Fighting a speeding ticket - Page 2

James · #16 07-10-2003, 04:59 AM

Random comments.

LAuraduv I really can't get mad at someone just doing their job. I'll leave aside the ridiculous amounts of things that states want to regulate about driving though.

I will say that a lot of our tickets today are a result of the war on drugs.

Drug offenses are the single largest block of crimes that are out there. Crime statistics are what give budgets for law enforcement.

Because of the War on Drugs huge increases in police personel have taken places as well as huge increases in salary for police officers. This usually means that there has been a large increase in police forces all across the nation.

Your basic front line police officer is ill-equipped for drug interdiction, the problem that gave him a job, however he is well equipped for traffic patrol. And in many municipilaties that is the vast majority of the duties that their police have, even though they have greatly augmented police forces for the so-called war on drugs.

So when you are driving through some small town and you see more police on the road than seems possible, you know where it comes from lol.

The justification, crack wars, the result, your speeding ticket.

smiley21 · #17 07-10-2003, 07:25 AM

i know a thing or two about tickets. i have gotten 7. 4 of which i got in the first 7 months of last year. i just recently crossed the one year mark of being ticket free. i have been to court twice. the judge actually said to me the second time 'i dont want to see you here again' how embarassing

i have three points on my license. i have been to traffic school five times (2 were court ordered). i am convinced that some of those tickets were falsely given to me. i am not that bad a driver. i now have a radar detector and it is a life saver. i KNOW that some cops are just bored and start giving tickets for everything. it sucks.

aephi alum · #18 07-10-2003, 09:14 AM

A few details on the ticket -

DH had just gotten on the highway, so I doubt he was going as fast as 80 - he hadn't had time to get up to that speed. I wasn't looking at the speedometer (I was in the car with him at the time) but I believe he was doing maybe 70-75. If I'm right, that means the cop padded the radar reading to get up to 80, which is 25+ mph over the speed limit (55), which is a higher fine. If the ticket had been for 75, he would have just taken his lumps and paid up. He is guilty of speeding, just not guilty of speeding that fast.

DH has gotten tickets before, but they're all old and out-of-state, and he paid up, so no points.

The cop did misspell our street address, but we weren't counting on that to get out of the ticket. He did get our last name right, which in and of itself is a challenge.

Cop was stationary, on the median, in amongst some tall grass (now I know why they haven't mowed the grass on that median all year!) and facing toward the direction we were coming from. He was definitely using instant-on radar because the radar detector only chirped once.

(The funny thing is, I've been pulled over for speeding exactly once, and got off with a warning... and my husband calls me a leadfoot...

)

ZTAngel · #19 07-10-2003, 10:18 AM

Yeah, cops are jerks.

A few years ago, I was on the highway and the speed limit was 70. I admit I was going 80 mph (I was set on cruise control). I see a cop up ahead so I begin to slow. My radar detector didn't start to go off until I was at about 73 mph. The cop pulls me over and claims that he clocked me at 88 mph.

At this point, I was really upset because I knew this cop was lying. There was no way in hell he clocked me doing 88. So, I asked to see the radar. Of course, he said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to lock it in when I read 88 on the radar." Liar.........
I explained to him that I was set on cruise control going 80 mph. The dude was still a jerk and wrote me a ticket for going 85 mph. In Florida, you have 3 options. option 1- pay the ticket and get the points on your license. option 2- pay the ticket and go to traffic school...no points on the license. option 3- appear in court. At the time, my friend was doing clerking at a law firm. Lucky me. The lawyer agreed to take my case (for free too....most lawyers charge within the $100's). The judge ended up finding me not guilty.
Moral of the story- hire a lawyer. Usually, they end up being cheaper than the ticket. Also, they can find out things on the cop that pulled you over that can make the ticket invalid such as: he forgot to get his speedometer calibrated or he didn't fill out paperwork correctly. Many of the times, the lawyer can get you out of the ticket.

