Santa Clara MC cops are out for speeders

[OB_Cisco San Jose]

Warning to riders who use the Lawerance Express going West or what they concider is South in Santa Clara.The Santa Clara motorcycle cops are in the middle divider lane as you get to El Camino Real over pass.I guess me and the R1 guy that I raced last Friday at around 3pm caused enough commute drives to call in the local cops,So gals/guys look out,they are armed with the Radar Gun and you won't spot them cause of a small tree blocking the center lane and if you're going north from the on ramp El Camino as you reach max speed to enter the Express way the cop is right there with the RADAR,almost got me today but I slowed down in time.Ride safe you all.

 

[Guest]

Good warning but they can't be much worse than they are here where we must have one of the highest cop to motorist ratios in the country. I just can NOT figure out where they get all the tax money to pay so many cops in such a lightly populated area! I see no less than about 6-8 cops per day with at least half running radar. The others try to sneak up from behind. Last week I was followed for NINE miles while riding my Busa on I-35. Unfortunetely I didn't know he was back there till about the last mile where he proceeded to cite me for 80 in a 70 back in the last county 9 miles south!! Little hard to stare in the puny, shaking rearview mirrors all the time while looking forward to make sure a soccer mom doesn't wipe me out while passing her SUV! Claims he paced me - he may have but it's strange that he would wait NINE freakin' miles to make the stop after I finally noticed him and slowed to 70. I figure he was hoping to get me for not using signals or a higher speed or something. Less than 11 mph in excess brings NO points [ZERO] on the driving record and I mailed the cheap (relatively speaking) $74 fine the next day to the neighboring county clerk. He stopped me in the next county. No wonder they estimate only 10% of the drugs bound to the midwest and northeast and Canada from Mexico/South America through this main corridor are stopped. They're too busy playin' games with me!

 

[Guest]

Should have seen his eyes bug out when he was checking out the 220 mph white Mototeck gauges! The State HWP here are too uptight to ask any Busa questions like the city cops do but he had to walk around my Busa twice just taking in the view!

 

[Guest]

The reason I know it was nine miles was because he informed me my infraction incurred at the 23 mile marker. (23 miles north of the Texas state line) When he called me in he informed dispatch we were at the 32 mile marker - which we were. He also had to explain why I had to mail payment (or contest in court) back south at the next county seat which is at the 18 mile point. Whenever I think I've seen everything something new happens. About a year ago I was stopped (by the HWP) inside the town city limits and informed I had changed lanes illegally. I responded that I had in fact used my signal. (I was in my Z-28) He told me yes - I had used my signal but I didn't leave it on long enough before changing lanes! WTF???!!! And get this: That ticket is worth 2 points against your driving record but speeding less than 11 over is ZERO points. ONLY IN OKLAHOMA. (and maybe Arkansas)

[This message has been edited by Todd (edited 10 April 2000).]

 

[Guest]

And speaking of hiding in the middle of the road. About 14 months ago I was popped by a State Highway Patrol sitting in the yard of a private RESIDENCE on a city street behind a tall row of hedges. They need to change their name to the State PEST Patrol. They like to refer to themselves as Troopers. Bunch of Nazi Storm Troopers if you ask me.


Thanks for letting me blow some steam. You guys are some of the few who would understand and I don't even waste my time trying to explain this stuff to anyone else.

 

[Guest]

Oh - one more item of interest if you're ever in our ticket writer infested state. When the HWP calls you in he gets a listing of the total number of tickets you have EVER received in your ENTIRE life! Mine goes back about 22 years but they don't mention that when they're listing them off. Makes you sound like a real bada$$ even though those infractions go back to when you were 15 years old. And it gives them an excuse to hit you for money. Don't even think about asking for mercy - waste of time.

 

[OB_Billy V]

Todd,heres a nifty little piece of information, that I know for a fact could make the difference between being convicted of the offence or getting away scott free.If he writes the ticket for following and his police cruiser's speedo has not been recalibrated within the regularly scheduled maintenance period (6 months) your off the hook.This is also true with their radar operators certificate (6 months).The maintenance logs at the motor pool, or where they have their vehicles serviced is where you would find this info.I myself have not had to use either of these tricks but have gone to court with 2 friends and watched their lawyer use both instances and walked both times. No offence to any Lawmen but when some guys hide it the bushes with hand held radar guns we need all the help we can get.

 

[OB_Kaw9R]

Cops will FU if they want to. It's not about safety, it's about revenue.

Here are your choices:
#1 - Stop, be extremely nice, don't lie 'cause they've heard it all before.

