Speeding Ticket legal advice please

[hcariss]

Yesterday driving home from upstate I get stopped for doing 80 in a 60 zone.
The circumstances : I was driving uphill at 70mph keeping up with the other traffic when I check my rearview mirror and there is a giant black SUV so close to me that it completely fills the mirror, I accelerate away (probably a mistake) this truck is right behind me again,pushing me, as I crest the hill and look for a space in the RH lane the inside of my car starts flashing red and blue, the truck has now pulled back from me and I can see the lights. I pull over and the policeman walks over to me and says " do you know how fast you were going, you were flying" I explained to him that from my driving position all I can see is big black truck that probably weighs close to 2 tons filling the rearview mirror of my small low car, and as soon as I found space to pull onto he RH lane I did. Rude hulking bald cop, doesn't answer just says "licence and registration, asks me if the car is mine and walks back to giant truck. After about 10 mins comes back and speaks at top speed some kind of speech about contesting the ticket, he has a witness ? plead guilty by mail ... something like that ... I'm from the UK so traffic stop is very different here, I can't here what he is saying with traffic noise from highway
Not sure what my rights are, I was 80 miles from home, Im assuming court will be somewhere upstate. I did see lots of Police cars stopping people yesterday, it was like a kind of concerted effort on what appeared to be trucks and SUV's.
What can I do about this ? I accept that i was initially at 70 mph but so was everyone else, once you have a huge truck traveling at speed very close behind you its normal to pull away and look for room to let it pass ?
Can I contest this, it will be a blemish on a clean driving record.

[Big Ed]

Man I hate that, cruiser pulls right on your bumper to get you to speed up. You fell into their trap. I'd contest it on general principle, but no, there is no "exception" that allows you to speed to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle behind you.

[stomachmonkey]

Standard tactic.

Upstate NY. Will most likely be a local judge.

Don't expect any outcome other than paying the fine unless it's a large enough town that it has an ADA. If so you stand a chance of pleading to a lesser charge but you need to plead not guilty, show up and find the ADA to make a deal before you get in front of the judge.

The small town judges are fun. If the offense is bad enough you might find yourself handcuffed on a bench in his kitchen while you wait for him to get back from fishing. Not so bad as his wife may cook you lunch while you wait. Ask me how I know.

[Z-man]

"But your honor, a big bad monster truck was behind me pushing me along" isn't a defense that will get you out of your ticket.

Showing up in court may get your ticket reduced to a 1110A violation (non-moving offense), but it may not.

You are probably best off to pay the ticket and move on. Is it really worth it for you to take off a day, drive 160 miles to fight a ticket that you most likely won't get out of?

-Z-man.

[cgarr]

Next time jam on your brakes, what just ran across the road?

[widgeon13]

Pay it and move on!

While we might care here, most likely the judge doesn't. In NY it's all about cash these days.

[Super_Dave_D]

Call and talk to a local lawyer. You never know.

[s_morrison57]

I'd pay the ticket cause you were speeding but now that you know their tactics use them to your favor, do what cgarr suggests and when finally stopped request an ambulance to take you to the hospital with suspected neck and spinal injuries from the rear ender. Sue somebody its the USA

[asphaltgambler]

Does your ticket read 80 in a 60mph zone? If so that is reckless driving in most states (20mph or higher than the posted limit) Check your states law. That is a serious issue against your permit and insurance.

If it is reckless than best to spend a little for a good traffic attorney in that jurisdiction, you may have a very good chance because he was not using radar.........

[javadog]

I fight all my tickets and seldom see one that adds points to my license. All they want is the money. Talk to the prosecutor before the trial and work something out. It won't hurt your case to say that all you were trying to do was to get out of the way of the idiot that was tailgating you. I'd be pissed about that and I'd make sure that the prosecutor knew it.

After it's done and settled, I'd write a nasty letter to the chief of the police department and complain about the guy's tactics. Feel free to send a copy to the local paper.

JR

[hcariss]

Thanks for the replies.
I have a question
I thought police vehicles had a camera pointing forward ? On the ticket it says the speed was checked by radar, if there is a video record from his car would it be linked to the radar & show the speed he was traveling and distance from me, and also the duration of time it took for him to turn on his flashing lights ?
Of course you are right I don't want to take a day off however It's the principle of it now. If there is a video and distance record surely I can question his actions ?
or Is it legal in the US to retain a lawyer who deals with traffic infractions to represent me without my having to go there ? Does anyone on here live in Sullivan NY and have experience of this ?
Thanks

[Moses]

I feel SO much safer knowing law enforcement is out there doing this kind of work...