sidenote: In Florida, cops usually don't make an appearance at the trial. The trial dates are set on days when they're off work. A lot of times, they don't want to take the time to appear in court on their day off. Many of my friends have represented themselves in court and won because the cop made a no-show. Still, I wouldn't recommend it. They tell you in Florida to not fight with the cop over the ticket...just smile and accept it. If the cop doesn't remember who you are, he most likely won't care enough to show up in court. Making the situation more "memorable" will only entice the cop to show up and make your chances of losing greater.

juniorgrrl · #20 07-10-2003, 11:30 AM

I just had an experience where the cop was really an asshole to me. I was speeding, not as much as he says I was, but I will admit I was speeding.

I was trying to pass someone, and I was in the far left lane, going over a "hill" on the interstate. The cop was on the downside of the "hill" I hit my brakes when I saw him and tried to slow down. He waved me down (which I think he's not supposed to do)

When I pulled over he waited for about 5 minutes before he put his bullhorn on and told me to "walk to the rear of the vehicle" I did, and he did the usual. I asked for a warning, and started crying because I was VERY VERY upset. I informed him that I was a student on the way home from law school, andI was trying to pass someone, etc.

He was a total dick about it. He told me "you have 5 seconds to sign this ticket..."

When I finally did sign it, and got back in my car, and pulled back onto the interstate HE FOLLOWED ME FOR ABOUT 5 MILES. I slowed down to about 40 and he passed me and sped away.

I need to fight it - the senior partner I'm working for right now can work magic in my home parish, but b/c this is in City of Baton Rouge, I don't know *anyone* We're goign to investigate and see who we can call.

smiley21 · #21 07-10-2003, 12:09 PM

i rememer two years ago when i came to a stop sign. i stopped and looked. i saw a car coming but it was kinda far away, so i went. there was a cop there and he just points at me. i pull over and park in a lot and he parks behind me. (in case i decide to make a break for it

) he tells me that i ran the stop sign. wtf?! i am thinking 'i dont just run stop signs. i am not stupid'. i just give him this look. i get a ticket. what is worse is that i see people who dont even slow down at that stop sign. they just go right through it. is there a cop there to catch them? of course not!!

nothing personal to those who are cops or personally know one, but i am not very fond of them. SOME of them are power hungry and like to abuse it.

juniorgrrl · #22 07-10-2003, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by smiley21
SOME of them are power hungry and like to abuse it.

Of course, these guys with little education or training wake up in the morning, strap on a gun, and they are THE LAW. How powerful is that? Most of them (around here at least) are high school grads/GEDs. I find it scary that these people weild guns and have any power whatsoever. Most of them aren't qualified enough or smart enough to flip burgers.

Peaches-n-Cream · #23 07-10-2003, 06:13 PM

I find some of these comments about police officers unneccesarily rude. They are just doing their jobs which can be very dangerous. They don't know who they are pulling over. You could be a student or a criminal. They can't tell by looking at you. Next time, don't speed.

smiley21 · #24 07-10-2003, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cream
I find some of these comments about police officers unneccesarily rude. They are just doing their jobs which can be very dangerous. They don't know who they are pulling over. You could be a student or a criminal. They can't tell by looking at you. Next time, don't speed.

i wasnt trying to be rude. i just had an opinion about some of them.

bruinaphi · #25 07-10-2003, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by juniorgrrl
I informed him that I was a student on the way home from law school, andI was trying to pass someone, etc.

The very first thing we learned in Criminal Procedure was that you NEVER EVER TELL A POLICE OFFICER YOU ARE A LAWYER when they have pulled you over.

Even if you are a lawyer and you work in law enforcement, you don't tell them. You can carry your badge with your driver's license so that when you pull it out they see it, but you don't shoot off at the mouth about it.

sherbertlemons · #26 07-10-2003, 09:52 PM

I guess while we've got cop stories going on, I'll tell the horrible one about the first, and only, time I got pulled over.

