wow am I pissed.... I don't usually speed (not enough to get pulled over anyway) today I was going down this loooong hill, not excessively steep but still a good hill. In an effort not to "ride" my brakes, I just let it coast for a while, then hit the brakes, let it coast, hit the brakes, as I always do, you know the drill. well, right when I was going my fastest (I thought was about 55 - 57 mph, (50 mph zone) I saw a cop coming up the hill. sure enough he turned around and flicked the blues on.... he said he had me on the radar going 62, which he wrote me a ticket for 120 bucks! Then he nabbed me for another 50 bucks because my inspection sticker is expired. I 'll take the blame for the inspection sticker but I think he went a bit overboard writing me a ticket for 120 dollars for the speeding part. Even if I WAS going 62, it is a large highway like road in the middle of no where, no houses or anything around, there was no traffic either. not like I was tearing it up through a neighborhood. total came to 170 dollars!

I hate to have this go on my record, which before today was flawless. I wonder if my insurance premium will go up from one ticket? anyone know about the insurance end of that stuff? (I suppose it depends on the company) I'm thinking of bringing it to court, maybe I can get it reduced or maybe the cop won't show up. anyone had any experiences fighting a ticket?

I also just thought of something else.... it's the end of the month and this guy is probably trying to meet his quota

Well all I know is that I got a stupid ticket a few months ago because the back of my car, from the back tire to the trunk, was in an intersection when the light was red. It's only soupost to be a ticket if you enter the intersection when it's red, not if your more then half way through, but he pulled me over and gave me a 230 ticket! My insurance has not gone up from it so I wouldnt worry about that. They usually only find out about accidents.

$230 for that? wow, I don't feel so bad now

I got a 90 in a 55 plus careless driving, it came up to 7 points plus 400 bucks in fines but luckly my dad was friends with the guy doing the plea bargaining and combined the speeding ticket (5 points) into the careless driving ticket (2 points) but I was also given the chance to pay off my points so my insurance company doesn't find out, it ended up being like $200, I got luckly that night.

generally cops don't care about 5 mph over but 10 is a little much some are anal and give a ticket without giving a warning, some give a written warning, and some just let you go.

I dunno how it is in MA, but in Wis, sometimes you can bargain out of it if its your first ticket. I would at least talk to the D.A and explain the situation. Perhaps they might drop it down, since it was in a rural area, going downhill,where its more difficult to regulate your speed, and in an older vehicle, in which the speedo MAY read off a few MPH. I would have asked to see the radar if I were you, if they dont allow you to see it, its your word against theirs, but it seems its too late for that. :?

ask to see the radar? that is just begging for the cop to give you a ticket. last may i got a ticket for improper passing, i passed one car on the shoulder to get into the right turn lane, the cop was standing there and pulled me over, already had 2 cars there already for the same thing. it was 4 points and i think $87. but i went to court and talked to the prosecutor, got the points dropped by pleading guilty to 'driving in a manner likely to cause an accident', no points and a $200 fine.

so i suggest going to court and talking to the prosecutor. i don't think you will have a problem getting the points knocked off considering your clean record.

hey psycho, i got out of a 93 in a 55 with a written warning, i love being related to a state trooper.

ask to see the radar? that is just begging for the cop to give you a ticket

Why? If he can't produce a valid radar lock of the speed, ESPECIALLY if he was meeting the cop, then theres no basis for a speeding ticket, therefore he can argue the fact that the officer could not have locked him on radar, but only assumed he was speeding. If you're pulled over, and the officer ticketing you can't produce a radar lock, especially if you don't think you were going that fast, then its hearsay. In a ticketing situation, the officer must note in court how the persons speed was gauged, either by pacing while behind, or radar lock while sitting or driving towards the person. If I was to be pulled over, and told I was going 12 over, when I though I was going MAYBE 5-7 mph over, you're damned right I'd be asking to see the radar, especially since its the end of the month, and quota time.

one of my friends got pulled over for goin 2 mph over the speed limit...VERY STUPID...what if the speedo wasn't calibrated right?
We have one cop around here that's always trying to shove his face in things...thus he has many black-and-blues...none from me though...

all i'm saying is that if you get pulled over, what you say and how you act is a big determining factor whether or not you are getting a ticket. asking to see the radar is a sure way to get one because you pretty much just told the cop that you don't trust him. do you really think that the police do things just to make your life harder and give out tickets for the hell of it? even if you think he is wrong, you might try briefly, politely and respectufully explaining your side of it and he might cut you a break. but whatever you do, don't ask to see the radar.

better off taking the ticket and going to court, because if you argue he might find a few more things to write about and when you go to court he will not be inclined to let the prosecutor cut you a break.

