learning2fly
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learning2fly
Thanks!
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Driving Record for Airlines
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Marshall Alexander
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malexander
A point or two on your driving record won't hurt you. Now a DUI/DWI is a different story. I know of one fellow, he's a very good friend of my daughter, has a DUI on his record and has had to jump through some pretty big hoops to continue his commercial aviation career. But a couple of points.....I wouldn't sweat it, just keep your nose clean from here on out.
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Greg Bockelman
Ditto
Brad Z
Final Approach
73 in a 65...were you going faster and the cop was being nice, or was the cop being a complete dick writing a speeding ticket for 8 over the limit?
You didn't mention the nature of the 2016 ticket but we assume it's a pedestrian non-reckless speeding ticket. That being the case, another ditto that these shouldn't affect your hireability.
You didn't mention the nature of the 2016 ticket but we assume it's a pedestrian non-reckless speeding ticket. That being the case, another ditto that these shouldn't affect your hireability.
Why am I having difficulty picturing an airline pilot who has never gotten a ticket for a moving violation? 
One issue which has not been mentioned is whether any of those tickets are reportable on the medical application. Sounds like no drugs or alcohol but even speeding sometimes comes in for a diversion program (often for no reason other than to have the person charged pay some extra costs to support the programs). I agree with the others that neither the FAA nor a future employer is too likely to care unless it involves drugs, alcohol or reckless/extreme conduct, but remember that a disposition of any vehicle violation which includes attendance at an "educational program" requires a "yes" answer to 18.v.
One issue which has not been mentioned is whether any of those tickets are reportable on the medical application. Sounds like no drugs or alcohol but even speeding sometimes comes in for a diversion program (often for no reason other than to have the person charged pay some extra costs to support the programs). I agree with the others that neither the FAA nor a future employer is too likely to care unless it involves drugs, alcohol or reckless/extreme conduct, but remember that a disposition of any vehicle violation which includes attendance at an "educational program" requires a "yes" answer to 18.v.
Ryan F.
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Ryan Ferguson 1974
Moving violation not related to substance use... no problem... but don't have too many of them, of course.
You're a number of years out from an airline interview, most likely. So if you can walk into the interview without any violations within the last three years and the only remainders are the ones you mentioned I don't think that will cause any heartburn.
Almost everyone gets speeding tickets from time to time.
You're a number of years out from an airline interview, most likely. So if you can walk into the interview without any violations within the last three years and the only remainders are the ones you mentioned I don't think that will cause any heartburn.
Almost everyone gets speeding tickets from time to time.
GaryM
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Gary M
Dick cops (and dick towns) are out there. My last ticket was over a decade ago, but it was for 31 in a 25 zone, and I'm not sure I was even going as fast as 31. I think that may give me the record for most ridiculous speeding ticket.
As a public service announcement, Shoshone, Idaho has been a notorious speed trap for so long that when I was a kid, AAA used to publish a warning about it in their Idaho tour book. It sits astride an arrow-straight 60 mile stretch of high desert highway providing access to Sun Valley from all points south. For decades, the town has seen fit to drop the speed limit to just 25 mph for a segment of the road that is just about the length of the unmarked police car that sits there 24/7/365. The locals believe it to be the only source of income for the municipal government.
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
Moving violations are never removed from your record. When I pull an MVR for one of my drivers, I can see every moving violation they've ever had. The points go away, but the violation will always show up on your record.
No idea whether or not the airlines will care, but those tickets will stay on your record so make it a point not to get any more.
Hah! I once got a ticket for failure to sign my drivers license... along with a written warning for improper passing. Cop said he was doing me a favor and I guess he was even though the passing thing was BS... the unsigned license was a $15 fine and no points.
A friend of mine once got a ticket for "excessive display of horsepower". Yes, that really is (or was) a NJ violation.
MuseChaser
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I'm not sure why people are characterizing an officer who gives a ticket for doing 73 in a 65 as a "dick." 65 is the speed limit. 73 is over the speed limit. Yes, people speed... frequently. Yes, officers frequently look the other way unless the speed is ridiculously over the limit, but that courtesy or leniency should not be expected. If the the speed limit is 65mph, one should expect to get a ticket for driving faster than that, within the margin of error of speedometers and recording equipment.
Personally, I'd rather know what the "real" limit is, and have the "buffer zone" smaller... if we are permitted to drive 70 in a 65, make the limit 70 and ticket for more than 2 or 3 mph over. I don't think a LEO giving a ticket for 73 in a 65 is out of line... at all.
Personally, I'd rather know what the "real" limit is, and have the "buffer zone" smaller... if we are permitted to drive 70 in a 65, make the limit 70 and ticket for more than 2 or 3 mph over. I don't think a LEO giving a ticket for 73 in a 65 is out of line... at all.
