After many weeks of planning and what seems like a lifetime of talking about it, some friends and I finally got it together one Friday evening and decided to head to Vegas. Well, we had decided many times before, but something always came up and we changed our plans at the last minute. This time we actually piled into the van with a rented RV trailer on the back and headed out. The stop outside Barstow because of a speeding ticket was not in the plans, but we didn’t allow it to spoil our trip.

The Plan

My friend has this seriously big SUV, one you should have a stool to stand on to get up in the passenger compartment. We figured that we could get a tow-along RV cheaper than a $200 a night hotel room, buy some groceries, and do our own cooking. What seemed like a good plan neglected to figure in the differential speeding laws in California.

The Speeding Ticket

CVC 22406, Other Speed Laws states, “No person may drive any of the following vehicles on a highway at a speed in excess of 55 miles per hour: (b) A passenger vehicle or bus drawing any other vehicle.” Well now, you would think that someone would have told us about this law, or that one of us would have known about this law or read the signs along the highway on Route 15, which we took to Vegas. Although there are other routes, we read on the web that “99.9% of the people driving from L.A. to Vegas take I-15.” A speeding ticket was the furthest from our minds that Friday evening heading to Vegas.

We were all so happy to finally jump from planning to doing. We were actually on our way to Vegas. Who would have thought this obscure speeding law would trip us up on our trip to Vegas? We were thinking that if the speed limit is 65 mph, we can safely go five miles an hour over, so we set the cruise control to 70 mph and were cruising to Vegas across that long, boring stretch of desert. Avoiding the tumbling tumbleweeds and jamming to the music blaring from the Bose speakers in that huge SUV beast.

Just outside of Barstow on 15, (that’s right, we didn’t even make it out of Cali) we saw the tell-tale flashing lights even before we hear the siren. If it weren’t for the lights, we probably never would have heard the siren due to the music. The next thing you know the law enforcement officer is asking that age-old question, “Can I see your license, registration, and insurance, please?”

So, we collected our speeding ticket for going 71 mph in a 55-mph zone, after much haggling with LEO about the 55-mph law that we thought went out years ago and headed on to Vegas. We still had a really good weekend, saw the Beatles Love themed Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage, lost about a hundred in the slots, and forgot all about the date with traffic court in my future until I got back to LA.

The Fine and Traffic School

The $70 fine LEO told me about was not to be, with the traffic school fee, the actual enrollment in traffic school, and the surcharges they added to the fine it would be close to $500. I seriously thought about just paying the speeding ticket until one of the guys in my office told me about his experience with a Central Valley traffic ticket lawyer, Bigger & Harman whose office is in Bakersfield but has an associate in Barstow.

They gave me a straightforward summary of the options and what they would need to charge. I chose to hire them and take my chances in traffic court. Actually, Mr. Harman said I didn’t have to go, their associate in Barstow would handle everything and all I had to do was write the check. The total ticket price, traffic school, and possible points on my license versus the lawyer’s fee were about the same; plus, there’s always a chance for dismissal or reduced fine, which if I just paid the fine, there was no chance of happening.

When You Need a Traffic Lawyer, Call Bigger & Harman

Call Bigger & Harman, 661-349-9300 to inquire about the specifics of your ticket or email: attorney@markbigger.com

“Well I along with many others got caught doing over 100 and was facing 2 points and a possible suspension. They brought it down to driving over 70 with only 1 point as well as a fine. I'm ecstatic, these guys totally had my back and saved me a trip down there to appear in court as well as 1000s due to a higher insurance rate.” – Anthony A., San Bruno

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