[fred cook]

Did the same thing one time. I was driving a 1973 Fiat 124 Coupe. 1.6 liter engine with about 100 hp. I had stopped for a stop sign and after a full stop proceeded to turn left at the corner and accellerate up a moderate incline over a railroad track. Distance from the stop to the pull over spot was less than 1/10 of a mile. Cop said I was doing 60 in a 45 zone. I was polite, signed the ticket, got my license back and went on my way. The next day, I went back to the scene and measured the distance with an engineers wheel and estimated the incline. Using the distance, incline angle, weight of the car and the available horsepower I drew a chart showing that it would have been impossible for my car to have been going over 45mph more or less in that distance. When it came time to go to court, I showed up, the cop showed up and a really cool judge showed up. The cop went first, recited info from a notebook and by refering to the ticket. My turn. I got up (college student but was dressed in a suit and tie) set up my diagrams and math explanations and went thru the whole explanation. When I was done, the judge sat there for about a minute thinking it all over, finally turned to the cop and said "Haven't I warned you before about harassing young drivers for no reason? Young man, case dismissed, you may go. Officer xxxxxx, I want to see you in my chambers immediately after court tonight."

I stayed out of that community for about 3 months to let the cop cool down!