[quote]JD430 wrote:
As an example, somebody above said that clerical errors on the ticket(spelling etc) will invalidate it. This is wrong, at least in the states I am familiar with.[/quote]
Well, I had one thrown out in Michigan because it was misdated (the date was in the future), but that was 20 years ago and something tells me things have changed.
I was going to post that that trooper was just being an asshole and most of them are, but I liked JD430’s post, and the honesty, not defensiveness. I don’t know what they do in Boston, but here if you mail it in and pay before court they drop off some points, so thats better.
You won’t beat it in court and if you go the whole nine with a hearing or trial or whatever they will be pissed and put you through the ringer. Only go if you are going to lose your license and a good attorney is worth keeping it.
I have never gotten anything reduced going to court before the judge. I’ve always gotten assholes who pronounced everyone guilty and looked at the people in court like they were scum and wasting his time for being there.
I got nabbed a few months back for speeding. 60 in a 45…pissed me off.
But let me tell you a valuable piece of information that I learned from traffic school. He said that if you are going to speed, don’t be a target.
He said there are 3 basic locations that cars travel in on the highway. The first is traveling in the front of the pack. The second is traveling in the middle of the pack and the third is traveling in the back.
Now when you are in the front or back of the pack you are an instant target for the police to pick you off. When you are in the pack, you might be safe from getting a ticket but you are trapped in by other cars, thus not a safe position to be in.
I’m personally a pretty aggressive driver and I prefer to take the risk and drive in front of the pack away from the dipshits that I drive with every damn day and I paid the price of $125 plus now having to escape from getting caught for another two years.
The moral of the story, either take a risk and become a target or don’t fucking speed.
Good luck
P.S.
The last time I was in court for a different speeding ticket out in Cali the bailiff told everyone to just plead guilty unless they had the best damn excuse ever. He said that the judge has heard them all and if we wanted to get the fine reduced to max, just plead guilty and pay it.
ask for the calibration papers for his radar gun on hte day you were pulled over. they have to give that to you. if it was not callibrated, or not done properly, then you have a good shot.
My wife has a leadfoot and drives a sports car. She has been pulled over a lot.
The thing about pleading guilty in exchange for no points worked for us in NY and NJ. You pay the fine, the costs and you get no points. They do it for speeding mainly. Something really nasty, I don’t think they will let you slide. You have to talk to the proscutor on the side, not the judge in front of the court.
[quote]UB07 wrote:
ask for the calibration papers for his radar gun on hte day you were pulled over. they have to give that to you. if it was not callibrated, or not done properly, then you have a good shot. [/quote]
That rarely helps. Radar Units have to be calibrated regularly by a company that services them(every 6 months in my neck of the woods). That is a major priority and always gets done…otherwise the massive speeding fines disappear and the bosses and political hacks get very pissed.
The individual officer also has to test the unit before it is working. This doesnt take much(in my area there is no required paperwork) and it only requires that the officer say in court “Yes I calibrated the box by doing x, y and z”.
Then you’re beat. Thats another one of those bs tips the weenie lawyers like to spread around to sell “get out of speeding ticket” books.
I even had a lawyer tell me that the tuning forks I used were too old(used to calibrate the radar). Never mind that they worked just fine. I literally laughed in his face and asked him if he wanted to explain to his client why that defense cost him $750 when the judge laughs too. Watch the lawyers. Most aren’t worth a damn.(By the way, I gave his client a good break anyway as he was a polite and decent guy when I stopped him and I felt bad he wasted his money on the weasel who came up with such a bullshit defense).
Damn ticket quotas.
When I first got my license I was definetly a leadfoot. I got pulled over twice. Both times I was polite and had all my papers ready before the officer even got to the car.
The first time was for 46 in a 30. But the officer let me go because I was driving my dad’s car and he has a paramedic license plate. I think the officer and I talked for a good 5 minutes about my dad and being a paramedic.
The second time I was coming home at like 2am the morning before I was leaving to go to college. I was driving home (on the same road that I got pulled over for doing 46 in a 30) and was doing a little over 40. A cop drives by in the other direction but continues on his way over the top of a hill. For some reason I just thought he was gonna come after me. So like an idiot I took off because I was only about 1 min from home. I can see the cop catching up to me so I slow it back down but when he catches up to me he just follows me. I get to my neighborhood and turn in and what do you know he turns on the lights. He told me I was doing 60-65 and all about how its a manadatory suspension for doing 35 over the speed limit and all. Just saying everything he could to scare the shit out of me. But I was polite and told him I was sorry and I was just excited because I was starting college the next day at Penn State. He told me that if he ever catches me speeding again that I would basically be screwed. Then he tells me good luck at school. So I definetly cant complain about the cops around here but I do agree that being polite is your best chance out of a ticket.
