A man in Savanna, GA was hit with a speeding fine of $1,400,000 for going 90 in a 55 zone. He called the court to check if the fine was accurate and they said it was and to pay it or appear in court near the end of December. A court representative said that the actual penalty would be determined by a judge and that the actual fine wouldn’t exceed $1000. What do you think about this tactic to curb speeders?
When you get into these egregious levels of speeding, I’m all for escalating the punishment, even beyond civil penalties. Time to make it a criminal offense and charge them with reckless endangerment or something similar. Jail time would be appropriate…
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I would guess that this particular speeder has a history of this and the judge wants to see the perp in person. Then the judge might extract a little remorse and humility rather than letting the perp slide by sending in a check. If no remorse and humility… the fine will go up or maybe a night or two in the cinder block hotel (at the perp’s expense as some municipalities have started to require)
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Here’s the original article. I read a repost in my local paper. Note that the fine is software generated to force the speeder into a court appearance. Since he was driving that fast it would be surprising if it was his first rodeo. I think it’s funny and he deserves a dress down in court.
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BTW, theautowire.com is the nexus for stupid driver tricks.
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If i recall, cop says plead guilty, pay fine. If tix is gross mis then he should have said you have to appear in court. You were doing 90 in 55 zone but I’ll write it up as 75 in 55. Sounds like he wrote it up as 90.
A city representative said in the article I linked to:
… the jaw-dropping figure was an auto-generated “placeholder” by an e-citation software. The significant number appears because super speeder tickets necessitate a court appearance, lacking a pre-set fine upon being issued by the police.
I’d laugh if he just paid it… 
Of curse they would like it too as long as the funds cleared… lol
It seems reasonable to require the offender to appear in court, similar to a no-bail warrant, but the tactic used to insure the appearance seems suspect.
He’s not Joe Walsh. 
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I can’t believe the system spat out a $1.4 million ticket. It’s crazy how software glitches can lead to such absurd outcomes, even if it was just a “placeholder” fine. I agree, if he was driving that fast, he’s probably had his share of close calls. Hopefully, the court appearance will be a wake-up call for him.
My friend reported that a speeding ticket is now $2,400 in NY. I looked everywhere for this info and was unable to find anything close to his claim. He’s very serious with his information and convincing. Still, I don’t believe him.
It would depend on the circumstances: 120 mph in a school zone?
36 mph in a 35 mph zone?
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