Even a day later I'm still so frustrated, angry and upset about this!
Okay, imagine this. You have two cars sitting at an intersection. Car A is in the front and Car B is directly behind. Both cars turn right at the same time, one after the other, no delay at all. Car A pulls away from Car B going down this new road. Car B sets cruise control for forty miles per hour which is the speed limit and Car A is still pulling away. Suddenly Car A sees a cop ahead and puts on the brakes. Car B doesn't apply brakes because of cruise control and going the speed limit. The cop pulls over Car B and writes a ticket for going FIFTY THREE MILES PER HOUR!!!!!!! How is that possible!!!!!
Yes, I'm Car B. And yes I am 100% positive that my cruise control was set for forty miles per hour (the speed limit). When asked the cop said he clocked the person in front of Car A going 37mph. Then he saw my vehicle 'traveling at a faster rate of speed than the rest of traffic' so he clocked me, but not Car A. The reason I was going faster is because the other two cars slammed on their brakes! I was not going fifty three miles per hour! I tried to explain it and he said 'he was just doing his job'. The only thing I can think is either he's lying or he accidentally clocked the guy in front of me and thought he got me. There was like six or seven car lengths between me and Car A. If we turned at the same time and I was really going that fast I would have plowed right over Car A. I would not be that far behind them.
And what makes it worse is everyone is telling me that if I go to court to contest the ticket that the judge will find me guilty and it will go on my record and increase my insurance, just because the judge is like that! WTF?! So now I have to pay a stupid ticket that I don't even deserve and I don't have that kind of money just laying around! Why do the law abiding citizens always get screwed? Sorry for the rant. I just don't know what to do.
If anyone thinks this is inappropriate to post on the internet, please let me know and I'll take it down, but I really could use some advice on what to do from here.
It does sound like the cop made a mistake. Without a witness, it's just your word against his. Now I understand why everyone slams on their brakes and goes way under the speed limit when they see a cop. I always thought they were overreacting, but I guess they just don't want to be the fastest car in the pack. I don't know what to say about contesting the ticket. It would seem that you should have the right to stand up for yourself, and fear of corruption shouldn't deter your efforts. You could research the accuracy of radar. Were there cars going in the opposite direction? Perhaps he picked up their speed.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you at all. That's terrible! You didn't do anything wrong! I hate when that kind of thing happens. Actually, some friends of mine had an incident where they were blamed...
ReplyDeleteMy friend's mom {the girl scout leader} picked up the girls from their school {not me though-I live on the other side of town and my mom was driving me there}. She backed out of this gas station {best driver I swear, she looked both ways and slowly backed out} and then a car sped around the corner and they had a fender bender. The police came and the lady in the other car was furious!
If that lady hadn't sped around the corner and rammed into my friend's mom's car there wouldn't be any ticket, and my friend's mom got the ticket. Ugh. The police said it was 'her fault anyway' and to 'be more careful and pay attention'. Trust me, she was. Every time they back up the mom asks the kids if everything is clear about five times to be safe.
I'm so sorry. I wouldn't go to court, but that's up to you. So sorry!
That sucks, sorry to hear it. I fought a "rolling stop" and despite the officer's report saying it "appeared that I did not stop" AND the officer not being in court due to being out of town, the best they would offer is me to pay $50 for the mess "to go away" via some term I hadn't heard of. Unfortunately I was moving to MI the next day so I couldn't rq a new hearing so I was stuck. So completely understand!
ReplyDeleteYou know Nuz, there were cars going the other direction. I didn't even think about him clocking them instead. I'm thinking he clocked the person ahead of me, but I just don't know. I'm going to make some calls and see what my options are. If I can contest it in court and still get it off my record if the judge (wrongly) says I'm guilty then I'll contest it. If the only way to keep it off my record is to pay it then that's what I'll have to do. It'll be less upfront than the increase in my insurance unfortunately. :(
ReplyDeleteBrooke and Appy, your stories just confirm to me the total unfairness of this. I did not realize being wrongly accused of traffic violations was so common!
No advice, just my sympathies. Sorry it had to happen to you :(
ReplyDeleteWhoa wait! If you just pay it, it WILL go on your insurance. You will get a point. If you go to court and the cop doesn't show up, you should automatically win. Especially if he didn't calibrate his radar that day. They are required to calibrate daily and they usually don't. Was this a state trooper or a city cop? If you really are innocent, then you should contest it. You may have to pay a court fee and you may not win, but definitely don't avoid court for the reason of thinking it won't effect your insurance. If the cop turns in a report, then it will go against your insurance. You have a week before the cop will probably submit his paperwork, so I would do some more research. Good luck!
ReplyDeletesometimes bad things happen to good people. that's just the way the world is unfortunately. don't dwell on it. it's not worth it. i know tickets can be a steep cost, (i just got one done by VIDEO here in CH), but all you can do is chock it up to things could be worse. the universe will repay you. promise. :) sending good vibes already to you.
ReplyDeleteGO TO COURT! You may win. They must have evidence against you and the cop must show up for you to be proven guilty.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I got my first speeding ticket. I was going about 20 miles over the speed limit, but I was in a hurry to check on a critically ill relative. There were 3 cops in the car that pulled me over and one gave me the ticket.
I went to court, and none of those cops showed up. (They do have to work sometimes and just can't make it to court)
The judge didn't even get into my ticket and court case when he realized the cops weren't there. He just told me to go home and please drive under the speed limit.
Case closed. And my insurance stayed the same.
You don't need a lawyer just for a traffic ticket and you won't be charged any court fees. If you just pay the ticket, then you will appear guilty than if you went to court to stand up for yourself.
Good luck,
~Lisa
That is so FRUSTRATING!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis has happened to me THREE times - I was accused of speeding and it wasn't me. Seriously! One time I was passed by the speeder, another time it was on a hill in the rain (radar is lousy in those conditions) and one time the guy was just nuts.
The first time I fought it in court (got a hung jury - the first time ever for that court, eventually they charged me a fine of $1, but I still had to pay court cost - which were the same price as the ticked!).
The next two times I negotiated for deferred adjudication. You still pay the fine, but it stays off your record. Better route. They will almost always settle for deferred adjudication and given the time it takes to fight them (and it's harder than you'd think), it's the way to go.