Driving record, please help, freaking out here.
 

Hello all! My name is Travis, and I've been a AP mechanic for about 8 years and looking into becoming a pilot. I am currently 26 years old. I've been researching heavily for about 2 weeks (including this forum) and my main concern right now is my drivers license. My history is as follows-

Speeding ticket when I was 16-dismissed due to faulty speedo
Speeding ticket when I was ~20 (out of state)-took defensive driving
Wreckless driving when I was ~19 (out of state)-got lawyer, reduced
Speeding ticket when I was 22 (in state)-got lawyer, reduced
Speeding ticket when I was 25 (out of state)-just paid it
Accident when I was 25..police report says speeding was a factor, currently in court for this one due to injuries.
Speeding ticket when I was 26 (out of state)-sent in not guilty, awaiting response.
Got a ticket for running a red light (close call) the other day (in state), plan on sending in not guilty, hoping to get it reduced to non moving.

I got a ticket for public exposure (p'ed outside when I was drunk), but was given a ACOD (goes away in 6 months if you don't do it again).

If I said all of this stuff in a interview, would my job chances suffer? I'm not about to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on training if this is going to kill my chances. Honestly, if the things that got reduced are not 'on my record', I don't plan on disclosing them.

Travis

PSAChiefPilot need help on this one...
 

All I can say...is be honest...slow down...and don't do it again! :p

So long as you don't lie on your background check (some places make you get a 3 year background check), you should be ok. But then again, I'm not a Chief Pilot...

Hopefully people will chime in and their responses will be in your favor.

Good luck Chief!
Lax

Is there any way to check your record to the same standards as a airline would? A good friend of mine is a high-profile lawyer, I guess I need to ask him.

At this point, the reduced wreckless driving is the thing I am most worried about.

what's with getting a lawyer. Just do the deal where you pay an extra $25 and it doesn't go on your record. BTW you have quit the list.

Just answer yourself this question:

Would you feel safe flying with someone who had your driving record?

Yes. But for right now, I want to find out what is on my record, and what is not. The reduced wreckless driving from 7 years ago has me concerned. I was young and stupid, learned since then.

you need to get a NDR report and then a state report. The more time you have before you interview the better...all is not lost. Don't get another ticket. Time without a ticket will help you. goodluck and don't get another ticket. If they ask during an interview be honest and the more time you have between your last ticket and the interview the better off you will be. We all mess up when we are young. But like I said the more time you have of being a model citizen the better your chances.

I am not sure I feel safe knowing I may be sharing the road with this guy none the less a cockpit.

Lets start with what you have not been cited for, go from there.

I know airlines just love guys that expose themselves. It just wreaks of professionalism.

Good Luck Dude.

I got drunk, and instead of DRIVING home (would never do that), I decided to WALK home. Had to pee, p'ed on the side of the road, cop drove by and nabbed me. Made a mistake. My town has 5000 people, it was 3am, roads were empty.

The good news:
-No DUI, assault, etc (keep it that way).
-You are still somewhat young.
-The pee-ing in public thing is not uncommon for pilots...I know two personally with that on their record (not me, I never got caught).
-It will take you probably about 2 years to go from zero to regional applicant...that gives you an opportunity to break your current trend and establish a new track record.
-The more time passes, the better off you are.


The bad news:
-The data that the federales and/or some private data bases have on your criminal/driving record may be unpredictable...even if it got purged locally, it may show up in another database somewhere. For this reason you need to be 100% honest about everything. Also be prepared to explain how you have grown up a bit since all that stuff happened.
-Your record does show some disregard for rules when operating vehicles...see how that could raise flags? When you interview be prepared to explain how you had a sudden realization that your behavior pattern has foolish and that you resolved to change. You will need to be pretty clear about this.


I would think in the long term you would be fine, but be aware that you might lose an opportunity or two in the beginning of your career (or maybe not). If that happens, don't let it get you down, someone else will hire you.

I appreciate the time that you put into your response, thanks. Right now, I am wondering if my speeding ticket(s) that got reduced will show up as a speeding ticket that got reduced, or just as what they were reduced to. I'm not trying to lie, but if they show up as reduced, i'd rather just admit to what I was conviced of.

