What is the most expensive speeding ticket that you have ever paid??

[skippy]

Erika Beauchesne, The Edmonton Journal; with files from Canwest News Service

Speeding biker pays $12,000 fine rather than lose licence

Motorcyclist caught travelling 263 km/h

Published: 2:30 am

EDMONTON - A $12,000 speeding fine was handed to an Alberta motorcyclist caught roaring along Highway 16 at 263 km/h, more than twice the posted speed limit.

The rider, a Hinton resident, struck a deal with the Crown prosecutor that allowed him to keep his licence in exchange for the high fine, said RCMP Sgt. Ron Lyons.

A police officer spotted the man on May 1 driving a Honda motorcycle along a stretch of Highway 16 between Edson and Hinton, where the speed limit is 110 km/h.

The officer gave chase but was unable to catch up, Lyons said. The same officer later spotted the motorcycle in Hinton.

The Edson Traffic Court handed down the massive fine Aug. 27.

"I've never seen a fine like that before," he said. "A fine of $1,000 is usually a lot." Lyons said the huge fine is an effective way to dissuade speeders.

"It makes you think of the risk and rewards. What is the financial cost if I get caught? Twelve thousand dollars would make a significant impact on your lifestyle and make you gauge the consequences." But Moin Yahya, an assistant professor of law at the University of Alberta, said it depends on the speeder's income.

"If they're trying to send a message of deterrence, can you really deter a rich person with a fine? Twelve thousand dollars for someone who makes a lot of money -- that's not a big deal." Yahya said it raises an interesting argument that socio-legal scholars have often debated.

"Some say you don't use jail to deter poor people, you use fines. But there's others who say jail is more of a deterrent for rich people," he said.

"If there's an equality issue, that's another concern -- are people buying their way out of a licence suspension?" In Alberta, drivers caught going 51 km/h or more over the posted speed limit can lose their licences.

The settlement was negotiated at the Edson Traffic Court by Crown prosecutor Vern Colley, who earlier this year also worked out an $8,500 fine for a Prince George, B.C., man caught driving his car at 206 km/h in the same area.

Colley confirmed Friday he worked out deals for both high fines but refused to comment further, saying he needed to consult with his boss.
Alberta Justice did not return calls for comment.

Hinton is about 280 kilometres west of Edmonton.

exbeauchesne@thejournal.canwest.com

[Gobbler's Knob]

My buddy once got busted drinking beer in a parking lot after a baseball game. Long story short he fought the fine and made a big stink about the cop that busted him. A few weeks later the same cop pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket. He was doing 5 km over the speed limit

[skippy]

Driver hit 243 km/h on cycle, police say

Posted By PETE FISHER

2 Sep 2008

Mark Volante didn't set a record for the fastest driver ever on Highway 401, OPP say, but he came close.

The OPP Aircraft Enforcement Program was monitoring aggressive drivers on Highway 401, west of Port Hope, Sunday afternoon when Sergeant Norm Shaw of the Highway Safety Division, spotting from the plane, noticed a motorcycle travelling at a very excessive speed.

"It simply, literally, appeared like a streak," he said.

Police pulled the vehicle over and charged the driver under the stunt racing law with travelling at a speed of 243 kilometres per hour (151 miles per hour).

"It was rapidly passing everything it came upon," Sergeant Shaw said of the motorcycle.

He said the bike was "one of the highest clocked, stopped and processed" vehicles police had ever seen.

The driver of the 2007 600-cc motorcycle, 28-year-old Mark Volante, was travelling from his Toronto home to a barbecue at a friend's home in Picton when he was stopped.

Mr. Volante spoke to Northumberland Publishers while waiting for his fiancée to pick him up outside the Tim Hortons restaurant on Toronto Road in Port Hope, his speeding ticket in one hand and his Blackberry in the other.

"I was going with the speed limit," Mr. Volante adamantly states, but "I don't think I was going 150 km/h because I wasn't even passing a lot of cars."

Mr. Volante admits he's received a speeding ticket previously, but none in the last three years.

He says he drives cautiously because he's "scared" of the motorcycle he bought in April.

After being issued his speeding ticket Sunday, Mr. Volante said he was "shocked."

"Who wouldn't be (angry)?" he asks. "It's my word against the officer."

He said he plans to contest the ticket. "To decide right on the spot, to be judge,

jury and executioner -- I think that's way too much power," he said of the officer.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino described a motorcycle travelling at that speed as a "rocket."

"I don't know what his take on the world" is, Commissioner Fantino said. "It borders on people wanting to commit suicide."

From Friday evening to Saturday evening, 113 people in Ontario were charged with travelling in excess of 50 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit, Commissioner Fantino said.

"These people push it to the limit, and people think they're invincible and they're not," he said.

Mr. Volante's motorcycle was impounded for seven days. He said the tow truck driver told him it would cost $275 for the tow, and $50 a day for the impound fee.

When told the minimum fine is $2,000, Mr. Volante commented, "that's a nice bite in the (butt).

"It's a nice sunny day and you can't go out there and ride your bike."

[iggs111]

i was going 45 over the speed limit on the way to georgia last month on the indiana/kentucky border...copper called me boy like 4 times and eventually let me go.....Never gotten a ticket in my life

[chucker]

Got busted doing 95 in a 45 about 8-9 years ago in Volo, IL. Paid $175, and haven't got a ticket since... knock on wood.

[skippy]

Fri Sep 5, 8:32 AM

By The Associated Press

WENDOVER, Utah - A 47-year-old record-setting motorcycle racer from Montana has died in a crash on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Investigators weren't sure what caused Cliff Gullett of Bozeman, Mont., to lose control of the motorcycle Wednesday during a time trial.

He was racing along at just under 385 kilometres an hour at the time.

The American Motorcyclist Association said on its website that Gullett was competing in the 500cc Streamliner class at the Salt Flats.

Drivers go for speed records every summer on the flats, an open space just east of the Nevada state line.

Gullett owned Team Bozeman Motorsports, a motorcycle and snowmobile dealership. He had set a handful of world land-speed records and wanted to eventually become the first to reach 400 mph, or almost 650 km/h, on a two-wheeled Streamliner.

Curt Lance, Team Bozeman's general manager, said "Cliff always told me that if anything happened on the Salt, he wanted it to be quick and not lingering. He died doing the thing he loved to do most - racing at Bonneville."

[Chicago RED]

Originally Posted by iggs111

i was going 45 over the speed limit on the way to georgia last month on the indiana/kentucky border...copper called me boy like 4 times and eventually let me go.....Never gotten a ticket in my life

lol