Got a Speeding Ticket Today :(

Hey Art I bought that "unique" item, want to buy it back? Haha toolbag

 

Not long ago a kid was nabbed from a schoolbus stop near here. Before any citizens knew what was happening, going about their usual afternoon routine, the streets were swarming with police officers, the air was filled with helicopters, the airwaves across the state were buzzing.....all on a 100% balls-to-the-wall mission to get that kid back. I don't doubt for a second that if a gunfight confrontation came to be those officers would have laid down their lives to fight for that kid.
It was successful thank God, and no one was hurt.
When the Towers cames down firefighters AND police lost lives trying to save all those bankers....
If one of my kids is in danger someday I thank God that we have an organized socitey that can support a real police force to help protect my family.
I am not a police officer, in fact I don't have any family members that are police officers either. I used to kick-box with an officer, and he was a standup guy (though he nearly broke my jaw once!)
I haven't received a ticket in nearly 20 years, not because I am a saint (I am ashamed to admit that I have been known to drive like a complete idiot when the red-haze takes over), but becuase I have never actually done anything too outlandish, and because on those few instances I was pulled over I was completely honest, respectful and non-threatening.
I suspect someone who constantly has "run-ins" with the law...deserves it; and isn't being honest enough to tell the whole story here (and by the way, don't bother to, we really don't want to hear it).
I really think blanket statements about the Police and Police bashing on the internet is childishness of the highest order. It really speaks volumes about the intelligence and maturity of the poster.

 

Who runs in when you bashers are running out? Police and FIre! Well said Maser!

 

Start your poll and let's find out!!! Scared? Do you know deep down you have a problem? Let's see there are about 4 people in this entire thread that agree with YOUR views---about 30 that agree with mine----you do the math ...

 

4 ?? you think that many? I gotta go reread this.

 

This thread amazes me.

It has brought out the best and worst in many of the folks on this site.

You folks who like to give the cops a hard time should be thankful you do not live in Germany. You NEVER give the Polizei ANY guff. You NEVER speak unless spoken to, no matter how wrong you think they are. That uTUBE tazing would never see the light of day in a courtroom here except to give the Tazee a bit of jail time or community service or losing their license. Interfering with an officer in the performance of their duty, or something like that comes to mind.

If stopped by the Polizei they will only ask/tell you to do something twice; once in German and once in English (or any other language they may speak. Many have "cop-stop-speak" down in 4 or 5 languages). If nothing elicits the asked/directed reaction within a moment or two then they will calmly and very quickly extract you right out of the car via the window, breaking it if required, and help you land on your head. Even the cute, blonde, 100lb female Polizei officers can and will break you in half like a shotgun if you do not immediately comply. "Un-necessary roughness" doesn't exist here, and forget completely about getting a first down (winning a law suit).

Steve King has it right along with some others. Be polite and respectful and do what the cop says immediately regardless of situation or the way the cop handles him or herself. The only way you can beat a "bad stop" is in the courtroom. Doing something stupid and getting yourself to the courtroom via a hospital pit-stop is not going to impress a judge to your point of view. Remember a US cop never wants to use a weapon (baton, tazer, firearm) as the paperwork required to document its use on your stupid A** is just incredible.

I have talked my way out of a few tickets (and one trip to jail) over the years when I lived in The States by just being respectful, polite and doing exactly what the officer told me to do immediately. Never tried being an A*****E to see if that made a difference in the "Win-Walk/Loss-Ticket" category, but then again, why screw with a successful winning strategy?

Never give the officer a reason to misinterpret you and then accidently overreact.

Think About It.

mwr4440

 

That is why we are all glad we don't live in such a Gof-forsaken hole as that.......
We may complain, but we know we live in the best country in the world!

 

Some of us do. I think others should spend some time in third world countries and see it their "rights" are respected.

 

Sorry mate, but where have you been?! No one will EVER pull you out of your car, they'd have to face one hell of a trouble if they treated you with physical violence (as long as you don't start it...) Every time I encountered the police over here they've been friendly, I have never heard of anyone having to face violence from the Polizei... and I know some guys who have been in serious trouble with the law Don't know if your tale is meant ironic, but it's just... well.... plain wrong. German police is no different from the rest of Europe or the US...