EdFred
Taxi to Parking
Sure, as long as those same cops drive the speed limit when their lights and sirens are off. Guess what? They don't, at least not around here. And some jurisdictions have a "not keeping up with the speed of traffic" (or whatever the term they use is) they can hit you with if everyone else is doing 15+ over (including the cops) and you're putz-assing along at 5 under.
I was on 696 cruising along at around 75 or so in a 55, because that's what traffic was going. I look over and here's a cop, passing me about 5mph faster, with no lights or anything. So yeah, 73 in a 65 is a dick move.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
The reason why the cops are classified in less than positive manners for 73 in a 65 is because while 65 is the hard and fast limit, the reality is that almost all cops and municipalities have some level of buffer above that, and have since long before I started driving. Yes, you have the speed trap towns, but some level of leniency is known, and then cops tend to mark down to that range for cooperative individuals.
Personally, I agree that it would be nice to know what the real limit actually is rather than this somewhat variable level of allowance over the limit. In some places a 65 speed limit means that you're fine at 70, at some it means you're probably fine at 85. And there's more tricks to the game.
But (and I've argued this for decades) speed limits themselves on highways are mostly ridiculous anyway and serve little purpose for safety. There are areas where that is certainly not the case and the speed limits are valuable, but some additional variation in speed limits to account for the varying capabilities and configurations of vehicles would be logical. For example, it is ridiculous that my RV has the same speed limit as, say, my wife's Mercedes or even my Ram.
EdFred
Taxi to Parking
Imagine the collective "reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" that would go out if the speed limit was based on the handling capability and a SODA endorsement for your car (and driver). Sorry, Karen your driving is atrocious and your SUV is prone to rollovers, your speed limit is 45. Ted, that Cobra and you handles like a champ....130 for you.
"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........I wan't to speak to your manager!"
Ted
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iFlyNothing
Oh I know, the Karens of the world would flip. It's amazing how many people still follow the mantra that speed kills. Meanwhile, the Cannonball run had no fatalities even with cars that were designed with poor suspensions, and these days things have improved substantially, but still no fatalities that I'm aware of. Only one or two crashes, too.
The reality is we could increase speed limits across the board and be pretty much fine for most of the fleet. A lot of states have moved to 75-80 MPH speed limits, personally I see no reason why most places couldn't move to 85 or even higher. The argument used to be that American roads and American cars weren't good enough to go autobahn speeds, but the reality is that no speed limit isn't necessary or hugely practical most of the time anyway. Even my Ram is plenty comfortable at 90, as are most minivans. And a lot of people don't want to drive that fast anyway because mileage goes way downhill. But, that's another topic.
smv
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smv
Wanna see a study in ridiculousness regarding speed limits? Take a ride from Boise, ID to Baker City, OR on I-84 and see what happens when you get to the ID/OR border.
....or pass through Island Park, ID and count the number of 45 mph zones. Someone's brother-in-law had a truck full of 45 Mph speed limit signs they needed to sell...
Less than 10 mph over and an otherwise clean driving record....very unusual IME that that driver would get a ticket. I would not be quite so quick to discount the "dick" label.
Ravioli
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Unwanted Guest - Perma-ban Pending
Oh lookie... another speed limits don't matter thread. I do so enjoy them.
When in college, I once got a ticket in a little town for "stopping on the white line" at a stop sign at 3am. Not another car on the road but me and the cop. And the cop wasn't even in a position to see me at the time I stopped. What was I going to do, fight it? I also got a speeding ticket once when I was nursing an overheating engine (not even going close to the speed limit), but I was in a Mustang, so I must have been speeding, right? It happens.
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
Back in my racing days the national speed limit was 55. Everything I drove had something racing on it. I averaged at least 2 speeding tickets a year, along with about 30 some odd non-moving violations. Including the time I was driving a late model on the highway because the transmission went out on the tow vehicle. 
As a teenager I was on a first name basis with the traffic cops in town.
When I started flying for a living no one ever mentioned anything about my driving record.
And I never had a suspension on my drivers license.
As a teenager I was on a first name basis with the traffic cops in town.
When I started flying for a living no one ever mentioned anything about my driving record.
And I never had a suspension on my drivers license.
There is a tiny village called Golden Meadow that is on the only road going to the Louisiana Gulf coast, where thousands of oil+gas workers worked until the big slowdown.
They have a police force consisting of at least two cruisers who will sit on your bumper and wait for you to go anywhere near the ridiculously low (45 mph) speed limit. Everyone I knew back then had gotten a speeding ticket or two from them. I'm sure there were probably 100-150 people who lived in that town, so their primary source of revenue was all the wealthy oil workers. Yeah, sure...
