Manntis

So I went and saw X-Men2 tonight. Got the free comic, blah blah blah... Moses and Deggail came along.

As I leave the theatre/mall, I take a slightly different route than Moses (I own one of the shops in there and park in staff parking) I'm sitting at an intersection, waiting for the light to change, when Moses, on my left, shoots out of the public parking in his SA, does a nice slide through the corner, and takes off.

The lgiht changes and I accellerate to traffic speed - only I'm going slightly faster than the posted limit, as was the car beside me.

Then the lights come on.

The rearview mirror fills with the colored strobes of a ghost car. I pull over, and the first question the constable asks is "Do you know the guy in that silver RX-7? I clocked him at 69." Remember, this is kilometers, not miles.

He takes my documentation, goes back to his car, and writes me a ticket for 69 in a 50 zone Luckily he misspelled my name. I doubt a judge would buy the "he ticketed me because the other guy was long gone" defence, because sometimes the truth is too strange to believe...

81Rex6port13b

wow that sucks, what a jerk of a cop. and they wonder why so many people hate them.

thorin

OHNOESS!!!! 69KMS???/ OMG TERRRORITS!!!11

BRealistic

Did you ask why he gave you a ticket for that speed? Oh, and misspelled names do not void a ticket- at least not in the states. Every time I have been "radared" I always ask to see the radar readout in the car. It saved a few mpg and $$$ one time- the cop said "I clocked you at 62 in a 40". I go look- and it is 59. Well being over 20mpg higher than the posted speed limit is a heavier fine- so he tried to pad the ticket BY LYING. I am sure I was going over 60 when he first radared me, but radar needs a few readings to lock on to a speed (miliseconds count), so the speed dropped before it could lock. Coppers.
For ther record, if a cop did that to me, I would go to court and repeat exactly what he said to the judge. He may not believe you, but eventually if people keep taking his BS tickets to court and *politely and in a concerned manner* explain to the judge his tactics, the growing evidence against the police officer may make the judge question his integrity.
good luck. (I haven't had a speeding ticket in over five years- knock on wood )

Northern 7

iTrader: (3)

I'm sorry - I don't get it - why didn't he go after the silver rx7? And what did he clock you at? Was this cop so lazy that he was stopping traffic to ask if anyone new the driver? Don't lose any sleep - I think the judge will get a good laugh out of this one....

djmickyg

do u guys in canada or usa have a point system for speeding??

down here we get 12 points and everytime we speed we loose some and when were down to 0 we loose our licence for a period of time,, and the point renew every3 years i think..

Manntis

we just started a point system here - every accident that's your fault, 3 points etc. For every point you have to pay an extra $50 per year or something like that.

I wonder if someone can retroactively get a ticket... if you came to court and admitted that you, not the ticketed party, were the one doing the clocked speed, could they cite you for it on the spot? Any Canadian input on that?

Wankelguy

Man, that bites.
I don't know about the judges in Canada, but I know from past experience that the judges here will take the cop's word for the absolute truth. I had a cop totally LIE against me in court when I lived in the bay area in about 1985. That was one of the reasons I decided to get the hell out of Kalifornia. Trying to refute the cop's word is pretty futile, and will most likely result in the judge being harder on you. BTW, my last moving violation was in 1988 for going 53 in a 45 mph zone. I passed a drunk driver in my '71 Datsun 510. I told the judge that given the circumstances, I'd do the exact same thing again. Anyway, good luck in court! -WG

Manntis

given that Pamela's belts have started to squeal above 4,000 RPMs lately I've been short-shifting in case it's a waterpump bearing about to seize or something. I'm having her taken to a shop in 2 weeks (the only mech besides myself that I trust is the sort of guy you have to book in advance for - one of the downsides to having a high appraisal car is you need receipts for work performed)

I figure by showing the work done on the car after the fact (hence I wasn't power-launching the car), the fact that I was just pulling away from a stop while Moses was already at speed, and the cop's admission that he clocked the other car (sure he can claim to have clocked me, but who can target, clock, record, then re-targer, clock, and record two individual speeds on two cars, and come up with exactly the same figure, in about 3 seconds?) might be persuasive enough. On occasion cops don't even come to court to contest such a ticket, but if he does it will, sadly, be my word against his.

Wankelguy

Ah yes, naive idealism.
Well, I hope it works out for you, buddy.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Sorry to hear about that Manntis.. Jeez... 70 in a 50 is standard fare... We have a highway near here whose speed flip-flops between 70 and 90 so often that everyone just does 90 and cops don't care. Many nights I've passed a cop at 100 in that "70" zone and find that they're looking for "faster" individuals to trap.

I wish you the best of luck in court... I have a slightly long-ish story about my friends and speeding, butI don't feel like posting a novel right now :P

L8rs
Jon

jayroc

Well, if it came down to his word against yours, I don't think that his case would be proven. Here in the US, you're not-guilty until proven guilty. So, that would work in your favor. Unless Canada has something different...
That kind of police behavior is just retarded. And honestly, illegal, I think. It's like, you walk by and see a robbery and the guy gets away. The cop knows all this, but arrests you instead and blames you for the robbery. It's like 'yeah, he'll do. I don't think I'll worry about doing any actual police work'.
If it was me, I would sue the police department. That kind of stuff really pisses me off. I've heard all kinds of stories like this. I think I'm going to start carrying around a mini tape recorder in my car.

