"Violation of traffic control device"?!?!? "Very high rate of speed"?!?! WTF KINDA BS IS THAT?!?!? You gotta fight it, that's total horseshiat!! This is the kinda cop I'm used to seeing, geez they think the can do anything they want sometimes. Ron is right, they have to PROVE you were doing something wrong, not just THINK you were. He has to put a speed on the ticket if you were speeding, or that it was a "speed contest" or "exhibition of speed" for racing or something. Never heard of "very high rate of speed", what a crock! Quick is right too, be carefull fighting it cause judges are notorious for siding with cops and once you lose, you lose. Fine, points, insurance goes up and you're hosed. I think in this case tho I'd fight it, especially since you have a witness (your wife) to what the cop said. "I think you were showing off"?!?!? WTF is that?? If you fight it just do like Quick said, lay out the facts and you should win hands down. He has no radar, no proof of anything and you have a witness. Your side is strengthened by the fact that he has no radar and didn't put a speed on the ticket. Sounds to me like he wanted to get you for speeding but couldn't cause he didn't radar you so he concocted this "very high rate of speed" bs. Geez.
Darn.... that SUX... I would surely fight it!!! The insurance points are the VERY worse part... you end up paying forever!!!
The beauty of this is that you have the officer questioning himself. "I wasn't looking at the road, I was doing paper work" "I think you were speeding or showing off"... Those two comments right there discredit the officers ability to actually witness anything during that moment. Fight it! You WILL win. You can even seek legal counsel. They still have a 30 minute consultation for free, right? JMatt???
Thank you everyone for opinions and advice!!! Majority here and outside of here is telling me to fight it and I am so leaning that route. Yes its just a $123.50 ticket... but I have logical reasoning not to have to pay it. As far as points on the license, you can just take a course here to have those taken off your license and pay a reduced ticket price if you choose not to go to court.
I just did. Its 316.074 (1), that is how its on my ticket and looking it up it on this website: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0316/SEC074.HTM&Title=->2007->Ch0316->Section%20074#0316.074 316.074 Obedience to and required traffic control devices.-- (1) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device applicable thereto, placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a police officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter. (2) No person shall drive any vehicle from a roadway to another roadway to avoid obeying the indicated traffic control indicated by such traffic control device. (3) No provision of this chapter for which official traffic control devices are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person. Whenever a particular section does not state that official traffic control devices are required, such section shall be effective even though no devices are erected or in place. (4) Whenever official traffic control devices are placed in position approximately conforming to the requirements of this chapter, such devices shall be presumed to have been so placed by the official act or direction of lawful authority unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence. (5) Any official traffic control device placed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and purporting to conform to the lawful requirements pertaining to such devices shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of this chapter unless the contrary shall be established by competent evidence. (6) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318.
Which by reading that in the above post has no correlation as to what he wrote on the ticket. Just about the traffic control devices. No where does it mention a speed limit sign nor about going a "high rate of speed".
Now I am confused. That code discusses obeying Traffic Control Devices. You were at a Stop Light, waiting for the light to turn green. How on earth is that relevant to what he told you he thought you were doing, Speeding/Racing/Showing Off? This may be MORE fuel for YOUR argument.
Yes, I was literally stopped at the traffic light. It was red. I was at a stop for atleast 1 minute. That light on that intersection takes forever. There was a pick up trunk that came behind me about 30 secs later and literally the cop squeezed part of his car inbetween the front of the persons truck and my rear bumper. This is a 3 lane road and he blocked 2 lanes and asked me for my license and registration right in the middle of the road. The lights on this road as also sequenced and not far from eachother at all. When one turns red, the next turns green. So you get stuck at every light.
now that right there is unsafe!!!! and what the hell is he trying to acomplish by trying to squeeze behind you when your parked. what he cant read the plate from the side??? or pull up next to you and tell you when it turns green to pull off to the side so no one is sitting in on comming traffic. what if then a drunk driver came flying down that road???
Exactly. Found it odd, as in the past... if I was going to get pulled over. If the area/conditions wasn't safe, they would get on the PA and tell me where to pull over to. What he did was careless and I think he was a rookie. As he had no proof behind his assumptions and yet felt he still had to give me a ticket since he had me pulled over.
EXACTLY!! He made the whole thing up. He couldn't get him for speeding (not that you were bro!) cause he didn't have his radar on cause he was d!ckin around in his car and he barely spots a "RED" car go by and just assumes he was speeding so he comes up with this "traffic control device" and "very high rate of speed" crap!! I cry BS!!! Fight, fight, fight bro!! Too bad that cop wasn't Chris then none of this would have happened cause he never would have seen ya!! Lol!!
Everyone has very good points and I totally agree! I'm about 99% sure I want to fight it. It hasn't been 24 hrs since the ticket so I got plenty of time. Have to pay the ticket within 30 days. But by sometime next week I will have a decision... which more and more its leaning to fight it.
[Bizarre, my post seems to have disappeared...?] Don't get caught up in the side (irrevelant) issues. He will get asked to clarify why he cited you for that. He will say it was a speed limit sign he was referring to and you were driving too fast. Again, your statement should be simply be "I was not speeding and I was not racing". 1)What does your insurance company go on. Is it strictly points? or is it the violation itself? Exactly what is the effect? For example, would a moving viloaolation count against you in ANY way if you didn't get points for it? Ask your insurance agent explicitly. 2) If you go to court and lose, do you still have the option to have the points removed? If you have the points removed does this remove the ticket for insurance porurposes?Just be absolutely sure you're clear on all aspects of fighting it or not fighting it before you make your decidsion, that's all. I'm no traffic lawyer but it sort of seems like if he says you didn't obey a speed limit sign then it's more or less a speeding ticket and he should have to put a speed down. So it sounds like he didn't have a speed but figured this was a way to still cite you for speeding. Then again, they don't have clock you to site you for reclkless operation when they see you blow by at excessive a high rate of speed, but that's way more serious. Check with the neighbor officer. See what he thinks. Ask if there is some way you can get a copy of the officer's notes or if he has to file any description that you can get a copy of before you decide to do anythhing. You might be surprised.
Dave, you sound somewhat "experienced" in this area, care to comment further?? Lol! And btw, what's up with your font size, can you make it any smaller?!?! Some of us are getting older you know, lol!
Not a lot of experience, but a little bit. Of course that was last century when I was driving a semi. When you make your living with your driver's license you should be on top of these things just in case. The font was what came out from cut'n'paste from a key logger. It's happened a couple of times recently that I swear I've posted something and it wasn't there right after...