They have a police force consisting of at least two cruisers who will sit on your bumper and wait for you to go anywhere near the ridiculously low (45 mph) speed limit. Everyone I knew back then had gotten a speeding ticket or two from them. I'm sure there were probably 100-150 people who lived in that town, so their primary source of revenue was all the wealthy oil workers. Yeah, sure...
Disclose it all. They’ll find out. A few tickets aren’t a big deal.
wsuffa
Touchdown! Greaser!
IN some places, reckless is a misdemeanor. And what constitutes "reckless" varies from state to state. In Virginia, "reckless" is 20 over or 80 MPH, whichever is less. If the speed limit is 70, reckless is only 10 over.
MuseChaser
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Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Ted. I'd like to respond to the portion I quoted above. I've heard that rationale many, many times and, in my opinion, it comes from a false premise. A speed limit's primary purpose is NOT to dictate at what speed a specific vehicle can safely negotiate a given roadway, but rather an upper limit that ALL vehicles should be expected to be negotiating the roadway. The key word is "expected." If the speed limit is 55, yet someone possesses a finely tuned sports car capable of negotiating that stretch of road at 100mph, the danger is that the OTHER drivers don't EXPECT (not shouting... just trying to make sure the operative words stand out) another vehicle to approach them that quickly. It's the same reason we require specific separations in the sky; when speed differentials are that great, things happen VERY quickly with disastrous results. I, too, would love to be able to push some of my vehicles to the speeds that they, in a vacuum, could safely negotiate certain roadways. However, that would endanger those who have no reason to EXPECT a vehicle traveling much, much faster than they are to suddenly appear in the adjacent lane into which they were about to merge. Make sense? Public road driving is a team effort, not a competition.
wsuffa
Touchdown! Greaser!
Germans must be different as you regularly get passed by an overpowered car. Of course, they know to use the left lane ONLY for passing.
smv
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smv
I got a "reckless" in Virginia while in 1st gear... at idle... So slow the speedo needle in my K75 was still in the lower peg.
EdFred
Taxi to Parking
Keep right, watch your mirrors, and you won't be surprised even if someone goes sailing past you at 175mph. But that's apparently too difficult for American drivers while they try and text, talk, eat, and shave/put on makeup while driving. And only about 5% seem to know how to merge and how to treat merging traffic.
At least one road in Texas has an 85 MPH speed limit. With the 3.73 rear axle in my F150, the governor will only allow it to go 5 over. But I’ll be driving on some highway with a 75 limit next weekend, and I guarantee there will be packs of traffic going faster than the truck will.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
I think you could arrive at the same conclusion from either of our directions. I tend to look at the idea of a graduated speed limit to account for the fact that 2 and 4-wheeled vehicles, be they cars or light duty trucks, can typically handle much faster speeds than medium and heavy duty trucks. Some places do this with separate speed limits for those, and going down Wolf Creek Pass they had a speed limit set at 25 for vehicles over 26,000 lbs (that included me in the RV) and 45 for everyone else. We got passed a lot. On a normal highway you could simply set a faster speed limit and people are expected to set their own safe speeds. I can tell you in the RV I am regularly going under the speed limit because it's simply not safe to go the speed limit depending on road and weather conditions. And I drive that thing fast compared to most RVers.
In the current environment, a speed limit set at 65 in most of the country means you will expect to see an average speed of around 70 give or take for cars, with a smaller percentage in the 75-85 range and then a very small number going above 85. You'll have some people who set the cruise at 65 and are surprised at the people going 75-85 passing them. So to that end, still just having the higher speed limit (limits are not goals, after all) should make those who wish to drive slower expect the faster people rather than be surprised by them.
As far as the speed differential when passing, I agree that things happen quickly. However, that's also where the onus is on the driver passing to watch the vehicles being passed and adjust speed accordingly. It's really not too hard to do. Sometimes people can surprise you, but really there are typically cues.
Local speed limits? Absolutely, good to have, generally set reasonably enough. When you're out on the wider highways? Most of the numbers are set too low and serve little purpose besides revenue generation. I get what you're saying about it being a team sport and agree, but you have many, many miles of open highway where you're essentially the only one out there and there's no good reason to have your speed held artificially low if you're willing to accept a higher fuel burn.
Juliet Hotel
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The speed limit for trucks is 5mph slower than the speed limit for cars on most highways in Michigan. And if you ask most truck drivers, they will emphatically tell you its the dumbest idea ever and makes things more dangerous rather than safer. Until you ask them how many accidents per year are caused by it. Blank stare. Then you ask them how many accidents they've had which were caused by it. Blank stare. Then you mention that perhaps the real reason they have a problem with it is because they don't like having to drive slower than everyone else. Angry I know you're right stare.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
That's exactly it. A lot of people don't like being forced to drive different speeds, but reality is the road can be shared with that just fine.
