So my wife and I were on the way home from my mom's house. I was sitting at a red light (stopped) when all of the sudden I see lights coming at me. Next thing I know the cop car is blocking the left lane and part of the middle lane in which I was sitting in. Ran to my window and asked me for my license and registration. Came back, told me to pull over at the shopping plaza across the light... so I did. Asked me if I was racing someone... "I told him no". There was nobody around on the road, besides a truck behind me at the light. So he went back to his car, called for back-up. Came back and asked me for a valid insurance card and if my license and my address was all correct. I told him "yes sir". He went back to his car, came back with a ticket and told me... "I don't believe you that you weren't racing"... "I think you were showing off". So I didn't say anything back. He said, "I was sitting off the side doing paperwork when I saw a red blur go past me, I wasn't radaring so I don't know how fast you were going". "I'm still giving you a ticket for violation of traffic control device / speed limit sign". Then he asks, "Do you have any questions". I told him, "No sir". He then told me, "These roads need to be kept safe, this isn't some race track so slow down". Under violations/comments he wrote: "VIOLATION OF TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE (SPEED LIMIT SIGN). VERY HIGH RATE OF SPEED" So to me it doesn't make sense as to why I still received this ticket. For those wondering I was on 66th St. by Tyrone Mall (22nd Ave N.). He didn't know how fast I was going, he wasn't paying attention to the road since he was doing paper work. He looked up and saw some red vehicle pass him and assumed it was going beyond the speed limit. He assumed I was either racing or showing off. But there was only one other vehicle on the road, some beat up truck behind me at the light. My wife was with me and her SRT-4 is a lot faster then mine so why would I show off? She's been in my car numerous of times and my car hasn't had mods in months so I don't see why I need to show off to her when she knows what the car can do and so fourth. The ticket is $123.50 My options are: -I can fight it and go to court. -I can pay it and get points taken off my license. -I can take the class and get a reduced price on the ticket by a few dollars.
You need to fight that ticket. Officers can't just GIVE out tickets because they THINK you did something wrong, they have to PROVE it.
You have a witness, your wife. Go to court and fight this. As someone in the governmental field, this is unacceptable and simply put, bullshit. A police officer must have proof of your illegal antics, and he does not. If you go to court, and your wife testifies and re-enforces your story, the most they'd do is call that officer up to prove you were racing. If he has no proof, your ticket will be dropped. It's 2 civilians against 1 cop; the odds are in your favor. Chances are they will not do that, though, and will most likely honor you and your wife's pleads and drop the charge. They tried this bullshit with me once and I took that to court and had no witness. When the officer was called to rebuke my claims that he was full of it, the best he could come up with "I had reasonable suspicion." Sorry, that doesn't float.
its called line of sight....... if they have no detection device, and did not actually see YOU driving the vehicle, they can not prove i was you driving, let alone if it was even your car. this will be easy to beat!!!
Ummm... you could go to court and have a decent chance. If you lose you get points. Check with your insurance as to EXACTLY what impact it will have on your insurance if you get the points. You said that if you pay the ticket you don't get points? If that's a sure thing then... weigh that carefully agains the court thing. Look up the exact thing you were cited for. It has to be on the ticket. The particular code you were cited for. Make sure you understand what that is. Since he didn't have a speed on there he might have cited you for something that is in the reckless op category. Way worse than speeding. If it is sort of speed then you might have a really good chance in court. If you go to court DO NOT go into all this stuff about why you didn't have a reason to show off, etc. etc. Stick to the facts. Your case would be "I wasn't speeding and I certainly wasn't racing. I have no idea why the officer thought I was." Bring your wife as a witness to that. I'd say there is a very good chance the officer won't show up. Google to see if anyone else has been cited for that and maybe related their experience.
Ron, you might want to clarify. This most recent ticket was dismissed. How about the big one a year ago? In regards to your ticket, I'd fight it. Depending on your state, you may be able to appeal in writing first and then go to court if that one isn't upheld. The officer doesn't get paid overtime to participate in written appeals, unlike court appearances.
That sounds like a bunch of BS...if it were me, I'd fight it. But, if I failed a couple points on my record wouldn't really hurt me. I would say chances are the cop won't show up to fight the ticket. If it's that shaky, he's probably not going to want to try to explain himself to a judge. As for the witness, being that it is your wife, that won't help you too much. The judge probably won't place too much more value in her than in you. She's not exactly what I would call an impartial witness.
I just have one of the spots in my car where I just throw the tickets in there under CS "Chicken shit". haha. But on a serious note I would try and fight it in court. I just do the traffic school when I got tickets like that but I haven't gotten a moving violation ticket in probably 3 years but I've gotten pulled over at least one time every year I've owned the car for no front plate and just pay it.
A cop can say ANYTHING in court and they will believe him or her NO MATTER what. Take it to court and if he shows up postpone it and keep postponing it and when the cop doesn't show up hit them with a " i move to dismiss on the grounds the officer did not show up therefore there is no evidence"... It worked for me..LOL more then once or twice..
Well we just might be fighting it. I have talked to several co-workers and they are all saying to fight it as well.
