I fought the law

[Clinton]

And I won. Speeding ticket for 47 in a 35 in Bumfuck, Maine. I thought I had a pretty good case. Moving radar on a curve, clean driving record, ticket showed wrong road. But the cop failed to show up and case was dismissed. This is the third time in 20 years I've had this result. Had a smoke outside the courthouse to celebrate.

:smokingbo

Speeding tickets have very little to do with public safety but are a HUGE revenue source for a lot of towns. Not to mention the possible hit on your insurance rate. I'll always fight a ticket just on principle, but the cops seem to want to make it easy. I suppose they get credit for their quota regardless of whether it sticks or not.

 

[dpricenator]

I love that. WTG. If the office rdoesn't show here, they rescedule.

 

[Broadway Joe]

WTG That is awesome! I'm the same way, I'll never plead guilty, just to avoid the points.

 

[jwintosh]

i was recently, uh, 'spoken to' for failing to show, when it was my day off. boss says, 'subpoena is a subpoena.' and, it is/was dismissed if you fail to show....

 

[tedski]

So are you saying you weren't speeding ... or just got lucky in this case?

I'll agree that speeding tickets can be a big source of revenue for some towns - but will disagree that enforcing speed limits has little to do with public safety. Too often I see people going well over the limit in their rush to get someplace 45 seconds faster. Weaving their way through traffic like it was a slalom course ... tailgating ... etc. In these cases, I wish I could issue citations.

 

[TexaSmoke]

I just pay tick and do defensive driving or deferred judication. It is not worth my time to go to court. I guess I'm but a sucker or would rather spend my time doing something else. Anyways, glad that worked out for you.

 

[Clinton]

So are you saying you weren't speeding ... or just got lucky in this case?

I'll agree that speeding tickets can be a big source of revenue for some towns - but will disagree that enforcing speed limits has little to do with public safety. Too often I see people going well over the limit in their rush to get someplace 45 seconds faster. Weaving their way through traffic like it was a slalom course ... tailgating ... etc. In these cases, I wish I could issue citations.

I wasn't driving 47 mph. He told me he was writing me up for 42 in a 35. The fine $119 was for 1-9 mph over the limit which was also what was stated in the letter I got from the state of Maine. I didn't catch the error until later. Was I doing 42? Yeah, probably. It was a Friday evening, rural road, no traffic. I was driving in a reasonable and prudent manner.

You seem to confuse driving fast with driving recklessly. If a cop tickets someone for 7 mph over the limit with no traffic, that's revenue, plain and simple. If I were a local, he probably would've given me a warning. But he saw an out-of-towner as guaranteed income.

I just pay tick and do defensive driving or deferred judication. It is not worth my time to go to court. I guess I'm but a sucker or would rather spend my time doing something else. Anyways, glad that worked out for you.

That's exactly what they count on. Most people aren't going to take the time and effort to fight a ticket. My license is clean, but if you have other violations, your insurance can jump a lot. Combined with what can be a hefty fine, it may very well be worth the effort.

But I fought it on principle because I think traffic violations are just a legalized scam. There were about 50 people there yesterday. Every single one spoke with an assistant DA who first offered to lower the fine amount. If they agreed, they were directed out the door to the PAY HERE window. By the time they winnowed everyone out, there were 3 of us left. Two were dismissed. The last guy got a seatbelt ticket. Don't know how he fared.

 

[TexaSmoke]

That's exactly what they count on. Most people aren't going to take the time and effort to fight a ticket. My license is clean, but if you have other violations, your insurance can jump a lot. Combined with what can be a hefty fine, it may very well be worth the effort.

I know that is what they count on, but as long as you don't get another ticket in 6 months, then nothing hits your insurance. Plus you can do Defensive Driving then Deferred Judication and get 2 ticket without it hitting your record.

I'm not only a safe driver, but I also follow the law so I've only had one ticket (so this is not an issue for me). With that being said I think my chances of not getting another ticket in 6 months are pretty good. As for tickets just a source of revenue, that is true, but with so many people on the road and with as many wreck I see in Houston I wish they would give more to keep people from doing stupid shit.

 

[Benzopyrene]

Stupid frickin drivers!!!! If people are bad drivers you should be able to blow up their car mid-stupid driving. That would be cool.:eyepoke:

 

[Clinton]

Stupid frickin drivers!!!! If people are bad drivers you should be able to blow up their car mid-stupid driving. That would be cool.:eyepoke:

Don't know if that's a shot at me or not...

 

[cvm4]

Speeding tickets have very little to do with public safety but are a HUGE revenue source for a lot of towns.

That could go either way there. But, congrats on your win.

In MS a bunch of towns are considering stoplight traffic cams and the ticket wouldn't be a moving violation and not on your insurance but still be a source of revenue. A lot of people aren't too happy about this especially since the company installing them gets a cut of the revenue, IIRC. So they can time the lights to change to red in 3 seconds and rack up. :angerFU:

 

[Electric Sheep]

My entire commute to work is overrun with stoplight cameras. Seriously, I bet I pass through 20 of them each way.

I'm not a red light runner, but occasionally I get in a bad situation--for example, when I'm towing a trailer behind my truck, I'm moving about 15,000 lbs. Even with trailer brakes, it's HARD to stop 15,000 pounds quickly (can't fight the laws of physics), so if the light turns yellow, I keep going rather than try to stop all that mass. Sometimes, that means the light turns red before I'm all of the way through the intersection.

I haven't gotten a red light ticket in the mail yet, but I expect that it'll happen sooner or later.

 

[Volusianator]

Had a smoke outside the courthouse to celebrate.

ROFLMAO

 

[blessednxs65]

I have fought the law twice and won both times. The other time, I was going well in excess of 3 digits and the State Patrol officer wrote me for 74 in a 55. I rushed down to pay that one for had he written even 75, I would have been lost my licence (at the time I was living in VA and 20 over was considered Reckless Driving an offense punishable with a six-month suspension).

 

[blessednxs65]

It is a proven fact that the insurance companies hate stoplight cameras. When our City installed them we were told by the vendor, that in every City they've installed them that they saw a step function increase in the amount of rear end accidents in the first 4 months of installation. Sure enough, we saw a five-fold increase in the first 5 months following the install.

 

[cvm4]

But it's for the safety of the people :rofl:

 

[ATCDub]

I always drive over the limit. Don't know why, just always do. Maybe genetics. I also always loose when I go to court, so I just pay the fine a go on my way (usually 10 over). In GA they have a Kudzu law basically saying that local law enforcement can only issue tickets 10 mph over the limit when using radar/laser because too many little towns were setting up speed traps where the speed limit sign was covered up by? Anyone? Anyone? Kudzu.

The state boys & girls can zap you for anything over the limit though.

 

[tazbigdog]

Never had any tickets for speeding, even though I had been stopped many times for it. Being polite and respectful to an officer who stops you will go a long way, along with a "I'll never do it again" will help.

Also as a former LEO, having an FOP card in my wallet doesn't hurt.:computer:

 

[caudio51]

Only summons I have gotten was for illegal tint on my front roll downs.

I hope to keep it that way.

 

[l0venpeace]

Yay! Congratulations! I recently got pulled over for an expired registration. I tried to pretend like my dad took care of that I didn't know it was expired. The cop then told me I was too old to rely on my dad. Well, I guess I can't get away with that line anymore.