29 Responses to “NMA Contest: Tell Your Ticket Story & Win A Free Book”

1. Beyond Hope says:

   February 13, 2008 at 11:12 am

   Years ago, I had my now 14 year old daughter in the car beside me. She was two at the time. She was safely tucked into her car seat and I was trying to return home. Instead of going straight on a busy road, something told me “turn off NOW!” So I switched from left lane to right and turned into a “no right turns, local traffic only” street. Technically, I was local traffic, since this was 6 blocks from where I lived, but the cop didn’t think so. Boy did I hear from him. He read me the riot act.
   Written ticket in hand, I got home and turned to pull my daughter out of her car seat. To my horror, she was half out of it already and had been probably since way before I got the ticket. With this little piece of information, I planned on fighting the ticket, not just because I didn’t think it was fair, but because the cop should have ticketted me for “unrestrained minor” or something similar, not for turning right on a “local traffic only” area.
   Court day came and I went to the court house with my evidence, my little toddler acting up and we got shooed out of the court room. When my time came, the judge had seen how disruptive the child was earlier and since I had shown up, he decided to let me off with just a warning of “don’t do it again” instead of fines and more. The cop agreed. I didn’t even get a chance to open my mouth.
   All I wanted to ask the cop on “are you sure you were doing your job?” since he was one who only did traffic and nothing else. If he missed a toddler getting out of a car seat, what else could he have missed?

   Reply
2. Frank Dwyer says:

   February 13, 2008 at 11:18 am

   While driving down an unfamiliar street into the sun at 500 pm,I drove through a stop sign. My wife said there was a police car watching this intersection pulled over immediately policeman was courteous but issued a citation worth 107.00 in fines.I was going to pay but my wife convinced me to appeal.I went to my hearing with a letter of acknowledgement of my error along with my driving safety buttons for 40 years of safe driving without any citastions.The judge read my letter and dismissed all charges.I was estatic what a relief.

   Reply
3. Mark D. Girouard says:

   February 14, 2008 at 8:54 am

   Here is what drivers under the age of 18 in Massachusetts can expect if they don’t fight a speeding ticket!

   In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws – Procedure for Motor Vehicle Offenses – Chapter 90c, Section 3(A) (4) I, Dylan E. Girouard do here by request that the Registrar for the Massachusetts Department of Motor Vehicles notify the clerk-magistrate of the district court for the judicial district in which the infraction described below occurred of such request for a noncriminal hearing, in such manner as the chief justice of the district court department and the registrar shall jointly determine. The reasons for this request are clearly described in the information provided.

   On August 21, 2007 at approximately 4:15 PM, my son Dylan E. Girouard and a friend were coming home from the Greendale Mall is Worcester. The weather was clear and the pavement was dry. While traveling on the I-190 on ramp also know as Norton Drive, which, is a divided highway outside a thickly settled or business district, Dylan began to accelerate towards the speed limit of I-190 in anticipation of entering the highway (this is what he was taught in driving school). As he drove, he saw a 35 MPH speed limit sign at the top of the hill (this is the only speed limit sign between the entrance of the on ramp and the sign on top of the hill) and immediately began slowing down. As he crested the hill he saw two (2) police officers approximately 300 yards in front of him standing outside a police cruiser along with some other vehicles that had been pulled over. As Dylan got closer he was prompted by one of the officers to pull over. Dylan was then cited for speeding, 51 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. (It is important to note that this road has two lanes in the direction Dylan was traveling, and as Dylan crested the hill he said several vehicles passed him).

   Being a young driver, and believing that the word of a police officer would be taken over his, he paid the fine. Under the new Junior Operator law Dylan was then found guilty and lost his license for 90 days.

   Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 85, speed limits must be posted in accordance with certain criteria. Chapter 90, Section 18 authorizes the posting of numerical speed limits on all roadways in Massachusetts. The foundation for the actual posting of a speed limit is a thorough traffic engineering study. After a study has been completed, a Special Speed Regulation is drafted and approved by the governing authority of the roadway, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and Mass Highway. All posted regulatory speed limit signs must adhere to this approval process. If a speed limit is posted without this procedure, it is in violation of Chapter 90, Section 18, and is therefore considered illegal and unenforceable.

   On Thursday, September 27, 2007 9:55:08 AM I received the following e-mail in reply to a request for information I sent.
   Mr. Girouard,

   This is in response to your recent request for information
   relative to speed limits on “the I-190 on-ramp also known as Norton
   Drive”. Please be advised that according to our files, no speed
   regulation, promulgated in accordance w/ Chapter 90, Section 18 of the
   MGL, exists for this section of roadway. Therefore, the speed limit on
   this road is governed by Chapter 90, Section 17 of the MGL which can be
   viewed at: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/90-17.htm.