#2 - Follow step #1 so it doesn't give him a reason to take EXTRA notes, then hire a lawyer. Even if you have a strong case, 9 times out of 10 you will lose without a lawyer. <Read - contributing to the system>

#3 - If you think you can...run and HIDE. If you think you're busted but don't see the blue lights, get out of there and park it. Don't try and outrun Motorola, YOU WILL LOSE!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. I've got an entire section of my website devoted to defense tactics like these as well as a decent listing of OK speed traps. This was a ticket that would cost me more to take off work and drive to the next county to contest then it would to just mail payment. If points were involved I could have gone to court and at least received a probationary period where the ticket would have been dropped from my record after so many months of no violations but even then they charge you the full amount of the ticket. That's generally what it boils down to in most cases - cold hard cash. I'm convinced they hire more cops than they have tax money to pay and just instruct them to harvest their salary from motorists - whatever it takes.

 

[Guest]

I'm usually always courteous even when I know it's a bogus ticket. Otherwise I say as little as possible. Most of the cops here are just doing what he has been told to do. As long as you don't have an attitude they're usually content to add you to their quota and go on. It also helps that I work for one of the most prominent businesses in the area - they always ask who I work for in order to satisfy their curiosity of how I paid for my rides. There are a lot of meth manufacturers in our area and once they discover I'm not one of those they are generally nicer. I'm a ham radio operator and have access to their frequencies everywhere but my Busa and they write plenty of tickets to many others - including those with NO traffic records at all. I don't take it personally and I don't hold a grudge against any cop in particular. It's the entire system from the top down that is screwed up here. It wasn't this way 10 years ago. Now it seems that most crime fighting is done through traffic stops - hoping to get lucky instead of the usual more work intensive investigative methods. Funding the treasury seems to have top priority now.

 

[Guest]

Since I'm going for the full rant this evening here is another recent incident that brought me to my current state:

Three weeks ago I drove my wife's car - a Honda into town to pick up some motor oil. I was out of gas and her little 4 banger gets good mileage. Super Unleaded had just hit $1.56 here. As I near the autoparts store I pass a cop going in the opposite direction - it's a two lane total road. I don't know if he was running radar or not since there's no detector in my wife's car. I don't really care since I'm UNDER the speed limit due to a slow POS pickup in front of me. Next thing I know I hear a unit calling dispatch with a tag that sounds strangly familiar. (This Honda was mine for a while before I gave it to my wife.) Next thing I know the black and white is all over my a$$ lights blazing. WTF I wonder? Well it turns out the INSPECTION STICKER on my wifes car is expired. Not a big deal I thought. He'll give me a warning and I'll make sure my wife gets a new one. NO - he writes me a damn ticket and says if I get the inspection and take the ticket to court they will drop it. Now here is the kicker:
The inspection sticker was FOUR months out of date. My wife had been driving into town - multiple times per day for FOUR MONTHS and had NEVER been stopped/warned or cited. I drive her car ONE time during those four months and I'm stopped INSTANTLY.
Random event? SAME THING HAPPENED LAST YEAR - but I was given a verbal warning that time. It was only 2 months out of date that time. My wife had once again - never been stopped. This is not a coincidence!

 

[Guest]

To wrap up this pitiful dissertation:

When I do 150, 160 170, 180+ on my Busa - it's just a little sweeter for me than most others!

 

[201mph]

Todd; Oklahoma Bob and I got a ticket(yeah, both of us) in Union City about three weeks ago. There was no getting out of it, "Bob" was in front and cited for 82 in a 65, he ticketed me for 78 in a 65. His radar wasn't displaying either of those speeds when he finally turned around and pulled us over- there are no other roads for about 6 or 7 mileds into Mustang so there wasn't really any where to bail out into. Anyway, we were courteous and after it became obvious he was writing the tickets I asked him if he could code them so they wouldn't go on our records. He was feeling nice so he put the "SP8" that they have a box for on there and it won't go on your record or show up for insurance purposes. If you weren't aware of that maybe it will help sometime since the money is really the least of it, the insurance cost is the expensive thing!They have still ripped you off but they are at least acknowledging that it is all a game. I believe that speed is one of the least important driving indicators of accident frequency.Speeding may increase the seriousness of an accident that happens, but it is very rare that it is actually a contributing factor in CAUSING it. The statistics show otherwise because at the urging of the insurance industry the police are required to code speeding as a contributing factor in many accidents that it does not apply to. If someone runs off a curve while drunk was the wreck the result of them speeding or because they are drunk? IT GOES DOWN AS SPEEDING ALONG WITH THE ALCOHOL OFFENSE!Driver inattention is the single largest cause of vehicle accidents but you would never know it by all the anti-speeding campaigns. Of course you can drive 10 or 20 miles an hour over the speed limit and provided you have a decent following distance of 4-6 seconds, and are a defensive driver that is actively paying attention, it would probably never cause you to have an accident. There are many driving habits such as rounding left turns, or pulling from the curb without looking over your shoulder, that are far more dangerous. But the safety lobbies along with the insurance companies can't up your rates for every ticket-remember that the first radar guns were "given" to police departments by the insurance comapanies themselves in order to "help the communities", while most of the states and many towns agreed that the insurers COULD RAISE RATES EVEN ON DRIVERS THAT HAD NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT BASED SOLELY ON SPEEDING (AND EVENTUALLY OTHER MOVING OFFENSES)ALONE!! Think about that one.

 

[201mph]

And next time you are driving South on I-35 just keep going for about 45 minutes and call me so we can go riding! Bob had to go out of the country for two months and my Busa is lonely! My cell # is 410-3208. Don And I'll even meet you in Pauls Valley!

 

[Guest]

I have a passport - I think its the 8700 (or 8400?)wideband. I've been trying to get rid of it since 94' or 95'. It has the laser and it's not that good of a performer - especially compared to the V1 (what is?). It used to be in the Honda but my wife took it out - said it makes her nervous when it beeps and she doesn't really need it. Her big brown sad eyes would get her out of any ticket she might face anyway! Plus a lot of the city cops know her from when she worked at a local school which requires a cop on duty. (bad kids) I told her not to mention my name or they might give her a ticket for being my wife!

[This message has been edited by Todd (edited 11 April 2000).]

 

[Guest]

I'll have to go north since I'm down in Ardmore! Some days I get up close to Pauls Valley anyway since there are some twisties up by the Arbuckles. I need another Busa to play with. I generally start my rides by first LEAVING THIS COUNTY which eliminates a good number of county deputies. I've been wanting to check out a highway by Union City that is supposed to have some twisties for a long time. Let's leave out the cops. I'm also about ready to take my bike trip to the Ozarks before it gets too hot.

People probably think we are exaggerating about the cops here but it's become an industry - a new standardized form of government income. I haven't even brought up the planes, Z-28's and the use of unmarked cars&non uniformed officers they use down here - even though state legislation was passed prohibiting non uniformed cops from making traffic stops. I used to think I was just being paranoid until I went to New Mexico last summer for vacation. 1600 miles roound trip. I was clocked a total of ONE time the entire trip. V1 gave me over 2 miles of warning. I'm clocked more than that in a single day just going to work here. They drive around here like flys zapping everything in site. It's become a police state - legalized harrasment. Hell - my parents in Tulsa even bought a radar detector. They used to complain about mine - calling it a "license to speed". Now they call me to get my recommendation on the best one to buy!


[This message has been edited by Todd (edited 11 April 2000).]

 

[201mph]

Todd; why don't you buy an older model Passport from E-Bay for your wife's car? I have bought 2 of the 3 I have from there for around $40 each. The old ones (previous to them adding laser) are the ones you want anyway, because they are more sensitive to X and K band than anything except your V-1- at a tenth of the price!- according to Car and Drivers test last year. They were over $300 new and are very well made. I have had one for at least 7 or 8 years and never had a problem.Call me. Don

 

[Guest]

Don - I'll call you tomorrow.[Wed] Temps are supposed to be about 80 this weekend but windy. [9online.com] I can handle pretty stiff winds but it's a bit taxing. I need to get out of this area for a change of scenery.

 

[OB_Billy V]

Bill Koz,I'm suprised this sounds like the first ambush you were caught in,being born and raised in Hoboken and traveling the turnpike and parkway i've seen some really sneaky tricks these troopers pull.You gotta give them some credit the way they manage to burry their troop cars in the weeds and swamps and still manage to get them out for a pursuit.For all who haven't see it,N.J.troop cars are mostly unmarked and some have a lot of stuffed animals up in the rear window area for camo!Some tint the windows or toss a hard hat up in the rear window to look like those construction cars.When they hit the lights you'll think your back in Studio 54, what a show!

[This message has been edited by Billy V (edited 12 April 2000).]

 

[OB_Bill Koz]

Bill V - I very rarely get ambushed. I can smell a police car, and I have eyes in the back of my head. No really, I’ve been using a radar detector for many years and I can read it exceptionally well. I pick my time and place. I very rarely play on the Parkway or the Turnpike, and if I do its only in short sperts. I practice in the sports complex, they used to use it for the US Grand Prix. I can hit a buck sixty swinging around the Continental Arena. (I still call it Brendan Bern Arena) Every time I ride I buzz route 21, it only takes a couple minutes. I own that highway, I go out every spring and help the road workers fill holes. Your right about the staties they are the best, that’s why I don’t play there. I had a friend pulled over by a lady in a white Caddy.

Koz