Lol...my last ticket was in my 91 Explorer...2 months ago! If I had been as careful in it as I am in the Porsche, well today I'd be $100 richer. However, did get him to lower it by 10 mph, for which I'm eternally grateful (was unintentional, lost track of speed on a back road coming back from CO. Can you believe an Explorer can do 85? Wow!)

Agree with wisely choosing the locations to "open her up", goes along with clearing the highway first. Once again, support your local police...

Public servants are people just like you and me!
 

Just in case you thought I was mad at law enforcement types, please be advised that I was merely attempting to learn the experiencing of other Porsche driver operating Porsche motor vehicles generally, and specifically in Northern California.

My inquiry was not about demeaning traffic cops or no accountability for one's mistakes or intentional conduct while operating a sports car or any kind of auto.

Years ago, before the wide spread use of the Internet, as we all know, we could not compare notes with other drivers about our experiences with autos, roadways, traffic, you name it.

One of the biggest problem facing traffic law enforcement today, besides drunk drivers, are chat rooms and message boards like this one.

WHY?? Because if enough people communicate with each other about their law enforcement experiences then patterns of abuse become known and some law enforcement agencies do not want you to know about the way they operate in some parts of the country.

What is more important? The freedom of communicating with each other or the freedom to drive a fast car?? I say the freedom to communicate is more important than operating a high speed motor vehicle on public streets and highways.

We can always drive the hell out of our Porsches at the track.

Think law enforcement will ever outlaw the Internet or require licensing and registration before you can go online???

It has already started friends!

JFITZOZ
:eek:

hmmmm,

Driving like a fool + Porsche + observant cop doing his job = ticket

Driving like a fool + 5.0, vette, Ducati + observant cop doing his job= ticket.

Tickets suck. I just got one for not coming to a complete stop at a red light, making a right turn. Motorcycle cop was on me before I could get up to 20mph. Did the car make a difference? Probably did not help the situation. But is was the end of the month and I technically was in the wrong.

Tickets are a way of life. Having a car that attracts attention (not necessarily a Porsche) probably do slightly increase your odds of getting one. Sucks, but it is what it is.

Hmmm,

I commute and drive Hwy 50 from Folsom into Sacramento daily and sometimes off rush-hour. I hardly see CHP here. Of course the traffic pretty much keeps you around the speed limit. Usually, traffic (non rush hour) goes ~80mph. There is no reason to go beyond this speed here. Hence, I have not been followed, or pulled over for speeding. I think the CHP is after excessive speed and crazy, zig-zag, in and out of traffic type drivers. I have noticed "Angel" (CHP Helicopter) above more and more lately.

I do not have the front license plate on the car, it's in the trunk. Someone asked, and it is required to have the front license plate on the car here in CA.

I save my speed for the turns at the auto-cross.

I go the speed limit around town, as I think I will see 1) my neighbors 2) local police 3) other peoples kids 4) my nieces nephews.

Every once in a while I get a neighbor outside my block, who comes up and says they have seen me driving my car around and say/ask how good it looks, what year etc, new paint. I like the fact they don't come up to me and tell me to SLOW DOWN in their neighborhood.

Everytime I think about speeding or when the g/f gives me a bad time about NOT speeding because "nobody drives the speed limit, your in Porsch-" I think about how incredibly depressed I will feel if I was to ever HIT someone or worse KILL somebody on the street or freeway.

Just my .02

Well, let me tell you my story.

About three weeks ago I got pulled over for running a red light making a left hand turn. Was at the intersection with about 4 vehicles in front of me turning onto JCB here in Atlanta at 7:30 AM.

When the light turned green the traffic started moving and at about the time I entered the intersection, it stopped. There I was in the intersection when the light turned red, and low and behold a police officer was sitting there.

Traffic started moving and the officer made a u turn to bust me. He came to the vehicle (pick up truck) and I gave him my drivers license. No exchange of conversation. When he returned about 5 min later he handed me a ticket. I signed it and asked him how long he had been patroling that intersection. He stated for about a week.

Well I was Pi**ed. Drove off and returned to the scene of the crime about 10 minutes later and he had another vehicle pulled over.

The officer knew that that intersection was ripe for violators because of the congestion and he took advantage of it. I checked the time on the green signal at the intersection I was in and the light at different times of the day the light would stay green from 10 sec to 20 sec. Not consistent.