I'm okay with leaving the speed limits as is, but I'd like to be allowed to pre-pay or run a tab.
Face it - speed enforcement is mostly about revenue collection. The reason you can't learn what the "real" limit is, the overspeed for which cops will actually cite you, is that it changes depending on the financial status of the municipality.
So let's just institute a speeding tax.
I look at it this way: every two or three years I get a speeding ticket. Over the almost 45 years I've been driving, it's probably averaged about $40 to $50 per year. So just let me pre-pay the speeding tax when I renew my car registration every year. I'll pay an extra $50, the state sends me a sticker for my plate, or a different color plate, and cops won't pull me over for going, say, 10 over the limit. Saves them time, saves me time, same revenue for the state. Everybody wins.
Face it - speed enforcement is mostly about revenue collection. The reason you can't learn what the "real" limit is, the overspeed for which cops will actually cite you, is that it changes depending on the financial status of the municipality.
So let's just institute a speeding tax.
I look at it this way: every two or three years I get a speeding ticket. Over the almost 45 years I've been driving, it's probably averaged about $40 to $50 per year. So just let me pre-pay the speeding tax when I renew my car registration every year. I'll pay an extra $50, the state sends me a sticker for my plate, or a different color plate, and cops won't pull me over for going, say, 10 over the limit. Saves them time, saves me time, same revenue for the state. Everybody wins.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
I'd be all in favor of that and would gladly pay it.
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
That law will also have to include language that prevents insurance companies from charging you more if you opt for the higher speed tags. Otherwise your annual cost will likely be quite a bit more than an extra $50. And of course if you write that language into the law, the insurance companies will just solve the problem by raising rates for everyone. And that's why we can't have nice things.
That law will also have to include language that prevents insurance companies from charging you more if you opt for the higher speed tags. Otherwise your annual cost will likely be quite a bit more than an extra $50. And of course if you write that language into the law, the insurance companies will just solve the problem by raising rates for everyone. And that's why we can't have nice things.
Maybe....
Reality is that insurance companies already get the info whenever I get a ticket, so they know I'm speeding anyway. I suspect that they already have speeding built into their rates anyway. And I don't think this suggestion would lead to more accidents anyway, since all it really does is change the payment method for what's already happening.
Juliet Hotel
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Juliet Hotel
You don't, and you might be right. But insurance companies like profit. If you give them a door through which they can justify higher rates, they will step through it.
A Martin
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A Martin
Off topic a bit but I know a similar story .... I read the court transcripts.
Just outside a small town they had a sudden 25 mph speed zone that then resumed back to 40 .... and of course the local sheriff was hiding behind a bluff of trees with his radar unit.
It was customary for speeding people to simply post bail-bond with the sheriff , drive away , and never come back. (Bail bond is the equivalent amount of what the fine would be) (in this case was $50 )
This fellow decided it was a speed trap to bring in revenue for the town , he told the sheriff that very thing and said he wanted a court hearing and would contest it.
The Sheriff glanced at his watch and said the judge was in his office now so if you want a hearing we can do it right away .... fine said the speeder.
SPEEDER ... I was driving 40 until I came to a 25 mph sign and took my foot off the accelerator , the sign was obscured behind some bushes until the last minute and a little farther on was a radar unit that clocked me going 35 mph
JUDGE ... so what is your defense ?
SPEEDER ... I acknowledge I was probably going about 29 mph but I want the sheriff to prove how he knows it was not before I got to the sign.
JUDGE ... good point , but I want to be clear on this .... you are guilty of speeding at 29 mph but not the 35 you were ticketed with.
SPEEDER ... yes your honor.
JUDGE ... with your guilty plea I fine you the minimum amount of $50 plus $10 court costs for a total of $60
SPEEDER ... (disgusted voice) ... but your honor the sheriff only wanted $50
JUDGE ... that is correct , but there are no court costs if you settle with the officer on the side of the road.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
That sort of above story happened to me as well. Not speeding but similar. It was a BS ticket, the cop knew it, the judge knew it, and the ticket wasn't even valid because the cop didn't have me sign it (says right on the ticket that signing is required for the ticket to be valid). I pointed all of this out.
Judge: "I'm going to ignore that."
Me: "So you're going to ignore that this ticket is invalid, and thus you can't fine me."
Judge: "Correct. $300 plus court fees."
This was in New York, where the police are very much considered a revenue source for the government.
Judge: "I'm going to ignore that."
Me: "So you're going to ignore that this ticket is invalid, and thus you can't fine me."
Judge: "Correct. $300 plus court fees."
This was in New York, where the police are very much considered a revenue source for the government.
There's no place on a NY uniform citation defendant to sign on receipt. The signature is only required to enter pleas of guilty or not guilty.
Ted
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iFlyNothing
This was close to 20 years ago. This one did have a place to sign it for receipt.