   Richard F. Wilson
   MassHighway
   Traffic Engineering and Operations
   Traffic Regulations Engineer
   (617) 973-7368

   This tells me the speed limit which my son allegedly violated is unenforceable, because MGL ch.85 sec. explains that speed limits must be posted in accordance with certain criteria. Chapter 90, Section 18 authorizes the posting of numerical speed limits on all roadways in Massachusetts. The foundation for the actual posting of a speed limit is a thorough traffic engineering study. After a study has been completed, a Special Speed Regulation is drafted and approved by the governing authority of the roadway, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and Mass Highway. All posted regulatory speed limit signs must adhere to this approval process. If a speed limit is posted without this procedure, it is in violation of Chapter 90, Section 18, and is therefore considered illegal and unenforceable. According to Chapter 90, Section 17 instantaneous radar or laser readings are not adequate. The motor vehicle must be shown to have been in excess of these speed limits for the entire distance associated with each respective speed limit.

   ARGUMENT

   THE SPEED LIMIT IN QUESTION WAS POSTED IN VIOLATION
   OF BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL LAW, AND IS NOT ENFORCEABLE
   State and Federal laws outline the mandatory procedures for posting speed limits. Both require that the agency or department conduct an engineering study prior to posting. Neither the city of Worcester, which has jurisdiction, nor the Massachusetts Department of Highways (Mass Highway), have undertaken such an engineering study.

   Federal regulations state that a mandatory engineering study is the basis for any posted speed limit. The Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), published by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is the national standard for traffic control devices — “signs, signals, markings, and other devices used to regulate, warn, or guide traffic.” The FHWA requires that all traffic control devices on roads open to the public conform to national standards described in the MUTCD, which is incorporated by
   reference into federal regulations (23 CFR 655.601 et. seq.). The MUTCD states:

   The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, under authority granted by the Highway Safety Act of 1966, decreed that traffic control devices on all streets and highways open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a) in each State shall be in substantial conformance with the Standards issued or endorsed by the FHWA.

   The FHWA interpretation of its regulation emphasizes universal application: “All traffic control devices nationwide must conform to the MUTCD. There are no exceptions.” (Frequently Asked Questions about the MUTCD)

   States are encouraged to use the federal MUTCD verbatim, but are permitted to adopt state manuals consistent with the federal manual. In either case, federal law contemplates a uniform MUTCD applicable to the entire state, with a single agency responsible for
   its creation. (“The State Highway Department is the exclusive representative of a state in the vast majority of dealings with the FHWA concerning federal grant in aid under the Act.”)

   Section 2B.13 of the MUTCD states in part:

   After an engineering study has been made in accordance with established traffic engineering practices, the Speed Limit sign shall display the limit established by law, ordinance, regulation, or as adopted by the authorized agency. Although the manual goes on to describe other factors that may be taken into consideration when determining a posted speed limit (Exhibit I), it does not absolve the agency from the need to conduct the engineering study. Established engineering practice requires that the primary consideration in setting a speed limit be the actual speed of traffic. Most drivers choose reasonable speeds, and the accident rate is lower for vehicles traveling above the average speed of traffic. The national standard is to set a speed limit at the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic — the speed 85% of vehicles are traveling at or below — rounded up to the next multiple of 5 miles per hour. FHWA has codified this standard in section 2B.11 of the MUTCD: “When a speed limit is to be posted, it should be the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic, rounded up to the nearest 10 km/h (5 mph) increment.”

   Given that neither the state nor local agency conducted the required engineering study, the police were wrong in finding that the posted speed limit was a proper basis for a traffic citation. “[T]he sign was not authorized by law, and was not legally binding upon motorists.” Burgess v. Giovannucci, 314 Mass. 252 (1943).

   THE DRIVER WAS TRAVELING AT A SPEED THAT WAS
   REASONABLE AND PROPER

   The basic law in almost every state, including Massachusetts, is to travel at a speed that is no greater than “reasonable and proper” (Uniform Vehicle Code §11-801 (1992)). From MGL 90 §17: No person operating a motor vehicle on any way shall run it at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper.

   CONCLUSION

   The adoption and retention of the 35 MPH speed limit was and is arbitrary, and in violation of law. The law requires a factual basis for a speed limit and so the normal standards for judicial review of agency action do not apply. The question is not “could the Worcester Police department have found any facts to justify a 35 MPH speed limit?” The question is “did the Worcester Police department find facts sufficient to justify a 35
   MPH speed limit?” The record shows that it did not. The state may not set speed limits arbitrarily and may not use an illegal speed limit to punish drivers. The Worcester Police department hopes to profit from fine revenue, but it is a fundamental principle of law that “no one shall be permitted to found any claim upon his own inequity or take advantage of his own wrong.” Stearns v. United States, 291 U.S. 54 (1934). The driver is not charged with driving at an unsafe speed, but only violating an illegally posted speed limit. For these reasons, Dylan E. Girouard respectfully moves The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to overturn the finding of responsible, and enter a finding of not responsible.

   Respectfully submitted this 10th day of November 2007.

   I have attached e-mail correspondence that I had with the Massachusetts Registrar Anne Collins. Needless to say My son not only didn’t get this overturned, but the actual loss was for just over 4 months due to scheduling of mandatory classes and work schedules of various registry personnel necessary for reinstatement.

