Fighting a speeding ticket

[James]

I don't think Lauraduv was trying to offend you, I think you was just making a statement.

Originally posted by juniorgrrl
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.

[astroAPhi]

Originally posted by smiley21
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!!

I had something kind of similar to this happen in December 2001. There's a blind corner near my school, so I stopped BEFORE the line, poked my head around the corner, and after seeing it was safe, went.

An officer heading the other way does a u-turn, and pulls me over in the middle of campus (very embarassing). I have NO CLUE why I just got pulled over. He claimed I had rolled the stop sign (and now, in retrospect, I can understand how from his perspective he might have seen that). He ended up putting on my ticket that I had pretty much blown the stop sign, but I knew it wouldn't be much use arguing semantics.

The guy was pretty rude, and I started crying because I had applied for a job at Space Camp and they ask about speeding violations because sometimes the counselors have to drive the campers. I didn't want it to seem like I had lied, or lose my chance at this job because I got pulled over. The guy took no sympathy on me, and told me if I wanted to save some money and the points on my license I could just go to traffic school.

Well I decided to fight the ticket because traffic school is NOT cheap and I didn't want the points either. When I got to court, I was PRAYING he wouldn't show (I'm originally from Illinois, so the officers are notorious for not showing up). He did, and since the guy looked like a Marine and scary, I was prepared for the worst.

He asked the judge to throw out my ticket because he didn't want me to not get the job because of it. I about wet myself! I thanked him afterward, which my boyfriend said I shouldn't have done, but I was very appreciate of him for understanding.

So sometimes police officers aren't in it for the right reasons, but they can also be really nice guys.

[bruinaphi]

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

James is right. I wasn't trying to offend you or even talking about your response when I said that. I prefaced my statement with "Even if are a lawyer who works in law enforcement" you should say anything to the cop about it.

Sorry that I got you all riled (sp?) up.

[aephi alum]

*bump*

My husband had his day in court today. Apparently he plea bargained for speeding at a lesser speed. You have your plea bargaining talks with the cop who pulled you over (bias much? ) and you can take the plea bargain or go to trial.

Anyway, he was hit for $150 (I was expecting a much steeper fine). He also now has points on his license, but NY and CT don't share points, so he has a virtual driving record in NY with points on it but his CT license is clean. Not sure what the point of that is (no pun intended) except that it's all about local towns collecting a little "road usage tax" to feed their coffers.

grrr...

[AKA_Monet]

Personally, when a cop has pulled me over, I have followed every command the officer has asked. And I am a firm believer that you just do not argue with the cop 'cuz if you think you are correct, then you can have your day in court...

So here is my story:

I was waiting for my California DL in the mail to be sent to me. I had only one speeding tix and I went to traffic school for that one in addition to paying the fine. Incidentally, the CHP doesn't put radar guns on the highway--some court case long time ago for some reason.

Anyhoo, I finally got the DMV letter stating that if I don't clear up these violations, I will NEVER get my license!!! Well, I only had ONE violation EVER!!! On the letter, the court number stated it was in Glendale, California.... Now, I'm from San Diego, and even LALAlandites don't know where Glendale, Cali is!!! Like where the Hell is Glendale???

So I called up the court and they listed like: Ran thru a red light, no seatbelt, no driver's license and no proof of insurance... Then the car was a "personalized license plate" and at the time, I OWNED NO CAR and my parents did not own a car like that!!!

The cop just asked for the first and last name, and the birthdate. The person had the correct month and year, but a different date of my birthday!!! So, when the tix never got paid or the court day just passed, the court sent the info to the DMV to track where this person might be, and they clued on me??? WTF!!!

Anyhoo, the court clerk or whoever said to write a letter stating the facts and sign my name 5 times... Then send a copy of the driver's license with my picture to them. What good that did me, 'cuz they put a warrant out for MY arrest!!!

Well, good thing I am one of the lucky ones--'cuz I am from a prominent family in San Diego, I was able to get a municipal court judge to review my case and call the other judge up in Glendale who dropped the charges...

Needless to say, this was back in 1991!!!

So, that's for my identity theft...

[sigmagrrl]

I don't know if anyone has ever used this but someone I know has asks/ed this question every time he goes/went to court for a speeding ticket:

"Can the officer verify whether or not s/he had calibrated his/her radar the evening s/he pulled me over?"

All officers pulling highway patrol (Calling PONCH!) are required to calibrate their radar guns before they go out on duty. If s/he cannot provide adequate proof that this had been done, s/he cannot prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that s/he recorded your accurate speed...

Nice, huh?

[juniorgrrl]

On LA tickets, they sign claiming they've calibrated the radar.

I met with an Assistant Prosecutor on my ticket - he was a big dickwad - acted like letting me go to traffic school and pleading it to a non-moving was a big deal (they do this anyway- he wasn't doing any favors)

When I told him I thought the officer padded the radar because I KNOW I wasn't going that fast, he said "oh, I grill my officers and I believe them 100%" This was after I'd told him how roughly the officer handled me, how he followed me once I got back on the road, how he practically threatened to arrest me for crying and being unable to sign upon his command. He told me I needed to "separate the offense from the officer's behavior"

Right. SoI'm upposed to believe a guy that acts like this is 100% honest and wouldn't pad the radar to make it so that I was 20 over the limit?

I got a continuance on the ticket and hopefully I can find someone else in that office to help me.