I was railroaded...

[golfer]

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?

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

[zippyneedsawin]

I don't have any advice for actually fighting this in court. But by at least pleading 'not guilty,' you force the trooper who wrote the ticket to show up in court. If he/she doesn't appear the day you contest the ticket, you win. If you plan on making your case in court, get your spedometer checked. you have no case if you can't prove your spedometer is accurate. Good luck. I sympathize with your case, very frustrating-- especially when you feel you can't win.

[Danzig]

i've never fought a ticket, but i have never heard that there are extra charges for doing so--i think court costs are included in the cost of the ticket.
as for hiring an attorney, i have never heard of anyone doing so to fight a speeding ticket.

go to court if possible. take along whatever is necessary to show that you had your speedometer checked, and that it was accurate-since it sounds as tho the trooper believes you had your speed set, but that your truck was inaccurate--at least that way you can at least show that IF you were speeding, it was certainly unintentional if in fact your speedometer was off.
he would have to show in court, or the case is thrown out. if he does show up, ask him to prove that his radar was calibrated, as that has to be done every day. my husband went to court to fight a ticket (he won) and a trooper did not have his daily calibration sheet for his gun, all the tix he wrote that day were thrown out.

good luck!

my hubby got a ticket for rolling thru a stop sign. he's going to fight it, as it's his word vs the trooper.
and the price on that is 240--i'd rather he had gotten a speeding ticket.

[MaTH716]

Was the trooper going the other way? If so did he follow you for a couple of miles before pulling you over or did he do it right away? I have never heard of a trooper going in one direction and clocking people going the other way. Is your record clean? Get your odometer checked and try to fight it. Try explaining to the judge that you do the same routine every night for x amout of years and never have had a problem and you get pulled over by a trooper going in the other direction (if that is the case). If you know any local police officers/troopers ask them about clocking people going in the other direction, it just doesn't sound right. Good Luck.

[KY_Sasquash]

It's a little too late for this advice but here's the best that I've received. After he told you that you were going 80 you shouldve asked him if his radar was calibrated (they're supposed to do that every single day) and if he says yes, then ask him if he "locked it in" (i.e clocked in how fast you were speeding on his radar), then if he says yes again ask to see it. You gotta be nice about it b/c i guess a lot of cops dont take too kindly to being put on the spot. Its my understanding (havent had the chance to apply it yet!) that if the gun wasnt calibrated or the speed wasnt locked in you can get out of it......you still might be able to apply this in court, but maybe on the calibration b/c the trooper is supposed to do it every morning and keep a log of it.

[SniperSB23]

Show up in court. If he no shows you get out of it and even if he shows chances are if your record is clean he'll be willing to talk and reduce it to parking on pavement or something that just carries a fine.

[3kings]

If you really want to fight this ticket, I would do two things. Have your speedometer checked for accuracy and have the technition give you a written result. If this is in your favor, bring it to court. Try to find some data on how accurate radar guns are from a moving automobile going in the opposite direction. I don't believe he will have an accurate clocking. Lastly depending on the results of these 2 queries, be polite and ask for no points and a reduction of the fine because travel is a major part of your enployment and you don't want to be reprimanded at work.

Next time my advise to you would be to ask for a warning. I have quite a few friends that are PA State Police who tell be if you are less than 20 miles over the speed limit, polite, and ask for a warning you will get one the majority of time.

[packerbacker7964]

You need to write everything down about that night before you forget. Dark,raining,foggy all of the weather conditions. Write down what you were wearing, type of road straight or curves. What the Tropper was wearing what he said what you said to him. Lots of times the judge will want to know these things because it shows an attention to detail by you.

[Scav]

Bigs, YOU BETTER go to f'n court and fight that pig. it is BULLSHIT. The one thing is that all this will matter what JUDGE you get. You did admit to 'speeding'. There are multiple things that can go right for you, now keep in mind this is Illinois rules but my guess is that are somewhat the same. You should have asked to see the radar gun as they HAVE to lock it in when they catch you, they also have to show you that it has been recently calibrated.

1) The oinker doesn't show up and you get out, some hate going to court, some love it

2) You plead guity but you will get a fine, and it not go on your record

3) The judge ****s you and you have to pay the $163 plus like $25 for court fees.

4) You can't plead not guilty because you admited it, but I think you can plead no contest. I would ask the people you work with and ask them if they went to traffic court and see what they say

It is worth it to go to court, plus you will be able to state your case

1) You drive the same route every single day using your cruise control at 67 MPH
2) Your clean record (if you don't have one I wouldn't mention this)
3) Going an opposite direction and had the wherewithall to 'radar' me while OTHER cars are around me
4) His assumption that your speedometer needs calibrating or your tires were off, why could he assume that, and if that is the case, doesn't that warrant a warning? How many people KNOW their speedometer is off
5) This is $163 in chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for your two young daughters