Speeding tickets

[Jim Oaks]

I bet there isn't anyone registered here that's been to court for speeding tickets more than me.

 

[BobR]

I bet there isn't anyone registered here that's been to court for speeding tickets more than me.

ya but you were on the prosecution side.


Bob

 

[Jim Oaks]

......somewhere here I had the training manual for traffic radar that also includes requirements and court prep..........


but I don't know where..............

You know there are a lot of departments out there who's officers aren't properly certified or keep accurate calibration records?

Laser is very precise and hard to beat.

Radar on the other hand is prone to error. A good operator can tell if he has a good speed on his radar or if it's bogus. Some officers just see the numbers and write a ticket. If you don't have good training you won't know to spot the bad readings. Radar is only meant to verify a visual estimation. Moving radar is more prone to errors than stationary radar. Some people want to see the radar. The cop can put any speed on that radar he wants before pulling you over.

Since you're in Canada I'll just recommend you pay the ticket.

 

[Hahnsb2]

I have to side with MAKG on this one... Ive had my license for 2 years as of yesterday and have yet to be pulled over for anything. You broke the law, ya got caught, pay up big man! I wont lie, I speed, mostly just so I dont get run over by all of the other people from behind. Ive gone by several cops radaring on 205 where the limit is 55, we're all usualy doing 65, Ive even had em come up right behind me while I was 10 over and then move over 2 lanes and nail the guys who's tailgating, for the most part our cops use common sense when it comes to giving out tickets, if I had been pulled over and received a ticket I would pay it. The other day my buddy got busted for no seatbelt($96, big deal... His 3rd ticket, 9th time being pulled over), he claims he's gonna fight it because "it's a bullshit law", I told him it doesnt matter, you broke the law, ya got caught, pay up big man!

 

[DK27]

So even if the law is bullshit and mostly isn't serving its purpose people should just shut up and pay instead of something ELSE being ticketed.... oh, and definitely DONT question it... it's the law.

 

[Jim Oaks]

ya but you were on the prosecution side.


Bob

 

[Jim Oaks]

I believe people who get tickets are guilty. Some don't want to pay the money. Most just don't want the points. I've seen prosecutors give people no-point violations just to avoid having to go in for a trial.

 

[Southern3.0]

Dunno about Canada but in the US Take it to court, where lucky enough to have the option so use it.

But all this BS is the reason my bestfreind is the one who always drives, His dad is the LT. for the county so we always get the

Cop "How the Lt.?"

Us "Good"

Cop " alright well slow down and have a nice day"

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Pay in small change...

 

[baddis]

i got a photo ticket once. but the ticket was from chicago and i was in Tenesee at the time. could not go anywhere near chicago it took almost a year to get cleared up.

 

[Bill]

I've never received a ticket for speeding, although I do a fair amount of it. We have a 70mph maximum here. Some of the urban freeways are around 55mph for short stretches. The flow of traffic averages about 75mph. Wreckless speeders are usually the only ones that get tickets on the freeways out here. I think the CHP does visual speed checks before tagging someone with laser to get their exact speed. Thus, people that are obvious speeders going faster than the flow of traffic get nailed, as do people with red and yellow vehicles.

 

[SassyTeffie]

Worst ticket I ever got was for walking across railroad tracks. I had to got to court for it. I was just gonna plead guilty and pay it with my next check, but the judge said if I did that I'd get a $1,500 fine and 90 days! So, I plead no contest and got a $70 fine. Then, when I sent the money in, I got it back with a note saying that my case didn't exist! I called, but I was told the same thing. Years later I'm checking my credit report and there's the fine...along with a huge penalty the county tacked onto it! I was so pissed!

 

[HAPPY_RANGER_GUY]

I agree with MAKG, pay the fine and move on with life. Lesson Learned. I have got my first speeding ticket when I was 16ish. Pops said no big deal, just pay it and go on with your life, I suggest you do the same.

Nothing wrong with going to court and asking for a reduced fine if you'd like. Some courts will easily cut the fine in half and there is nothing wrong with saving a buck or two.

T.

 

[JohnnyO]

I have always proudly paid my speeding tickets (until the last one) because I knew I was guilty as sin.
Officer: "Do you know why I pulled you over?" (they always ask that)
Me: "Yup. Here's my license and registration."
Check's in the mail.
The last one though, the statie was set up with radar smack in front of a toll booth where the limit drops from 65 to 55 just prior. (My bad for not having my radar detector with me.) I was doing at 70 and had already kicked off the cruise because in a few seconds I'd be stopped anyway to pay the toll.
So that kinda pissed me off. I often travel that stretch of road going between my offices. The PA MV Code says that speed limit signs must be no more than one-half mile apart. Distance between the 55 sign and the next sign (a 65) is 3.5 miles. Not even close, nor are any others on that road. If I ever get another one I'll fight it instead of settling.

 

[Shoeboy]

My first ticket was completly my fault. I had a 1987 Plymouth Caravelle with the 2.5L, ya, big power there. I was on the highway and trying to see how fast it would go. Over 10 minutes to get it up to 140km/h. I crested the hill and saw the RCMP on the next hill. I started slowing down at that point thinking to myself, "I know they caught me, how fast did they catch me going?". When I got to the cop he asked if I knew why he pulled me over, and i said i had a pretty good idea. It was a $150 ticket for doing 115 in a 90km zone. I paid the ticket the next day.

sometime it is alright to fight tickets, and other times it pay up. I've been pulled over a few times for not having daytime running lights on my 1989 Ranger (that was made in April, I believe). The codes in Canada state that any vehicle made on and or after December first 1989 must be equipted with daytime running lights. My truck is a few months older then December making me exempt for that law. I told the cop that I was an apprentice mechanic and I had to deal with this whenever I had to install a DRL modual in any vehicle coming into Alberta. Luckly I got out of the ticket or I would have had to take a day off work to go fight it and blah blah blah. It seems the cops here make a lot of dumb choices. They would rather pull over the guy who is doing 55km in a 50km zone then to pull over the guy who is doing 80km and weaving in and out of traffic in a 50km zone. A friend of mine got a ticket for having a break light burned out, not a fix it ticket, an actual ticket that was about $250. It was for somethign like lack of driver notification causing dangerious driving with possibility of an accident. I swear they cop just pulled that one out of his ass. Cops in Calgary are stupid. I've had to fight a few of them for them being so completly bs, not having daytime running lights on a vehicle made before the law came into affect, parking in a dirt parking lot and taking up 2 stalls (when I pulled in, I was between the 2 vehicles and no matter what way I would enter I had about 2 feet on either side of me), dangeriously pulling onto the sholder (I was driving with my friend friend in his POS caddy, and it started overheating so i turned the hazards and pulled the car over signaling and everything, still got the ticket for it.) It seems that the cops here would rather take the easy way out to reach thier BS quota then to actually police and fine people who are breaking the law, or being dangerious, I think that someone going 30 km over the limit diserves a ticket over someone going 5km over, that just pisses me off.