He then marked the location on the ticket as 2 mi south of Lilburn when I was in fact in Norcross about 4 miles from lilburn due S/W.

I am going to fight it - mainly because the code states it has had to have been done with disregard or disobedience, neither of which I did.

Just a comment.

Steve

I live in Sacramento and commute HWY 50 to West Sacramento every work day. I work for Cal Fed Bank and the corporate headquarters are on what we call "the Campus". On the campus are 5 buildings one of which is an office building for the CHP. Just a block away is the CHP training site. Do I tiptoe? You betcha! Have to share one amusing episode on a homeward bound commute on "50". Watched a CHP motorcycle person pull over a Lawn & gardening truck complete with trailer full of mowers etc. Got the truck pulled over and (Just got the new BMW bikes)....as the officer steps off the bike....must've been so eager to write ticket he for got to put kickstand down...dumped bike right between his legs. Ummm ya think whoever was driving that lawn care vehicle got a ticket?

Okay...I know I'm going to get flamed here but here goes anyway.
(And I know there's been posts about this before so sorry if it a repeat but..........)

I don't get it that if you admit guilt (over the internet, like this BB) and you know you were in the wrong (eg speeding) how can you fight it. Its the law! If you want to fight a matter of opinion/situation (eg you got caught in a situation by circumstance like stormcrow) then cool...do what you can.

BUT if you were speeding, I can't see that in most cases you should be challenging what you know was wrong (eg Jacks quoted saying "I may even go on to try and fight the ticket I got today" and further "I sped. I got busted. That's how it works.") Sorry but what is the moral stance in fighting something you know you did wrong?

I am sure that I must not understand some other principles in this context. What are they?

Jack - I do not mean to attack you at all. I have respected your moral character, your sensibility and of course your knowledge with 911's for near on two years now, but this one I don't get.

I admit to speeding too. I must say I have had my fair share of tickets and close to losing my licence also. In all cases though I know I was at fault. Today, somewhat older and maybe wiser, I think too much of the terrible damage done to families from misuse of cars. I feel nausious (sp) at the thought that my little guy (5 years) or girl (9 years) could be killed by my or other drivers impulsive desire to speed. I could not live with the fact that I killed someone as a result of me speeding.

I have been a lifeguard for many years and have saved many lives through CPR. I have also lost a few who could not be revived. Each one that died remains a vivid picture in my mind (almost a sense of guilt!) but I COULD NOT imagine the terror of causing death by speeding. Sorry but there aren't any excuses, and paying a monetry value for a few seconds/minutes of impulsive desire is nothing to the realization that I could kill someone.

Police have little to do with this. Fighting the ticket for speeding must be like a kick in the pants to them. They uphold the law, for others to break it or beat it!!!???

Even if you have a tale to tell of the bad apple in the bunch, I would think that in the 'big picture' we should be wary of citing situations where we either expose them without recourse, or that we fight when we know we are guilt.

I'm sorry for the rant but I just don't get it.

Cheers
Mark

I have been driving for about 40 yrs now...many different vehicles and many countries.
The law is the law....you step on the wrong side of it....you get a ticket..or....maybe you get lucky. If you count the number of times you get away with it, verses the number of times you are caught, I bet the odds are in your favour.
That said....I have been ticketed at times and beaten the ticket in court. Remember...always check the info on the papaer for acuracy!!
I once got a ticket for 148mph on the highway (limit 65) in my Fiberfab Avenger...got to court...no officer there...presented my ownership to the judge...it said my car was a 1964 Volkswagon....judge laughed at the speed written on the ticket...dismissed!
I also ride a Harley chopper, always have, and I get stopped on a regular basis for "safety checks" it's part of the game.
Now I live in Vancouver...I never run red lights...I come to a full halt at EVERY stop sign...my paranoia is at the extreme level..and my eyes are watching all the vehicles around me. Vancouver is full of ethnic ppl...some of them are asian...theey have no.(read ZERO) periferal vision...not their fault..just the way they are constructed....sooo...I NEVER let them get at me....even if I have the right of way...their SUV is bigger the my bike or P-car....they can do what they want!!
Bottom line...from military defensive driving course....rules are OK...laws are OK...but common sense and safety are the only things thet will keep you alive...or keep you from getting tickets!
Bob

Mr Hawg Rider - Asian people DO have peripherial vision...perhaps recent Asian immigrants are not skilled drivers like the rest of Vancouver, perhaps it was not an auto culture where they came from, or some other cultural issue - OR NOT - but certainly "Asian people" have as much peripherial vision as any Pelican reading 911 driving poster. Other than that - you're right on.

