bdgdl08

I went to court on Monday for my careless driving ticket. The officer did show up, which I was very disappointed with. He testified, and said that he was doing paperwork and heard tires screeching consistent with taking a corner too fast. He then said that he saw a WHITE mercedes come around the corner. He said that he pulled out and I immediately slowed down (which I did not). He also said that the delayed the stop because f a light and a bridge (which were both plenty far away). The judge asked him if he was able to estimate a speed for me, which he stated as 30-35mph. The judge asked what the speed limit was: 35mph. He said that I admitted to being careless when he stopped me (which I did not). He did say that I was very polite and that he noted that in his report.

I then told my version of the story (what really happened). The officer asked why I did not say that to him at the time. I said I was trying to be polite and did not want to offend him.

The judge told us that she would make her decision and notify me within 5 days. I found out today that I am NOT GUILTY!!!

ctwz

i hear you man, cops are the worst *******s. i beat a YELLOW light and got pulled over like a criminal. took the $500 fine and traffic school rather than wait for a court date in november, long line of victims at the courthouse cursing at the police. should have chosen to fight the case.

krisv420

Hell yeah i know what its like...i got a speeding ticket 525 dollars or something like that... then a music ticket 250 dollars.. then a cop pulls me over and says im driving to fast when i clearly wasn't i just had three gorgeous blonde girls in my car.. as he pulls up to the side of my car on his bike.. pshh.. he talks to me for about two mins and says okay have a nice day no ticket.. wow i get **** blocked by a cop.. cool... I got my car at 19 worked my *** off 100 hours every two weeks.. now im 21 and playing the game is so much more fun.. Everyone around this town hates on me nor anyone who drives a nice car.. You can see it in there face when they look at you.. but its funny i love laughing back =P I guess the car makes mee feel like i was 16 aagain =P or i could be wrong ? but DRIVING

BigBodyBenzC240

CONGRATS on beating the law!!!

skittles

nice! wish same thing happens to me! got a ticket for driving 70MPH!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!

bdgdl08

Thanks!

What was the speed limit?

skittles

the 60 fwy here in cali??? officer said 65mph. but i came from end to end of the 60 since i was on my way to LAX to pick up someone. guess what! there was not a single speed limit sign westbound and eastbound. so ill use that as one of my defenses. you think its good enough? also there were so much other cars that were running faster my 5mph.. dunno why he picked me. and i was on the freakin carpool lane so there were cars infront and behind me. cops are really wack in the head..

skittles

the 60 fwy here in cali??? officer said 65mph. but i came from end to end of the 60 since i was on my way to LAX to pick up someone. guess what! there was not a single speed limit sign westbound and eastbound. so ill use that as one of my defenses. you think its good enough? also there were so much other cars that were running faster my 5mph.. dunno why he picked me. and i was on the freakin carpool lane so there were cars infront and behind me. cops are really wack in the head..

bdgdl08

In Florida the policy is to not ticket unless it's >5mph over. I think you should be able to get out based just on that!

skittles

thanks for the info. also the cop told me after he gave me the ticket and if i knew the way back, he told me he usually doesnt pull over anyone unless they are faster than 80mph... after i left my brother told me maybe he's just trying to meet quota. another.. all i can say is he was really a ********.. he was even raising his voice at me when i was cooperating and being very polite.

bdgdl08

What a dick! And yeah, quota

LILBENZ230

Drew, I don't really think you "beat" the law. I don't think you were "guilty" in the first place. If what you've said is true, it was an officer on a power trip. In general, police officers are usually out to help, not out to get. They neither set the fines your city or county charges for whatever violations you are cited with nor do they make commission. Do they have quotas? Well, probably - but it's in place to most likely to make sure they're actually doing their job. There are chances-o-plenty to write tickets for speeding alone.

