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Cruiser
Posts: 261
Sugar Land, TX (Outside of Houston) | For those of you saying you got tickets for like 72 in a 65, 62 in a 55, etc..., that is a cop who needs his quota (and yes, there are unspoken quotas on tickets everywhere even though they say there is not) but also cutting you a break. Police Officers are expected to "Produce" on the job and writing tickets, doing reports and making citizen contacts are usually the way they are evaluated.
When you get written for 10 miles an hour or larger, the fines start to increase exponentially and most states will not let you take Defensive Driving in lieu of the ticket for that much over the limit. So that is why they usually write it for less than 10 miles over.
In most places, they will not even bother you for undfer 10 miles per hour. So that means you probably were going well over 10 miles an hour past the limit and they were cutting you a break.
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Cruiser
Posts: 79
Austin, Texas | Texas is full of 'em. Two miles this side of Del Rio, I was driving 65 with three others in the truck, a catholic missionary and two other church leaders. I saw a Tx state trooper coming down a hill in the distance in this 70 mph zone. I saw him behind another truck because he flashed his light bar at two cars going uphill past him.
For whatever reason, I pointed out to my passengers my speed and commented that it'd be typical if he stopped me. Sure enough, he whirled around in the ditch behind me after he passed me, spraying gravel and hauling butt to catch up with my truck. After he pulled me over, he strutted up in front of the truck, looked it over (very dangerous maneuver for a cop to do) and then told me to get out of the truck. He put me at a low spot in the ditch and stood on a rock over me, quizzing me on "how fast were you going" and my "what did you clock me at" and his your going to tell me how fast you were going" and my "and your going to tell me what your radar shows" and on and on in a circular discussion.
He never showed me the radar speed. He wrote me a ticket for 77 in a 70 with specific instructions to either mail or show in person, but don't call because this JP did not accept phone calls. Further, the ticket had an address but no phone for the court and the JP.
What a racket. I live in Austin so taking a day off work to go back and fight it was impossible.
I would add that i've gotten out of many more that I really deserved so I guess it's a karma thing.
Edited by dtoddrship 2008-11-20 5:56 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 2118
Pitt Meadows, BC Canada | WOW - I found some WILD cop stories! I have been following varyder's thread "Tale of the Dragon" with great interest.
I did some searching on 'the Dragon' and found this website: www.tailofthedragon.com
There are police stories and videos on there that should be manditory viewing/reading for all riders. Check it out.
Maybe VA cops aren't the worse ones - seems TN LEO's are. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 742
North Orange County CA | About 15 years ago Tennessee's DMV decided to start putting social security numbers on drivers licenses. I doubt that they still do in light of modern identity theft issues; but I learned a couple of interesting things as a result of a speeding violation I received just south of the Kentucky border.
Factoid 1) The first 3 digits of your social indicate the office that issued the card.
Factoid 2) No matter how long you live somewhere - you will never truly be "from around here".
Factoid 3) There really are folks who are still fighting (their version of) the civil war.
I was pulled over on I-65 headed north about 2 AM in the family minivan. Our van had TN plates, there was nobody else on the very straight road, we had good driving conditions. The wife and kids were asleep in the back. I was moving about 90, so admittedly I probably needed to be pulled over.
The state trooper was initially very nice (I am always respectful to LEOs) and told me he was going to issue me a warning for which I was suitably grateful; UNTIL he noticed that I had what he called "a Yankee social security number".
Instead of the promised warning I received a wreckless driving violation; because even after 20 years as a Tennessee resident I was still a "Yankee" in the mind of the officer who stopped me.
I can honestly say that his experience was atypical; most of my encounters with Tennessee law enforcement professionals have been positive no matter how many wheels I had under me. But there are always exceptions.
