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This post is specifically for “QCKSILVR” and other members that are cops/lawyers. I hope you can give me some insight, please. I would also appreciate anyone else’s opinion too. Sorry this is so long. It’s in strict detail. I was cruising with my car club, 10 cars, all “riced out” with neon’s, exhausts, rims etc. They turned right onto a road, and I got stuck at the light. I signaled, turned right on red, sped up to 65000rpms, in 1st, then I don’t remember how many in 2nd, but not that much. Less than 1/8 there was another light, it was red, where the rest of my club was stopped at. Little did I know that when I turned right on red, I had pulled out in front of a cop. The cop got right behind me when I was stopped at the light with the rest of my club, so I switched lanes, without using my blinker, thinking nothing of it to get in position with the club. The cop switched lanes too and was right behind me again. The light turned green, we started going, and he turned on his lights. I signaled, got in the right lane, signaled again and pulled into a vacant parking lot. He proceeded to tell me I was going 50mph in a 35mph. He wrote the ticket up, didn’t give me a chance to bargain with him, tell my side of the story etc., though I do not think he is supposed to. He then told me after I pulled out in front of him (he said it like it pissed him off, he was at least 1000-2000 feet from the light that I turned at) he got behind me and he was doing 50, so I must have been doing 50. Then he said he “flipped on the radar” just to make sure. I ask him “did you pull me over because of my car looks.” He said, “No, my kids do the same thing.”(He said this pissed off like I should have asked him that) Then he says “all you kids with your fancy cars need to watch it before someone gets hurt.” I said ok, and then left. It seems to me he pulled me over because I was with my car club and he doesn’t like kids and their cars etc. I was only going at most 42 in a 35, because I was watching my speedometer the whole time, I tend to do that out of habit. He must have sped up to 50 to catch me because I started out so fast.

Do you think I should protest this in court? It is only an $80 ticket, but it will also be points on my license and increase in insurance premiums I would think. The fact is I believe the cop pulled me over because I am a kid in a nice car that is “riced out”. I see that “QCKSILVR” doesn’t recommend telling a judge that I got pulled over for discrimination, but I feel that is the reason I got pulled over.

If I were to protest this, what would be my best defense? Saying that the cop discriminated? Would it be possible to bargain with the judge to get the ticket switched to a seat belt violation or something that is not a moving violation so that I can avoid the points?


BTW, I bought my car by myself, pay for gas, insurance, service, so don’t go there.

[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-puke.gif[/IMG]

 
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Du, that is F'in ridiculous. I guarantee he pulled you over b/c you were the last one in the club and he got to you the eziest. Cops are jut jealous b/c they drive around in a Crown Vic all day long and they need to make other peoples lives, who are doing nothing illegal, just as miserable as their own lives are. They are out there pulling people over for exhausts, and neons, and mods like that when instead they could be doing something productive like trying to keep drug trafficing down. Its ridiculous!!

 
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yeah, discrimination is a pain in the as*. i got a speeding ticket this morning for doing 70 in a 50. the funny thing is that i was next to a blue camaro with DARK AS* tints that was doing the same speed. the cop pulled me over and when i mentioned the camaro and that he was traveling at the same speed as mine that nice officer replied that he didnt notice that. too bad i live in a damn hillbilly county with a very good possibilty of "riced out" cars being 5 or 6 in the whole area. oh well - life goes on.

 
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You were speeding, he pulled you over.

How is that discrimination?

 
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yup
he had the right to pull u over
u switched lanes without blinking thats a improper lane change or dangerous. thats a ticket right there.
why would u speed up to catch up. just drive normal and meet up with them later. just by booting it. i think he can nail u with dangerous operation of ur motor vehicle hahaha
u can fight it but u were booting it and lets face it. u broke the law. its not discrimination!

 
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<< You were speeding, he pulled you over.

How is that discrimination? >>


AMEN.

You broke the damn law. DEAL WITH IT. I'm sick and tired of all these threads where people say they get more attention because their car is hooked up. Isn't that what you wanted? It's a double-edged sword you know. EVERYONE will pay more attention to a car that's hooked up. Stop whining

 
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You say you were going 42 in a 35. You were over the speed limit. You switched lanes without signaling. Man that's two things that are illegal so what are you so pissed about? Next time be more careful especially with cruising with lots of cars.