Decisions...

T

Can't answer that for sure, but I would think they would just show up as speeding tickets. As long as there were no reduced DUI's, you should be able to establish a clean record and move one. But you need to be VERY careful...you can't even get a routine "78 in a 65 zone" kind of ticket. Once you have established a better track record, then an isolated minor ticket won't hurt you any.

Most companies are looking at driving records to establish PATTERN. Unfortunately you have quite a pattern- and I'm not going to say that it won't hurt you. (I know from my own recruiting experience... when sorting through hundreds of applicant's resumes/applications it does make a difference from time to time. We even called prior to the interview and one of the questions asked was, "do you have more than two moving violations in the past two years?")

It's time to GROW UP and SLOW DOWN. The fact that you have 4 "flags" in the past two years shows to me that you still need some attitude changes. Even more worrisome is the fact that you're contesting the running a red ticket. That shows me that you're not (at least in full) willing to ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. (Another flag)

Rick is right when he says that "in the long term you would be fine, but be aware that you might lose an opportunity or two in the beginning of your career (or maybe not). If that happens, don't let it get you down, someone else will hire you."

He's absolutely correct, but ONLY if you can show a positive change from this point forward. You need to be PROACTIVE about it too. You have about 1.5-2 years to fix your record while you do your flight training. Here's what I would recommend:

-SLOW DOWN. Do whatever it takes. Get a new car that doesn't go as fast. Use cruise control. WHATEVER!!! Another speeding ticket WILL hurt you and potentially end your career before it ever gets off the ground.

-ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. The biggest thing with tickets/DUIs/shady background issues is that companies want to see that you have learned a valuable lesson from the event, accept responsibility and have made corrective strides. If you go into an interview with the attitude of "it wasn't my fault... the cop was out to get me", or "my speedometer was broke", or "it was a short yellow and the road was wet, and I wouldn't have been able to stop in time", I GUARANTEE you that you won't get the job. Quit making excuses like a teenager and CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR.

-BE PROACTIVE ABOUT CHANGE. From this point forward, if you're serious about flying professionally, commit to improving your driving record. That doesn't just mean slowing down. It means being PROACTIVE. Go take a defensive driving course. DO IT YEARLY until your record is clean. You're goal is to do everything that you can to lower your insurance premiums and strike items off your record (but still report them on applications). Your goal is to show that you turned a new leaf on a particular day and changed your behavior.

Your past won't kill your career if you change dramatically (I personally know of several pilots for major or regional airlines that have DUIs), but you have to start acting like you really want to do this for a living.

As it stands, you have a big mark against you and an uphill climb. If you can't commit to making a change, don't bother spending the thousands of dollars to get a flying job.

Ok dude, here's the skinny on MY sitation. I too was freaked as all get up about my driving record when I went for interview. I too also had a reckless driving ticket when I was 19 and it wasn't reduced, along with about 6 other speeding tickets scattered throughout the years. What i had going for me when I filled out the application was that I had been squeaky clean for over 6 years. I decided the best course of action was to disclose EVERYTHING down to farting in church and take responsibility for it all. If anything was brought up I would admit to it 100% and not try to expalin it away in the least. This is what I did, nothing about my record was brought up in the interview and I was hired. Good luck.

Do you have your 1st class medical yet? if no, dont mention that you were drunk and P***ing. just tell 'em you had to go really bad. good luck man.

Does the picture not do you justice?


How do you run a red light if you are not moving? In fact that might be a good argument to the judge. "Judge, I was parked on the side of the road when this big fat pig issued me a citation for running a red light". I'm sure that the judge will go easy on you.

If I were you Travis I might consider doing something that would tie your mechanic skills with your driving skills. For example, how about being a mechanic for a NASCAR team? You could go take the car out for a practice lap or two, speed like hell, run into the wall on the back corner, then, as you pulled into the pits, you could get out and take a pee on the ground as some guy changed your tires. After you were done driving, you could then put your A&P license to good use by fixing all the sh!t you destroyed. The concept of feng shui suggests harmony with nature and one's self. If you were to become a pilot your feng would not compliment your shui.