Wow! Asians really have no peripheral vision because of the way they are constructed? That is amazing. Can't wait to see the followup on THAT statement.

expath....Mark, being literal is OK in a poker game. Being literal when dealing with society sounds like brain damage diagnosis in a cognitive therapy treatment center, with all due respect. When you said "I don't get it", maybe you are refering to reckless behavior, which I can understand. Although out laws are written to "preserve and protect", the literal interpertation of them has allowed many in our society [in US] to manipulate the Constitution of the US in the courts since WW 2. I feel the PD is in a constant difficult position to "preserve and protect"...

As a potential P-car purchaser I didn't want my first post to be on a thread like this but I just have to respond. HawgRyder, your comments about asians and periferal vision is like saying the reason asian bikes are better built than american ones is because white people are not good at math and engineering, it's just the way they're made. If I thought that way I wouldn't want a Porsche.

That said, I feel that it is everyone's right to challenge a ticket if they choose to do so. This is part of the checks and balances that take place in our legal system. I'd rather someone get off a ticket when he was really speeding than be pulled over for doing nothing and not be able to fight it. I haven't had a bad run in with the law but I'd still have no problem challenging a ticket in court. It's my legal right and despite what anyone says regarding whether or not it's moral it's none of their business.

What some of you are saying is that

"I'm in the wrong, I know it, I was speeding. I got caught. Now.... how can I get out of this because I don't want to pay money for something like this?"

Some of you feel that it is your inalienable right to get out of your own responsibilities by finding loopholes and technicalities.

Now I accept, as previously said that if there is a legal avenue that proves your innocence then go for it. But if the fact is you were speeding AND YOU KNOW IT, accept the fact and pay your fine. Please understand that I m not arguing with the situation where they scanned your car instead of the one next to you, or they recorded you doing 100 in a 60 zone when you were only doing 70! Again great...fight it. But this is a whole lot different from the average ticket write-up where you know you were in the wrong and there were no extenuating circumstances.

RoninLB

What you are saying about people in the US..... 'manipulate the Constitution of the US....' is sort of what I'm, talking about. I agree that fighting unjust laws are a right and an expectation. I also agree that not all of this can be taken literally. However, some things we should just lay over, admit our guilt and cop the punishment IMHO. A child at school punches another child because they wouldn't share their lunch. Whether the child should have been more socially responsible and shared their food or not, the point is that the attacker must accept that he was acting socially inappropriately and now pays the penalty. Hopefully the attacker learns some responsibility from the circumstances and the punishment.

How many people can honestly say that if they have nearly lost their licence that they didn't modify their driving behaviour. Now If they didn't get caught they would continue to drive around with less regard than if the fear of punishment was neigh.

cdconner76

'It's my legal right and despite what anyone says regarding whether or not it's moral it's none of their business.'

You you come here and tell me the driver of a car who lost control and hit my 19 year old mate (making him quadraplegic for life) while we were walking along the footpath about to go for a surf, has nothing to do with my business. Yeah right - do whatever, but the fact that my mate got his life ripped away from him and the driver got off in court because of a technicality - yeah its my F.......... business. Too many people today challenge things when they know they are in the wrong. And this is different from people who fight because they are innocent or not guilty to the extend of the punishment. Please don't start to tell me that your right to fight is part of keeping the system working. In few cases does this work to be true.

HawgRyder
Please retract your statement and apologise for your statements. I live in Asia and your statements are highly racist. Granted Asian driving is different but its nothing to do with 'construction'.

Thanks all
Cheers
Mark

I've never received a ticket I didn't deserve.

However, in Houston, I was let go because the officer said it was too close to Christmas.