 
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Just wanted to let the people that posted so far know that I agree with what you saying, all of you. I suppose what I'm really asking here is, what is the cost of fighting this ticket vs. accepting it? It will be $80 for the ticket plus 2 points, so insurance goes up by how much? $100 a year for 5 years? Thus $580 total for taking the ticket up the @SS. OR Fight it, drive back and fouth to court 3 times, waste my time in court, and still get an $80 seatbelt violation or hopefully something similar with no points. Thus, if insurance rates are calculated on the basis of points on your license, not summons like other people have suggested, then my rate would not go up. So fighting this may cost estimated $300. $300(hopefully) vs. $580(estimated?)

Now what does anyone think?

 
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Take my and everyone else's advice. DON'T speed! I'm pretty sure that your buddies would've waited up for you. You would've caught up with them a few seconds later if you didn't speed. Would you rather wait those few seconds, or wait for a cop to finish up writing you up? Just my $.02

 
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I hear what you are saying. Cops can be fu**ed up like. Yeah you were speeding, but 42 in a 35, that is not deserving of a ticket. Yes you broke the law, but he should have let you off with a warning. And I see cops speeding all the time, but then again, they are the law, so who is going to pull them over. But I feel you man. Good Luck

 
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i agree with half the people on this post....you were speeding and you did change lanes without signaling! and then to make matters worse..it almost sounded like you were getting mouthy with the officer! this is the biggest mistake you could make..i know if i was a cop and i was thinkin of letting somebody off with a warning, but they started showing disrespect...they WOULD get a ticket!

all in all you did it and you got a ticket...however, i can probably help you as far as fighting this.

from the way you talk this is your first speeding ticket right? if so then do this, call the court house and speek with the prosecuting attorney and ask them if they offer plea bargaining...if so then if you plea guilty they will usually so something in order to keep this off your record...when i got it i was given 180 days probation (if i got another ticket then i lost my prior deal), then i had to pay the 10 dollars seat belt ticket..i didnt even have to pay the 100+ dollar ticket...

this is your best bet.....good luck

 
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Definitely, you sped, got caught, deal with it. You'd be better off just paying the ticket and learning your lesson. If you fight, it willl only drag it out, and you could still lose. Then you'll be out probably even more $.

It did seem like you got mouthy with the cop.. Also, 7 mph over the limit? Was iot light traffic, what were the conditions out? Daylight, night time, dusk, dawn, etc...? I believe all these factors play a role too.. Qckilver can answer that one better..

Slow down, no need to rush, I'm sure they would've waited for you.

 
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For the idiot who said cops are jealous of our cars because they drive around in Crown Vics...

Have you actually been in a cop crown vic? Those things fly... for anything, we should be jealous of them....

 
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I'm sorry, but I don't buy the discrimination claim, and neither will a court. I highly suggest you not touch it. Somebody else hit it on the head already--you failed to signal when performing a turn. Every state I know requires the operator of a vehicle to signal approximately 100 feet prior to making a turn. You could have been summonsed for that. As for the speeding, yes, by definition you were speeding. Would I have written you? Probably not, but that's not really the issue. As for "flipping on the radar," I do that all the time. On the new units, you just touch a button, and it instantly turns on and zaps the car. What is the charge on the ticket? Does it say X in a Y zone, or is it just "speeding," or "basic speed law violation." The latter carries lesser penalties, but both can put a dent in your insurance and on your driver record. I don't find that you were discriminated against. Not to be a pain--but you were in violation of the law and got nailed. You will have a decent amount of leeway if you have no prior record. I would not plead guilty by mail (I do not recommend a guilty plea by mail for any speed violation), rather, show up at court and see what they'll offer you. Redfog is right in that cars that are hooked up attract more attention--it's a risk that you take. Feel free to PM me any specific questions/concerns you might have.

Civicpimpin, most of the time we are speeding for a reason. The situation does not always allow the usage of lights/sirens; that is at the discretion of the officer.

