[StopHammoTime]

I think this plays a huge part as well. My wife and I were watching an episode of the US cop show “The Rookie” and they casually discussed paying a ticket for driving SEVENTY MILES OVER THE SPEED LIMIT. I went and checked and in LA the cost is about $500. This blew my mind.

In Australia, you are very at risk for jail for going over anything above 40km/h which is about 25mph. It’s considered reckless/dangerous driving. Your license would also be suspended for six months. I think we have excessive fines but the US seems to go in the opposite direction.

[toast0]

Seventy over in Lousiana or Los Angeles?

In California, my understanding is there's three classes of speeding ticket (1-15, 16-25, and 26+), but there's also a separate offense for doing over 100 mph [1] that allows for a license suspension of up to 30 days at court discretion on the first offense, with mandatory suspensions on further offenses. Additionally, I think you commited both the basic speeding and the 100+ speeding. And as a sibling remarked, you're likely to catch a reckless driving charge too.

Entertainment media isn't always the best way to get legal information.

Also, the cost of a ticket is the fee by law, plus a bunch of court fees and other stuff. IIRC, when I had a speeding ticket near Los Angeles, the fee by law was about 1/3rd the overall cost. I had to deposit the full fees in order to contest the ticket.

[1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

[orwin]

France is closer to Australia. If you're caught driving 30+ km/h (18 mph) over the speed limit, tailgating (reckless passing would be the translation), pass a red light, or caught for DUI (or half a dozen more cases I think), you loose your license temporarily, until you get a medical exam and pass 'in front' of a judge (I think actually you do not have to present yourself or have representation if you agree with the facts). You then lose your license for a week to two year. If it's for 6+ month, you have to pass psychometric tests to get it back (unless you're 90, you will easily pass those). You can still drive licenceless cars.

[nradov]

I think you misunderstood. Under the California vehicle code that would usually be charged as reckless driving rather than a simple moving violation.

https://www.eastonlawoffices.com/blog/reckless-driving-examp...

[memling]

> I think this plays a huge part as well. My wife and I were watching an episode of the US cop show “The Rookie” and they casually discussed paying a ticket for driving SEVENTY MILES OVER THE SPEED LIMIT. I went and checked and in LA the cost is about $500. This blew my mind.

This is mind-blowing, but it would be surprising to find this would happen without additional consequences. A friend of mine was ticketed for 20 MPH over the speed limit (not in California) and had his license suspended. Most states in the US adopt a points-based system that triggers suspension when you acquire sufficient numbers. California is no different.

[frumper]

They can. Highways in California are filled with people averaging 20mph over and it’s rare to see anyone pulled over.

[lacksconfidence]

Having received speeding tickets in california, the fine is only the base charge. The total ticket is usually 3 to 4x the cost of the base fine. All in, 99 in a 75 was ~$500 a decade ago (100 in a 75 is reckless driving, and a whole different level).

[parineum]

That would also be reckless driving in LA.