Stupid speeding ticket
 

I just need to vent more than anything. Driving home from work last night. Roads were clear. Got stopped by a state trooper and he gave me a ticket for 60 in a 50 zone.

Damn.....really....ten miles over. $204......DAMN IT!

Not another car on the road, a major road......

Damn it!

yea i got the same for doing 40 in a 35 in oklahoma city. $170.... then again oklahoma is a terrible state and I would advise no one to ever go there....

I agree dbansal. OK is a draconian #$@*hole and I'm from KS!

Thats it? Doesn't sound like $204 worth of venting.

Its only $2 in your cussing jar so far, by my count, you've got lots of room for more. :D

My theory is that since you only spent $298 of car maintenance since you got the car you are way ahead of the customary $2000/yr operating cost so the universe has its own way of balancing out this anomaly.;)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Pyle_1968.JPG

yea!!! **************** oklahoma!!!!

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Seems states have unreal penalties for minor infractions. You always see "Construction Zone" signs no where near any work. Think they just use that to justify double penalties.

I've found driving 5 over (8mph on a Porsche speedo) will keep you under the radar unless the officer is having a bad day. I generally don't even slow down at 5 over.

But all bets are off after dark. They use any excuse to stop you at night. They're looking for drunks (which is good) but they tend to love stopping a Porsche if you misbehave at all. Whether that's good or bad, I adjust my driving accordingly at night.

You don't say what time you were pulled over and you say you were the only one on the road. Think the latter worked against you in that you stood out in a non-crowd.

+2 on OK

Always fight your tickets in court. 9.9 times of out 10 they will reduce the ticket to a no points citation. Points on your license is just begging for your insurance company to add a fine of their own.

And get a Valentine One radar detector or the equivalent Escort: The reason you got ticketed for only going 10 mph over the limit is because your car is flashy and the cop thinks you won't miss the $200.

+1 on this!

How do you fight tickets while out of state? Is a letter appeasing enough?

Sorry you got caught, but I suspect there is more to the story. Things like:

1) driving record...other warnings
2) verbal exchange with the police officer...attitude, disagreeing, lying....
3) wearing a seat belt
4) no front plate

Maybe you were doing 20 over, and he wrote the ticket for 10 over. We just don't know the whole story.

Again, sorry. Cost of admission. Don't let it spoil your holiday weekend.

One can try deferred adjudication, it is not guaranteed but it is free to try.

Q: Why does the wind always blow in Kansas?

A: Because Oklahoma sucks! :D

1) Have not been pulled over, much less received a citation in over 5 years.
2) When he pulled me over, I rolled down the windows and placed both hands on my steering wheel. I work in law enforcement and am nothing if not polite to police.
3) Yes was wearing seat belt
4) No front plate issued, much less required in Florida.

I was on my way home from work at 8:40 PM
He pulled me over, and the first words out of his mouth were:
"license and registration".
I said yes sir. As I looked through my glove box he said his second sentence:
"Is there a reason you were doing 60 in a 50 zone?"
I replied that I did not realize that I was (honestly didn't)
He said nothing, went to his car. Came back and said I had three options. a) Pay the ticket b) go to school c) Fight it in court. He then handed me my paperwork and left.

I think this was a case of a state trooper in a bad mood. I have driven the same route for 7 years. I know the roads, and follow the speed limit because there are two areas that are total speed traps.

Cost of admission, I understand, but 10 miles an hour over is crap.

Is there any give in when you get done over there, as a rule in the UK we're allowed 10% + 2mph, so in a 50 you wouldn't get pulled or convicted if driving up to 57mph.

Dan

Hunter, thanks for your response. I'd say you did everything right.

Just one thought, cops HATE this response. It shows your were not aware of your surroundings and control of your car. Not a deal breaker, but just a tip. Sounds like he was going to give you a ticket either way.

But everything you did is an EXCELLENT way to start getting OUT of a ticket at the side of the road. Maybe the only other thing to do is ask for permission to reach for your glove box. They hate any movements in the cabin in the dark.

Again, sorry.

The FHP doesn't mess around. :o The only time I was hit by FHP they were nice enough to write-down the ticket to 9mph over (backroads, no traffic, broad daylight) even though I was, ahem, well past that.

Don't know how you got so lucky. I have talked to a bunch of people at work and they have NEVER had a FHP let them off, nor reduced. I even had my Federal Law Enforcement ID out. So much for professional courtesy...lol

at the end of the day...I beleive NWA said it best.... **************** the police....

generally what I have found in my experiences as a l.e.o. was attitude is the key to getting a ticket and getting out of a ticket. generally speaking we are all adults and as such we are responsible for our actions. trying to badge your way out is a hit or miss. the one time I was pulled over in the last 20 years, I was polite, and advised the officer I was an off duty officer and armed at the time of the incident and asked him what he wanted me to do. his response was quite simply to slow down and he thanked me for advising him of my weapon, and let me go without incident.

p.s.
Now that I think on it not one speeding ticket I received was for more than 15 mph over the limit.
After that I got the radar detector and my friend's father, a lawyer no less, said to me "maybe you should slow down instead". I guess he missed the point: the radar detector is to let you know when you are being watched. As the speed limit is observed by virtually no one, the police can pull over anyone they damn well please. It's just too bad that radar detector technology has not come down in price like most all other technologies that have ramped up exponentially in the last 7 years or so.

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.