Yeah, with every passing year this stuff burns me up more and more. I am, by my own choosing, on the email list for NMA and have come to firmly believe much of what they have to say on various motor vehicle law enforcement tactics. Two of the biggies, of course, are speed traps and traffic light camera tickets. I have come to firmly believe they're truly a racket, brazen money making machines utilized by cash-strapped local and state governments. Easy money on a grand scale. :mad:

And what makes it even more irksome is that it's carried out in the name of safety. Keeping us safe from ourselves! If that's the rationale, you'd think there would be more enforcement when inclement weather exists. Surely speeding's much more dangerous in the rain, right? But I've rarely--virtually never--seen tickets written when precipitation is a factor. I'd LOVE to be able to read the minds of the troopers, deputies, etc, who've pulled me over for speeding during the course of the past 35 years and determine how many of them actually thought my driving on the day in question was unsafe. Obviously it's impossible, but if I could somehow get an honest answer from them, I suspect it would be exceedingly few.

Don't get me wrong...I'm in favor of law enforcement and the important work law enforcement personnel carry out. They're just following orders. I simply think there are better ways to utilize their talents than having them running radar or pointing laser units at me and my fellow commuters/travelers.

Yeah, right. And then when things go to hell you want them to lay their life on the line for your sorry ass. It is a traffic citation. Nothing more and nothing less.

You know it's bad when your home State gets dogged on by someone from Jersey!

Yeah get off your high horse chuck. Cops are supposed to serve and protect.

Maybe you're too naive to realize cops serve to generate a big chunk of revenue for their respective state.

Haha cheers man.

Out of state
 

Just hire local counsel and he or she will make any appearances necessary. And, as has been said, 99 times out of 100 they will get the ticket reduced to some bull**************** charge like bad equipment because they know the local game and probably know the local prosecutor. My last ticket I did that and got a bad equipment ticket which my insurance company doesn't give a damn about.

Stop while you're ahead. You're a fcuking idiot! Mr. Chuck W is a retired and highly decororated law enforcement hero. When was the last time you ever did anything to serve and protect anyone other than your own sorry a$$, if even that.

really? did you think this thread was going to end up differently in any way? Get a reality check.

I've used a Valentine One for 20+ years...it's good but if they have laser, you're toast. I've been using the Waze app for about 6 months and it's sweet.

i simply call the da or prosecutor for the jurisdiction where the ticket was handed out. ask for deferred adjudication. tell them i travel through there on occasion. so far it's worked out.

i pay the fine + small cost. they keep the ticket off my record as long as i don't get another one within a year of that one.

win-win. they get the money they want (which is really all they want), the police officer doesn't have to show up for court and my record's still clean.

Here's how the scam works in CT:

Trooper X gives you your ticket, tells you that if you pay without challenging it in court, there will be no points assessed on your license. BTW, this is called "extortion".

So, you pay the ticket without a quibble. Next time your insurance bill is due, it's $200 more a year. You call GEICO and ask "what happened". They say, "Well Mr. Brown, you didn't completely stop at that stop sign".

You see, they DON'T put any points on your license but they DO inform your insurer. It's a win-win (for them).

Me, I'd rather clog the court system if I'm paying anyway.

Are you familiar with the KISS Model?

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

Here's a simple idea for you, stop at the freaking stop sign.

I don't have time to clog courts. I don't always follow every "rule of the road". I don't get caught often. When I do get caught, I don't always get tickets from the police. I don't complain about this stuff on the internet. I pay the fine, and move on. I have a LOT more fun and important things to do.

Oh, and STUPID should hurt.

*the only ticket I've received in the past +25 years is for no front plate. One I paid, one was dismissed in court, most are road-side warnings.

I did not start this thread to bash LEO. I am one for cripes sake. I think that front line officers (even the one that gave me my ticket) are true heros, and put their lives on the line every day. Doesn't mean that I don't think they can make mistakes, or have bad days, but in general they keep our communities safe.

As an FYI, I did not have my ID out to try and "badge out" of my ticket, but I use the case as my wallet, and my drivers license is in the pocket behind the ID.

