Got pulled over last night on 152 on the way home

Did you have protection?
(ValentineOne)

PS. The Mazda hatch is a handsome car, pretty neat dynamically, too.

 

I was hit for 92 in a 65 the other week. I roll my window down and put hands out the window as he approaches, was very cordial and polite, but the officer was a jackass and wrote me up for the full speed.

Fighting it of course, and I will win.

But I told the officer I had a BIG problem with the speed! "I was doing AT LEAST 100! Come on!" (in my 750 doing approximately a buck twenty but slowed down a bit 5 miles before my exit, as I got complacient. If I hadn't slowed, he'd never have caught me.)

For all law enforcement types, speeds are in kilometers. For the rest of us, guess )

 

Ben, hes a jackass for writing you up for 92 when you were over 100?
I am confused.

 

The max speed he paced me at was 92.

Wrote me up for full speed, was very rude, derogatory, etc. while I was being a perfect gentleman.


I thought I'd try to get a laugh out of him at the end with the 100 comment. He didn't. Oh well.

PS: this was about 2:30am totally empty road, I know the law but rather feel I have the right to risk my own life if I want to, had full control of the vehicle in question, etc. No need for this nonsence.

 

NEVER say ANYTHING to the cop! Do not answere ANY questions. Just be polite and ask the officer if he IS or IS NOT going to give you a ticket. They will use everything against you in court. If by radar, get the make and serial # of the system. The manufacturer will not give you any detailed information as to servicing and recalls. I beat two speeding tickets this way in the past six years. One ticket was thrown out because the officer refused to give me the data on the radar system and the other was thrown out due to lack of QA information from the radar manufacturer, thus the CHP was unable to prove the reliability of the device.

PS: You had to say something to make the office write you up for the full speed. Thats pathetic!

 

Peter, Sounds like you know what you are talking about. Are you a lawyer?
To understand your advice, if he asks a specific question do you ignore it, tell him you refuse to answer or what? It seems like asking him if he is going to write you up would only encourage some kinds of officers. I like the radar info question though, good idea.

 

LOL- @ peter.

you are asking to be written up each time. BTW, only if they use radar, which is more and more rare, can that be held against you in court.

The more honest and forthcoming you are, the eaiser they will be more often then not.

They have a job to do. You are breaking the law. NO matter how you look at it, the law is being broken. They did not write it, they just enforce it.

 

Not if Ben was written up for CVC22350 which is a basic speed law and states:

"No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property."

2:30 AM, no one on the road unless it was pouring and/or there was a heavy fog to distort visibility, one should be able to defend against this ticket and win.

Edit: And forget being nice or humorous, the officer is only looking for a few things to feel safe, need to see your hands at all times and they do not like any sudden moves (they might think you're going after your piece). They have no sense of humor. If they have decided to write you up there is nothing to change their mind.

 

Do you really think a judge will let that go? 27 mph over the limit? And his statements, even as a joke, were most likely written on the back of the officers ticket. Willing to bet the officer will bring that up in court if it is fought.

So, Ben, was it 22350 or 22349?

 

Man...you all have a serious view of these guys. I hope next time we are all at GKR the guys I went on the ride-a-long are there. They are some of nicest people I have ever met. Yes, there are dick cops, but i think its like that old addage. Treat a customer nice and he tells 1-2 people. Treat a customer bad he tells 10.

Cop i went with let more then one person go, with this statement.

Honesty is the best policy, how fast were you going?
85
yep, thats what i paced you at.
Slow down.
Have a nice night.

more then once.
Always buckle up though. Thats a ticket you can not fight, and they love to write.

 

The burden of proof is on the prosecuting side. Now if Ben was paced it is different story but if he was caught speeding with radar evidence there are ways of getting out of it as Peters has stated. But in general the officer has to proof if Ben was driving 92 MPH he was being unsafe and was endangering others.

I don't doubt you have met nice police officers. I am not saying they are bad people they are doing their job. It's just an unfortunate circumstance to meet one and think about how nice or jerk they are... their personality is irrelevant and I speak with experience. The last time I was caught speeding the CHP officer did not say anything but he caught me on radar doing whatever speed and asked for my drivers license and wrote me up. I don’t think he was a jerk except if he noticed that I was not zig zagging and endangering others he could have looked the other way. They should go after the “....” who speed up enough to get to the fast lane and then slow down to bug cars behind them. Or, people who run stop signs and red lights or endanger kids around school zones,...

Most speeding tickets are not justified and when they cannot pin you for speeding they pin you for not having front plate.

 

I have the CHP radar owner's manual if anyone needs a copy.

 

Art-

What does it say about radar at night?

 

You bet! 80% of the time, you are going to get a ticket, thus when you get a ticket, the cop is going to write up everything you say on his ticket paperwork. Why give the cop material to use against you in court? Be honest and forthcoming? : OFFICER: "Do you know how fast you were driving"? YOU: "Yes, I was driving 98 in a 55".........BUSTED! The cop takes that to court and you expect you will have a leg to stand on? I think not!

Save your arguments for the judge, not the cop.

 

I am not a lawyer. If asked a specific question, I simply say "Are you going to give me a citation or are you going to let me go?"...PERIOD! A couple of friends of mine that are CHP's and hate when the people they pull over don't say anything (as I have done). In a case where the officer feels he may lose a court case and the defendant did not answer any of the questions, the officer may pass on giving a citation. NO cop likes to lose a case in court, especially when his cop buddies are there, all winning their cases!

