Not for speeding. If they see you later, they're SOL.

Evading has to be done before the cop is coming up your *** with lights on. If he's coming towards you, you watch for brake lights as he passes - if you see them, you get lost. If you pass him as he's sitting on the side of the road, if you see his wheels moving, you get lost, quick. If there are no exits or turns close by ... you pull over. You have to know when to go and when to not go. If all you're going to do is haul *** down the road ... you'll end up on World's Dumbest Police Chases.

... and once you're out of sight, you stop somewhere and get out of the car ... gas station, pool hall, bar, McDonald's ... wherever.

Once, I got into the gas station, got a cup of coffee, and walked back out as the cop was rolling in. I sat on the curb and lit a smoke. He came and sat beside me and lit a smoke. He asked if I was trying to get away from him. I said yes. We sat and talked about the car for a bit, then he left.

 

Hope the judge goes easy on you. Guess Im lucky not having a ticket in so many years my records clean. As far as I know Ive only been clocked heavy speeding once which was 157 in a 55 but I was taking my grandfather to the hospital the day before he died. I had my flashers on and the police in front of the local farmers market turned their lights on and then off and never moved. A deputy was at the emergency room doors when I arrived but was a friend the family and just asked me if I just came from the other town and I said yes and she never said anything else about it.

As for the outrunning radios, cant see it working to well in a car. But in Atlanta Georgia its a passtime for the motorcycles. Id of never believed it if I hadnt seen it for myself. Those bikes just race thru traffic with immunity on the interstate there. Nothing can touch them it seems. The police cant get thru the traffic to get anywhere near them. Its wild.

Again hope it all goes well on your ticket.

 

My last ticket cost me $3000. $1500 to the lawer and $1500 to the cort and it was 105 in a 75 on I20 leaving ATL

 

Yikes! It's a wonder he didn't write you a ticket just because he was pissed off for having to drive a Taurus!

Seriously, as a cop, you're advice is spot-on. Even "passive" eluding can be dangerous. I've witnessed the consequences first hand.

I remember when (a couple of hundred years ago) the standard protocol was to get out of your car when pulled over. Not any more. Stay seated, hands visible and DON'T go reaching for things until told to do so! At night, turn on your interior lights. If you are a rear seat passenger, be aware you may be asked to assist by passing the driver's DL and paperwork to the officer.

There are differing opinions on rolling down the window. Personally, if the car has tinted side windows, I like them down when I approach. But believe it or not, windows do provide a little protection should someone want to take a shot at you.

Also, remember that many agencies/officers prefer a "passenger side" approach. It's safer for several reasons.

One of my favorite stories was about an older woman who had been stopped for speeding. The officer explained, "Ma'am, the reason I stopped you was you we're going 80 miles per hour." To which the woman replied, "80 miles an hour? But officer, I haven't even been driving an HOUR!"

 

(Was she at any time, a blond?)

 

Seeing this story, I just had to share one. I was radaring on our 3rd busiess street that runs thru a neighborhood. I was stationary, and this guy flies by me, 55 in a 30. I start to go after him, but traffic is heavy, so I have a few cars in between us, and no safe way to pass. There is no shoulder, so I wouldn't use the lights/siren. I watch this guy dodge off a side street, and into a garage, down goes the door. I pull up out front, go to the front door, ring the door bell, the kids answer the door. "Is your Dad at home?" Yes, he just got home...lol.
Yes, he did get a citation, and a warning for his behavior.....especially since he was my neighbor...not a close neighbor, but a neighbor.

 

Doc, this is probably a bad thing to ask, but i can't HELP but ask....If you got a guy on radar doing...lets say.....95 in a 70, or something along those lines, but he was driving a crossfire, would you give him a ticket?

 

Next he'll be wanting to know your shift and highway - area of patrol..

 

You know there is a lawyer on here that really hates to hear my answers. But, I will share this with you. I am a car guy, always have been. I also have been in the trucking business, which is my bread and butter for retirement. So, as long as you are honest with me, chances are you are getting a warning. I have stopped some really nice cars in my day, just to check them out, with probable cause of course....lol... Not many have ever minded the stop and release....so to speak. Speeding is an enforcement problem on certain areas. High congested areas where say 20 mph is the limit, you try to keep them below 30, more heavily traveled, less population that are 45 mph, you are keeping them below 55 for the most part. Now throw in intersections, blind curves, narrow roads, areas that bottleneck....enforcement changes. High accident areas, enforcement changes....etc... It's just a job to keep people safe. I never did much on interstates in my day...since we aren't near one...I did a lot more butt chewing, than writing...but never lost in 30 years in traffic enforcement...