   Mr. Girouard- I appreciate all of the issues your raise in
   defense of your son. As you know, the new junior operator law was put
   in place to help curtail the tragic loss of life that has been all to
   prevalent, especially among teen drivers. Both you and your son admit
   that he broke the law- your son by paying the ticket admitted in writing
   that he was speeding; you in your e-mail to me admit that even if the
   posting was in error that your son was going over the 50 mph speed
   limit.

   I am sorry, there is nothing I can do for you.

   Sincerely,

   Anne L. Collins
   Registrar

   Dear Mrs. Collins,
   Thank you for your quick response. I am saddened by your answer, but not surprised. I would like to clarify something however. I never admitted that Dylan was speeding; I said he was ticketed for speeding. And if you could possibly respond one more time and please answer this; How is it that because Dylan paid his ticket he admits guilt under the law, but when the Police ticketed Dylan in an area that has been proven to be an unlawful they are not guilty under the law?

   Sincerely,

   Mark D. Girouard

   Mr. Girouard-

   The ticket actually states that payment of the ticket constitutes
   admission of responsibility for any of the offenses cited. You are
   certainly welcome to pursue issues related to the police conduct with
   the relevant Chief.

   I understand your disappointment and I am sorry I could not provide
   you with the result you desire.

   Anne

   Mrs. Collins,

   There is no need to be condescending, I’m quite aware of what
   the ticket says. MGL Chapter 90 Section(s) 18 and 17 also states that
   the ticketing officer was wrong to have issued a ticket when and where
   he did. However, as you have already stated, that doesn’t matter.
   Obviously what matters is that the ticketing agency and others get their
   money from the public even if it means they have to break the law to do
   so.

   I’ll take that as you have no answer and admit that the system
   is used more to generate revenue than it is to provide safety.

   Mark

   Mark-

   I did not mean to be condescending. I am sorry you took my email
   that way.

   Anne

   Reply
4. Martin G says:

   February 14, 2008 at 9:50 am

   This happened in 1997 and i Live in Ridgeville, S.C. and this is a speed trap town this is how my story goes as you enter the town the speed is 45 ans soon as you get to a curve it turns to 30 well I know the tricks of the town so I slowed down to 25 MPH an soon as i got around the curve i saw the Town Police i waved and i laughed at my wife and said he gonna get me for speeding doing 25 in a 30 MPH zone , he made a u-turn put his lights on , soon as i pulled off the road right in front of the Town Hall parking loy he told me to pull down to the corner store (Carters fast Stop) he followed me without blue lights and soon as i pulled into the store area he hit the siren/blue lights and i got out again and asked him why i had to pull 1/2 mile from the incident area, he replied it was not safe , isaid i pulled into the town hall parking lot , well anyway i went to court about 3 weeks later and the judge asked how do i plea , i told her NOT GUILTY, she laughed and said ok lets hear it. I explained to the Judge the speed limit is 30 and i was going 25,she then said the Officers radar said so, i asked her when the radar was calabrated and if the officer had gone thru trainingthat is required by the state and also asked her when did they invent radar that can go around curves….She thought for a minute and then asked me why i asked those questions and i replied i was hired by the Sheriff’s Office recently and was shown a little about how radar works……the JUDGE then said to the officer this case is dismissed…….i laughed and walked away…this makes all law enforcement look bad…..but i had a good laugh !!!!!!!!!!

   Reply
5. John Corsello says:

   February 14, 2008 at 9:57 am

   It is my fervant belief that Police – particularly in high crime neighborhood – be made to walk beats rather than spend a bulk of their collective time writing tickets. So what I’m about to say may be both questionably ethical and a rationalization, but it sure feels good. I’ve researched the most confusing combination of numbers and letters I could find and made that my license plate. To date I’ve been issued eight parking tickets and neither recieved anything in the mail nor paid a dime. Why? Because the ticking Officers never once correctly wrote down my tag number.

   Reply
6. Laura Lee says:

   February 14, 2008 at 11:01 am

   The day before my wedding day, i went to the grocery store to pick up the rehearsal cake ” which was a ice cream cake” i lived about 15 mins from where the grocery store was, so i had little time to get it there in tact, not to mention in SC it was pushing 95 degrees outside, so there i was in the town of Ridgeville SC, going 31 in a 30, i got pulled over and immediately my day couldnt get worse, the officer walks around to my moms car and says ma’am do you know that you are going 31 in a 30,”in my head im thinking are you serious 1 mph over and your gonna pull me, but seeing this town is like mayberry i was just waiting for barnie to aim his gun at me with his one bullet” i immediately broke down into tears and said that i had a ice cream cake that i had to get home, my wedding day was the following day, and nothing seemed to be going my way… i was crying like he told me i was being arrested, he never asked for my license or anything else, he told me to dry my eyes and head home. He also congratulated me. I drove off and started laughing histerally because i can cry at the drop of a hat, and i have used it to my advantage! Since then i have drove through there on occasion when i go to see my parents, and if i happen to get pulled again, i will cry on demand… seems to work!!!

