What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Off Roading Ticket &*()#*()!#*()#!!!!!!!

F

fasthumpman

Registered Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Posts
85
Reaction score
0
Location
Texas
Ok Todays A Nice 65 Degree Sunny Day Here In Texas When Me And My Girlfriend Go On Some Trails.......... Bout 30 Minuites After Being There I See This Guy On A Horse Galloping Towards Me. Hes On A Horse.... A Freeeeegin Horse!!! Anyways Its A Cop And I Get A Ticket!! 240 Dollars!!??? There Were No Signs Posted Anywhere! And He It Says On The Ticket "reckless Operation Of A Motor Vehicle"....... I Am Wonderin How Many Of Yall Have Gotton Tickets And What Is The Best Way To Handle This??? Should I Take Pictures And Go To Court Or???? Thanks For Any Help!
 
If you got a ticket for "reckless driving", then you should fight that as hard as you can because that is a really bad violation to have on your driving record. If you higher a lawyer, you can probably get it dismissed or reduced to a lessor charge (depending on your current driving record). My guess is you can get it reduced to "vehicle tresspass", if you explain you where just off roading on a dirt trail. That is a better charge because it is not considered a "moving violation".
 
I feel ya man...my first ticket ever was a speeding ticket on Pismo Beach, CA. There's a 15mph speed limit on the beach, I was running straight headers and stabbed the gas for a second, the female ranger pulled out behind me and said she clocked me at 45 when I was only doing 10. Needless to say that was an expensive ticket.
 
even if theres no signs posted anywhere??? they claim its the city's land but the road that leads to all the trails is well basically a road! i should still hire a lawyer?? arnt those alot of $$$$$$$$$$$?? haha i hear you too pismorat im runnin just headers too and that may of been what got me in trouble
 
take pictures, and video of the way you entered the area. take the pictures, and if anyone questions you missing any signs stating its illegal, produce the video tape. if there are no signs posted, they shouldnt be able to say anything. case will probably be dismissed if there are in fact no signs.
 
What exactly were you doing when you were spotted? Don't know about Texas, but here in Florida, reckless driving is actually a criminal offense (i.e. your ticket is actually a Notice to Appear and you have a mandatory court date. You can actually be taken to jail, if the cop chooses to) This generally equates to some kind of gross malfunction of common sense on the driver's part. It's definitely NOT the kind of thing that you'd get for just tooling around on municipal land. Texas laws may differ, obviously, but if you got that charge while just cruising aimlessly down some back road, I'd fight it like the devil...
 
I got a ticket in december for "reckless driving " I was fishing at Lake Success and it just rained near 2 inches and I spun the tires and the truck around and they siad "it was operating in an unsafe matter":rolleyes: . They said i could of rolled over and all that stuff. The collateral is $250.00:eek1: . I thought it was nothing but oh well i go to court on the 16th so i will see what happens. It is at The United States District Court not a regular trafficc court.
 
i got one of those for chirping my 33" tires on my 5.13 geared beater when in a parking lot because i had a spool. The chevy lumina undercover Cop had a hard on for me and accused me of burnin the tires and i fought it with a lawyer and it got reduced to a speeding ticket. The lawyer was 1,500 and the ticket was 150 not to mention time to go talk to the lawyer and the ticket on my record. My driving record is the worst so if yours is as bad as mine, (cant have 2 pointers) you will have to get a lawyer and fight it. Definately take pictures and have a witness that can show up in court with you while you take the pictures. The witness makes it legit in court. Also simulate the same conditions/weather in the pictures as the time of the ticket. Trust me this is a serious 2 pointer violation if it gets charged.
 
AHH!!!! this dosnt sound good! im fairly sure he had to of seen me climbing some hills and with no lockers front and rear my tires do spin when climbing steep hills.... i have 10 days to appear in court but i know i cant afford a lawyer... will they appoint me one of those crappy ones since im so poor. hahaha. i dont know ill just have to see what happens but ill be sure to let yall know
 
I'd have a hard time believing that spinning tires off the pavement is "reckless driving". More, a given fact off-road. Since the officer was on a horse, were you in some sort of hiking area where others lives may have been in danger by your actions? (had anyone else been present)

Trespassing or something like that, sure, just because you don't know doesn't mean you aren't guilty (I didn't know the speed limit was 35!) but if you honestly didn't know, and it's not posted, I don't see how it can be anything as serious as reckless driving. You can probably bring up your state and local codes online, see what reckless driving actually constitutes.