[quote]Panther1015 wrote:
A word of warning to anyone venturing into Northern VA - Fairfax county cops are worse than the guy that pulled you over in Boston. Believe me, a lot of them have a reputation for being anal retentive.
Last November, I’m driving down the Capitol Beltway after an 11 hour day. This highway has a 65 MPH speed limit, but most drivers go around 75-80. So here I am cruising at around 70-75 mph along with traffic when a cop merges onto the highway right beside me. I happen to pass him since he’s accelerating onto the highway, but because I’m the closest car to him, he pulls my ass over and writes me a $119 ticket. Like you, my record was virtually spotless before this happened and it definitely did a number to my insurance. Fuckers…[/quote]
Watch out for the po-po on the Fairfax County Parkway.
If you are heading south towards Burke, halfway between Burke and the Fox Mill exit (about 15 min in either direction) there is a non descript car parked in a neighboorhood that connects right to the parkway. The car has it’s hood up (as if faking mechanical repair) with a cop holding a radar gun between the hood and the engine. 3 more, all on bikes, hid behind that car. They straight slay people out there.
God I hate the FCPD with a passion. Dectors are illegal in VA too. If you get one, make sure you get one that shuts of the 2nd radar is detected.
[quote]hoosierdaddy wrote:
Watch out for the po-po on the Fairfax County Parkway.
If you are heading south towards Burke, halfway between Burke and the Fox Mill exit (about 15 min in either direction) there is a non descript car parked in a neighboorhood that connects right to the parkway. The car has it’s hood up (as if faking mechanical repair) with a cop holding a radar gun between the hood and the engine. 3 more, all on bikes, hid behind that car. They straight slay people out there.
God I hate the FCPD with a passion. Dectors are illegal in VA too. If you get one, make sure you get one that shuts of the 2nd radar is detected.
[/quote]
I know EXACTLY where you’re talking about. That’s been a favorite spot of their’s for years. I think ever since that fatal accident w/ some family from NY about 3 years ago. Totally understandable. They should really consider putting a stoplight there.
lol I am a cop out in Denver. I am not a traffic cop so I do not have quotas for tickets.
I pull people over all kinds of things so I can see if they are wanted, if the car is stolen, if there are drugs inside the car, anything that well let me see if I can get a asshole off the streets. I could give a rats ass if you have a headlight out or if your going over the speed limit by 15 or so.
There was a poster that stated he got a ticket for a air freshner hanging off the rear view mirror…thats classic but I would never write on that but that does give me a reason to stop the car and contact the parties inside.
When I pull someone over about 90% of the time I have already decided to give them a warning on the traffic violation…but sometimes that changes when the person I pulled over opens their big fat mouths. As soon as I hear an excuse the ticket pad comes out unless its a really funny one.
And most of the cops I know are the same way…except the ones that love traffic, for some reason they get their nut writing tickets. Dont get me wrong they are good guys I am sure but there focus is the traffic violations mine is getting a bad guy from the traffic violations.
If you get a ticket and you were breaking the law…then you deserve the ticket bottom line.
I hate people that I meet off duty and start telling me about how they shouldnt have gotten a ticket because everyone around them was going faster…All I say is “were you speeding” they say “yes” then I say whats the problem?
Or district did some neighborhood surveys about the what we could do to make the communities safer. You know what the overwhelming response was TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT not burgleries or murders, or assualts. Traffic but as soon as I pull someone over I hear this…“how come your not out busting drug dealers, or catching rapiests, why are you just picking on me”. It really makes my blood boil…I would really like to say…“well shithead I am stuck doing traffic enforcement because the community called and complained that were are not doing enough to stop the people from running stop signs…thats why I am pulling your dumbass over and I am not out having fun catching crackheads and doing attempt pickups on real bad guys that need to be put in jail…so shut up and pay your fucking ticket and dont run stop signs.”
Hmm now I am all pissed off before I go to work, my luck is ill go in and they will want me to traffic enforcement tonight…aarrrgghhh
Mag
Being a female helps in these situations. I’d better go knock on wood now!!
i don’t have a problem with the fine it’s the insurance part that gets me. i am a safe driver . there’s so many gran tourismo freaks out there my driving motto has become leave early and lay back.
so anyway i don’t have any intention of trying to beat the ticket. but is it realistic that i could get the points thing thrown out ? and if so how should i do it ? right now i’m just gonna be polite and straight up ask " will you please reduce the speed 1 mph so i don’t lose points? i’ll happily pay the entire amount. "
you guys that have been there : do i have to have a reason or an arguement or can i simply ask just like that ?
Based on the fact that this is your first ‘moving violation’ I think that is a reasonable request. Just be polite when you ask…good luck! I’ve never had one and i’d feel just like you do!