   Reply
7. Baja Joes says:

   February 15, 2008 at 9:45 am

   This happened in San Bernardino, Ca. I was ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign. The car in front of me had passes the limit line and stopped leaving me to stop right at the limit line. Cop wasn’t hearing it and didn’t care. I went to court but it was my word against the lawman and since I couldn’t identify the person who the had overpasses the limit line.I was guilty. The moral of the story during which the judge showed his bias by declaring he gets a lot of mustangs in his court. I still plead not guilty and was sentenced to 1 yr community service. I still say I was not guilty! And while I have been legitimately fined for offenses I have been guilty of, this is not one. ToMyDyingBreath!

   Reply
8. Kira Bratten says:

   February 15, 2008 at 10:47 am

   In the summer of 2007 I was following my cousin home from an unfamiliar city to me (Three Rivers, MI). We came up to a stoplight which had just turned from green to yellow. She continued through it, as did I. As I was turning I immediately noticed a cop turn on his lights.

   The cop pulled me over and wrote me a citation for turning right on a yellow light. He said he was giving me a break, because the light was red as I was finishing my turn. First of all, he was on the opposite side of me and in no way could even see the stoplight. Second of all, I’m from Indiana, not Michigan, so how should I know that preceding through a yellow light is illegal???

   I did my research and attended the hearing to fight the ticket. The cop and judge both were really nice the whole time and tried to tell me that they are cutting down in that specific area due to the number of accidents that happen in a given year.

   I understand that, but the whole reason I wanted to fight this ticket was because I have an Indiana Driver’s License, knew nothing about Michigan’s Driving laws, was in an unfamiliar city, I let the cop know all of that before he gave me the ticket, and he still continued to issue me a ticket. The whole thing is completely unfair.

   I said my part in the hearing and the judge only took 1 point off. I didn’t deserve that ticket at all and everyone in that room knew that, they just wanted their money. I haven’t been in Three Rivers since.

   Reply
9. Karl Vogelheim says:

   February 15, 2008 at 1:24 pm

   I got a tickety for a no turn on red at the corner of Schoolcraft Road (I96) and Farmington Rd., in Livonia, MI last September. It took me three trips back to the court room to get the charge changed to obstructing traffic. This is a known speed trap and even the cops in the room knew it so if you come up to this intersection from the west, stop at the corner and do not turn right. The cops wait down the block on the right hand side and will nail you.

   Reply
10. Ezra says:

    February 16, 2008 at 11:40 pm

    I plead not guilty and show up to court for every ticket, in So Cal if the cop doesn’t show up you win automatically. This has worked for me several times, but I also prep a case in case he’s there. Law enforcement agencies have been forcing cops to show more.

    I was traveling on a street that has no parking during evening rush hour 4-7pm so that both lanes can be used for traffic. It was about 3 minutes after 7 and I was in the #2 lane I could see ahead that a car was parked. and I had just passed the merge sign where this no parking zone comes to an end anyway. I signaled, looked to my left, saw the car in the #1 lane and saw the driver wave me over with his hand on the steering wheel. I moved over and was immediately pulled over by a cop. He claimed “you cut that guy off” I said “well officer it looked to me like he was letting me in”. Of course the cop couldn’t see any of this from behind us. So I stopped arguing and took the ticket.

    I plead not guilty and showed up in court, and explained to the pro-tem judge exactly what happened I also had pictures of the signs that said no parking 4-7 and the merge sign and the point where the parked cars are at that time with people half way over the line trying to merge in, taken at the same time on another day. I pointed out that the ticket was written just minutes after 7. I cross examined the officer, I asked, “did you see me signal?” he says “yes”. So the judge is quiet for like 30 seconds. Then he looks at the ticket and says “you wrote that the defendant was doing 40, what was the other car’s speed?” He says, “35, the speed limit” the judge pauses another 20 seconds and says “you see the problem here officer?, if he was going faster than the other car, it’s unlikely that he cut him off.” The judge says, I’m on the fence on this one but I find for the defendant. It took some work but It was going to be a $150.00 ticket after all the penalty assessments etc.

    Bottom line, in So Cal, I don’t know about other places, if you can afford an hour or two always plead not guilty and at least show up to see if the cop is there, if he is you can change your plea at the last minute and ask for traffic school. They try to scare you by saying that “if you fight and lose the judge won’t give you traffic school.” That’s not true either, if you make an intelligent case and lose, but you’ve been respectful and polite, the judge will probably grant traffic school if you ask. It’s in the court’s interest to do so, they get an additional $30.00 if you go.

    Reply
11. Ezra says:

    February 17, 2008 at 12:05 am

    I want to know more about John Corsello’s confusing letter/number combinations, or at least where he found the references for the research.