 

There are several types of cops out there. Those that enforce the speed laws, in my humble opinion, work for the insurance carriers, and act accordingly. The problem with that job is that generally, speeding isn't a dangerous deal. Going 85 on a freeway designed for 90, but posted for 65 is a form of toll collection. I have no objection to catching and prosecuting the DUI offender, but for the most part, traffic enforcement is pure b/s, and the officers act accordingly. I suspect that 90% of the tickets issued for speeding aren't safety related.

We have way too many police on the roadways, when they would be far better served patrolling, on foot, high crime areas. We don't for several reasons, I suspect: 1. They make money on the revenue, and 2. Patrolling the high crime areas is dangerous, and society doesn't much care about protecting the lower classes anyway, when there is money to be made.

Probably a good many officers start out with the right attitude, but after a bit of time get the in the fox hole mentality of the police, and things go downhill from there.

Art

 

time for a public service announcement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCCjFbFXn8

 

WOW Yellow360, you are severly mistaken. You apparently have no clue what it is you speak about. Cops that enforce the speed laws by no means work for the insurance companies! The whole reason why a cop enforces traffic laws is to ensure that people don't kill themselves or someone else while driving recklessly on the roads. Speeding is not a dangerous deal? What kind of remark is that. If you have car A traveling at 65 MPH and car B travelling at 65 MPH and they collide, what do you think will happen, that is not dangerous?

As far as what you "suspect" Police don't make money off of giving tickets, and not patrolling areas because they are too dangerous is ridiculous. That is why Police are out there, to protect you and your family from dangerous people. I challenge you to do this, go out on the highway as tractor trailors and other vehicles are speeding by you at 80 MPH while you stand there. That is what a highway cop does, he stands there. Have you ever seen an officer hit on the highway by vehicles? I have. You live in your own littel world with no conception of how the real world works. The Police are out there enforcing traffic laws to protect people from people like you. Your the type of yuppie who gets pulled over and thinks the world is owed to you and the cop is wrong, not you for breaking the law.

Hopefully, you will have the pleasure of being struck by a vehicle going 90 MPH someday on the freeway, then you can report to us if it is dangerous!

Mike

 

Let me guess, you are a lawyer ?

Next time a person is breaking into your house, don't call 911, call the ACLU

Regards,

Stew

 

what I would have done as an officer is explain that he legally had to sign the ticket. I am not BSing when I say this....I did not know that you have to sign a ticket, I never knew that until I saw the video. If I questioned why I had to sign the ticket the officer should have to give an explanation before he tases me don't you think. If I could tase anyone who doesn't know what I know and are irritating me because of it the whole power grid for LA would be down.

 

Better yet, let me guess, you a defense lawyer who looks for ways to get guilty people free? Ha Defense lawyers a just criminals with the means to get an education to become a lawyer.

 

And before it gets that bad and it is headed it that direction, we need to halt it.

 

If you have a car you can most likely pay a fine and will need to pay that fine to in order to keep your drivers license and make it to work to make the payment on that car. If you are a bum sleeping in the gutter you don't have a nickle to pay a fine and will be asked to move along. It really is pretty simple and I don't see how anyone else can miss that part of how the system works.

 

Just to add some facts to the issues being discussed, here is some date from 2002.
It shows that there are fewer deaths per thousand vehicles in Germany (with no speed limit) than in the USA.



http://www.scienceservingsociety.com/data.htm

Computed deaths per thousand vehicles Rank
Switzerland 0.107 1
Sweden 0.108 2
Norway 0.113 3
Netherlands 0.118 4
United Kingdom 0.118 5
Japan 0.118 6
Germany 0.128 7
Australia 0.138 8
Iceland 0.144 9
New Zealand 0.149 10
Canada 0.153 11
Finland 0.159 12
Austria 0.179 13
Luxembourg 0.182 14
Denmark 0.187 15
USA 0.190 16
Portugal 0.192 17
Ireland 0.203 18
Spain 0.213 19
France 0.216 20
Slovenia 0.257 21
Czech Republic 0.331 22
Slovak Republic 0.333 23
Poland 0.375 24
Hungary 0.480 25
Republic of Korea 0.485 26
Belgium #VALUE! 27
Turkey #VALUE! 28
Greece 29
Italy 30


It

 

What is the point? That we should not have a speed limit?

