fansince88 Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 So My son was driving through Mass to see his GF in Conneticut. He was traveling in the slow lane on I90 with his cruise at 73 with the flow of most of the traffic. Cars were flying by him like he was standing still. When he got behind a SWIFT tractor trailer he while keeping his speed went around the truck and as he got in front of the truck a Mass state boy pulled him over. He never even told him that he was writing him a ticket just told him he was going too fast. My son replied "sir sorry but I didn't think I was speeding I was going with the flow of traffic and I had a lot of vehicles flying past me. It could be you shot one of them" The officer took his license and came back with a ticket with 75+ written on it. The fine is 100$ plus the court charge of I believe 75$. Principle tells me it is worth taking the time to get it reduced because he wasn't going 75+ and the fine is a lot less for 73. We are in Northern NY so this will not reflect on his license so the flip side is the cost of traveling back and forth to Mass to go to court would be more than the cost of the ticket. What would you all do in this case. Word on the road is Mass is one of these leach states that love to pull over out of state drivers just for this reason that they know they will not contest the ticket. What would you do?
Keukasmallies Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 Contest it. I'd want to know the exact speed at which he was clocked. BUT I'm a contrary bastard and I'd enjoy just having the trooper appear in traffic court, hopefully, off shift.
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 Got a ticket in Mass Speeding in a communion zone?
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 Swift drivers ard usually new trucker starting out OTR (over the road)... From what I heard. Turn over is high. So: So, was paasing a green trucker most likely and speeding also! There is no so thing as "going w/the flow." If he was speeding, he was speeding. he was the one fish caught in the seine. It sucks. Were you w/him?
BarkLessWagMore Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 been in a similar situation (not Mass, but far away in NYS). I found a good attorney who I called and explained the situation. He represented me in traffic court and got it pleaded to parking violations. Fines were considerably lower and he charged me around $125. I was probably net out $50 but no points so I was thrilled with the results. No way was I going to take the time to drive there and back. Good luck.
The Poojer Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 NY is a neighboring state, it may show up on his record, check before you decide. So My son was driving through Mass to see his GF in Conneticut. He was traveling in the slow lane on I90 with his cruise at 73 with the flow of most of the traffic. Cars were flying by him like he was standing still. When he got behind a SWIFT tractor trailer he while keeping his speed went around the truck and as he got in front of the truck a Mass state boy pulled him over. He never even told him that he was writing him a ticket just told him he was going too fast. My son replied "sir sorry but I didn't think I was speeding I was going with the flow of traffic and I had a lot of vehicles flying past me. It could be you shot one of them" The officer took his license and came back with a ticket with 75+ written on it. The fine is 100$ plus the court charge of I believe 75$. Principle tells me it is worth taking the time to get it reduced because he wasn't going 75+ and the fine is a lot less for 73. We are in Northern NY so this will not reflect on his license so the flip side is the cost of traveling back and forth to Mass to go to court would be more than the cost of the ticket. What would you all do in this case. Word on the road is Mass is one of these leach states that love to pull over out of state drivers just for this reason that they know they will not contest the ticket. What would you do?
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 (edited) Contest it. I'd want to know the exact speed at which he was clocked. BUT I'm a contrary bastard and I'd enjoy just having the trooper appear in traffic court, hopefully, off shift. They will work around his shift. He should see if he then can get a continuance... Keep it far away in this officer's mind... He writes lots of tickets... Make him forget when the state makes his case. Ask questions like: What color was my car? If he looks @ the ticket, TRY (I said try) to object w/hearsay. Ask him if you were w/any other passengers... When he fumbles or says something wrong, attack his credibility. Hopefully he won't show after, if you can get it, continuances... Edited September 7, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois
Just Jack Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 Swift drivers ard usually new trucker starting out OTR (over the road)... From what I heard. Turn over is high. So that's why they always seem to do something stupid when I see them. I've taken to calling them "not so Swift trucks".
mead107 Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 I do not believe tickets in mass show up in ny. I do think if you want to contest it you have to go to Boston. I know a friend this summer got a ticket and he just paid it..
Beerball Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 Speeding in a communion zone? Those Catlicks will do anything to make a buck.
Chef Jim Posted September 7, 2013 Posted September 7, 2013 (edited) I'm confused. You said his cruise control was set at 73 and he then passed a truck. Did he pass the truck while on CC or did he hit the gas to pass him? If so them he was likely doing more than 75. EDIT: Never mind noticed you said he passed while keeping his speed. However CC are not 100% accurate. Edited September 8, 2013 by Chef Jim
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 8, 2013 Posted September 8, 2013 What is the speed limit where he got the ticket? 65? Again, honestly, he was "the fish" that got caught. "Going w/the flow" is not an excuse to speed. Next time, either slow down to the speed limit so as not to get caught OR speed up and hope you aren't "the fish." But, if you do get a ticket don't do anything that the officer will remember in court... Lay low, take the ticket and contest. In court when you cross examine the officer, try and attack his memory by making it look like he can't remember stuff. If he can't remember basic stuff, then how the heck can he remember if you were speeding? DO NOT get argumentative... Ask only questions when you cross-examine what the state has against you. Ask how the radar works. Pose the question that he could have shot the radar @ the wrong car. Make sure you remember everything from memory, traffic flow: Light, moderate, heavy... Sound confident and decisive. You are the person getting the ONE ticket... The cop is handing out probably hundreds a month... They do not know you from Adam (unless you make a scene when they pull you over... That is why you lay low)... Again, build your cross examination on things that they can't possibly remember off the top of your head like what the color your car is and who you were with or without. Make the officer look like he can't remember... Traffic court is a money making sham anyway. If you play serious and expose the sham, they may throw the thing out. They are bullies and bullies like to go for easy targets that don't fight back. AGAIN, do NOT get argumentative... BUILD your defense. I got off a radar ticket w/the cop going the other way. I asked the officer how fast he was going. He gave a decisive answer, yet he remembered that but couldn't remember that my wife was a passenger in the car! I finally got him to incriminate himself... Confuse, confuse, confuse. @ first he said he got me going the opposite direction, then I rephrased QUESTIONS and he mentioned getting me from behind. I objected immediately to the judge on what he said a @ first, the judge then again asked me how busy the traffic was... I gave him a quick and decisive response... He immediately dismissed it! I high-tailed it out of there... The cop didn't know what hit him... Probably used to winning all the time! LoL
Chef Jim Posted September 8, 2013 Posted September 8, 2013 You'll very rarely get a ticket here in CA while going with the flow. I've passed cops on the freeway many times doing 75. 80-85 is the norm in the fast lane.