    Reply
12. Ed Riddick says:

    February 17, 2008 at 9:00 am

    Here’s one for you. 6 years ago I purchased a 2000 Grand AM GT. I placed license plates on front and rear of the car. But I covered the front plate with the cover provided by GM. In Wisconsin the law requires that both front and rear plates be visible. I’ve driven 125,000 miles, lived in my community for 14 years and never been stopped for this violation. Last week I drove from Chicago to Oshkosh – 150 miles. I passed 6 State Troopers using cruise. 2 blocks from my home I was pulled over by Officer “M”, a rookie, not yet radar certified. So, what do you think happened? She pulled me over and wrote me a warning ticket for having my front plate covered. I had my seat belt on. I was going speed limit. But after 6 years and 125,000 miles she thought I needed to be pulled over 2 doors from my home with lights flashing and spot light on my car. Maybe Mayberry’s Barney and Gommar need to meet for coffee and compare notes. They could talk about how to build community support for their police departments.

    Reply
13. James Young says:

    February 17, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    I want license # D0O0OD. :)

    Reply
14. Joe says:

    February 17, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    {Maybe Mayberry’s Barney and Gommar need to meet for coffee and compare notes.} {
    They propbably would compare notes alright…on how to write more tickets.

    {They could talk about how to build community support for their police departments.}

    Ed Riddick, good luck on getting a police department to actually work for instead of against it’s citizens. They have a job to do, albeit a lousy one, and they really don’t care what the populace thinks about them. If they did they’d approach their job with a totally different mentality. To some degree, it gets back to what kind of people become cops. In some cases in small rural municipalities, having a half dozen cops writing tickets all the time actually helps reduce unemployment and fattens the city coffers at the same time. It’s a sorry reason to have police but it happens.
    Traffic control and speed traps in particular has substantially diminished any respect, other then required by law, for the law enforcement community. They and their bosses the municipalities have decided to use up their good-will-capital in favor of fattening the city coffers. The community losses because you can’t pursue criminal activity and traffic rules that actually affect the accident rate by running a speed trap. How many times have you heard of small town cops that do nothing but set out on a main thoroughfare to write speeding citations meanwhile there’s nobody left to patrol and protect the towns citizens. Here in Oklahoma we have multitude of small municipalities that do that. If James reads this, he’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

    Reply
15. James Young says:

    February 17, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    Can we say Caney?

    How about Stringtown, Kiowa, Tushka, Big Cabin, Luther, Roland, Moffett, Yale, Hulbert?

    How about the Broken Arrow expressway at the US 75 split just west of Peoria? How about 41st street near Whiteside Park?

    Joe is correct that the officers in so many of these CS little villages are in place just to provide jobs for otherwise unemployable residents and to generate money for the village. They are generally untrained, not POST-certified, some not even HS graduates.

    I tried to talk to the mayor and chief of police (then the same guy) in Stringtown, to get his views for a potential article in the Los Angeles Times and you would have thought I was asking for state secrets. Although they proclaim that they want Stringtown known as a place “where the law is enforced,” the truth is that they want to conduct their operations in secret.

    Reply
16. Baja Joes says:

    February 20, 2008 at 9:07 am

    For ED & the front license plate: I have a ‘71 Datsun 1200(47 yrs old) and took the front plate off the ist year I had it because of ascetics. Never have had a problem because I guess they are always behind me when they want to ticket. Since all states don’t require front plates and many states need revenue I wonder how much coul be saved by this regulation that doesn’t seem to be needed?

    Reply
17. TrueBlue says:

    February 20, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    I am a police officer, and I work traffic enforcement along with DWI enforcement, SWAT, and regular patrol. I have to say that some of your opinions are interesting, to say the least. But the fact is, 99% of police officers out there have your safety in mind. Why do you think you see us running INTO a situation that everyone else is running OUT of?

    There’s two reasons I work traffic. #1 is to alter people’s behavior and change their unsafe driving habits. I don’t care about ticket revenue, as I don’t earn a commission from the tickets. You all act like that money goes straight into the officer’s pockets.

    #2 is to find other crimes. Do you have any idea how many warrants, drugs, DWIs, and revoked drivers I have found by stopping a vehicle for no front plate or not using a signal? People always say, “Why don’t you go catch the real criminals?” Well, how do you think we catch them? Criminals drive, too.

    I know my words will get twisted, or maybe you’ll say I’m an exception. But I think it’s interesting that you judge ALL cops everywhere from the few cops you have actually spoken to.

    And just remember how you feel about your warriors in blue next time you call them for help. You guys are so judgmental, but when was the last time you thanked an officer for his/her service? Remember, we only get called when things are bad. No one ever calls to say everything is great. We deal with the worst of the bad, everyday, and we sacrifice a lot personally to do it.

    So you were speeding, got caught, and lost a little money. I have friends that have lost their lives trying to help others. You can make more money, but I will never see my friends again in this life.

    Reply
18. Kelly says:

    February 20, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    I had a hot date and was in a hurry to get home from work to get primmed. As I was driving in a residential area an officer pulled me over and stated that I was doing 65 in a school zone and that he was ticketing me for 40 miles over the speed limit. Rather than argue with the officer, I kept my mouth shut and decided to go to court when the time came.