I was driving down the main drag of my hometown with my family, and the cop starts flashing his lights behind me. I immediately got a little flipped out, seeing as it was the very first time I was pulled over. I tried to stay calm, since I've been told the worst thing you can do is cry, but wasn't really succeeding. (Too top it off, I had already been having a bad day- I'm not normally that nervous.)

Anyways, I pull over and the cop tells me the reason he pulled me over is that one of my brake lights was out. Still struggling to stay calm, I tell him I didn't know. He's like, "It's okay, I'm just going to give you a warning."

He then asks for my liscense. I hand it to him. He looks at me, looks at the license, and he tells me, "You know, I could put you in jail right now."

Of course, I was just barely holding it together before then, and I started to cry and aked him why. He's like, "You're not wearing your corrective lenses."

My mom and I both chime in at once saying I wear contacts. So, the guy basically shot off his mouth to a girl he already knew was nervous about having been pulled over, jittery and on the edge of tears! He had even commented on my nerves and I told him it was the first time I had ever been pulled over. (I was nineteen then, so he commented that was pretty impressive.) He hadn't even bothered to ask or look before saying something practically calculated to upset me worse!

After that, I was so upset and nervous that I had to hand off the steering wheel to my mom. I don't generally have much of a problem with the police, but that one showed such a lack of tact and sense it was ridiculous!

OUlioness01 · #27 07-10-2003, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lauradav
The very first thing we learned in Criminal Procedure was that you NEVER EVER TELL A POLICE OFFICER YOU ARE A LAWYER when they have pulled you over.

Even if you are a lawyer and you work in law enforcement, you don't tell them. You can carry your badge with your driver's license so that when you pull it out they see it, but you don't shoot off at the mouth about it.

my dad keeps his prosecutor's badge with his drivers license whenever possible for that very reason. too bad he hasn't had it the pst couple times he got pulled over driving me home from school...

AchtungBaby80 · #28 07-11-2003, 12:01 AM

I understand the "cops are just doing their job so they have to be rude because they don't know who they're dealing with" point, but do they need to be rude and obnoxious while doing this job? Every cop who has pulled me over (three times, thanks, and only one ticket) has been completely convinced that I must have been drinking because that's what people my age do, and they get put out when they find out different...I have never drank and gotten on the road. I don't think it's necessary for a cop to abuse his/her position by acting like a p-r-i-c-k, even though they are perfectly within their rights to do so.

Now, I'm sure the majority of cops are lovely little creatures who love serving the public, not making our lives more complicated than they are, so I can't say that I dislike cops in general. However, it is scary to think that the guy who lives up the road from me is now a cop, and that he used to be in trouble with the law all the time...and now he is the law. Eeeghghh...

tcsparky · #29 07-11-2003, 01:09 AM

I received a speeding ticket on the way to visit Mr. Tcsparky about three years ago. It was a raod that had had the speed limit reduced to 35 from 45 since my last visit. I was probably going 48 or so. He pulls me over and said I was going 55, and refused to allow me to get out of the car when I asked to see the radar screen. He then told me that he was going to write me a ticket, but that I was lucky, because he could pull my license for going that much over the limit, and that I should be careful on a road where children play (I'm thinking IN THE ROAD?!?).

[I though that perhaps my odometer was off, but later that month I was stopped for going TOO SLOW in the fast lane. My odometer read 67, he said my car was going only 60.]

I took the speeding ticket to a lawyer, he had it changed to "driving with improper equipment"- twice the fine but no points.

juniorgrrl · #30 07-11-2003, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lauradav
The very first thing we learned in Criminal Procedure was that you NEVER EVER TELL A POLICE OFFICER YOU ARE A LAWYER when they have pulled you over.

Even if you are a lawyer and you work in law enforcement, you don't tell them. You can carry your badge with your driver's license so that when you pull it out they see it, but you don't shoot off at the mouth about it.

Well, I guess that's the perils of going to a 3rd tier law school - they didn't teach us that.

I wasn't trying to "shoot my mouth off" about it - I was trying something, anything to get out of this ticket.