real life cop encounter....got a speeding ticket

[SandEagle]

well, i got a speeding ticket just a few hours ago after going 7 years without one. i was driving down a stretch of highway at night in a construction zone. it's a 2 lane highway where the normal speed limit is 65mph and 55 mph during construction. the right lane had concrete barriers lined up next to it, the left did not.

anyway, i decided to drive on the left side as i didn't want to drive next to the concrete barriers. for some reason, they don't leave enough room to the road and i don't want to risk losing control and hitting the barrier. so i'm going about 60 in the left lane, roads are dead because its late at night. some jackhole going 70 tails me instead going around me. i just keep going thinking he's going to go around me. nope, after about 2 miles, he highbeams me to move. i speed up to overtake a car to get over and that's when a cop hiding somewhere clocks me and pulls me over. fack.

cop was surprising extremely polite. i expected him to tell me to stfu and point his gun at me. after i told him my side of the story, he apologized but still gave me a citation for going 17 over. he said he was going to waive doubling the fine for speeding in a construction zone. gee, thanks for nothing pal. now i'm going to be out a hundred bucks.

i have video of the guy tailing me. should i plead not guilty and take this evidence to court? should i just pay the fine and say fack it? somehow i have a feeling the cop is partially to blame for this. what should i do?

 

[apac]

Your fault, you do not need to speed up to move over for someone tailing you. Either move over earlier, or take a little extra time to get clear of anyone in the other lane. It's pretty obvious when someone comes up behind you if they'd like you to move over, without waiting for high beams.

Or, do what I do and ignore asshole tailgaters. I'll move over for polite people, but if you pull up to three feet from my car and start flashing your high beams I'm putting my mirror on night mode and staying the same damn speed.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Reminds me of advice I heard once before. It seems like it was just recently stated...
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33884653&postcount=8



Too bad about the gun.

 

[lxskllr]

Or, do what I do and ignore asshole tailgaters. I'll move over for polite people, but if you pull up to three feet from my car and start flashing your high beams I'm putting my mirror on night mode and staying the same damn speed.

Or do what I do, and drop it into 3rd gear. That gets their attention fast :^D

 

[MomentsofSanity]

You can go to court, but you'd lose. "I was speeding because of the guy behind me" is one of the most common excuses. It doesn't work. Be glad you didn't get the cite for construction zone and carry on.

 

[JEDIYoda]

wawawawawawawawawaaaaaaaaa

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Were you cited for unsafe speed or exceeding the maximum speed limit? If its the first one, those are easier to fight since they need to prove your unsafe speed was endangering someones life.

 

[rommelrommel]

So he cut the fine in half and you're bitching? Please take this to court so the judge can reinstate the whole fine.

 

[Newbian]

So he cut the fine in half and you're bitching? Please take this to court so the judge can reinstate the whole fine.

This.

You were caught speeding and only have yourself to blame.

 

[dmcowen674]

real life cop encounter....got a speeding ticket

well, i got a speeding ticket just a few hours ago after going 7 years without one. i was driving down a stretch of highway at night in a construction zone. it's a 2 lane highway where the normal speed limit is 65mph and 55 mph during construction. the right lane had concrete barriers lined up next to it, the left did not.

anyway, i decided to drive on the left side as i didn't want to drive next to the concrete barriers. for some reason, they don't leave enough room to the road and i don't want to risk losing control and hitting the barrier. so i'm going about 60 in the left lane, roads are dead because its late at night. some jackhole going 70 tails me instead going around me. i just keep going thinking he's going to go around me. nope, after about 2 miles, he highbeams me to move. i speed up to overtake a car to get over and that's when a cop hiding somewhere clocks me and pulls me over. fack.

cop was surprising extremely polite. i expected him to tell me to stfu and point his gun at me. after i told him my side of the story, he apologized but still gave me a citation for going 17 over. he said he was going to waive doubling the fine for speeding in a construction zone. gee, thanks for nothing pal. now i'm going to be out a hundred bucks.

i have video of the guy tailing me. should i plead not guilty and take this evidence to court? should i just pay the fine and say fack it? somehow i have a feeling the cop is partially to blame for this. what should i do?

You are a danger on the road and should not be driving

 

[sportage]

Always plead not guilty. There is a 50 50 chance the officer will not show up.
I've won twice on the grounds of no show by the ticketing officer.

 

[BUTCH1]

Barriers or not you've got no business traveling 60 out left, you asking to get tailgated then you take your sweet ass time getting over, if you had done so quickly the car tailgating you would have run into the radar gun, not you. I call 'em my "scout cars" LOL..