You might also consider hosting the local demolition derby?

Definitly don't need to be looked down upon by you. This may get me banned, but you are a [deleted by Admin].

As far as the red light, I looked to the side for a second at my friend that was giving me directions (was out of town). I looked up, the light was yellow. It was either slam on the brakes and cause a scene, or enter the intersection when it was yellow and leave as it was red.

We aren't all as perfect as you, [deleted by Admin].

It's funny that some people can't take a joke

Okay, TurboTravis, CalCapt likes to joke around, he does it all in good heart. You should read some of his other posts before insulting him.

I wonder what would happen if in the future you told your captain the story about when you ran a red light…would you respond the same way as you did here if he responded like Cal Capt did. (Are you the kind of guy that cry’s when they insult him instead of replying with an even better and more hurtful smartass comment?)

Its fun to joke around in forums, and the real as5h0les are the ones who can’t take it.

The first thing you should do is take that turbo out of your forum name, and please drive safely Travis.

I know a guy who died in an accident involving a guy who ran a red light. The guy when asked replied with something similar to what you said, I wonder who’s the fu77kface is. Bottom line, take responsibility. In this business you can’t fu88up, because if you do, allot of people die and there is no excuse.

Besides, you didn’t know CalCapt was a gay transvestite who still lives with his dad. Hiding the big bad secret, during the day he’s a Continental Airline’s Pilot slash Pimp slash women lover, and by night he’s a lone some gay transvestite. :( (the previous is not based on facts, only evidence and some deep speculation slash research, but mostly speculation.)

TurboTravis this post deviated into something else… I don’t know what to do now…:confused:

I'm crushed and devastated. Not at being a f face, but that favila008 didn't get it right. I am not lonesome. The rest of it is basically right. And Travis, your driving record should be the least of your worries.

Travis,

Calcapt certainly has some good advice to heed (as well as others that have been around the boards for several hundred posts...) Before you go jumping off the deep end, why not take a second to reflect upon your own attitude.

Calcapt (and the others) that have given insight on this thread are right when they say that more than your driving record raises flags. Employers do a lot more than just look at your driving record when they interview. 80% of the interview is personality, character and attitude. 15% is knowledge and ability. The last 5% is everything else (including background and history).

I suggest your start by selfevaluating how much of a change you need to make. It's apparent to me that you're not fully ready for the challenges and responsibility that comes with a job flying.

Calcapt, dear. Do I have to come to your defense once again?! Oh well, it's the least I can do. After all, you are a pimp/woman lover! ;) Turbo, darling, YOU certainly have MANY issues. :eek:

With the exception of public exposure..........in all honesty, my driving record was A LOT worse. Question: any DUI's? Is your name on the NDR(national driver registry)(i.e. has your license been suspended or revoked?) If you answered no to both questions.....you should be fine....i was:D

Personally, I think it is less of an issue of previous incidents/his record than it is an issue of accountability, attitude, and lessons learned.

Travis, you have a nice way with words. Unfortunately, Name Calling is not one of the categories in The Best of APC contest.

Attitude Adjustment
 

All these other guys have good advice. I have been flying for CAL many years. In fact, I have flown with a couple guys (who are friends of mine) who have recieved reckless driving tickets. You are in need of an attitude adjustment young man.

CO777Driver how many years did it take to get to the tripple seven?

hey i got a speeding ticket but then guess what, I stopped speeding and learned my lesson! (it works pretty well u should try it!) Travis you need to GROW UP and start obeying the law. Seems like you just make 1 mistake after the other and it doesnt look like you learned anything from those mistakes. Not exactly the best attitude for a professional in any field let alone aviation.

Oh jeeze... Turbo, you need to lay off the caffeine or whatever, obviously it's affecting your driving habits, as well as your sense of humor. I don't want any pilot flying me around whose knee immediately jerks up to his mouth when reacting.

Ooops. Deleted.