 
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Does anyone else also realize that this is memorial day weekend and cops are nailing you for what they can, its just to keep people safe. They announced on the news that all police agencies are to issue a ticket to EVERYONE that is pulled over for anything (unless its a tailight out etc) with NO WARNINGS, so be careful this weekend. On the way to my g/f's house i usually see about 1-2 troopers, yesterday I counted 4, 4 troopers just sitting there, waiting to pull someone over, well 5 if you count the trooper that had a car pulled over. Last night they had a checkpoint on my road, and you know what, I've never seen a cop all but once on my road. So just be careful this weekend

 
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Yes, you make a very good point. The state has requested my department to issue summonses for a variety of things, and to set up checkpoints.

 
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<< Civicpimpin, most of the time we are speeding for a reason. The situation does not always allow the usage of lights/sirens; that is at the discretion of the officer. >>

Da mn, i wish i had a BS Flag to raise right now. I know several cops who just speed for the hell of it, b/c they know they wont get in trouble. For instance, I was going up to my dad's houseboat with him, and his best friend (who is a cop, and was driving) in my dad's jaguar, we get about 3 miles from the exit and he just punches it. We ended up doing 145 the rest of the way. Let's think about this 145 in a 70. hmm, what is that TWICE THE SPEEDLIMIT? I asked him about it later, and he was just like, "for the hell of it, I speed everywhere I go."
I was behind a cop one night at this redlight, and after the three cars that were turning went, he just took off. The light didnt turn green for another good 45 seconds. I got up to a turn and saw the same frickin cop coming out of a quicky mart with a big bag of chips. That must've been official business too huh.

 
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beh, thats a load of crap. Right after our final exam day at school the cops set up an 8 man speed trap on the street leading away from the school. Everyone always speed son that street because its wide and empty, cops speed there too and they just set up a trap right before school got out, like to the minute to catch all these kids and ruin their last day of school, i think that's a load of crap and I would like very much to beat the sheit out of each and every one of those traffic patroling mongrels.

 
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Supercivic, I'm not going to deny what you claim, however, you can't deny what I claim--I'll often flash my strobes and drive around an intersection and then cut them when I clear the intersection when I'm responding to calls such as alarms. That is all in proper procedure, and it is a common practice of the police in New York City and Long Island. I don't deny the instances you speak of, I do believe they are true. However, in my department, someone can call my precinct and say "car so and so is driving like an idiot" and we can get written up for that; so we tend not to speed "for the hell of it." Did you ever think that maybe the officer was responding to an alarm at the quicky-mart? After determining that the premise was secure, that officer may have made a purchase. We often have false alarms at the quicky-marts on my post--the clerks sometimes accidently knock the hold-up switch. It doesn't take long to determine that the premise is secure and we then go back in service. I have made purchases in convenience stores in these situations. Don't automaticially assume the officer was speeding to get a bag of chips. Even if he was, and that would be grossly unprofessional, realize that we are not all like that.

WhiteRiceBoi, just because a road is wide and empty does not void the vehicle and traffic law and allow motorists to speed. The police reserve the right to set up speed traps anywhere they deem necessary. Granted, it may have been a poor day to do enforcement, but driving is a REGULATED privledge and not a right and is subject to the rules and regulations set forth by the jurisdiction granting that privledge.

 
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<< ...I signaled, turned right on red, sped up to 65000rpms... >>



damn, what kind of engine do you have in there?

 
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Talked to my insurace co., it will be $45 extra per year for a speeding ticket, so it would be a $215 ticket total, $80 for the ticket, $45*3 for insurance. They also told me that their rating system is based on my driving record, not my summon's to court etc. Thus, the more points, the more $$$. I would like to go plea for a lesser charge, but I have a real job and can not make the time given to me. After reading all the info on this site about tickets I plan to call the court, and talk to someone that can reschedule my court date or even plea over the phone. I hope to get this done within 7 days so that if worse comes to worse, I can just send in the waiver.

If and when I plea for a lesser charge, what should I say?????????????????????????????????????

 
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A plea usually involves offering something. They don't exactly take requests. By any chance, was this out of state? If so, that is probably a different scenario.