 

[OBLAMA2009]

well, i got a speeding ticket just a few hours ago after going 7 years without one. i was driving down a stretch of highway at night in a construction zone. it's a 2 lane highway where the normal speed limit is 65mph and 55 mph during construction. the right lane had concrete barriers lined up next to it, the left did not.

anyway, i decided to drive on the left side as i didn't want to drive next to the concrete barriers. for some reason, they don't leave enough room to the road and i don't want to risk losing control and hitting the barrier. so i'm going about 60 in the left lane, roads are dead because its late at night. some jackhole going 70 tails me instead going around me. i just keep going thinking he's going to go around me. nope, after about 2 miles, he highbeams me to move. i speed up to overtake a car to get over and that's when a cop hiding somewhere clocks me and pulls me over. fack.

cop was surprising extremely polite. i expected him to tell me to stfu and point his gun at me. after i told him my side of the story, he apologized but still gave me a citation for going 17 over. he said he was going to waive doubling the fine for speeding in a construction zone. gee, thanks for nothing pal. now i'm going to be out a hundred bucks.

i have video of the guy tailing me. should i plead not guilty and take this evidence to court? should i just pay the fine and say fack it? somehow i have a feeling the cop is partially to blame for this. what should i do?

just pay it without wasting any time/energy on it and do online traffic school. courts dont care what the facts are, you have no chance of winning your case. if your state only charges $100 for a speeding ticket youre lucky, if you got that ticket in california youd pay $500

i recently got a nonmoving violation for not being able to find my insurance/registration (it was on the backseat underneath stuff) and he wrote me up for a $50 fixit ticket. it was basically a nuisance ticket. i went to court and tried to schedule a trial knowing the cop wouldnt show up for it and the judge refused to give me a trial date saying i had to just pay the fixit fine. i think that probably violated my constitutional right but i have too many things to do to spend time fighting about that. i would have been better off not going to court in the first place

 

[Sinsear]

I wish the fine was higher.

 

[Kalvin00]

Jesus christ, what a fucking pathetic baby you are.

WAAAA HAVE SYMPATHY FOR ME EVERYBODY

Act like a grown up and take responsibility for the fact you were speeding.

 

[Udgnim]

now i'm going to be out a hundred bucks.

got a speeding ticket July of last year

think the officer clocked me at 83 in a 65 limit. my fine was ~$500, San Diego area.

officer just showed me his radar gun and asked for license & registration

 

[Broheim]

so you didn't even have the balls to tell him how you really feel. way to champion the (cop hating) cause...

also, troll troll troll your boat

 

[Raizinman]

Barriers or not you've got no business traveling 60 out left, you asking to get tailgated then you take your sweet ass time getting over, if you had done so quickly the car tailgating you would have run into the radar gun, not you. I call 'em my "scout cars" LOL..

This!
The law is that you drive in the right lane unless passing or exiting. Quite often the police will ticket people for just driving along in the left lane. You should have been in the right lane, you should not have been speeding, especially in a work zone. If you don't know how to drive next to barriers, or orange barrels or cones in the road, you need to take a driving course.

If the cop was really an asshole, he could have gotten you for:
1) Speeding
2) Excessive speed in a work zone
3) Driving in the wrong lane

Most police officers can easily find 3 or 4 more things to write a ticket for on pretty much any car, whether it is excessive tint, loud exhaust, or bulb burnt out. Feel lucky with what you got.

 

[LTC8K6]

Amazing that they let you off on the construction zone part. In fact, it's unbelievable. They focus on those zones.

If you were rally clocked going that fast in a construction zone, then you are incredibly lucky to only owe $100.

What about your insurance rates?

 

[DrPizza]

Always plead not guilty. There is a 50 50 chance the officer will not show up.
I've won twice on the grounds of no show by the ticketing officer.

I guarantee that the judge will know that it was written in a construction zone but that the officer waived that part. There's also a 50 50 chance that the officer DOES show up & the judge decides to nail you with the highest allowable fine, since it was a construction zone.

This!
The law is that you drive in the right lane unless passing or exiting. Quite often the police will ticket people for just driving along in the left lane. You should have been in the right lane, you should not have been speeding, especially in a work zone. If you don't know how to drive next to barriers, or orange barrels or cones in the road, you need to take a driving course.

If the cop was really an asshole, he could have gotten you for:
1) Speeding
2) Excessive speed in a work zone
3) Driving in the wrong lane

Most police officers can easily find 3 or 4 more things to write a ticket for on pretty much any car, whether it is excessive tint, loud exhaust, or bulb burnt out. Feel lucky with what you got.

That's only the law in certain states. Not all states have that law. Further, in some construction zones, there is a solid white line the entire length of the construction zone - no lane changing allowed. While I don't know if they have these in all states, I've seen them in several.

 

[allisolm]

Sandeagle got a ticket - one given by a polite policeman just doing his job. Karma. Love it.

 

[LookBehindYou]

I believe this is the necessary reply:

obey the law.

 

[squirrel dog]

plead quilty with a comment.Explain your side and hope for the best.

 

[sourceninja]

Always plead not guilty. There is a 50 50 chance the officer will not show up.
I've won twice on the grounds of no show by the ticketing officer.

In my state there is a 100% chance the officer will show up. They will reschedule to his day (the day he spends in court for traffic tickets) and that's the day your real court date is scheduled.

 

[Lifted]

i have video of the guy tailing me.

And not of your encounter with the police?

Shens.