Damn traffic tickets

I fought a $150 ticket a couple of years back and won - cop didn't show up. He was giving out bogus tickets at midnight accusing people of not coming to a full stop. Now I have another - not quite as bogus. But I still think I got a raw deal. Cop didn't give me any slack - says I'm going 53 in a 35 zone. Even though he stopped me in the 40 zone. He said I was in the 35 zone when he saw me. I wasn't even sure what the limit was because I didn't see a sign. He cuts me no slack - I get the full $100 ticket. So I fight it and get a hearing which I have to drive 2.5 hours to get to. The whole thing is bogus - I don't even get to talk to a judge. All I get to do is talk to the prosecutor. There's absolutely no point to the hearing except to discourage people from fighting the ticket - they have to do TWO hearings to fight tickets under this system. I told the prosecutor that the 35 mph sign is in a bad spot and I did't see it. He doesn't offer me any deal at all. Didn't even let me se the cop's notes on the back of the ticket. Just said that if I have a defense I have to have a court date. ANOTHER court date. So I have putting in for continuances for 6 months. I put in for discovery and saw the cop wrote I was going 52 mph on the back of the ticket - it said 53 on he front. There is no video to prove I was in the 35 mph zone when he saw me and not the 40 mph zone where he stopped me.

Now I have a hearing next month. I took a pic of where the 35 mph sign is



There's a park and ride there and a Toyota dealer with a sign that tells the time and temperature. You have to look for cars coming out of the Toyota and park and ride. Then you look up and get disctracted by the time and temperature sign. That is not a good spot for a mph sign, is it?

Poor sign placement and incorrect paperwork may give you a chance of beating the ticket.

Read up on any relevant traffic law legislation and you may find some more loopholes.

Heck I've been fighting this for a year. Maybe the cop who ticketed me doesn't even work there anymore.

A year

That's commitment parador, i would have given up and just payed the ticket.

Parador don't give up easy. Especially when his dander is up - and they got mine up. Took 15 years to get that psych hospital closed.

Welp, you could win but...

I have "traffic court" every 5 months or so and I hate it with a passion. I do not know why but the agency prosecutors / cops, are "untouchable". Even to my boss. I find them to be bullies. Every time we have a hearing... the prosecutors "do something" to the people who wanted to contest the ticket and then they come up to me and say they want to pay it. I am like, your here now.. sure you don't want a hearing -- they are like -- no.

What I have started doing is not giving them the opportunity to talk with those who want to contest the ticket in private. I don't open the courtroom until about 2 seconds before the hearing and I announce that anyone contesting has to come in and check in with me... then I put them in the jury box to ensure no one pulls them out and -- then, call the court.

I want to warn people... I do federal tickets and if you get a federal ticket and the cop doesn't appear... it will not be dismissed. You will just have to show up again. We put a warning on the notice and tell them to call us ahead of time -- but no one reads it.

But I have come to believe that they are untouchable because they are a revenue source for the government. Just think of it as a tax. Tickets are tremendously profitable. And most people do not fight the ticket. My court's view is 99% of the time going to be guilty. We don't care if you didn't see the sign, we don't care if you were distracted. We don't care if the sign is in a bad spot... talk to your local agency about placement. The only relevant question is were you indeed going over the speed limit? Then you are guilty. The only ticket my boss ever acquitted the person on was when the person provided us proof that she was hospitalized that weekend and thus, it was the wrong person on the ticket. But most of the time my guy will cut the price in half and allow you to pay it over a few months.

A lot of people come in and admit they were in the wrong and go on to complain about the cops. You know... I agree with them, I feel them. I know it sucks. But no court can acquit you based on the defense of -- the cops were mean to me. If you admit you did it.

If you see a judge ... be respectful. People get insane at these traffic court things (another reason I don't let the prosecutors talk to them anymore before court -- I suspect they lie and threaten them leading to wound up people freaking out all over the Court). One time this lady lost it so bad she called the court the "F" bomb and we had to put her in jail... for the day ... literally for her own safety. I really think this woman had a nervous break down. That was my first time doing it and I suspected the prosecutors said something to wind her up like that.... another reason I don't let that happen anymore.

The real money making scam was the one I got a few years back for not wearing my seatbelt in NY. $150! I didn't know how to fight that so I paid - and I am still mad. I decided to fight all of them now, because even if I am guilty I know I will get shafted some other time. So hopefully it will even out.
OK - I didn't fight the $10 for parking at the ocean on a sunday in NH. Yep - you gotta pay on sunday to park at the ocean.

Plus -I was caught with moving radar. That has to be less accurate than stationary radar since it has to measure two speeds - the cops and mine. I read that stationary radar accuracy is ±1 mph and moving radar is ±2 mph. That could put me at 50 mph in the 40 zone. The fine for going 10 mph over is only $50.

I have no idea how contentious the hearing will be. I wish I could see some other hearings to know how it goes there in NH. It's NH - they have no sales tax so I guess they figure they should get money from out of staters with speed traps and endless court hearings to intimidate them into paying.

0_o that is fast, pardor. It is tough for me to go over by 5mph.

Good luck on the courts, but you really shouldn't drive so fast. You don't want to hurt yourself or others.

I've actually gone as fast as 115 mph - at that point my car loses power. The computer must be programmed to shut it down at that speed. I was following a Mustang north of Albany, NY. Couldn't keep up with him - he must have been going 130- 140 mph. If I see some guy going fast I just use him as pig bait. It works all the time - the guy in front of me gets pulled over and I just keep going.

I like zipping along because it can shave 30 minutes off of a 200 mile drive. Boston is usually 3.5 hours for me but I have done it in 3 hours flat. I like that extra 30 minutes. Went to Boston yesterday and there were 3 cops in that area of NH. Two had some guy stopped and one was watching for speeders. Be careful in little ol' Bow NH!

Parador wrote:I've actually gone as fast as 115 mph - at that point my car loses power. The computer must be programmed to shut it down at that speed. I was following a Mustang north of Albany, NY. Couldn't keep up with him - he must have been going 130- 140 mph. If I see some guy going fast I just use him as pig bait. It works all the time - the guy in front of me gets pulled over and I just keep going.

I like zipping along because it can shave 30 minutes off of a 200 mile drive. Boston is usually 3.5 hours for me but I have done it in 3 hours flat. I like that extra 30 minutes. Went to Boston yesterday and there were 3 cops in that area of NH. Two had some guy stopped and one was watching for speeders. Be careful in little ol' Bow NH!

IMHO, 30 minutes from a 3.5 hr drive isn't worth the higher chance of accident that comes from going so much over the speed limit, no matter how you look at it.

I guess it is just up to how much you value your time and how much you hate driving. I don't mind going slow. Then again, I don't really care too much about time or "wasting" it. That is one of the things that I am abnormally relaxed about.

Still, good luck, both on the ticket and not killing yourself in an accident