 

No, but we should have a reasonable one.

 

Reasonable speed limits are fine, but we are speaking about the lawyer above who thinks that cops should not be out enforcing the traffic laws and that the police work for the insurance companies. But then again, alot of people can not drive and are busy doing so many other things while driving that they can not pay attention.

What it boils down to is that there is a speed limit, if you break it and get caught, oh well deal with it. How many times did you break it and get away with it? Exactly

 

the faster you the more attention you pay to whats going on. If the power that be want to collect even bigger revenue make 2 lanes right down the middle of every interstate and have no speedlimit on them. Charge a thousand dollars a year for a permit to use them. have a waiver to sign away any liability if something happens while you are using those lanes. I will be the first person to sign up and order a S65 right afterwards. Florida to New York in 8 hours, I'm ready, would do it every weekend.

this would open up the economy across the country. Just think of the land values outside of LA if you could travel at 125-150 mph.

 

Wow, I see some pretty way out there people coming into this discussion.

First off, I dont like crazy drivers. Speeding in and of itself isnt a problem, but excessive speed in areas with low speed limits is crazy, so no excuse. I live on a 30 MPH street. Everyone thinks its a freakin dragstrip. I grew up in a Duluth Mn. Boy, driving like a nut would pi$$ people off so bad you hoped the cops found you first. I knew people that had car windows broken and tires slashed for pi$$ing people off for driving like an idiot. Im not arguing that its right, just that people dont like whacko drivers. If you can go over 60 MPH in a 30 MPH zone and not know how fast you were driving, you need to go back to drivers ED.

Second, anyone who thinks speeding tickets arent ALL about revenue, and NOTHING about safety, needs thier head examined.

As for police officers, I personally think we could do with a lot less of them. Of all I have known or ever met in my life, maybe 5% of them were what I would consider decent human beings. It used to be state troopers were the greatest. Now there just another cop. Everything has become so intolerant. Kids get no breaks whatsoever. Drinking, they are ALWAYS arrested. Speeding, they are ALWAYS ticketed. Its like the show COPS. I cant watch it, it just starts to make my blood boil. Yeah, there are icky people out there, no doubt. But the enforcement of so many laws ISNT HELPING. Legalise drugs, leave people alone, go after real criminals.

Steveny 360, I wouldnt have sat there and let some cop tell me anything unless I was under arrest. BS. I would have told her I'm leaving, have a nice day. If you want to take a statement, come to my home. This total authority crap is just that. Its crap.

As to the thread stating all the things weve been "allowed" to do in the last 50 odd years, most of them were all "rights" we already had that were taken away by the lefties back in the 20's and 30's. So dont make a big deal about giving us back something we shouldnt have ever had taken away in the first place. As for civil rights, well DUH!, all men were CREATED equal. As for womens right to vote, I dont really care, as statistics have proven it hasnt changed the way the country votes. Im glad they have the right, I just dont think it changed anything.

 

Some good points there. At any point in this thread when I have pointed out my dislike of posted speed limits I must clarify something.

I live in the sticks, there are no housing developments. There are few residential 30 MPH zones. Those zones that are 30 are patrolled like crazy. You would have to be nuts to speed in a 30 zone ...WHERE THERE ARE HOUSES AROUND...Not a 30 zone just because it is a convenient place to trap people.

When I am ranting about not having proper speed limits I am talking about I-10,,,I-95 those types of roads. The lucky duck roads, where everyone is do 90 mph and the lucky duck of the bunch happens to get picked for a ticket. Those roads should have a 100+ MPH lane for people to get around this country and be able to commute quickly from state to state.

 

I like to think that drivers should be responsible for their own actions.
If you are in a school or residential area, you should drive at a speed that is prudent for the conditions.
On an empty interstate or back road, you should be able to let your ride stretch it's legs, should you feel like it.

Since, this is unlikely to happen, I would much rather see the speed limits set by engineers, than politicians with an agenda.
The "Speed Kills" argument sounds politically correct, but is lacking on substance.

I have seen data that low speed limits cause inattentive driving, and therefore more accidents.
Low speed limits may be the driving force for our need for multiple cup holders, in dash DVD players, car phones, and all the other crap that we have time to screw around with when we should be paying attention to the road.