Yup. The fact that the cop can decide based on anything other than your clocked speed and the speed limit is the definition of arbitrary. They call it "officer discretion." The most honest speeding ticket I ever got was in NV, where the cop told me his sgt. wouldn't let them knock anything off any recorded speed. After he was done, he told me to call one of the lawyers in Vegas that will get it knocked down to a parking ticket for a $50 fee, didn't tell me to slow down, even admitted the state was broke, it was a holiday weekend I was from out of state. I thanked him for his candor and he pointed to the mic on his shirt and said, "Oh, this is all being recorded."

Not unless he keys the mic.

I don't know about that, but he surely had me on his dash cam, which would have shown me pulling over as soon as I saw him cross the median strip from the other side of the road. And since I handed him my NV CCW and told him I had a handgun on me, he probably did key that mic. I don't know if their radar units are gone over by others to see what kinds of speeds they recorded vs. what kinds of tickets they wrote. But he seemed to not like being a tax collector. I was an easy catch, 90 in a 70. But it was so far in the middle of nowhere with no other cars on the road, I could have run off the road and not hit anything. Thankfully, he marked the ticket "rural desert," which I'm told makes it very easy to get a much reduced charge. They just want their money, not to assign points.

LOL Baz. Policeman is lucky he didnt draw back a bloody stump...

In the state which is home to Winkipop, 20mph over will get you trip to court a $500 fine and 1 month license suspension, and depending on the circumstances, might get your car confiscated.

Got a speeding ticket on the way home tonight. Saw a CHP hidden behind some other cars as I pulled up even with him a couple of lanes to his left, going 75-80 in a 65 highway and slowed down. He works his way over to me and follows me for a couple of miles; I'm going 68-69. Then he lights me up and pulls me over. He was genuinely irritated I didn't slow down to 65, knowing he was behind me. I told him (the truth) that my speedo said 68. He "gives me a break" and writes me up for 70. Tells me it makes him look bad to the other drivers for me to be going 70 with him right behind me. Usually these guys see everybody going 75+ and don't do anything, so I guess I got the immature guy who doesn't like it when everybody doesn't go exactly the speed limit when he's around.

Like Denis said, time to pay one's tax.

I got nailed last year for 70 in a 55, but he wrote me up for 68, to be nice and save me some money.

Turns out he pulled me over right as the speed went to 65. I wrote a TBWD and beat the ticket. The VC was for exceeding the 65 max limit. Hard to beat, especially since I was written for 68. I wrote, with a picture of the freeway - there are two signs that showed the "End of 55 zone". Among other things, I mentioned that it was possible that the CHP looked down at his speedo as he was catching up to me and pacing me, saw 68(70) and lit me up.

Took 10 months to get my bail ($234) back.

EDIT: He pulled behind me at right about the two signs. He lit me up a few hundred feet later.

One night driving from Bakersfield to Cerritos I got 3 warnings! all 3 around the 90 mph mark in my Corvette. All 3 of the chp didn't bother chasing. they lit up their lights in their hidding place and turned them off when they saw my brake lights.

That was back in '06. Now the chp are acting like tools and writing people for 77 The king wants his dues!

Pic's of the Gullwing!

Here is how it is done:

First step is delaying the court date one time shortly before trial. Can be done online. Then request trial by written declaration paperwork and send that in. If you win, most the time because the cop doesn't send in his paperwork, you are off, if not, send in for trial de novo. Then go to the court date. If the cop does not show, you are off. If he does show, ask to plead "no contest" and get traffic school in return. You lose nothing by going this route but you gain 2 opportunities to get out. The Sherrif likely is a good candidate for not even sending in the TBWD paperwork. For the CHP it is tougher - I think they have a robot or assistant sending in TBWD responses.

Hope this helps. I get a ride in the gull-wing if it works out.

George

http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/cro...19_1280x0w.jpg

^^^ That's what I did. I also waited until the last minute to get it back to the court. Trying to buy all the time I could. FYI, not sure about the OC, but everything is backed up right now in LA, from the "financial crisis". I think this helped my case. It also delayed in getting my bail back, but I'm really not going to complain about that. I was happy I won.

Now that I think of it. I had a discussion about this with a CHP officer that is in my flying club, after I received notice that my ticket was dismissed. I mentioned what George said, plus I mentioned that I really didn't say a word during the stop, other than at the end, where I wished the CHP officer a good and safe night. The CHP officer I talked to agreed with everything.

Good input Dave -

The first court date that the cop puts on the ticket is his scheduled day in court and he will write that down all week that he's doing stops. If you go that day, he will have at least a half a dozen "customers" and will show. With delaying you de-couple the court date from the cop's schedule (at least if the court isn't too well organized) and you have a fair shot at a "no-show".

You must understand that by doing a TBWD you waive your right for traffic school if you are found guilty and do not go back with a trial de novo. So you have to be prepared to follow through or otherwise end up with a point. But as I explained, you get your chance back in the end for school if needed. The judge during my court sessions has always been generous with allowing traffic school - they only need to make sure they collect the $ and don't care about your record much.

The cops have really been out in force, especially the local ones, since the budget crisis, so make sure you keep an eye on your odometer and rather keep your money for a track day. ;)

Cheers,

George

Wrong......but I agree with the TBWD and trial de novo route.

I went the TBWD route once and won (I had a strong case, not that that matters) against a CHP. What a great feeling!

I said a few things, so what exactly is wrong in my statement and what is the correct answer?

G

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1331733613.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1331733658.jpg

Those gullwings cars knock me out, also prefer the headlights on the coupe much more
than those on the roadster!

I would save the fight on the ticket for one that is questionable, some deserve a fight.

Cheers Richard

The court dates put on the ticket have nothing to do with it being the officers particular court day. It's 60 days from the date the ticket is issued and adjusted for holidays and weekends.

If you choose to contest the ticket, then a new court date is given. Most courts assign court days alphabetically by the officers last name, ie A-J Monday and Tuesday , K-Z Wednesday and Thursday. If your ticket is written by Officer Adams, they will likely only give you available dates on Monday and Tuesdays.

Don't know how its done in other states, but in LA County that's typically how its done.

Beautiful car. If I ever hit a lotto, one would definitely be in my new garage.