[quote]swivel wrote:
i don’t have a problem with the fine it’s the insurance part that gets me. i am a safe driver . there’s so many gran tourismo freaks out there my driving motto has become leave early and lay back.
so anyway i don’t have any intention of trying to beat the ticket. but is it realistic that i could get the points thing thrown out ? and if so how should i do it ? right now i’m just gonna be polite and straight up ask " will you please reduce the speed 1 mph so i don’t lose points? i’ll happily pay the entire amount. "
you guys that have been there : do i have to have a reason or an arguement or can i simply ask just like that ? [/quote]
Honestly, thats your best bet. If your driving history is pretty clean, you should be fine and get the reduced charge in most places. I have seen a few jurisdictions where they do not make deals at all (I believe this is to keep the size of the court list down), but they are the exception, not the rule.
There are also a few cops who won’t downgrade anything no matter what. These guys usually have some issues, to be frank. Nothing you can do if thats what you got stuck with.
I thought getting your papers out beforehand was a no-no because the cop doesn’t want to see you reaching around for stuff in your car. You might be pulling out a gun. Or am I just nuts?
[quote]cjs1034 wrote:
Both times I was polite and had all my papers ready before the officer even got to the car.
[/quote]
You know whats as bad as speeding tickets? Seat belt tickets. I’ve said that before. You get pulled over because someone thinks you are a crackhead driving a stolen car going 5 over. When he finds out you are a normal guy he drops the speeding and gives you seatbelt ticket. Because they make a lot of revenue also. Where I live they are no points so you could get like 5000 of them and finance every highway in the county. I believe you can’t dispute them, and I wonder how they know if you had one on and took it off or put it on after or what, but everytime I get pulled over and have it on I don’t get a ticket and every time I I’ve gotten a ticket they were right, I wasn’t wearing one. Last time I got pulled over on the highway as they were doing chip and seal and I asked the cop why they didn’t use the money to pave it and he said even with all the revenue it was still too expensive. I like his answer, but he still gave me a ticket and gave my wife one too without even asking her identity or for her id. The lesson I took from that was that you are responsible for the people in your car being buckled up.
[quote]Magma299 wrote:
If you get a ticket and you were breaking the law…then you deserve the ticket bottom line.
I hate people that I meet off duty and start telling me about how they shouldnt have gotten a ticket because everyone around them was going faster…All I say is “were you speeding” they say “yes” then I say whats the problem?
[/quote]
Going significantly slower than the prevailing traffic speed is highly unsafe. Numerous studies show that drivers going 10mph below the prevailing traffic speed are about 6 times more likely to get into an accident than those driving at the prevailing speed.
That doesn’t mean driving 10mph below prevailing speed is six times more dangerous, since people who drive that slow tend to be bad drivers to begin with, but it’s still highly unsafe. Check out the crash risk curve at SENSE - Is speed killing us? (ICBC Traffic Tickets) .
This is in line with most of the studies I’ve seen. So in many places obeying the law is risking your life.
[quote]larryb wrote:
Magma299 wrote:
If you get a ticket and you were breaking the law…then you deserve the ticket bottom line.
I hate people that I meet off duty and start telling me about how they shouldnt have gotten a ticket because everyone around them was going faster…All I say is “were you speeding” they say “yes” then I say whats the problem?
Going significantly slower than the prevailing traffic speed is highly unsafe. Numerous studies show that drivers going 10mph below the prevailing traffic speed are about 6 times more likely to get into an accident than those driving at the prevailing speed.
That doesn’t mean driving 10mph below prevailing speed is six times more dangerous, since people who drive that slow tend to be bad drivers to begin with, but it’s still highly unsafe. Check out the crash risk curve at SENSE - Is speed killing us? (ICBC Traffic Tickets) .
This is in line with most of the studies I’ve seen. So in many places obeying the law is risking your life.[/quote]
oh yeah totally. on the pike in the morning once you get past say framingham or so you cannot do less than 80 it’s too dangerous !
Heading west on the NYSThruway yesterday, I was matching traffic speed for much of the way and we were all going 80+. I drive MUCH faster now than I used to (I consider 80 my standard cruising speed), but haven’t had a ticket in years (and I used to get lots).
I don’t know if I’m just lucky or if my strategies work: keep in right lane except to pass; don’t be distracted by radio or conversation but keep scanning the horizon and the rear-view mirror for any car that might be a cop; try to be only the second-fastest car on the road; don’t get into races: when some car comes speeding up behind me, just get out of his way and let HIM become wht “sweeper.”
Whenever I DO get stopped, I know it’s for something illegal. I’m polite, I let the officer tell me what I was doing wrong (I never come out and say “Oh yeah, officer, I was doing my Dale Earnhardt impression!”), and I always agree with his judgment. I think being older now also helps them decide to let me go without a ticket.