Got my first ticket.

TheReaper

Gaara wrote:

... One more thing, to those people who are going to say that radar detectors promote reckless driving, it is just the opposite. I have not gotten a ticket or been in an accident since I got my detector. The reason is that the detector does not pickup everything, ex. a officer using pulsing radar. For this reason I pay attention much more to the road, what cars are doing in front of me and in back of me, as well as cars coming out of streets, onramps, etc. ....

lol ... When I finally grew up and started driving responsibly. I found that my previous looking out for cops and watching other drivers reactions, had been good practice for defensive driving.

snow

Dennis Gardner wrote:

Move to Alaska...............I've heard thats what most do.

lmaooooo. not a good idea. alaska unlike most states has the money to keep its criminals in prison for as long as they want to. REGARDS SNOW

Gaara

I don't see it as a crime, I see it as a way for towns to raise revenue. We had a speed trap setup over a bridge in our area, the speed limit was lowered 10mph last month. They had around twelve cars setup ticketing people as they went over the bridge, heard from a neighbor who is a cop that they made more in that morning in tickets then they had the entire last month combined. My mother who is 60 also got her first speeding ticket ever that day, she was clocked going 51 in a 45.

Sure, to spot a cop car there are generally lots of tell tale signs. In our area they always use the same kind of car, Mercury Grand Marquis, and always look the same. You can tell a cop car by looking for lots of antennas, the tell tale lights, the spotlight, and no hub caps. I talked to a state trooper back in high school and asked him why police cars never have hub caps. He said that they come off to easy, but more importantly, they serve no purpose. I have never seen a police car with hubcaps, this is one of the first things I look for. You can also see how other people react, if a couple cars suddenly brake in front of you for no apparent reason, it may be a cop.

As for being pulled over, always be nice to the officer, never wise off. If you do they have two letter that they can put on the ticket which tells the judge that you were being a a$$. It also tells them not to lower the fine. Do exactly as the officer says and answer any questions, but without admitting guilt. If they ask you how fast you were going just say yes, don't say a speed, it can be used against you in court.

As for fighting the ticket, do a motion for discovery first. Find out when the officer was last trained on a radar gun, when the gun was last calibrated, etc. If the officer was moving you can use this as a defense, ask if the officer was slowing down or speeding up while taking the reading. Radar guns can have problems if the officer suddenly changes speeds, because they take a little while to react. For example if your going 60mph and the officer is going 50, then suddenly slows to 45mph it will say you are going 65. Radar guns also need something stationary perpendicular to you to work, generally the horizon. If however there is something large close by in the line of the radar, such as a 18 wheeler, it may pickup this as the stationary target, throwing off the reading, this is called a Shadow Error . Radar detectors also are very ineffective if the officer is stationary and you are to close by, this is called cosine error, the closer you are the more it is off.

There are many other ways to fight tickets, rfi interference, defective detector, untrained officer..etc. Do your research before you go in there.

speed traps is the site I was referring to earlier.

Jared

Gaara

In MA and CT the cop doesn't have to be there, and rarely is, they usually have someone assigned to just sit in court all day. As for not reporting, I have gotten three tickets in MA, none of which ever got on my CT insurance. My brother has also gotten two in MA, never got to his insurance either.

snow

(I don't see it as a crime) i was being sarcastic is all. REGARDS SNOW

Gaara

I know snow, the emoticon gave it away. I just wanted to state my mind that I do not see it as a crime.

VR3

Is there anything I can do since the cop followed me approx 3 miles from the time he clocked me to pull me over, and the spot he pulled me over in was a 45?

madmax

So you walk in the courtroom and the judges says "Trey, hmmm... So you have polks too. Now, about the whining..."

wodom1

I've never gotten a speeding ticket, however I was pulled over this last December in Indiana and given a warning. I was on I-80 returning to Chicago after Christmas and had my cruise control set on 77 (speed limit was 70 most of the trip). I never saw the sign dropping the limit to 55. Well, as I'm cruising down the road, I see an Indiana State Police car pull a fast u-turn and get into the west-bound lanes. I figured he wasn't after me, since I was only going 7 over. He ended up pulling me over and asked me if I had any other recent moving violations, which I haven't, and if I had seen the speed limit sign changing to 55, which I didn't. He took my license, went back to his car, and came back a few minutes later telling me he was giving me a warning and to slow down. It was an unexpected and nice outcome, because I thought I was screwed. I figure a speeding ticket for 22 over would have been a few hundred dollars, plus the increase to my insurance premium. I have really cheap insurance (less than $80/month for full comprehensive/collision) -- I love USAA!