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#1
01-08-2008, 06:55 AM
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I was railroaded...
Jan 2nd, I'm driving home from work. I turn left onto a 4 lane divided highway, speed limit 60. I quickly get up to speed and set my cruise control at 67-68. I drive over an hour each way to and from work so I use my cruise control constantly.
I see a State Trooper coming the other direction and tap the brakes out of habit. Trooper U-turns and pulls me over. I'm baffled as to why he would pull me over going 7 over. Trooper - "What's your hurry?" Bigs - "Just going home from work" Trooper - "I got you the first time about a half mile away going over 80, the second time I got you at 74" Bigs - "No....I had my cruise control on 67-68, there is no way I was going that fast" Trooper - "You were. Look how far ahead of those other vehicles you were" Bigs - "What does that have to do with anything?" Trooper - "You were going that fast, I got turned around and pulled you over before the first car caught up" Bigs - *Extremely pissed, decides not to argue further* For the record the vehicle next to me as we turned left was a motor home pulling a jeep with several bicycles on the back and had Alabama tags. The vehicle behind me was a lawn care truck full of palm fronds. Both vehicles were slow off the line and served as blockers for the rest of the traffic. Trooper - "How old is your truck?" Bigs - "2004" Trooper - "How many miles on it?" Bigs - "104,000" Trooper - "Your speedometer must be off. Get it calibrated." Bigs - "There is nothing wrong with my speedometer, I would be able to tell if it was 15mph off." Trooper - *laughs* "Go get your speedometer calibrated" Trooper goes back to his car, writes me a ticket for 74mph in a 60mph zone....$163.00. Trooper - "Did you put oversized tires on this truck, that could make your speedometer inaccurate." Bigs - "No, the tires are the same as they have always been" Trooper - "Go get your speedometer calibrated, it is off" *smiles real big* "Drive safe" I drive away thinking I have been violated in some sense. I plan on taking this to court. I have zero experience in traffic court and know that I will lose. My word vs. a Trooper's word, it doesn't take a rocket scientist.... I just feel that I need to stand up for myself, state my case and get it off my chest. Anybody out there have any advice for me? Am I wasting my time? It was 4:44 in the afternoon and I was driving east so he was facing west into the setting sun, could this affect his radar in any way? 
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#2
01-08-2008, 07:13 AM
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Good luck
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#3
01-08-2008, 07:28 AM
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I don't have any advice for actually fighting this in court. But by at least pleading 'not guilty,' you force the trooper who wrote the ticket to show up in court. If he/she doesn't appear the day you contest the ticket, you win. If you plan on making your case in court, get your spedometer checked. you have no case if you can't prove your spedometer is accurate. Good luck. I sympathize with your case, very frustrating-- especially when you feel you can't win.
__________________
Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems. -Homer Simpson
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#4
01-08-2008, 08:30 AM
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i've never fought a ticket, but i have never heard that there are extra charges for doing so--i think court costs are included in the cost of the ticket.
as for hiring an attorney, i have never heard of anyone doing so to fight a speeding ticket. go to court if possible. take along whatever is necessary to show that you had your speedometer checked, and that it was accurate-since it sounds as tho the trooper believes you had your speed set, but that your truck was inaccurate--at least that way you can at least show that IF you were speeding, it was certainly unintentional if in fact your speedometer was off. he would have to show in court, or the case is thrown out. if he does show up, ask him to prove that his radar was calibrated, as that has to be done every day. my husband went to court to fight a ticket (he won) and a trooper did not have his daily calibration sheet for his gun, all the tix he wrote that day were thrown out. good luck! my hubby got a ticket for rolling thru a stop sign. he's going to fight it, as it's his word vs the trooper. and the price on that is 240--i'd rather he had gotten a speeding ticket.
__________________
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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#5
01-08-2008, 09:10 AM
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Was the trooper going the other way? If so did he follow you for a couple of miles before pulling you over or did he do it right away? I have never heard of a trooper going in one direction and clocking people going the other way. Is your record clean? Get your odometer checked and try to fight it. Try explaining to the judge that you do the same routine every night for x amout of years and never have had a problem and you get pulled over by a trooper going in the other direction (if that is the case). If you know any local police officers/troopers ask them about clocking people going in the other direction, it just doesn't sound right. Good Luck.
