Should We Challenge a Speeding Ticket if We Know We're Guilty? (No Audi)

[Fringe Ryder <fringe@fringeweb.com>]

I have snipped most of the preceding messages for brevity. 

The following is a true story, including the '97 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8L
six-cylinder stickshift, although that about wraps it up for Audi content.

I live in Washingon state, and regularly drive between Woodinville (North
of Seattle) and  Beaverton (through Portland and then west), OR.  The
middle 180 miles of this is very straight and, outside of holidays, wide open.

Washington state has something charitably labelled the "Washington State
Patrol".  This is different from, say, the California Highway Patrol, in
that the duty of the latter is to keep us safe and help us, while the WSP
(more accurately known as "Revenuers") do not worry about safety, ticketing
large trucks dumping gravel on your windshield, or helping stranded
motorists.  Instead, their sole duty is to write speeding tickets.  They
(the WSP) are a major income source, not a law-enforcement agency.

So... I get ticketed for going over the limit.  I got caught from behind by
laser; my Valentine 1 went off and told me so.  As I was going around a
dangerously-wobbling R.V.

I believe that using tickets as a revenue source is wrong.  The WSP should
be there for safety.  On the flip side, this was more than 100 miles from
home, and I can't get a lawyer down there.  What to do?

I felt it my OBLIGATION to fight the speeding ticket.  Yes, I was speeding.
 Yes, Rosa Parks was where she didn't legally belong.  Yes, the Bostonians
were evading the excise taxes more than 200 years ago.  Every movement
starts somewhere, and often has lots and lots of false starts.  But, as a
freedom-loving American, it is my duty to TRY.

So I fought it.  Actual details are available at http://www.fringeweb.com,
in the form of a self-help guide I've written to help others.  And while I
didn't win, at least I did get my fine reduced and I sucked up enough
time/effort from the state to eliminate their profit from MY ticket.   If
everybody did this, the ticket scam would be unprofitable very quickly and
they'd change from handing out maximum tickets to fixing the speed limits
and protecting our safety.

{Remember, these are heavily snipped for brevity.}
>Pete writes:
>> Are there not reasonable grounds to question the ethics and motivation
>> of someone who privately admits guilt but nonetheless asks the
>> government to prove it? 
>
>From: Dwayne Cosby <dccosby@interlog.com>
>True, but we must also question the motives and ethics of those that
>write, support, and enforce said laws.
>
>Recently, in Ontario, it was the insurance companies who were the most
>vocal group against the government's prosal for raising speed limits on
>the 400 series highways. If it were a matter of accidents increasing, as
>they claimed, it wouldn't be an issue - they would raise everyone's rates.
>Raising the speed limit means less speeders, which translates to lower
>profit margins. 
>
>I was very opposed to the installation of photo radar on Toronto highways.
>The Toronto Star reported that traffic deaths went up 4 fold over norm (I
>believe this was the number they quoted) for the period in which it ran.
>It is not a comforting feeling to know that they goverment and its police
>forces generated profit off the lives of their citizens. 

	Fringe
	'97 A4 Quattro 2.8L Stick