 

Red:

the units have two modes: largest target, fastest target. It makes it very, very difficult to ID the vehicle with the reading at night. Officer has to be very careful when using. Usually on a roadway with one target, no problem. When multiple targets, it can be a problem.

 

Maybe in Cali, but you as the def. are not privy to that info in good ole Maryland.

 

You have the Stalker Dual and/or Stalker Dual SL users manual? PLease send it my way

 

My thoughts, not that anyone here cares.

People. That’s all they are. I respect them, even though I have been treated poorly by them in the past. They have a tough job. Imagine walking to one of your subordinates cube to make sure they are complying with company policy to have a gun pulled on you.
Why are they on edge? Imagine that. Each and every time they witness someone breaking what some call a joke, but most respect as the LAW, they put their lives on their line. Go to Google and type in Jeffery Fontana. A friend, who was a cop, and killed in the line of duty. And he was just "tailing" a car when the car ran on him. One "lucky" shot ended his life as he was leaving his patrol car.

Ben, I respect the fact that you were doing the right things when the cop pulled you over. Maybe you went a bit over the top. My standard M.O. is to roll down both front windows and turn on the overhead light. I then place my hands upon the steering wheel. I do not stick my hands out the window as, most of the time, they will approach on the passenger side.

But, to call the guy a jackass? Why? What if just came from a fatal and had a ton on his mind? Call me a jackass, I don’t care. But, remember, the speed limit is 65. You were 27 mph over it. You were the one breaking the law. Why should he give you a break? Cause you put your hands out the window? ?

Anyways, I guess my rant comes down to this.
Responsibility.
Coujer stated that he messed up, and "lol" about it. He accepted his faults.
Ben, you made it a fight.

You do have the right, as much as he as the right to write you for full speed. I really do hope you get out of it, as tickets do suck. But each one of my tickets, as bullsh!t as they have been, and all by city cops mind you, I have accepted. Fought one and won one. Forget about the other and went to school. All clean.


Once again, not picking on anyone person, even though it may seem that way, but I really do not understand the disrespect that out LE officers get. You **** up and it is their fault?
I guess I was raised in the 50’s.

 

Rich: I respect your views on the subject. Yes, I think I should get off because I was courteous, honest, and was not endangering anyone the officer is intrusted and bound to protect or serve. "You broke the law"..even if it is unjust. Boo ****ing hoo! I'm also a felon just for owning a .22LR target pistol that someone could shove 11 rounds into. Think I should go to jail for 5 years for that?


I was violating a stupid law, that he in my opinion should not have enforced. Furthermore, I do not belive the officer was acting in the best intrests of his community and binding duty to protect and serve by tiying up 2 hours of his paid time in writing me up. If he were Sinclair Media, and I were James, I'd have something actionable


You assume I made it a fight, that is not the case at all. Let me give you the full sequence of events.

I pulled over, turned on dome light, put hands just out the window so he could see both clearly were not doing anything that was going to result in either of us not going home tonite. (not way out like "hands up".)

Officer: "Do you know why I stoped you?" (innane ****ing question. But I'll play along. If I'm cordial and show I'm not a ****bag maybe he'll be cordial and show he's not a ****bag too.)

Me:"Yeah, I was going too fast. Sorry." Simple, honest, not insulting or manipulating in any way.

Officer: "I had to do 120 to catch you, Lic and Registration please?"

Me: "Here you are sir" <tenders documents as requested>

Officer: "Ok, the county of marin is going to suspend your driver's license, and I could impound your vehicle because it is not registered in your name" Idle threatening bull****, who teh **** does he think he's dealing with, some ignorant teenage moron? Exactly. Ok, well, he's still not going to get my goat.

Me: "Sir, The vehicle is my company car, said company of which I hold more than 51% intrest, and as such have permission to drive it."

Officer: "I am writing you up for the full speed, 92mph." <hands over ticket>

Me: "Ok, I've got a big problem with the speed now, I was doing at least 100, c'mon man!" I figure I'd at least tell a joke and get him to laugh. Guess he wasn't in a humerous mood that night.

Guess I dissapointed him by not wetting my pants or crying like a little girl or something.


Rich, your argument about what they have to deal with does not hold water. I have a friend in the CHP. He is a good person, and the kind of **** he has to deal with on a daily basis makes me sick. He is also part of an orginization that on a daily basis tries to place their lives between people like us and murders/rapists, etc. That does NOT give that group of people the right to terrorize me, or shake me down for money, nor will I stand one ****ing inch for it.


But that does NOT give him the excuse to treat other people badly, any more than having a bad day at work gives the drunk executive the right to beat his wife.

Yes, I did **** up. I should have cranked up to 130!

Ticket was for 22349 and should not get far through the system. Since the matter is not yet closed I don't want to say more on a public forum.

 

This is an intresting principle, let's take it to an extreme real fast. I do not belive I was hurting anyone in what I did, therefore why is it 'wrong?' If it is not wrong but merely illegal, then is the law then by definition wrong?

What do I serve by obeying unjust laws? What does the officer do on the spectrum of morality by enforcing an unjust law?

Ok, come on, it's a law against friggin speeding not signing, yes, all well and good. But is my principle less sound?

 

Officer: "Do you know why I stoped you?"