__________________
Felix Unger talking to Oscar Madison: "Your horse could finish third by 20 lengths and they still pay you? And you have been losing money for all these years?!"
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#6
01-08-2008, 09:13 AM
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It's a little too late for this advice but here's the best that I've received. After he told you that you were going 80 you shouldve asked him if his radar was calibrated (they're supposed to do that every single day) and if he says yes, then ask him if he "locked it in" (i.e clocked in how fast you were speeding on his radar), then if he says yes again ask to see it. You gotta be nice about it b/c i guess a lot of cops dont take too kindly to being put on the spot. Its my understanding (havent had the chance to apply it yet!) that if the gun wasnt calibrated or the speed wasnt locked in you can get out of it......you still might be able to apply this in court, but maybe on the calibration b/c the trooper is supposed to do it every morning and keep a log of it.
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#7
01-08-2008, 10:41 AM
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Show up in court. If he no shows you get out of it and even if he shows chances are if your record is clean he'll be willing to talk and reduce it to parking on pavement or something that just carries a fine.
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#9
01-25-2008, 09:41 PM
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what is the difference between a dead skunk in the road and a dead lawyer in the road? There's skid marks before the skunk. What do you call 10,000 dead lawyers? A nice start anyway... I get pulled over because my name ends in a vowel
__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
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#11
01-26-2008, 03:52 AM
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This won't do you any good for the upcoming date in court, but man, you gotta get yourself a high quality radar detector! I don't care if I'm going 1 MPH under the speed limit, if I hear that baby scream at me, I slowwww down.
Your case reminds me of this instance a few years ago in New Hampshire. I was driving up the turnpike and as I approached the Rochester Toll booth (going North), I picked up the troopers radar from a bit more than 3/4's of a mile away. I was, at the time I picked the radar up, going about 60-65 MPH but immediately slowed down and coasted towards the toll. The cop, a known and hated over-compensating masculine female trooper, was parked facing traffic just in front of the toll booths. I'd say about 100 yards away from the tolls. As I hit the 35 MPH limit toll approach zone, I was already under 20 MPH. I passed the cop and she immediately flipped on her lights and turned around. I went through the toll and then pulled over as she signaled to me that it was my time to pay the speeding tax. She comes up to my car and tells me that I was going 61 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, a mere 100 yards in front of the toll booth, in the RAIN!! I found out a short time later that anything exceeding 25 MPH over the speed limit there is considered a more severe speeding infraction (felony??)!! So, I do some research online before my court date and found some interesting information that conveyed to me that it is basically illegal for troopers to park in front of toll booths to target motorists. The judge, of course, has never heard such nonsense (I printed out copies for him and the cop) and while stating my evidence, the cop actually interrupted me and mocked me for finding 'stuff on the Internet'. Not only did I present this information, but I also commented on the likelihood of me going 61 mph in the rain 100 yards before I had to stop and pay a toll, all the while already knowing about the radar being used three quarters of a mile away. The judge found me guilty, but did say that he agreed with me about probably not going 61, so he marked my ticket down to 58. Yippeee. As I was leaving the court, the cop timidly approaches me and asked for the information I had presented in my 'trial'. I gave it to her, though I felt like telling her that her hair bun was so tight that it looked like her forehead was going to break through her skin. Anyways, that was three years ago and to this day, I have not seen one cop parked out in front of the toll booth. It used to be a regular occurrencence. My point? That maybe you can't win your fight, but you might be able to make a change for the better! Oh, and I also read that for a radar ticket to be valid, they need to clock you from within around a 1/4 mile! At least in NH/ME they do. You may want to check into that.
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#13
01-26-2008, 07:53 AM
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I don't have radar detector because I never drive fast enough to get a ticket (or so I thought). I have 107k miles on my vehicle in just under three years. I log a lot of miles each week and see a ton of cops. I've never had a problem until this guy says I'm going 15mph faster than I actually was.
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