want ($$$$) they will forget the issue.

I would call the clerk's office, explain the situation, and ask for leniency. It will help if you have a clean record up until this point.

Been there, done that.

Is it a good friend that you were going to visit? Why not contest the ticket and when you get the court date, plan another trip down to see your friend so that it will make the trip worthwhile. You are probably gonna get [censored] because you are from out of state though.

If you haven't done a differial, you can do that.