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | I have noticed that the cops that have been in the service and have seen real combat are more understanding of a situation. I lived in a town for three years, got pulled over seven times, because I rode "chopper" and had long hair. Moved eight blocks west, to a diffrent town and have had no problems in the last ten years. I have learned that you cant lump people into one catagory. What they do is just their job. Who they are is another story. Some will do their job without thinking. Some dont have to think, they already know. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 273
| cjnoho - 2008-11-23 2:15 AM
I have noticed that the cops that have been in the service and have seen real combat are more understanding of a situation. I lived in a town for three years, got pulled over seven times, because I rode "chopper" and had long hair. Moved eight blocks west, to a diffrent town and have had no problems in the last ten years. I have learned that you cant lump people into one catagory. What they do is just their job. Who they are is another story. Some will do their job without thinking. Some dont have to think, they already know.
The guy who's been around is usually the smartest about how to handle things. More lenient, more forgiving, more understanding.
These new guys, especially those in Indiana, Ohio, and Virgina (all their cops are pricks  ) are real jerks. Or so it seems. |
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Tourer
Posts: 367
Cottage Grove, Mn | Never got a ticket I didn't deserve and didn't get some I did deserve, and over the years I have deserved plenty. I have always treated LEO's with respect and always got treated the same.
Ride Safe
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | Smitty - 2008-11-23 10:33 AM
These new guys, especially those in Indiana, Ohio, and Virgina (all their cops are pricks ) are real jerks. Or so it seems.
All the policeman are pricks in Indiana, Ohio, Virgina and the new policeman are jerks! OR so it seems. WOW that's putting some judgement on a lot of folks. Smitty, what are you telling us, you're under marshall law up there? I used to live in the midwest, lot's of nice folks and I did not think the police departments were any issue. Pricks and Jerks.........hmmmmm!  |
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Tourer
Posts: 423
northwest florida | good cops and bad cops, everwhere you look that is the rule. one or two bad cops make the rest of the cops look bad. Like the old saying goes: " the bad is always remmbered, the good is soon forgotten." |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 30
| I was driving through Austria with my wife and son back in 2000. We topped the crest in a hill only to find to guys standing in the road pointing a cars and directing them to the shoulder. While these guys were dressed in the yellow shirt and green trousers of the Austrian polizi, their neck ties were FUBAR and they had on white Rebocks. They looked like Barney Fife with at hangover....We were suspect that they were not cops, but didnt want to argue with a guy holding a big stick. When the officer spoke to me he said "you go to fast" For those of you who have lived in Germany, you know the Polizi expect you to pay the fine on the spot. When I asked for the fine he said 140...I replied that I have no Shillings, only DMarks...he said Marks are fine...140 Shillings was about $20.00 and 140DMs about $90.00...got screwed, but try laugh about it now |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 742
North Orange County CA | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm
Check out this article from the BBC in 2002 about the costliest speeding ticket in history.
I'm sure many of you will remember seeing this before, as it was in both the motorcycle and mainstream press.
Traffic fines in Finland are based on income, the more you make the more you pay. The head of Nokia got popped on his Harley doing 75kph in a 50kph zone.
The fine 116 thousand euros.
It ought to be noted that if we had the same system here; a guy making minimum wage would still pay close to $928 for doing 50 mph in a 30 mph zone.
I'd say were all getting off lucky.
Edited by Tarpits99 2008-11-24 5:45 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 273
| VisionTex - 2008-11-23 10:14 PM
Smitty - 2008-11-23 10:33 AM
These new guys, especially those in Indiana, Ohio, and Virgina (all their cops are pricks ) are real jerks. Or so it seems.
All the policeman are pricks in Indiana, Ohio, Virgina and the new policeman are jerks! OR so it seems. WOW that's putting some judgement on a lot of folks. Smitty, what are you telling us, you're under marshall law up there? I used to live in the midwest, lot's of nice folks and I did not think the police departments were any issue. Pricks and Jerks.........hmmmmm!
a new ISP Super who hired 295 new type A personality coppers. Not many are worth half what they make.
I've seen two drive past stranded motorists, one a woman, only to have a car pulled over two miles down the road.
Pricks. But you are right, most folks in the Midwest are pretty nice folks. Until they become cops. |
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Tale of the Nasty Cops