    When I went before the judge, I told him that my mom had called me at work in a panic. My son had a bad fall from his bike and was needing to go to the hospital. My mom was so hysterical on the phone I decided to go a bit faster than normal to avoid getting caught in rush hour traffic, thus getting to my son earlier. When I went through the school zone it was well after school hours so no children were present. Although I did not believe I was traveling quite as fast as the officer mentioned, I was quite aware of the area and drove as cautiously as possible.

    The judge sided with me and threw the ticket out but not before warning me that if he found me in his court again he would “throw the book at me”!

    Reply
19. TrueBlue says:

    February 20, 2008 at 8:09 pm

    I’m glad to see that lying and dishonesty are promoted here. While I believe in everyone’s constitutional rights to a fair trial, I don’t lie in court and seriously question the moral character of anyone that would promote doing so.

    And the by the way, can anyone here tell me how Timothy McVeigh was caught? McVeigh was the person who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City, if you don’t remember.

    He was caught when an officer from a small municipality stopped him for a minor traffic violation. I believe it was expired tags.

    Reply
20. E. Meyers says:

    February 20, 2008 at 9:28 pm

    TRUE BLUE is out of touch with reality as most cops are. That gun and badge distort the hell out of reality. How bout putting your badge where you mouth is.

    Let me take it point by point. Officers are interested in your safety. Big lie, the only thing police care about is serving their own interest and protecting their own asses. Wake up. You want to alter peoples behavior. Your on a power trip.

    Judging all cops by the behavior of some. the system is the crime. 99% of officers interested in your safet. Your diluusional dude. Your part of the system your part of the crime. Do we judge nazi storm troopers as individuals?

    Warriors in blue? Clowns if you ask me. People that see what they want to see to mean what the want it to mean so the won’t feel bad about taking their pay check.

    So I got caught speeding and I lost a little money. The cop lied cause he needed to write some tickets to get permoted. He used me as a victem for his lie and created crime that didn’t exist. Not only that it was one of many tickets that destroyed my life and I became homeless.

    Face it. Your the criminal. do you really want to help society. Here’s an idea. Go home and shoot ourself in the foot. While your home recuperating, make something with your hands and leave people alone.

    Reply
21. James Young says:

    February 20, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    TrueBlue writes:
    {Why do you think you see us running INTO a situation that everyone else is running OUT of?}

    Uh, because we would be arrested for interfering if we ran into the situation?

    {There’s two reasons I work traffic. #1 is to alter people’s behavior and change their unsafe driving habits. I don’t care about ticket revenue, as I don’t earn a commission from the tickets. You all act like that money goes straight into the officer’s pockets.}

    • Strong evidence indicates that enforcement does not alter drivers’ behavior, but that their behavior changes very slowly in response to technological changes. I would add the caveat that perhaps this failure is slightly mitigated by educational encounters where the driver is ignorant about something, impeding or merging incorrectly and the LEO can offer legitimate advice rather than punishment.
    • Even more interesting is that for the most part, drivers do not need to have their behavior modified all that much. We are enjoying the best measures of traffic safety performance in our history so there is no need to significantly modify successful behavior.
    • The distribution of traffic fines varies as much as the jurisdictions that impose them. In some places – the CS little villages that exist only as speed traps – the money does go directly to the officers. Even if they don’t get the money, they get to keep their job only if they cite so the distinction is not really a difference.
    • The fines from speeding – an estimated $100 billion a year – benefit jurisdictions to some measure. That money does not benefit drivers.

    {I know my words will get twisted, or maybe you’ll say I’m an exception. But I think it’s interesting that you judge ALL cops everywhere from the few cops you have actually spoken to.}

    That would be similar, I suppose, to cops judging the behavior of all of the public by the actions of small population of human debris with which they deal every day.

    {And just remember how you feel about your warriors in blue next time you call them for help. You guys are so judgmental, but when was the last time you thanked an officer for his/her service? Remember, we only get called when things are bad. No one ever calls to say everything is great. We deal with the worst of the bad, everyday, and we sacrifice a lot personally to do it.}

    -See “human debris” above. We are not the ones who isolated ourselves from the cops. It is the cops who isolated themselves from the public. You took the cop off his beat, away from the people who knew him and interacted with him in a non-threatening situation, put him into a soundproof car, interacting only when something went wrong.

    Now, when a cop is in our proximity, do we feel safer because he’s going to protect us against the bad guys or do we feel threatened because he assumes we are the bud guy? It is a situation that you brought on yourself.

    {So you were speeding, got caught, and lost a little money. I have friends that have lost their lives trying to help others. You can make more money, but I will never see my friends again in this life.}

    There is no connection between the two. There is no need to cite for speeding because it generates no benefit but does involve great macroeconomic cost, yet you feel that you should be respected because you’re blindly enforcing a bad law?

    I strongly support officer safety, professional training, equipping and pay. The price you pay for this is citizen control of your strategy, tactics and focus.