mrags Posted September 9, 2013 Posted September 9, 2013 All states are linked now as far as I know and his driving record will be effected.
Mike In Illinois Posted September 9, 2013 Posted September 9, 2013 and he mentioned getting me from behind. Whoah. Anything to get out of a ticket, I suppose!
Doc Posted September 9, 2013 Posted September 9, 2013 Does the trick of overpaying your fine by a few dollars and not cashing the refund check, which prevents them from putting the points on your record, still work?
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 9, 2013 Posted September 9, 2013 All states are linked now as far as I know and his driving record will be effected. No. California is not... @ least what they are saying. Jay Cutler's girlfriend/fiancee/whatever just got a ticket in Illinois... She has a Cali license... She had to post a 150 dollar bond. That is they took her to the police station, she followed/was escorted by the arresting officer. Seems she couldn't just sign the ticket and leave. From what the article said, CA is not part of the compact..
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 9, 2013 Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) Whoah. Anything to get out of a ticket, I suppose! Yikes! Dirty mind! LoL... In-motion radar that is! He claims he got me (w/radar you pervs) going the other way @ first... ;-) ;-) LoL... He didn't remember and was making crap up when he contradicted himself in court about reading the radar while following me! That is, I seen him turn around and go after me... BUT he had to wait for traffic to blow (wow, too many bad references! ;-) ) a u-turn... I made a left after that, he saw that. I was on the Illinois-Indiana border. Next time, I am running for the border and see if they will go into another state. If you fight the ticket, try to get the officer to cross himself. Trust me, it will look bad. Again, they write a ton of tickets and can't keep it all straight! The only thing that got me to fight were the court fees. All the officers that didn't show up, got their tickets tossed. My d*ckhead cop shows up. Those d*ckheads that did show up, I noticed the people pleading guilty got their fine reduced to 10 dollars BUT, the added court cost made the ticket double than the original fine! The ticket fine was originally 125 dollars or something. W/10 dollar fine and court costs, it was 200! I had to dig my heels in and either get it tossed or go down swinging! No way was I gonna lay down on the sword and plead guilty! @ least make 'em work for my money! Edited September 9, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois
ExiledInIllinois Posted September 10, 2013 Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) So you had to take the day off from work. You wasted gas money to drive to the court house. You probably got frisked at the door before sitting in court 2 hours to contest the ticket in front of the judge. The cop on the other hand... he already aggravated you by pulling you over, writing you a ticket, and then making you prepare for your day in court. Obvious this wasn't an important case to him or he would have asked for a continuous to prepare for trail. On top of that he probably got paid 4 hours of OT to sit around in court. Who 'won' this encounter again? That dog don't hunt... That is exactly what the system wants you to think. Who won? Me. Many places you can't get continuances... I mentioned to try an get one. Read the ticket, many places forbid it. But try if it doesn't state anything about them... Put the case so far outta of the cop's mind as possible and work it into your leisure time. No. Not at all. I am on shift work. I am almost always home from 9-5, M-F. I was off work anyway. Not getting scammed in a sham of a court (traffic court) for 200 bucks is important to me. 200 bucks is almost a whole day's wages for this working slob. I live 10 minutes away from the courthouse and I was in there all of an hour. I do agree, people gotta weigh the "price" of doing "business" in court. For me, that is very cheap (mentioned above)! I will always show up. We all have a right to face our accuser! And to quote Marv Levy: Look the "over-officious jerk" in the eye! Edited September 10, 2013 by ExiledInIllinois
Sig1Hunter Posted September 10, 2013 Posted September 10, 2013 That dog don't hunt... That is exactly what the system wants you to think. Who won? Me. Many places you can't get continuances... I mentioned to try an get one. Read the ticket, many places forbid it. But try if it doesn't state anything about them... Put the case so far outta of the cop's mind as possible and work it into your leisure time. No. Not at all. I am on shift work. I am almost always home from 9-5, M-F. I was off work anyway. Not getting scammed in a sham of a court (traffic court) for 200 bucks is important to me. 200 bucks is almost a whole day's wages for this working slob. I live 10 minutes away from the courthouse and I was in there all of an hour. I do agree, people gotta weigh the "price" of doing "business" in court. For me, that is very cheap (mentioned above)! I will always show up. We all have a right to face our accuser! And to quote Marv Levy: Look the "over-officious jerk" in the eye! Sounds to me like you got busted fair and square (and know it), but decided to MAKE a sham out of the court process with sleight of hand and irrelevant questions to try to confuse the witness and judge. Those tactics are usually reserved of low-life, sleaze-ball attorneys. So, congrats on "winning". I usually find that the tact of not speeding seems to keep me out of court, though.
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