Speaking of speeding tickets....

[ShutteredEye]

I had a very strange, and a tad frightening experience yesterday. I was headed back from lunch on Walnut Hill in Dallas, it's a 3 lane road, and I was in the center lane. As I approach a long straight away, a Lexus SUV comes roaring up behind me, and then jumps to the left lane to go around me. The speed limit was 35, and I was speeding, probably going about 43-45. This Lexus was going WAAAY faster than me.

Suddenly a cop steps out into the road from a side street, waving us down. I hit the brakes thinking, "good, that Lexus is driving like an idiot anyway." Except the officer waves ME over to the side.

He comes to the window and asks me, "Where's the fire?" I told him that I knew I was probably speeding, but that the Lexus behind me was driving like a bat out of hell. He ignores me, asks for my license and insurance. Then he proceeds to tell me he clocked me at 71 in a 35. I told him there was simply NO WAY I was travelling that fast, that he must have clocked the Lexus rather than me.

"Step out of the truck sir."

He pulls me back to the back of the truck and then starts peering through all the windows in the truck and walking around the truck. He comes back and tells me that he would be citing me for speeding, no registration or inspection (just had a new windshield put in and the stickers were in an envelope in my console), and no front license plate.

At that point I said, "Wait a minute." I showed him the stickers. Then I told him I had a good friend on the force, and that the only time an officer was going to write a front license plate ticket was when he felt like somebody was giving him the run around. I told him I sincerely thought he clocked the wrong vehicle, and that I wasn't trying to be a jerk about it. Then I explained to him what had happened that made me think he got the wrong guy.

He went and sat in his patrol car, ran my info. Then he comes back and tells me he's writing the ticket for 59 in 35 so I'll be able to take defensive driving!!!

So, in short, I was speeding, but not 59 in a 35, and DEFINITELY not 71 in a 35. I don't know what to do here. Don't know whether to go to court and hope he doesn't show, or just suck it up and take the ticket.

Sucks.

He got me on radar rather than laser, and I KNOW those things auto acquire the fastest moving object out there. So he could have aimed to clock me, and then as the Lexus pulled around me the radar jumped to him. Problem is it's my word against the officer's, and everyone knows how that ends up. It's not like Mr. Lexus is going to come testify on my behalf. Somebody in a light blue metallic Lexus SUV got a free ride yesterday.

[kamari]

do some research on how radar works. Not all radar guns acquire the fastest target. From what I've read, a lot of guns can actually give two separate readings for cars riding next to each other. Your first mistake was admitting that you may have been speeding. Hopefully he didn't make note of that. You're right in the fact that it's your word against his in court but I'd definitely fight that...you can't just let em strike you out without goin down swinging. Your ins company will have a field day with you after the ticket fees (have you found out what the price is yet?)

[JamesB]

best bet is to get a lawyer and fight it. I know in Houston there are a few really good lawyers who get the ticket dismissed for speeding. It may cost more than the actual fine of the ticket, but I would rather pay a lawyer than have a speeding ticket on my record.

James

[Silvernic]

You don't need a lawyer to fight that one. Just go in and tell the truth, his radar won't hold up against your testimony.

[L Stegall]

Hey Robert, see my post on the other speeding ticket thread. We can fix you up too, dude!

[kamari]

jeez you're cleanin up tonight!

[L Stegall]

Hee hee - hey, how do you think I get those L lenses? See, how I turned these threads back to a discussion about photography? LOL.

[Michelle Allmon]

Fight it. My husband fights those tix everytime and wins. Last time he got a speeding ticket and wasn't even speeding (I was there) and he asked the guy in court: "How accurate is it?" very "Do you calibrate it everyday?" yes "Can I see the log, please?" no log. Also if you think the odds are against you, tell them you want a jury and they will try to make deals with you. Just keep telling them no.
Just go in and tell them what happened, I think you will beat it.

[JohnRushing]

If it was a DPS officer the conversation msot likely is on tape. An old school friend was just relocated here in the Carthage area a few months ago and his car is equiped with a camera like most others and all the conversations he has with violators is recorded. he said it was mostly to protect him in court against violators that go to court and try to say he was rude or verbally abused them.

I started to post this in the other trhead but never did but since another ticket thread has been started here it is.

During one of our safety meetings we had a DPS officer come in and talk to use and he mentioned some laws that most people have never even heard of. One of the laws is that it is illegal to drive in the far left hand lane unless you are an emergency vehicle or passing someone, and when i asked him he said that that did not mean passing 15 to 20 cars at a time .
Another law was that if you approach an emergency vehicle such as a DPS car with some pulled over you are suppose to move into the left lane if you can do it safely and reduce your speed by 10%, now I'm not going to dig a calculator out and thry to figure out what my speed should be when I come across this but actually it's not hard to guess.
My friend said these were laws but there not enforced that hard right now unless you get pulled over for something else and just act like a complete rectal hole to the officer. I haven't taken the time to look these up for myself so I'll just take their word for it. Just thought I would mention them in case anyone was interrested.

[JohnRushing]

I looked up the laws and here's the one about passing an emergency vehicle

SB 193 requires drivers nearing stopped emergency vehicles-with lights activated -to either slow down or change lanes.

The law states a driver must either vacate the lane closest to the stopped emergency vehicle if the road has multiple lanes traveling in the same direction or slow down 20 miles per hour below the speed limit. (If the speed limit is below 25 mph the driver must slow down to 5 mph.)

Emergency vehicles include police, emergency medical service and fire vehicles.

A violation is punishable by a maximum fine of $200. If the violation results in property damage, the maximum fine increases to $500. If the violation results in bodily injury, the offense is enhanced to a Class B misdemeanor.


Also there has been a rumor for a long time that it is illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving unless it is a hands free unit but this law never passed in texas (although it should have for some drivers). But it is illegal for a teen with a learners permit to talk on a cell phone while driving, thank godness !

[dreemes]

I wish they'd change this law to read slow down to 35mph or less instead of 20mph below speed limit. If the speed limit is 70 then that means to slow down to 50mph and that is still too **** fast to be going by emergency vehicles. It isn't any fun to be out there trying to help someone and just about get plowed down by someone that is too selfish to slow down.

[Aric C. Hoek]

I had hear that if you go in to argue a ticket, and the officer does not show up in cort, then the ticket is dropped. Is that right?

[L Stegall]

Aric, that is usually the case. My husband (he's the criminal defense atty) says it depends on the venue. Sometimes the state may ask for a continuance and it could be granted. Other places may make you sit and wait while they try to locate the officer (like Dallas). But, often, if the officer is a no-show, the ticket is dismissed.

[ShutteredEye]

Originally Posted by L Stegall

Aric, that is usually the case. My husband (he's the criminal defense atty) says it depends on the venue. Sometimes the state may ask for a continuance and it could be granted. Other places may make you sit and wait while they try to locate the officer (like Dallas). But, often, if the officer is a no-show, the ticket is dismissed.

From what I understand, Dallas courts are "courts of record," meaning there is no dismissal if the officer does not show up...

[Casper]

Court of record refers to a record keeping/reporting to some data base. If the local JP court is not a court of record, then a conviction is not recorded to the state data base. Someone would have to check the specific JP court for a record (vs one record check in the big state data base-TCIC). So, a traffic ticket would not show up on your record (say during an application for insurance) if it did not come from a court of record (unless you told them).

A ticket may be dismissed if the officer doesn't show because you have the right to confront your accuser. Also, the officer is needed to get any evidence about the offense into court.

Steve