NOT!

[asphaltgambler]

Welcome to the good 'ol USA !! Some cops can and do whatever they wish at the moment. They do not need any other proof of you speeding other than their word that they were "pacing you" @80mph

If you can not strike a deal prior with the DA, do NOT go into court w/o an attorney and try to represent yourself !! All this does is piss the entire court off !!

[Rick Lee]

I thought this tactic was being tried on me last week when I was on my bike in the carpool lane and a DPS cruiser got right on my tail and lit me up. There's no shoulder there, so all I could do was move to the right, which I had to speed up to do safely. My detector didn't chirp and as soon as I moved, they went passed me. Man, I hate having a cop on my ass, regardless of the reason.

[onlycafe]

where exactly did this occur?
was he local, county, or state patrol? marked car or unmarked?
a local lawyer specializing in v and t cases might be a good idea, even if he costs more than the "offense".

if your record is virginally clean and pure you can request an acd[adjournment in contemplation of dismissal], basically that means that you have never been in any trouble before, and if you stay out of trouble for the next six months the ticket will disappear.

the court only wants your money, if they can get it from a reduced charge that carries no points, they don't really care. you, on the other hand do not want points on your record.

best of luck with your coming battle.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by cgarr

Next time jam on your brakes, what just ran across the road?

not bad, dangerous though

[Neilk]

Next time be passive aggressive and empty your windshield fluid container on the car behind you. Works with most tailgaters.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by hcariss

I thought police vehicles had a camera pointing forward ? On the ticket it says the speed was checked by radar, if there is a video record from his car would it be linked to the radar & show the speed he was traveling and distance from me, and also the duration of time it took for him to turn on his flashing lights ?

IF you were going 70mph, until he got behind you, and then wrote you for 80mph "checked by radar" you may have an interesting position. To clock you at 80, he would have to have been pacing you, as it wasn't until he was behind you that you increased your speed to that point. When he is directly behind you, the typical radar unit is useless. Usually, they clock your speed with a radar while parked on the side of the road, or approaching you from the opposite direction. Then, when they have locked in a reading, they go after you.

It may be that the radar was on, giving him his vehicle speed, and he used that to estimate yours, in lieu of using his (supposedly) calibrated speedometer. I'd do a little more digging into this one. Maybe you can get it tossed.

My son got a radar ticked tossed out of court last year. The cop was not playing by the book and my son knew just a little more than he did about radar, having worked on F15 radar systems for the Air Force.

JR

[hcariss]

Hi
Firstly Thank you for the replies, it always helps to get perspective.
Spoke to a NY lawyer specializing in this type of thing, who said its standard practice in NY at this time of year. The reason the police officer pushed me over 70mph is to make it a '6 point offence', which means I have to pay an additional $300, on top of everything else.
The video from the police car is inadmissible in court. The lawyer tells me he can contest it with a trial however its $2K, and the likelihood is that I will almost certainly (99%) loose as it will come down to my word (that of Manhattan creative type driving a Porsche) against the officers (local hometown trusted enforcer of the law)
Once the attorney pleads for me it is solely geared toward concentrating on reducing the number of points that I will receive.
I am incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to live in this magnificent country however in 12 years I have never encountered this approach to law enforcement where the traffic police appear to be seeking to maximize the fiscal penalty based on intimidation. The lawyer explained to me that "the Police in NYS can do anything they want to until a judge tells them otherwise"
I accept I was in the wrong I should not have been doing 70mph but overall it makes me jaded and mostly think that its a sad and frankly pathetic tactic for the sake of $300.

[widgeon13]

Really pathetic if that is the case. In all likelihood you were screwed from the start. If you were driving the Porsche, most likely you were actually targeted (profiled) because of the vehicle you were driving.

When I was in college, many years ago, got stopped for speeding. I went to court in blazer and tie, rest of the idiots were dressed like farmers whether they were or not. Most got reduced fines, I had to wait until all the others were handled, made my case and then got the max fine anyway. I'm assuming it was the way I was dressed and the fact that I was from out of state. Screwed.