    Reply
22. James Young says:

    February 20, 2008 at 10:49 pm

    {I’m glad to see that lying and dishonesty are promoted here. While I believe in everyone’s constitutional rights to a fair trial, I don’t lie in court and seriously question the moral character of anyone that would promote doing so.}

    I’m not sure what you reference here. While I don’t doubt your assertion that you speak truthfully in court, that obviously does not extend to all of your brethren. We have had over 200 men exonerated after wrongful convictions for serious, even capital, felonies. These are the ones that we can prove innocent; how many more are still wrongfully incarcerated or already executed? Are the police responsible for all of those? Certainly not, but it is hard to imagine that any real investigation is conducted into alternative suspects once the authorities have targeted “their guy.” It is even harder to imagine that their testimony is not molded to give a little better fit to the accused. LAPD denominates this as “testilying;” other jurisdictions have similar terms, I’m sure.

    {And the by the way, can anyone here tell me how Timothy McVeigh was caught? McVeigh was the person who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City, if you don’t remember.
    He was caught when an officer from a small municipality stopped him for a minor traffic violation. I believe it was expired tags.}

    Trooper Charles Hanger of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (not a small municipality) stopped McVeigh because he had no license plate, subsequently arresting him for a concealed weapon.

    Reply
23. Andy says:

    February 22, 2008 at 10:58 am

    This is a mention of the other side of the ticket situation. I was a police officer in Waller, Texas and my buddy was a police officer in the town, Parieview, Texas just a few mile up the road. A female motorist sped through his town at 100 miles per hour and then in no time was coming through Waller at around 89 mph. I pulled the female driver over and asked for license and registration and asked why in the world was she traveling at such a speed in a 40 mph speed zone. She answered, no reason really. As I went back to my patrol car to check her driving and criminal record, I returned to find her sitting there with her skirt up as high as it could possibly go without taking it off. When I stop an individual it does not always mean a ticket will be issued no matter what the speed was, yet this lady did the ultimate sin to an honest cop, disrepected the badge and what it truly should stand for. Without question, this lady recieved a citation and when my fellow office from the prior town she sped through asked what went on and I told him, she also recieved a ticket for speeding through his town. I have giving warning tickets to motorist that have violated Texas traffic laws instead of a ticket just because of their good manners upon being confronted with their law breaking bad deed. Yet disrespect the badge and if I can, that one will legally be taken to jail, or be issued a ticket for the maximum allowed for sure.
    P.S. I have found the most likely one that a police officer cannot just give a verbal warning and will end up having to excort that person to jail for not signing a ticket or first of all engineers and then secondly news reporters. Engineers just cannot seem to understand a verbal warning is just that and they are free to go, since they seem to always have to analyze everything in their own way.

    Reply
24. Susan Garner says:

    February 24, 2008 at 9:31 am

    We were going to New Jersey last Nov. and we have never been there before driving, when we came to many toll booths along the way. There was this one toll booth that said we had to pay $.70 so we went into a lane and there was this plastic basket by the building with nothing else around not even an attendant so we put the $.70 in the basket and drove off. well we stayed the weekend and headed home to MI. 2 days later when we got to MI I got my mail and there was a ticket for $25.70 for not paying at a toll booth. I was outraged so I called the DMV in New Jersey. I told her what had happend and she told me there is no way we paid as there is no basket at the toll area where we got the ticket. So she was calling me a lier. I was very upset and told her that we did indeed put the money in and we have never been in that area before and didn’t know that it was to be used with someone who had a pass not money. DUH no signs no nothing to tell us ahead of time to get into another lane.
    WELL they did wave the $25.00 fee and I had to pay the $.70 in a money order. When I went to get the money order the woman looked at me like I was nuts a money order for $.70 was crazy as the money order cost more than the fine. Jus tto let others know be careful when going through New Jersey’s toll booths with noone around.

    Reply
25. Chris Thompson says:

    February 24, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    Well i guess my story is going to be short :) all i have to say is if you get a ticket go to court. in the last 9yrs of driving i have received about 20 tickets for many different things my last set was a group of 7. No seat belt,wrong address on my insurance,wrong address on my licence,wrong address on my ownership, no front plate, my sticker was expired(lol this was the day after my bday i got pulled over)and the last one was tint on my windows being to dark…..well i asked the cop if he had time to go to court and he said yes i said good cause were going…. i went to court and he showed up well i thought i was in for it but he asked the judge to knock it down to my no seat belt and drop the rest…. well the no seat belt was origanaly $120 and 2 demerit points well the judge thought the 120 was to high so he dropped that to a 85$fine and no points :) oh as for the other 13 tickets i have had i took them all to court and those cops never showed so they were all dropped:) i guess one ticket out of 20 isn’t really that bad.

    Reply
26. Walkerny says:

    February 26, 2008 at 11:34 am

    I read with interest the pro-cop and anti-cop messages. Let me start off by saying that I’ve gotten speeding tickets I DESERVED. I also admire policemen who keep us safe.