 

I remember years ago receiving a ticket I honestly thought was completely unfair. I made my mind up to try to fight it myself, since I had more time than money back then.

I paid $20 or so for an ex-police officer's online guide to beating a speeding ticket in court. I think I still have a copy of the thing saved on one of my computers in a folder someplace. Heck, if I can find the thing, I'd be happy to share it with anyone who might want to take a look at it.

Basically, he had documents for each of the 50 states with previous cases where tickets were successfully argued, and another document with a lot of general tips and instructions on how to use the case law in your favor.

In the end, I wound up finding a really inexpensive lawyer who got my ticket reduced to excessive noise or something like that, so I "chickened out" and went that easier route. But the information was interesting reading, regardless. He seemed to concentrate the most on tickets received from radar, and emphasized that a ticket doesn't just accuse you of "speeding" in a general sense. It makes a very specific claim that you were going at an exact speed. That means it's a requirement that they prove the radar gun was truly functioning properly and calibrated accurately at the time/date you were clocked. Otherwise, there is some reasonable doubt that can be cast on whether the claim you were exceeding the speed limit by the amount written on that ticket is an accurate charge.

Most of the people who successfully fought a ticket with this strategy seemed to succeed for the following reasons:

1. They arrived in the court room with lots of case-law already printed up and sorted neatly in a folder of some sort, and even raised their hand before court started, asking the judge if they could approach the bench to give him/her copies of the relevant cases, with the most important parts highlighted.
2. They didn't let the prosecutor trick them into admitting guilt in some way, but rather, kept them on the defensive by demanding proof that the radar gun used was properly calibrated, AND any tuning forks used in its calibration were also verified to be in good condition, according to standard procedures for maintaining the equipment.

I think what really winds up working in someone's favor in this situation is the fact that a judge is impressed a person made this much effort, when 99% of people won't. Plus, there's usually a certain level of respect for someone willing to represent themselves in the courtroom these days, vs. hiring a lawyer.

 

No matter what kind of defense one might try in court, around here, the judge will always ask you flat out if you were speeding. He/She will ask you what the speed limit was and how fast you were going. If you say you were doing 26 in a 25 and you can prove the RADAR was wrong in saying you were doing 27, and the cop was drunk and there was a UFO ... the judge will say "But 26 in a 25 is speeding. Guilty! Next!!"

 

Yeah, and that's a big problem in a lot of traffic courts these days. They don't have any real intentions of doing what's "just". They exist solely for the purpose of collection of revenue.

We have a municipality around here called "Rock Hill", where one of the cops (known for always riding a motorcycle) once proudly accepted a Guinness Book of World Records record for handing out the most speeding tickets. I was in their traffic courtroom several times with friends of mine, and the whole thing was pretty much a circus. One woman got so upset with the way she was railroaded through, she started walking down the aisle from the bench, clucking like a chicken and waving her arms, and calling the judge names. The whole courtroom broke out in laughter and the judge wasn't even phased by any of it. He just called up the next victim as soon as it got quiet enough to hear him speak again.

Many of their citations were for only going 2 or 3MPH over the speed limit. In any reasonable court, they would have easily been tossed out by arguing speedometers are often not even accurate to that level -- but not in Rock Hill.

Since then, Rock Hill actually went bankrupt and had NO police force for a little while. They had to sell their city hall building to real-estate developers to make enough money to try to put themselves back together again. The area actually looks better than ever today.... and I honestly don't know how their traffic courts are run, currently. But they still have pretty heavy enforcement out on their main road running through the town.

 

There are a number of new radar detectors out there that work well on all speed detection devices, but interlink with your smart phone (with GPS) to tell you where the speed traps are. How? When you get zapped, you simply hit a button on your phone screen that locates the position and feeds it back to some databank somewhere where your other speeder buddies have sent in their alerts of the area . It is amazing how well this works.
Mine is a Cobra unit and it" Blue Tooth's" with my Android phone. I bought it online for Less than $100 and the android APP is free.
Eddie
2005 SRT-6 Roadster

 

When I moved from MN to Texas, I thought things would get easier, you know, smaller govt, less intrusion.
I was dead wrong. It's much much worse.
For example, If you speed between Houston and SA on I10, you WILL get pulled over. Last week, this car passed me and there was a cop over on a service road driving the other direction. He crossed over the grass, passed me, and pulled the guy over right in front of me. And they hide everywhere. Sometimes you don't see them until they're right beside you. Not only that, but they seem to drive anything. Car's, PU's, SUV's, even Camaro's.