I agree on getting a lawyer. A judge can pull all sorts of crap on you that a lawyer could handle or would be equipped to deal with that would leave you stammering. As others have stated, in my state reckless driving is a serious offense as well, and requires the appearance in court. Nothing at all like a regular traffic ticket.

You may think you can't afford a lawyer now, but I bet if you double your insurance rates for say 3 years, you'll find the lawyer to be a bargain.
 
Riding on state land that's not set aside for ORV use will get your a$$ busted every time. I think you where lucky that you got a reckless opp, it could have been worse!

In Ohio you can get a "reckless damaging" charge that goes with the reckless opp. , they can require you to pay BIG cash to repair ground that might have been disturbed while you offroaded.

I know this from a $1100 dollar donut I cut as a kid!

Don't bother with the "no signs" defense it don't work! I tried it and the judge viewing my case asked " Do you off road in every field and open lot not marked NO TRESSPASSING!"

If the place you where going to ride at was legal or approved then fight it , if not then lesson learned.

Good luck, Jeff
 
The first court date is usually an arraingnment (statement of charges). The second court date is usually a pretrial hearing (tells you what your options are) and the third court date is the sentencing (fines/final decision or charge). If you have more court dates then this its usually means your fighting it with a trial. Good luck!
 
heres what i found online..... http://www.texas-traffic-ticket.com/law/reckless-driving.html

it says the fine cant exceed 200 bucks! why is mine 240!!????? im so lost and pissed and i should of just ran from the a-hole cop! i dont know why he was on horse ive never heard of em doin that before. its not a hiking area or nothin just a bunch of land looks like some sort of mining use to go on there or somthin but like a said no signs......no people within miles...........MAYBE HE WAS A FORD GUY............. dam them
 
cali does that also, my fine was 200 but they add like 300% tax to that price and it comes out to 600$ in total fines or so trust me if its only 200 then it would not be serious. Plus you go to criminal court not traffic court.
 
if you go back walk or ride a bike/horse looking for signs just my .02 or take another chance for ticket #2.

texas is cracking down on illegal/stupid whelling(ignorence of the law is no defence in texas)before you go driving on "some dirt road" ask/check
 
I've heard that reckless driving, only applies if there is someone else in the area. I read a while ago, a guy on a crotch rocket got a reckless driving ticket for going 120 mph down a deserted highway. He got off because there was nobody else on the road. So you might be able to argue that point.

My buddy also got a reckless driving ticket for off roading on private land. When he went to court, he argued it, and the judge said well its not really reckless driving, but there has to be some kind of punishment here. (wtf?) So they offered him driving school and nothing on his record, he took it.

I think sometimes they will write you 'reckless driving- general' for stuff that they are not sure what to write the ticket for. I could understand if they tried to call it trespassing, or destruction of private property. But probably your best bet is to admit fault, and ask for leniency/ driving school to get it off your record.
 
I am not sure about your state laws, but any land here in MS is considered posted. Local authorities can and will use their own discretion about any tickets. Maybe you got caught by a so called tree hugger of an officer. This might be one you could fight with enough backup video of others doing the same thing if possible. Good Luck.
 
91k2500 said:
My buddy also got a reckless driving ticket for off roading on private land.
Click to expand...


not to hi-jack byt how can you get a reckless ticket on private land?

I guess ive been pretty lucky, plenty of police have gone past our one feild that runds along side they highway in the winter when buddys and I have been riding the quads or ive been out busting drifts.
 
1 were you at the den in san antonio?
2 signs need to posted for no tresspassing(you can bet that one take pics w/u
to court date)
3 you cant get tickets for reckless driving off a road/highway.

my younger years(way younger years) i use to power brake peelout in front
of cops while i was in the parking lot. never got a ticket for it.
due to private property.


back to 1, the den it totally off limits for now. the cops are out in atvs, unmarked tahoes(white) & mountain bikes.
 
primetime said:
3 you cant get tickets for reckless driving off a road/highway.
Click to expand...

Yea you can, I watched my best friend get one. We were out on the ORV area of Carolina Beach, away from everyone else, and he was doing a donut in his truck about 100' from my truck and an unmarked sheriff stopped him and gave him a reckless driving ticket.

Fasthumpman, get an attorney, it really will save you money in the long run, especially with a more serious moving violation like reckless driving. I got pulled for doing 47 in a 25 school zone, and got it dropped because I had a good attorney. There was a CCW charge that went along with it, and for $600 and defensive driving school, I walked away with a clean record.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom