Speeding Ticket

[Projekt]

Good Luck bro.. I hope your chain of command doesn't hear about it and come down too hard on you.

 

[Projekt]

Bro....
I think your biggest mistake was being honest about your speed. He was asking you to self-incriminate. The best situation when pulled over is to expect that question and be prepared to answer it with silence. That or say something like, man I am going slow so as not to freeze my buns off. I couldn't ride too fast in conditions like these. Leave it at that, never say I don't know, say something comparative to the basic speed law, I was driving a speed that is safe and prudent conforming to the Road conditions.
In any case you handled yourself well and that should go a long way towards deconstructing the credibility of the citation.
See a lawyer.

 

[Cblast]

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement guys, I was so angry last night that after venting here I could not even sleep, I took the advice offered and wrote everything down that occured and in what order. I am going to see the lawyer on monday. Now that I have had time to cool down and think about this I do have to admit that there is a little voice in my head saying "no, you were not doing 78, but you were doing 40, it is still a 30mph zone". I knew better than to even be within 5 miles of those squids, but I am responsible for my own actions. In the past when I have been speeding under what I consider relatively controlled circumstances, on empty roads, with competant riders, good conditions etc., I was prudent. Last night, I was going about 10 over just because I wanted to get the heck home, maybe better judgement would have kept me out of the "line of sight", so to speak.

 

[turbojonn]

I don't get it. Was he pacing you? If so, he should have seen that there were two other bikes. If he radared you or la sered you he still should have been able to see the other two bikes unless hes full of 's'.
Fight it!

 

[BigDiesel]

another fine example of a Donut-muncher on a power-trip

lay out all the details on paper bro, n take pictures of your bike n you in gear-if the officer cant even remember what you looked like/were wearing, HOW THA HELL DID HE KNOW YOU were speeding?!?! get me?
i walked on "Imprudent Speed/Reckless Driving" charge in my wife's Chevelle (did a lil burnout leavin a nightclub-ripped'em out of parking lot, got onto street n drove normal ONE BLOCK-turned corner n Jonny Law appears out of NOWHERE-"u almost hit like 20 people, r u drunk? etc, blah blah) I took it to court 4 mos. later n spoke w/city atty-I explaind i had pics of ANOTHER dark-color car similar bodystyle parked that night right in front of mine (cell phone pic of a Trans Am-i was b.s'n) n thats the car that made the noise-I offered to go to trial on it, atty said pay $25 court fees n I could leave w/a no-contest to "no lic. on person" and the BEST part was seein the officer's FACE when they dropped those charges in the courtroom...he stormed out PIZZED!!!)

play their game the right way, and you'll win-but NEVER ADMIT TO ANYTHING!!! if they ask about your REAL speed, respond like Projekt said w/"i was driving a safe speed for conditions-didnt want to fall off, too cold, etc" dont offer an actuall MPH reading EVER!!!

 

[Wag]

I would take both those 2 fools to court with you. Talk to the courts attorney. They cant issue them tickets now.

Depending on what they say in court, they absolutely CAN write them tickets now!

--Wag--

 

[GoFaster]

Fight it Dude!! They'd have to find me guility and slap me in jail..IF I didnt do it!! I wouldnt pay.. Its all about the $$ .The system is way outa control..  Good luck!!!

I believe that many of these laws are obviously for making money, as stated through out
these posts. There are a lot of good LEOs. Handing out tickets is most likely not why they got involved in Law Enforcement. I always treat them with respect.

I despise the whole speeding issue

I would be willing to bet big dollars on the line that most riders on this forum could be much more safe on the roads at 75mph than most cagers at 35mph

I almost got rid of the Busa years ago due to a reckless driving ticket that was going to be 8 points against my driving record. At 12 points, I lose my license. No priors. I got written for doing 125mph in a 75mph. It was in the middle of the desert during the day with great visibility. Unfortunately, although good visibility, I didn't see the highway patrol heading in the opposite direction with a 100 foot divide between us soon enough. Actually, maybe only a little late on seeing him, because I was slowing down. It just didn't seem right.

I just wanted to throw in a thought, also. I know that in some parts of the country, officers are not allowed to sit on the side of the roads with their lights off and then snag speeding drivers. This can be considered a danger. They must have at least the parking lights on the vehicle illuminated. I don't know if this is true for the Sheriff in your area, but it may be something to check out while looking into your case.

Let us know what happens. Much luck to you!

 

[brandue]

Cblast, if you hire a lawyer make sure you go to court with him. He cannot speak on your behalf; he can only try to convince the cop to plea bargain the citation. Also, ask the officer for his radar calibration sheet for that nights shift. It must be done at the start and finish of his work day. Use this only if you think it's going in favor of the cop. If this was not done they have to dismiss your case.

 

[Cblast]

Thanks for all of the info guys, I will definetly ask for the calibration sheet, also, yesterday I went back to the exact area where I was stopped in the daylight to take pictures of everything and it is 40 mph zone !  The idiot got the speed limit wrong on the citation for the area, so on top of all of this I was riding right at or within a few miles per hour of the actual posted limit!  Now I am really pizzed and I am definetly gonna fight it.  

 

[Bird Hunter]

Thanks for all of the info guys, I will definetly ask for the calibration sheet, also, yesterday I went back to the exact area where I was stopped in the daylight to take pictures of everything and it is 40 mph zone !  The idiot got the speed limit wrong on the citation for the area, so on top of all of this I was riding right at or within a few miles per hour of the actual posted limit!  Now I am really pizzed and I am definetly gonna fight it.  

Go get some AZZ Bro....

 

[suzuki4life]

well not sure on your area BUT in mine the wrong bs on a ticket doesn't gain ya crap. Now with a lawyer it might, dunno. I have been ticketed on my Honda GSXR1300(bike listed was even the wrong color) and nothing happened, ticket stuck. My name was Jerry (not Gary) on one ticket, and it stuck. So yep its a money racket, I would suggest trying to have the ticket written down and moving on with the fact that we live in a corrupt world that one person will never change. Now with that said, this is an election year, I have seen judges do some amazing tales on elections years. I have seen entire courtrooms be asked if they had misdemeanor or felonies and divide them accordingly. The lesser charges were dropped to $8 parking tickets as long as they plead guilty, the felonies of course continued the normal route.

My advice, gain the mindset that you are gonna lose. Your objective is to be humble and to try to lose as little as possible, but accept you WILL lose something. If you have the mindset that things will only get better, then you are prepared for the worst and life will get better.

 

[riccoh]

good luck with the ticket...That's why I spend the money on the video camera and the gas tank mount... trust me it will save you a lot of hassle if you are obeying the law..it beats paying the lawyer and its always good to bring video evidence to a JUDGE or Internal Affairs in my case...

 

[VaBusa]

Yikes! That's tough...I had something similar happen in my car years back...I was speeding (64/55), but the guy that was riding my azz was definitely going faster, I pulled in to the right lane to let him pass by, he did then the cop only pulled me...found out that there's not much room to argue in that situation and I just took the ticket with a 1/2 grin and paid the fines...

I hope taking it to court works out for you, but it's not going to be easy

 

[bowwow]

Out of all my tickets, I have never had the cop show up at court. No cop = No ticket.