I didnt say to scream, holler, and throw a fit when you get pulled over, but its a simple fact that if the officer cant produce a radar lock, especially when meeting someone, then there is NO possible way he could accurately estimate the speed you were going. If he can't produce a verified speed, then there is no case, because he has no proof of speeding. This would only be used in a case in which you know you werent going as fast as the officer stated. Its not saying youdont trust the guy..its showing that for a fact, you were going over or not...who knows, your speedo may in fact be off, but how do you know if you dont ask? Actually, we work on all the patrol vehicles for the county as well as the city, and you'd be amazed as to how many people who get pulled over's speedo is off, read speed compared to actual speed....how did they find out>>> they ASKED, and when they had the speedo tested, found out it was off, and bargained down to a simple equipment malfunction rather than a larger ticket with points....I talked to several officers, and none of them had issues when a person asked to see the verified speed, if nothing else it showed the people that yes, they were in fact speeding, and there was no sense in fighting the ticket, therefore wasting LESS time in court by simply paying the ticket and leaving well enough alone. IF they thought they were still not speeding, they could have the car checked and the speedo verified, and if it was shown as being off, could then argue that fact in court.
73 delta, as much as I'd like to take sides with ya...you said it yourself...
" Even if I WAS going 62, it is a large highway like road in the middle of no where, no houses or anything around, there was no traffic either. "

What it comes down to is....if the sign clearly stated a 50 mph zone..then 50 it is....regardless of traffic, terrain, or conditions....just because the road was deserted, doesnt make it ok......sorry, man...I'd argue it that it was your first offense, and see if they'll drop it a bit, but thats about it...

yea, I know... I'm not trying to argue that they should let everyone go 10mph over the speed limit, I HATE it when people speed through my neighborhood, I just needed to blow off some steam when I got home and there was no one around, so I let you guys have it!

by the way, I was glad to see how much discussion this generated... I figured I wouldnt be the only one with a ticket story keep em coming!

I've got pulled over several times and if your polite the cops are generally nice and 'll give you a warning. my first ticket was 95 in a 55 when I was 17 in my old 83 cutty 4dr V6, that cop was the most pissed off that I've ever seen one....even on tv! I was slowing down b/c i saw him and I told the judge that i was speeding but not quite that fast and she gave me a juvenile diversion and I lost my license for 1 month, beyond that it didn't cost me a dime. My second big ticket was a year ago on my way back from louisville. I got busted at 95 in 65 by a state trooper, he was pretty calm about it and handed me my court apperance/ticket paper. I wrote the judge and asked fro traffic school, she gave it to me, all I had to do was pay a $300 fine and go to school. My insurance knows of niether of these tickets THANK GOD!! I love KY, you can get traffic school once every yr. i was stupid and dumb for it both times and now my top speed is 75 and only the rare occasion of extreme speeding.

Well today I just got my second ticket ever, both of them have been this year after a year and half of a perfect record. I was going to the junkyard with a friend and driving down a street that is 30mph. I usually drive down streets that are 35 or 25, and this is the only 30 street in the area so i always think it is 35. I always catch myself speeding on that road and thank god that there was not a cop down it. Well today i was at the end of a big group of cars going about 40ish, when all the sudden my friend says "wow". When i asked him what, he said a cop just pulled out of a parking lot full speed and he was behind us. I looked down and realised that i was going to get a ticket. He followed us for 3 miles and then flashes his lights. Gotta love the supsence! Well anyways, to make a long story short, more points and more money! Oh well, shit happens

Actually in Ohio it is. Cops are trained first on how to visually determine the speed of a vehicle and then are trained on how to use the radar gun. So they don't have to clock you to give a ticket nor do they have to show the gun. As most guns won't keep the reading that long.

My friend just finished his Police academy training and can attest to the fact that they can nail down the speed of a vehicle by vision alone. I was a little skeptical about it myself but he proved it to me more than once. LOL





Why would that matter? The speed limit is the speed limit no matter what the traffic or location. If your speeding then you deserve the ticket plain and simple.

wow, i had forgotten about this. And big block i wasnt debating the fact that i was speeding, rather what the posted speed should be on that road.... but whatever, I'm done talking about this. I was just kinda venting at that point anyway. read the rest of the posts and you'll see that we already beat this subject to death. I paid the fine the next day, learned from it and moved on.