[94'968]

ya i did that with my car when i first got it... and got a reckless driving ticket. apparently learning the point at which your car lets go, in a parking lot completely empty merits an all day saturday classroom driving class and 6 months probation.

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[968TDG]

yeah, Oceanside is kind of Ghetto so Walmart is kind of popular. I'm sure I can find somewhere...I've have plenty of experience recently with the rain initiating the back end to slide out, just not enough room to fool around with keeping the power on and pulling out of the slide. Should be good to mess around with the car now while the track is a bit narrow, the tires are a bit narrow and not especially grippy.

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[Anchorman]

Joel, that's very surprising (from your perspective, an understatement, I'm sure). I would have thought (and have always assumed) that parking lots, as private property, would not be subject to normal traffic rules. Live and learn...

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[PorscheDude]

Check your local PCA for an autoX
You'll learn the limits very quickly in a controlled enviroment.
I know my local club has an autoX school just before the season starts.
The class included a wet skid pad.

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[968TDG]

I know that the stop signs in parking lots don't always count. For example if someone ran a stop sign in a parking lot causing a collision with you, it doesn't mean it's not your fault. Flip side of this, I'm sure a cop would still give you a ticket for running it. Ahhhh, everybody loses.

On a positive note, somebody commented on my car yesterday for the first time since I bought it. He started talking to me from the passenger side at a light and my window was rolled up, so, once I located the atrociously poorly placed switch, I rolled the window down and he was saying he'd never seen a 968, only a 944 and a 928. Then he said the car was so awesome and I should make sure to hang on to it. I'm not sure if it's the area, the car, or me, but pretty much nobody ever says a thing, and I'm not even sure they notice it. Maybe because it's bright red, wait...

I dunno, maybe I fit under the "911 umbrella" and people assume I'm an a%$hole and don't bother. Please don't take offense, I don't think driving a 911 makes you an a%$hole, but they kinda have that vibe about them to the general public.

-Phil

Pat, I'll look into it, I'd love a chance to push the car around.

Thanks
-Phil

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[flash]

anchor - you are correct - there are some parking lots that are not, so that enforcement can be made by local authorities, but generally they are private property, and a complaint must be filed by the owner

reckless driving is one of those "endangering the public" issues that crosses over into criminal activity, and if witnesses, even on private property, can be acted upon by the authorities - it's the same as if you were waving a gun around at somebody in your house - you can still be arrested for attempted assault

a good attorney should have been able to kick it though, on the presumption that there were no people or property at risk

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[94'968]

ya i do all the track event i can afford now! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img] i found out after the ticket of course that in virginia "reckless driving" is defined as endangering life, limb, or property. i was in a completely empty parking lot, i mean completely, and the only property was one street lamp and the asphalt. when i went to court, as it is mandatory for a reckless, i was under 18 and told my side of the story and the judge said if i take the class and dont get any tickets for 6 months it will be dismissed.

also found out 6 months later that reckless driving is also 20 over the speed limit or anything over 80mph... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif[/img]

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[flash]

there are a number of qualifying points for reckless driving, varying state by state

the first thing to remember when going to court is to NEVER testify - it is a very common mistake made by people who are new to court - "telling your story" is the worst thing you can do - this is evidence against you - it is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty - ask questions of the officer - introduce empirical evidence, but never testify against yourself if you can avoid it - you have the right against self incrimination - avail yourself of that right and put the burden of proof where it belongs

cops are not generally well versed in the law, and the law is very specific - all you needed to do was prove that no person or property was at risk - if the lot was completely open, had no poles or cars in it, you were well away from buildings, and there was nobody else in it, there is no chance of incident - therefore, regardless of what you were doing, there is no "reckless driving" as defined

assuming that you did the due diligence and chose an appropriate location, it would likely have been very easy to ask a few questions of the officer, and provide some photos and prove that no person or property was at risk, thereby forcing dismissal due to lack of foundation

now, he could have nailed you for trespassing, unauthorized access, etc.............but those were not the charges filed and would have been an entirely different case

you could have probably beaten the reckless altogether, but it probably would have cost you more time and money than what you spent - in the end, you got what is probably "justice"

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[94'968]

ya i still like to believe that people will just do the right thing... the cop could have just as easily talked to me and been like hey you shouldnt be doing that blah blah, and to be honest if he would have done that i would have been more than happy yo leave. but him being a cop and me being a teenager in a porsche, im sure that had something to do with it as well.

and like you mentioned, was it justice? maybe... i couldnt complain with getting nothing on my record and a misdemeanor charge dropped completely. and i actually did speak with a lawyer, the going rate for a reckless charge is something like $500-$1000. wasnt worth it to me, figured id take my chances.

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[94SilverCab]

http://ticketassassin.com/

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

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[DaveN]

When you rolled down the window and he opened his ticket book I would have just ordered 2 cheese burgers and Pepsi. Cops love humour [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

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[flash]

lol - yeah - i've done that - didn't get the reception i was hoping for

but i did get to recite the alphabet backwards, walk on a line, yada yada

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[dlearl476]

<I was pushing the throttle a bit too much in the corners, trying to get a feel for the car, but this is just scary at this point.

I'm as "lay" as a layman comes, but I'm going to try my best to explain my experience. I have a real deusy of an off-camber, decreasing radius turn on my way home from work where I take a right onto a street just as it goes under a freeway underpass. One night on my way home, in totally dry weather, I swung the rear end out pretty significantly. Driving lazy, half-aware, etc. It got my attention pretty quickly.

Besides the 968, I've owned an Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce for years which, like the 968, has a front-engine/rear transaxle design. Although the DeDion rear suspension of the Alfa complicates it, they corner very much alike. I've found a different approach to cornering helps. Where I would, in a normal rear-wheel or front-wheeled drive car, simply turn the wheel and carve a nice radius around the corner, with the 968 and Alfa I find I enter wide, dive towards the radius on trailing throttle, then accelerate out of the turn while simultaneously straightening up. I suppose more like you were driving on a race course.

Doing this I can take that same corner 5-10 mph faster without a hint of drama.

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