That "Don't mess with Texas" thing is real.

 

Wow, I'll bet it's way more than $400. I got pulled (in our minivan no less) a couple months back in VA. I was doing 71 in a 55............ an it was in the mountains going down hill........and the guy still pulled me and gave me a ticket. Several hundred including the base ticket fee and the extra for miles per hour over 10. Also, worst of all, 2 points. It sucks, but what are you going. Good luck. A lawyer may be in order.

 

I've allegedly been to 150+ in my Audi A6 2.7T and my SRT6. A few years ago here in SW Michigan a pair of brothers were racing their Porsches on I131 and were busted at 130. Since they each had a kid in the car, the papers had a field day due to child endangerment. Then there was the kid on a superbike who was clocked on radar at 160 as he easily pulled away from the staties. They caught up to him the next day at work. Yep, bikes are incredibly fast, but guess what happens when you hit that woodchuck or, as a friend of mine discovered on his Harley two weeks ago at 55, a deer.

I had enough trouble with the great (@sshole) state of TX over a 74 in a 70. After jerking them around for four months, I settled for a $100 fine. Still waiting for the points to show up. I'm just glad the cop wasn't around as I was following my bear bait into Houston at 95 (again the A6).

 

Here's my take... The defense of proof the radar was calibrated and up to date, tuning forks used at the proper times, use of sound for tracking, etc, etc, is actually true. Problem is, we all train for that and are ready to testify to that today. We learn too....lol
I actually have the new Cobra that blue tooths to my Iphone. Nice gimmick, it seems to work, but it is more of a electronic social network. It might save you it might not...especially with 'instand on"...
I would be first to admit, there are jurisdictions that use citations for revenue. Thank goodness, none around here. But they do exist. I can think of one in Illinios before you get to St. Louis on I-70. I met one of those guys at a McDonalds...lol
One of you guys hit the nail on the head with judges. Our judges will ask at the beginning of court, if you think you are pleading not guilty to speed because you think the officer was wrong, be ready to prove it. Because if you think you were doing 35 in a 30 but the officer wrote it for more, it doesn't matter, because you were still speeding...speeding is speeding...

 

I got hit with an 86 in a 70mph zone. Some guys in a Nissan werer playing games with me and everytime I went to pass, they sped up' I backed off and then the same thing over again. The fourth time I said the hell with it and ripped on by them. Unfortuneatly a B&W State cruiser just came down the on ramp on the opposite side and I could see his eyballs flashing along with the lights. I could have lost him while he found a place to crossover but who knows what's down the road. I eased back to cc 72MPH AND SOON HE CAME UP AND PULLED ME OVER. What irritated me the most was his attitude, here's an old man in a hot car blah, blah, blah. Just stated what he was going to cite me for and no explaining. I bit my tongue and ate the ticket, but found out in Texas on the first ticket with a good driving record you could go to remedial driving course for $30 and 8 hours, take it to the justice or whatever , pay your fine and NO POINTS WERE ASSESSED. I understand this is a one slam a year so even tho you pay the fine, the insurance co isn't gonna hear about it. The town BEEP was talking about is about 20-30 miles east of SA on I 10. You can count at least half a dozen to a dozen cars from all agencies in about a 5 mile stretch. Aint worth it!!!!
John P
FTroopChief

 

I would told his @ss you were too old to get a citation... What was wrong with that guy? You old speed demon.... I hope I'm still around speeding at your age....

 

I got hit with an 86 in a 70mph zone. Some guys in a Nissan werer playing games with me and everytime I went to pass, they sped up' I backed off and then the same thing over again. The fourth time I said the hell with it and ripped on by them. Unfortuneatly a B&W State cruiser just came down the on ramp on the opposite side and I could see his eyballs flashing along with the lights. I could have lost him while he found a place to crossover but who knows what's down the road. I eased back to cc 72MPH AND SOON HE CAME UP AND PULLED ME OVER. What irritated me the most was his attitude, here's an old man in a hot car blah, blah, blah. Just stated what he was going to cite me for and no explaining. I bit my tongue and ate the ticket, but found out in Texas on the first ticket with a good driving record you could go to remedial driving course for $30 and 8 hours, take it to the justice or whatever , pay your fine and NO POINTS WERE ASSESSED. I understand this is a one slam a year so even tho you pay the fine, the insurance co isn't gonna hear about it. The town BEEP was talking about is about 20-30 miles east of SA on I 10. You can count at least half a dozen to a dozen cars from all agencies in about a 5 mile stretch. Aint worth it!!!!
John P
FTroopChief