DAMN THE POLICE (Or: How to get out of minor offences...)

Logical or not, that's not a valid excuse when it comes to legal code

 

cops get bored and victimize people with outrageous traffic tickets to amuse themselves.

 

They also have to fill a monthly quota.

 

I think you are right. Plus I think the authority goes to their heads. Another thing is that I think they actually DO get bored. Giving someone a ticket actually relieves boredom for them. Which sucks for everyday goodnatured respectful citizens like ourselves.

 

If you're so respectful, why are you breaking traffic laws?

AYBABTU?

 

The cop pulled me over for speeding that much, then he said he could either give me a ticket for speeding or for not wearing my seatbelt.

I guess he was feeling saucy and decided to give me one for speeding.

I've known other people who were pulled over for less than 5 MPH over the speed limit. It depends on the circumstances.

 

in my area, generally the only time you'll get a ticket for 5 over is in a school zone.

watch. now that i've said that, i'm going to get a ticket today for 5 over

 

You will respect my authoritah!
-Courtesy of Hama

This reminds me of a joke. A guy is speeding down the road at night when he notices a cop behind him turn on its lights and wave him over. Hell with it, he thinks, that cop'll never catch me. He steps on the accelerator, and then after a minute thinks to himself, what the hell am I doing?, eases off, and pulls over. The cop comes over and says, "Look, it's late and I don't feel like doing any paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse I haven't heard before, I'll let you off." The guy thinks for a minute, then says, "Last week, my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back." The cop says, "Have a nice night."

 

Mast....you live in Wilmington?

 

Yes, I do. Rumors abound that it was switched to convenience the fire company, or to put the dry cleaner out of business, but I haven't heard any confirmation of either.

 

I'm down in Newark. Nice to meet you

 

Likewise...how'd you recognize I'm from Wilmington...also, I work down in Newark, at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research

 

oh, I was just checking out the Fanforce pages, saw the DE thread and saw your name...I was like holy s___...they're in the one forum right now...so I just thought I'd say hey

 

That late at night he pulled you over to see if you were drinking. Running the stop sign was his excuse. After seeing you weren't drunk, he gave you the ticket to warrant the stop. Go to court, be respectful. If you see the cop who pulled you over, approach him before you go in front of the judge, say your sorry, blah, blah, blah, and that $135 is a lot of money (and you're worried about how it will affect your insurance). He'll more than likely toss it or reduce it to something meaningless.

 

well said

 

One thing I can't believe hasn't been mentioned is the general attitude toward the police. I'm a little bit offended by the title. Just because you had a bad experience with a single officer, you're slandering all police officers everywhere. Men & women without whom our world would be very different. If you want to talk about what a jerk a specific guy was, ok. In Mastage's case I think the officer should have let her mom off, but in yours I don't. You ran a stop sign. It's not a "stop if somebody's coming" sign. It's a stop sign, not a yield sign. You stop. Always. Someone could have been on a bicycle without a light and riding across the street or something and you might not have seen them.

Now, I don't stick too closely to the speed limit. I usually drive 5-9 mph over. If a cop ever pulls me over, I'll say "yes, officer, I was speeding." If I'm running late or have some other excuse, I might try that if the officer seems friendly. But if he/she still gives me a ticket, I'm not going to go bad-mouthing him because I didn't get off. The situation with Mastage's mom is a little different because it was an honest mistake. I speed on purpose, and you chose not to stop.

I'm not saying you shouldn't ask to get it reduced, since it is a lot of money. I'm really only upset with the general attitude toward the police in general that seems to pervade this thread. I thank God for the police. I sit safe in my home and when my son's big enough he'll play outside without me having to worry about him because of our police. To tie it in with Star Wars, the police are the Jedi of our time. Yeah, sure, there are some real jerks; those are the only ones you hear about. The nice ones never get any "airtime," but I think they're the majority.

(I was told by my driver's ed teacher that the calibration-error excuse (or the possibility that there is one) gives you 10% - if the limit is 30, they won't ticket you for less than 33, for example)

 

hehehehehe nati' police do jack

 

I respect the police and the jobs they do, and I've known some great ones. But I hate it when they get pigheaded. You gotta remember they have bad days too. But it still really pisses me off when they do what I perceive as the wrong thing.

 

I shouldn't encourage it, but if you want to try and dodge the ticket, court would be the way to go. The best thing to do, would be to get as much physical evidence to support your case - the street was dark, you couldn't the stop sign, etc. Get photos to support your claim. However, the catch is that if you lose, you could be liable to pay court costs both for you and the police, which could outweigh the cost of the original ticket. Take that into consideration when you make the decision. I would say that if you know anyone studying Law, have a few words with them, or one of the Law professors, and try for a few hints.

 

Had friends who used to conetst tickets all the time. I don't know how it is in Australia but in the US you have about a 50 percent chance of them throwing out the fine.