Manntis

ah, we don't fling lawsuits around north of the 49th the way we do in LA (and the rest of the US, to a lesser extent)

They're doing 10 days of 'speed enforcement' on this particular road, I found out, so it's likely they're 'encouraged' to write a certain number of citations.

MosesX605

I'm just bad mojo for Manntis. Last week he was giving me a lift home and got pulled over for not displaying his front plate, now he took the fall for my misdeeds. If it weren't for the $109 ticket, it could be kinda funny. At any rate, I kinda felt like an ******* that night when Manntis called me and told me that he took my bullet.

Rotary13B1

iTrader: (8)

Damn... next time don't go out with Moses!!.. j/k.. I'd say go to court and fight this ******* unless it's a cheap ticket. Sometimes it's just cheaper to pay than fight, but sometimes it's about the PRINCIPLE.

Manntis

yep - if I WAS speeding, I'd take it, but with Moses and other cars vanishing on the horizon I got pulled over for DWLF - Driving While Looking 'Fast'.

BTW Matt, don't feel like an ******* - that was a great drift you did around that turn! I'd be laughing about the whole thing if I hadn't been hit with a speeding ticket on my otherwise spotless record.

Wankelguy

The courts will always place more weight on a cop's testimony in a one-on-one situation, that's the reality.

On the other hand, your idea about carrying a tape recorder in your car is a good one, I carry a microcassette recorder in my car for that exact purpose.

A few years ago, I got in trouble for discharging a firearm in the city limits. When the City prosecutor called me, I recorded the call, and later was able to use the tape recording to my advantage. The look on the City Manager's face when I whipped out my microcassette and played back the pre-cued section was priceless!
Another time, the City was giving me a hard time about my "stored vehicles" (all pre-RX7 rotary cars) and I went down to the enforcement department head's office to try and get some clarification on the rules. I told him "I'm recording this meeting for my records to eliminate any misunderstanding on my part", and put my recorder on his desk. I managed to get him to admit that at least part of their complaints were in fact invalid.
Plus, I got to watch the little weasel stammer and sweat because I was recording him. Fun stuff!

MarkPerez

So, you've been hit with 2 tickets lately, 1 moving, and a fix-it ticket, right ? all with moses ? i'm sorry, moses got's to go. either that or manntis your ******* up a perfectly good driving record. higher insurance premiums
etc.mello-out,,bro. IMO If you didn't break the law, then don't take the hit. were you solo ? a witness ?
I would have made the cop call his superviser. if i didn't
do anything wrong. Cops do that kind of **** all the time,
violate civil rights,,,and get away with it. . If you take the hit.. it would be cool if moses kicked you down some cash or something,,,you know ? no disrespect moses. but kick him down something,,,, he needs or could use. IMO

Manntis

nah, moses is a student (read: financially challenged) & it isn't his fault the cop decided to make an example of a fast looking car...

Aviator 902S

Hey Manntis,
For what it's worth, that spotless driving record could work to your advantage if this goes to court. Here in Alberta they have a group of lawyers who's business is called "POINTS." They specialize in getting people off alleged traffic offenses, and know how to discredit ****** like this particular cop. While their fee may exceed the value of the ticket, it's well worth the effort for the points erased and on principle.
Does Saskatchewan have anything like this?
Also, I'm sure there are easily-hidden mini-cam/ voice-recorder systems available that could be installed to pick up the view from in front, behind, your speedometer, and to both sides that would protect us not only from little-Napoleon-type cops, but also from those who cause accidents and then lie to the cops and insurance company. No matter how many false witnesses they conjure up, a video would be worth a thousand words. Does anyone on here have info on the availability and cost of this type of system. I know they exist because that's exactly what the police use on their "bait" cars, used to entrap car theives.
Anyway, Good luck with this battle, Manntis. Let us know how it turns out, ok?
Brett.

mcgarret

This situation blows, but go challenge it. You will have nothing to lose. I have beaten my only ticket in last 10 years by proving I was not on that road at time I was issued ticket.

The cop wrote the wrong time on my ticket, ie 2:30 instead of 3:30. I had Visa slips, dated/timed parking stub to show I was not there. Judge shook her head at cops screw-up and wished me a good day, "case dismissed."

MosesX605

It's the rims. Those rims coupled with the nice shiny black paint just scream fast.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Yeah that bit about an example is probably why the cop did it... Basically

Cop: do you know him
Manntis: Yes
Cop (in head) hmm.. if I give this guy a ticket, he'll tell his friend who *deserves* the ticket that us cops don't **** around.. so he's got it. Besides, they have the same kind of car, so it'll let them know that I won't take this bs from these kind of sped freaks

It doesn't make any *logical* sense, but who said cops were logical?

Oh, and lucky for me, Quebec doesn't *have* a frontplate to display.. only a rear plate is provided, the front is for those picturesque plates you get off a rack at the car store. I can't wait for the day some ignorant shmuck slaps me in another province with *that* one....

Jon

Manntis

Same with Alberta, I believe

Critoris

My favorite trick has always been to reschedule. I'll call the court and ask what days the officer works so I can reschedule, then hang up. I'll call the next day and schedule my hearing for one of his off days. They never show and it's always been thrown out. 3 outa 3 ain't bad, anyway.