I do have some pet peves that I feel are not addressed as vigorously as speeding:

1) Turning right on red without stopping
2) Changing lanes or turning without signaling
3) Tractor trailer rigs speeding with 4 times the needed stopping distance as cars
4) Uncovered gravel trucks
5) Unlicensed drivers getting off with a slap on the wrist
6) Uninsured drivers getting off with even less
7) Distracted drivers
8) Tailgaters
9) Left lane locos
10) Cars using the emergency crossover on the freeway to change directions

Now, I feel better.

Certainly the pros and cons of "fighting" a ticket have been discoursed here with talk of what's moral and checks and balances of the system. But, not one of you has said anything about the downstream effect of a citation. It would be fine to pay the piper for your indescretion appropriate to the offense if that was all there was to it. When you default to guilty by paying the ticket, you become a singular statistic as well as a sector statistic for use and abuse by the insurance industry. The immediate manifestation is an increase in your insurance for a disproportionate period of time. The latent manifestation is that we are profiled and abused as a group. For all your morals, your insurance company will not reciprocate.

'For all your morals, your insurance company will not reciprocate'

Why should they - you just proved by speeding that you are a risk - there ain't no free ride!

Mark

I drive for a living. My driver is a 95 Toyota. I usually run 10 to 20 miles over the limit most of the time. In 7 years and over 400000 miles not one ticket.. Knock on wood! I find when I am speeding to pay attention to my surrundings. If I see a cop slow down!! They usually stick out some how.If you are not paying attention and you blast by a cop who was visable you get busted. And when I am blowing out the carbon in my 911S. you dont do it if there are places for cops to hide.. Not to mention places for kids to jump out in front of you.. If you see a mailbox and a driveway no speeding! if you see a intersection no speeding! If yu see blind corners with places for cops to hide, you get the picture. If you see open road with no driveways interesections. Go for it.. I am surprized by how much slower I do drive my car now that I am driving on the track..

expathk, I see your point and after thinking about it I think I mostly agree with you. I've been very fortunate enough to never have had a speeding violation and also never to have someone close to me suffer in such an accident. That said, I also think that our legal system in regards to traffic violations needs some work along with better supervision of police activities. It is too easy for someone to get out of speeding tickets and it is also too easy for police officers to abuse their authority. I know that the vast majority of policemen are good people but a good friend of mine is a Dallas County Sheriff and I hear his stories of how he's harrassed people before and I'm surprised at what he can get away with. He once stopped a guy for "looking" suspicious in a neighborhood that he didn't fit into. When he figured out that there was no cause to stop him the guy he proceeded to knock out one of his taillights. Now that they have cameras installed in most of the cars it's a little more difficult for him to do those things. I may still challenge a ticket in court but I'll weigh my guilt in the matter and the circumstances at the time.

Cool......and now to stop being devils advocate, I speed too often and even though I know I'm in the wrong and usually I'm shaking like a nun after a climax, I still love the full throttle experience. Thing is when I get caught, I take what's coming.......oh well.....no-one perfect, lest me!

Cheers
Mark

No retractions or appologies from me....and I'm not particularly racist either...just an observer over many years and many contacts with different ppl.
I yield on the peripheral bit if you say so...however, in my experience, and two full volunteer tours in Asia in '66 and '67, I have to wonder if the statement is true.
My biggest beef about the whole system here is the purchasing of licences rather than the earning of them. Last time this hit the fan was in Toronto area, about a decade back I think, when several hundred or more were found to have cheated on the licence exam.
They had an "interpreter" between the examiner and the testee.....examiner says "what do you do at a red hexagonal sign".....interpreter says same thing in his language to the testee....testee says "I don't know" back to the interpreter....and the interpreter says "stop" to the examiner.
When they re-tested all the suspect drivers...and BTW...funny thing...dozens of them had the same picture....most of theem failed....even though they had been driving for a couple of years!
I love to drive...love to drive quickly...and take pride in my ability to be aware of my surroundings at all times. I have no sympathy for drivers who are "surprised" by situations that any competant one would normally be aware. I see some circle the parking lot for what seems like hours with a glazed look on their faces trying to find a space to park...and pass up hundreds...because they don't plan the trip properly...and know in advance which store they want. (very comical) But at least they are off the highway when that happens....no ..wiait....they're not....one of them just cut through 5 lanes of traffic just now....almost passed the off-ramp!
As I get older...I notice that I have much less tollerance for idiots....not excusing myself....just the way it is.
Bob