    However, as more and more speed enforcement is being used for revenue generation, I’d ask the cops: Is that what you joined up for? To be a tax collector?? Millions of us are losing lifelong respect for the badge when we see you hiding at the bottom of hills on sunny days and dry roads, while we contend with the OTHER forms of bad driving that aren’t as easy to catch (unless you just drive amongst us in an unmarked car, PLEASE DO.) Nope, you go for the easy speeding tickets. When insurance companies PAY law enforcement to write more tickets as they recently did in NY) respect slips further. Toll/Tax collectors with a badge & gun. Isn’t there a meth lab you could bust?

    Officers, you need to fight back against being used this way. Start with asking your unions, or you will continue tobe TOOLS.

    Reply
27. Walkerny says:

    February 26, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    OK here goes. First off, I’ve paid speeding tickets I received if deserved. A few in other states at obvious traps I just didn’t pay. Crime shouldn’t pay. Look at your state DMV to see what states they will collect for.

    In Ontario recently for a hockey tourney(I’m from NY) I was stopped solely because the officer saw the radar detector. It was off and he admitted I was doing the limit. I pointed out the traffic going by me over the limit, to no avail. He took the device and issued what amounts to a $170 ticket. He said possession of a radar detector was against the law. The sign at the border said USE of a radar detector was illegal.

    This was absolutely nonsense, he obviously targeted a car from the states because I wouldn’t drive 4 hours to fight back.

    I started out fighting next day. I emailed 14 Ontario parliament members for the area, naming the ticket, my belief it was injustice, and that I would take my twice yearly hockey tournament trips somewhere other than Ontario. That is 15 families, 15 hotel rooms, 3 nights, meals, etc. I told these politicos if I was found guilty, I
    A) Wouldn’t pay. B) would not return to Ontario C) would let the hotel mgr, restaurant managers and tournament organizers know which politician had not helped me, by name and phone number.

    Then I went to work on the court. I asked for a printed copy of the law and ANY applicable laws or statutes pertaining to Radar Detectors. I asked for a chain of custody document for the detector. I said I wanted to test it in court to see if it was even functioning, and would need a DC power outlet AND a functioning radar.

    I asked the officer’s full name and shield or badge number, as well as his specific police department and location, as these are not legible or present on the traffic offense.

    I requested that the officer appear for questioning AND I asked if I was due a court appointed attorney either in the initial court or at the appeals court.

    I told them I would appeal ANY negative decision, and asked in advance for the laws pertaining to appeals and what my rights were.

    I implied that I was suspicious of being stopped for racial reasons, and requested the proper authority or civilian review board to file to file a complaint.

    I asked for a list of any complaints or disciplinary actions filed against the officer.

    Several others, the point being to make myself the porcupine, the absolute hardest and most disagreeable meal the road tax monster can think of.

    At the speed governments work at, they would LOSE money on me as they went through point by point to see what I was entitled to and what not. Clerks, lawyers, judges reading and talking, making copies, mailing certified mail, taking phone calls from politicians offices or merchants I had riled up. I had additional plans to further tie up this court and make that ticket cost them hundreds, or thousands of dollars.

    But they just gave up and stopped contacting me, just as it was getting fun.

    BE PREPARED TO FIGHT, AND FIGHT DIRTY. HIT THEM AT THEIR WEAKNESSES: SLOW, EXPENSIVE, LAZY GOVERNMENT WORKERS, and POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, AMONG OTHERS.

    Reply
28. Kiki says:

    June 7, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    Here is why it sucks to be a Virgina resident due to the DMV:

    Upon the death of my father, I registed his truck under my name as survivor, I notified my insurance company and registred that it is insured. Week later they send notice for verification of insurance I give policy number and everthing direct from the insurance including state registration number of the insurance provider. Well this goes on two more times the final time I went in person.

    Did you know the state can revoke your driver’s licence without notification? I did not know that and they did so in regards to not having one out of three vehicles insured under their records.

    So, I suffer with a police officer taking my license three miles from my home, forced to leave a woman to walk home after dark after 1:00 a.m., have a ticket for driving with a revoked license, an impounded vehicle expense and a $85.00 license reinstatement, oh did I mention Virginia DMV charges $5.00 for the privelige to grace their facilities!! All because of a typo on behalf of DMV!!

    Right now I’ve sold my father’s truck and trailer notified DMV and guess what they sent me registration renewal notices a month later folks wish me luck!!!!

    Reply
29. connie pate says:

    September 17, 2009 at 10:10 am

    on 8/25/09, driving through walmart parking lot,turned to go down the aisle,toward store,when car hit my car backing out. When the cop showed up it was clear,the driver backing out hit me, he was ticketed for improper backing. on 8/27/09, the same cop came to my home,and said i lied to him,that i had crossed behind the car as it was already backing out,before going down the aisle,he got the video from walmart showing this,and i lied to him. He then told me to sign the ticket for careless driving,and if i did’t sign it he could arrest me,so i signed it,have not seen the tape,how do i even know it exsists. this happened in jax,fl. would love to read your comments

    Reply