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Originally Posted by Bigsmc
Jan 2nd, I'm driving home from work. I turn left onto a 4 lane divided highway, speed limit 60. I quickly get up to speed and set my cruise control at 67-68. I drive over an hour each way to and from work so I use my cruise control constantly.
I see a State Trooper coming the other direction and tap the brakes out of habit. Trooper U-turns and pulls me over. I'm baffled as to why he would pull me over going 7 over.
Trooper - "What's your hurry?"
Bigs - "Just going home from work"
Trooper - "I got you the first time about a half mile away going over 80, the second time I got you at 74"
Bigs - "No....I had my cruise control on 67-68, there is no way I was going that fast"
Trooper - "You were. Look how far ahead of those other vehicles you were"
Bigs - "What does that have to do with anything?"
Trooper - "You were going that fast, I got turned around and pulled you over before the first car caught up"
Bigs - *Extremely pissed, decides not to argue further* For the record the vehicle next to me as we turned left was a motor home pulling a jeep with several bicycles on the back and had Alabama tags. The vehicle behind me was a lawn care truck full of palm fronds. Both vehicles were slow off the line and served as blockers for the rest of the traffic.
Trooper - "How old is your truck?"
Bigs - "2004"
Trooper - "How many miles on it?"
Bigs - "104,000"
Trooper - "Your speedometer must be off. Get it calibrated."
Bigs - "There is nothing wrong with my speedometer, I would be able to tell if it was 15mph off."
Trooper - *laughs* "Go get your speedometer calibrated"
Trooper goes back to his car, writes me a ticket for 74mph in a 60mph zone....$163.00.
Trooper - "Did you put oversized tires on this truck, that could make your speedometer inaccurate."
Bigs - "No, the tires are the same as they have always been"
Trooper - "Go get your speedometer calibrated, it is off" *smiles real big* "Drive safe"
I drive away thinking I have been violated in some sense. I plan on taking this to court. I have zero experience in traffic court and know that I will lose. My word vs. a Trooper's word, it doesn't take a rocket scientist.... I just feel that I need to stand up for myself, state my case and get it off my chest.
Anybody out there have any advice for me? Am I wasting my time? It was 4:44 in the afternoon and I was driving east so he was facing west into the setting sun, could this affect his radar in any way?
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Bigs, I drive a couple hundred miles each day in the Jacksonville area, I have great empathy for your situation. I have no advice to give about fighting this, hopefully others will. I can only say, that it will probably cost you more than $163 to have your day in court (attorney, court fees, time off from work, etc...). That's the way the system is designed. You can hire an attorney who specializes in traffic tickets. I did that once, paid the fine, but got no points on my license.
Good luck