I know everyone gets pissed at law enforcement from time to time, but before you smash them, try doing what they do for a day. It is not easy mentally nor physically to deal with people who would rather spit on you than say good morning, on a regular basis. Especially if you know how little most of us really make. This is not a job to get rich doing. I don't say that for sympathy, but so others have a true understanding of the profession.

I'm still pissed I got the ticket, and think the officer was not professional, but he could have been having a bad day, and I will give him the benifit of the dount on that.

Bottom line, if you were going 10 over, you deserved a ticket, and you got caught. Sorry you got caught; the fine hurts. I hate tickets, but I try to take responsibility for my own actions. Cop was doing his job (and you were driving a Boxster ;)).

The people who give us a bad name are a sliver of sliver of the total population.
But as is always the case, HBO, MTV, etc. find the worst of the worst to make themselves rich. This state has perhaps the highest incomes and most educated people in the in the country which is remarkable given the population density.
I don't know about you but in my experience morons and dirtbags don't get far in school and have a tough time holding onto any wealth. We are however a pretty impatient bunch and a bit too blunt for people in states where no one seems to be in a rush, ever.

a few thoughts on traffic enforcement
 

Ticket quotas are a reality. This officer was probably one short, and it was getting close to time to go home.

Ticket revenues usually support the municipalities general budget (more "discretionary" spending by our politicians). The police chief is an appointed position, who serves under the direction of the mayor, who is the main spender of these funds, to repay political debts or whatever he sees fit.
State patrol officers are theoretically more independent, but still have budgetary pressures. Interestingly, in many areas of the South, a large percentage of ticket revenues are directed by state law into an officers retirement fund.

Red-light cameras are always marketed to the municipalities on the basis of revenue increases, with potential enhanced safety postulated but seemingly never supported by data. These cameras are almost always contracted out to vendors providing the service, whose reimbursement is contingent on the revenue received. 2 of the 3 companies offering this service locally were found to have engaged in dubious practices, such as altering the timing of lights and advancing camera timing relative to lights, to catch more motorists.
I won't go into why this is wrong on an ethical, governance, or philosophical basis. If you do not posit that it is wrong for a government to outsource enforcement of the law, or profit from defining its citizens as criminals, then we will have a hard time having an intelligent dialogue.

LEO's are always tasked with using discretion in enforcing the law. They must prioritize. For example, a poorly maintained and fully loaded log truck driven by a logger with a CDL, going 55 in a 45 zone on a mountain road in the rain with poor visibility , probably deserves a ticket. An alert and attentive driver of a well-found sports car enjoying a sunny drive at the same speed & location, probably does not, even though the same law is violated to the same degree.
And if the police stopped every car in Atlanta going 10+, there would be no traffic whatsoever on the perimeter.
So while the idea of "selective enforcement" is anathema to some, it is a reality that lets our society function.
So maybe this officer had poor judgment. But more likely, his judgment was removed from the equation or his priorities shifted by external forces (such as pressure from his shift commander, who himself got heat from upstairs.), or perhaps more personal issues.

But yes, you are right that he clearly was not primarily serving the interest of public safety, or he would have been seeking a larger threat. Sorry you got caught. On the whole, these guys do a hell of a job for not too much money, and many are true heroes. A few are true duds, just like in any field. I try to give them the benefit of doubt.

I once had an officer pull me over for speeding in Atlanta. I was speeding, but I was slower than most cars, and had just been passed by a large group going about 20 mph faster than me. I asked him why he pulled me over rather than one of them. He said "you were easier to catch." I told him "thanks, I'll make sure THAT never happens again!"

My bias: old enough to have seen how the world works, both of my brothers in law enforcement, no recent tickets but one recent warning - was kinda funny, for another day.

Thanks for that... other people on this thread need to get their head of their a$$es

I usually avoid traffic citations by not breaking traffic laws.
However, on that rare occasion when I do accidentally break one and get caught doing so, I'm quick to take responsibility and pay the fine.

That's just me :p :D

You guys that act like it's ok to speed (even 5mph over) because everyone else is doing it or you don't agree with the posted limits are pretty full of yourselves and you are part of the problem.
Obey all laws!
Period.

Flavor987 - **************** you.

Sincerely,
Peterbrown77

ps. next time I'm in Chicago, let's get together so I can punch you in the face.