It's twisted logic to think you've been bullied by the system (or quota system, for that matter) if you get a speeding ticket when you admit you were speeding. You can point fingers or make up whatever story makes you feel better, but everyone who has a license on here knows the laws and the consequences if you break them, monetary or otherwise. It kills me how many times I read the whole cop-was-out-to-get-me conspiracy BS.

Drew, your case really was an exception. I mean, if you had those Primacy tires on at the time, your car might have had some understeer-related tire squeal at 15mph. Does that mean you were careless? No, it means Michelin was. You got picked on, bud. But you came away on top.

LILBENZ230

You do not have to take this treatment just because he is a police officer. You can exercise your 1st amendment rights. I've done it before. As long as you don't threaten (verbally or physically) the officer or refuse to sign something, he can do nothing. Been there, done it. I'll pay a traffic fine before I'll let anyone talk to me like I'm some stupid criminal. I have no problem admitting if I was in the wrong, such as in a speeding stop, but don't talk down to me. Speaking of people being accusatory..

Wal-Mart door ***** in my town now refuse to speak to me because of the amount of times I have lost my cool with them. "Yes, I paid $300 for everything in this shopping cart but was trying to pull a fast one over on you by putting this $1.50 bag of potatoes on the bottom, looks like you caught me." Last time something stupid like that happened, I demanded a refund on everything I purchased and went elsewhere. But that's another story, I digress!

PharmD

Great to hear, OP Being victim of circumstance is not a fun situation and can be often times difficult to bail yourself out of!

bdgdl08

Matt, I agree that Police, for the most part, aren't out to get you. They do help alot of the time, and even this cop was nice enough to me at the stop and in court. As far as speeding goes, I think that being pulled over ANYWHERE for being within 5mph of the speed limit is ridiculous. On an interstate, it's even more ludicrous.

Thanks everyone!

BLT

Congrats Drew! Glad everything sorta worked out for you. I was on my way to Berkeley on the I-5 and did a 110/70 a while back. Best part is that I had gotten my license 5 days prior! Even though I did end up getting a $350 fine, the officer kindly wrote it down to 100/70 so I wouldn't get too severe a penalty or get reckless driving.

So it did suck to get caught, but the officer was "nice" and polite enough for me to say 'Thanks man' at the end of that encounter. I probably deserved worse.

GGM

If the previous ticket was more than 12 months ago, you should be able to take traffic school again. Everything you need to know about tickets in Florida:http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/ind...0318/Sec14.HTM

Hope this helps.

Oops. Just noticed you beat the ticket. Good for you. Now just stay law-abiding .

But just in case, keep the information for future reference.

bdgdl08

The last ticket was only in late December/early January, so I'm still almost 5 months away from being able to take the class again. Thank you for the information regardless.

onedesigntalk

Have any of you guys tried that GPS program that alerts you to speed traps. looks interesting. I was thinking of trying out phantom alert. anyone with personal experience in here?

http://phantomALERT-review.blogspot.com/

XsuperbeeX

you from europe aren't you??? dont know any speed traps in cali...

bdgdl08

I now use a program called Trapster. It's basically the same thing for smartphones. It works really well, but it logs a good many "cops like to hide here" spots, which can get really annoying when there are about 10 of those for every mile down the interstate.

bdgdl08

Since I apparently never updated this thread... The judge ultimately ruled in my favor. The officer showed up and said that I had been very polite. Because he couldn't see me, he had thought that I had taken the corner at the light too fast, rather then just pulling out from a side road. The judge notified me by mail that I was found not guilty.

LILBENZ230

I was not polite to the rookie 22-ish hick cop that pulled me over back in January and said that he knew my car was "fast" but to "trust" him "it isn't made out of much."

My response was "Apparently you've never driven a Mercedes."

I paid the $65 ticket. 74 in a 55. Wtfever.

bdgdl08

You have the benefit of having cheap-*** tickets. If that was all mine was, I wouldn't have worried so much about it, other than the fact that I didn't actually do anything wrong.

Apparently I did post the results, but I failed at re-reading this thread.

TemjinX2

you must not drive from sf to la often.