I've been working on a project for the past 5 months that requires me to drive 90 miles to the office each morning, 85 of which are on I35.

This morning I was focused on listening to Blood Meridian (book by Cormac McCarthy) while cruising through Lorena, South of Waco, and looked up to see a local police Tahoe sitting on the side of the road, then down at my spedometer and then into the rear view to see him pulling out onto the highway.

Long story short, I had been in traffic all morning, so the cruise control was not set, I was coming down a hill and I wasn't driving below the prescribed 60 mph construction zone speed limit.

This being only the second ticket I've received for speeding, and the first I've had for construction zone speeding, what are my options? Does it do any good to appear before the court, or should I just find out the fee and show up with what I'm guessing will need to be a wad of cash?

Does defensive driving count? If not, id just pay it. I speed on average 80-85mph every day, even through 50mph zones. I figure if I get busted once or twice, its still worth it.

Would that project you are on be a small stadium in Waco, by chance?

Defensive driving is not allowed for construction zone speeding according to the packet of information I received.

Negative, those guys are smart enough to stay in Waco during the week.

When you were speeding through the construction area, could it be verified that there were construction workers present at the time?

If I recall correctly, construction zone speeds only apply when workers are present. If it can be ruled that no workers were present then the construction zone speed does not apply. That would mean you would only be X amount over regularly the posted limit.

If the construction zone is in effect (ie workers present) then maybe deferred judification is an option?

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Negative, those guys are smart enough to stay in Waco during the week.

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Not a guy I know, but he is higher up in the food chain. Drives down there every day from DFW, I believe. Helps that he has a company truck and gas card though.

I'm in the Austin Division. The stadium is run from Dallas, but there are several of our (Austin Area) guys working the project and they all share places during the week even though they have company vehicles. Adding 3 hours a day of commuting to an already long work day is not fun. If I hadn't just come off of a weekend commute job home, I probably would have picked up an apartment in Waco too.

And the ticket was marked as workers being present, since the zone is ~7 miles long and there were workers present in certain areas althought not in the immediate area where I was ticketed.

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I speed on average 80-85mph every day, even through 50mph zones. I figure if I get busted once or twice, its still worth it.

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Or until you kill someone, but hey.

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Does defensive driving count? If not, id just pay it. I speed on average 80-85mph every day, even through 50mph zones. I figure if I get busted once or twice, its still worth it.

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Umm, I'd check on that if you get caught going 25 mph over the limit. Things can escalate at that point and I don't believe DD is available above that threshold. You also risk a tacked on reckless driving charge above I believe 20 or 25 mph over the posted speed limit if the LEO believes it's warranted given the environmental and road conditions.

If he marked the ticket as workers present you have a couple of options:

Contact the construction company and find out if in fact there were workers present. If there was then ask them if they were working at the time of the citation or on break. if they were on break apparently there is some room for removing that part of the citation.

I actually had the DA in College Station tell me that it didn't matter if the workers were all in mile 7 of that 7 mile stretch and I was in mile 1. if they were anywhere in that zone they were present and it was applicable. I asked how I was supposed to know they were present if they weren't actually present where I was and she didn't have an answer except that that is how the law is written. So I asked about speeding on a Sunday when they are never working and she just reiterated that I can't know for certain until it's too late. So basically you just have to assume they are present whether they are or not.

This is why you don't speed in New MExico. They will flag 50 miles of highway as under construction even if they're only actually working on half a mile of it.

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Or until you kill someone, but hey.

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Im not overly concerned.

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/DPS-Heads-Up-Major-I-35-Traffic-Enforcement-Operation-245237671.html

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Department of Public Safety troopers along with officers from local law enforcement agencies from Bell County to Hill County were taking part Wednesday in intensive effort to catch traffic violators on Interstate 35.

DPS Trooper D.L. Wilson said the operation, which started at 6 a.m. Wednesday and continues until midnight, primarily targets construction zones along the interstate.

"Pretty much all of McLennan County, and Bell County, too, for that matter, is a construction zone," Wilson said.

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Yea that's why I live in Dallas even though the main office is in West Fort Worth.

Traffic is hell in the metroplex between the hours of 6:30 to 9 am and 4:45 to 6:30 pm

Ask for deferred adjudication. Have to pay the full amount, but keeps it off your record.

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THIS !!!!!!

i once got a ticket in a construction zone south of Dallas at midnight...the cop said he was going to do me a favor and not double the fine. said he technically could because there is a security guy who sits in his car all night to watch the construction equipment....and that means worker(s) were present.

Verified on the way in this morning that there was no work being done where I was ticketed, but there were workers in the "zone".

Pretty sure I'm going with the deferred approach, but I have to wait until Monday so they can tell me how much my donation to the new Tahoe fund will be.

And yes, there were police the entire route yesterday. At the speeds I typically drive, I don't have to worry about them, I just got caught at a bad spot all by my lonesome.

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Ask for deferred adjudication. Have to pay the full amount, but keeps it off your record.

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Think I was told deferred isn't an option when workers are present.

Sounds like you are going to take it in the shorts.

Get a traffic ticket attorney. I got one a few months back in a construction zone. I was doing 82 in a 50 but he actually ticketed me for "disregard of a traffic sign or barrier" and not speeding because he said I disregarded the construction zone sign. The attorney cost me $60, he got my ticket reduced from $297 to $197 and got me 30 days probation (normally 90 days).

This was in DFW. I'd call a local traffic attorney and see if they are willing to try to work with the court to get you probation to keep it off your record.