Speeding ticket technicality question

[PCLoadLetter]

In the middle of the month? When someone more than DOUBLED the speed limit?

Set down the pills and alcohol.

No pills and booze here. Zebra said he didn't think he was going 51. The cop said he was. I'm going to take Zebra at his word that he wasn't going twice the speed limit. If he was, well, he probably deserves the ticket.

He also said it was "entirely possible" he was going 51.

 

[hockeybeat]

Okay, well, I could be wrong here. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[TwoGloves]

Got pulled over the other night going 44 in a 25 mph zone. Cop takes my license, asks where I'm going. "To work." Asks where I work. "The local rag." Pats me on the arm, hands me my license back and tells me to slow down. I resisted the temptation to say "Awesome, dude!"

 

[EStreetJoe]

Just go to court and plead it down to a zero point offense.
You should be able to do this. Town gets their money from the fine and you get to escape with zero points on your license, meaning no insurance rate increase.

 

[buckweaver]

No case. Not a chance.

Maybe you get out of this charge on the technicality -- although I doubt it -- but not a minute passes before you'll get hit with a "providing false information to an officer" charge. If the judge knows his **** -- and isn't pissed off by your bull**** defense -- he'll find a way to fine you the exact same amount as you would have paid for the speeding ticket.

That is what is known as a Pyrrhic victory. ;)

Joe's idea is the best I've seen: plead it down to a zero-point offense, pay the fine, go home, slow down.

As for quotas, they do exist. ... BUT ... they don't matter to any police department except in very small municipalities, where a healthy percentage of their revenue (say, 20 percent) is accounted for by those quotas. The South is notorious for these "speed trap" towns, as is Texas. But any town with, say, more than 10,000 people isn't going to have a big, bad quota system, the way some of y'all make it out to be. Traffic ticket/fine revenue just doesn't bring in enough money. And highway patrol/state troopers are NEVER going to have a real quota system.

Sorry. Very, very few cops are pulling you over because they have a quota. They're pulling you over because you're breaking the law -- even if it's by 7 mph over the limit (which is a stupid reason to pull you over, IMO.) But it's more likely that it's a quiet night, or they're in a bad mood, or myriad reasons ... that have nothing to do with quotas.

 

[MacDaddy]

Red light cameras and the like are the big revenue producers.

 

[MacDaddy]

Define "big". Taxes, not fines, account for the great majority of revenue in most cities.

I meant among traffic/speeding/etc. violations. I was agreeing with you, even though it might not have been obvious. :)

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

51 in a 25? Wow. I am surprised you didn't get almost charged with reckless endangerment.

 

[SixToe]

He won't answer. Says he's not obligated to do so until I hand him my license.

I've never been told "I'm not obligated" and have requested more than once to be informed of what I allegedly was doing wrong before handing the officer my license.

I know when I'm speeding but I want him to say, "You were speeding" or "You ran that stop sign" so I could at least have an idea of what's coming or offer some kind of defense.

Typically they tell me.

But knowing a few officers and how they operate, a command or request isn't negotiable. They're in charge at that moment. Failing to follow a command or request not only could incite them to throw you to the ground and take your skateboard but also add a "resisting" charge in the most extreme situation.

I agree that with 51 in a 25 mph zone you're lucky to not have a reckless driving or endangerment charge instead of speeding. Your address situation won't mean squat in front of a judge other than to make him mad for taking up time on his court schedule, either.

 

[buckweaver]

Define "big". Taxes, not fines, account for the great majority of revenue in most cities.

I meant among traffic/speeding/etc. violations. I was agreeing with you, even though it might not have been obvious. :)

Ahh, gotcha.

Actually, I bet HOV-lane violations -- which carry an automatic minimum $300 fine in California, at least -- make up a nice portion of that, too.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Take that before a judge and the cop doesn't have a case. Stupid dude.

Now, I'm gonna get all old grumpy guy on you.

What the hell were you doing 51 (or whatever) in a 25?

In Ontario If you were doing 55 in that 25,(or 50 kph over the speed limit), you'd be charged with street racing, have your car impounded on the spot for a minimum of one week and subject to a fine of between $2,000 and $10,000 If

Slow the **** down.

I tend to side with JR. Pay the fine and slow down.

I never said he should pay the fine. I said he should take it to court and since the cop wrote down an incorrect address for the guy, a judge will throw it out.

It's not an incorrect address. It's the address he's moving to. I assume the cop used it so he will get the paperwork in the mail.

Fight it if you want to, but I bet all it does is **** off the judge.

Yup. You said you were moving in less than two weeks. That's about how long it'll take for them to send you the paperwork in the mail.

And IJAG is right, too. You were going double the ****ing speed limit, so there's no way you can fight this.

 

[ThomsonONE]

Cops don't write speeding tickets and send you on your way, they take notes. When he goes before the judge to testify he will have the details of how you said you were moving. You will lose.

 

[Boom_70]

"You see your Honor I tricked the cop. I provided the wrong address and the policeman believed me. The ticket is now wrong so it should be dismissed."


Seems like a rock solid argument>

 

[deskslave]

I actually believe speeding tickets should be calculated on a percentage basis, rather than an x-over-the-limit system. To me, it's far worse to be doing 40 in a 25 than to be doing 85 in a 70. One is 60 percent over the limit, the other is 21 percent over. But under most laws, they're both charged the same (barring school-zone restrictions, etc.).

So be thankful you don't live in deskslaveistan, zebra. Because your address strategy wouldn't work either.

 

[Write-brained]

I, unfortunately, have a lot of experience with traffic tickets. If you're not guilty, fight it. Plead it down if you are.

Don't try to outsmart the cops/court. You'll lose, even if you're right.

 

[Italian_Stallion]

Go 51 through my 25-mph neighborhood and you'll have a lot more problems than a speeding ticket if I catch up to you. I'm guessing you don't have small children. Pay the ticket and STFU.

 

[pallister]

Maybe you get out of this charge on the technicality -- although I doubt it -- but not a minute passes before you'll get hit with a "providing false information to an officer" charge. If the judge knows his **** -- and isn't pissed off by your bull**** defense -- he'll find a way to fine you the exact same amount as you would have paid for the speeding ticket.

 

[Clever username]

I'll let you guys know in 3 1/2 years when I graduate from law school.

 

[mike311gd]

I got pulled over for 75 in a 55 the other night. When I told the officer to eat me, he gave me a ticket. What a douche.

 

[EStreetJoe]

My father used the laws of physics one time to get out of a ticket. He proved to the judge that it was impossible for him to have gone from a complete stop at a stop sign to the speed the police officer said he was going in the distance between the stop sign and where he was pulled over.