Calling All C5 Police Officers

[Dalefj]

If you pull somebody over for something other than speeding are you more likely to give them a ticket if they have a radar detector?
Also if the car that you pull over is modified does that make you more inclined to give the person a ticket?

Just got a ticket for going straight in a right only lane because I thought I could go straight in that lane but by the time I found out that I couldn't I was about 100 yards in front of the end of the very very long line for the only other lane. The street was two lanes on the other side of the intersection so I figured that I could squeeze in as opposed to going right and coming back around (which would take a long time due to medians in the road). The guy next to me turns left on green and I go straight and Pull into the gas station. As i fill up my car a cop pulls in behind me, and well you know the rest.

Im trying to understand things from the Officers perspective so that I can decide if I should take it to court. Thanks guys!

[Mindz]

So you're saying that you knew you were in a turn only lane with 100 meters to go to the intersection. You decided to cut over the solid line as the person in the correct lane turned, and got a ticket for it?

I just want to make sure I understood the story correctly.

[brandotron]

Originally Posted by Dalefj

If you pull somebody over for something other than speeding are you more likely to give them a ticket if they have a radar detector?
Also if the car that you pull over is modified does that make you more inclined to give the person a ticket?

Just got a ticket for going straight in a right only lane because I thought I could go straight in that lane but by the time I found out that I couldn't I was about 100 yards in front of the end of the very very long line for the only other lane. The street was two lanes on the other side of the intersection so I figured that I could squeeze in as opposed to going right and coming back around (which would take a long time due to medians in the road). The guy next to me turns left on green and I go straight and Pull into the gas station. As i fill up my car a cop pulls in behind me, and well you know the rest.

Im trying to understand things from the Officers perspective so that I can decide if I should take it to court. Thanks guys!

I don't think you'd stand a chance in court. If I understand correctly, you were in the right turn only lane, but you hauled ass to get in front of the car in the left lane so you wouldn't have to turn.

Any way you slice it, you could have turned right and would have avoided breaking the law. With a speeding ticket, there's some wiggle room as far as "going the same speed as traffic" and such, but if you went straight in a lane that was clearly marked "right turn only", then I think you're SOL.

[zirotti]

While I strongly doubt you will get out of this ticket but it is clear violation (you never know though. If you have a clean record, the judge may waive the ticket and require you you to pay for a traffic safety class instead) but I do think that police offers are biased to the person and type of vehicle they pull over.

[Dalefj]

Originally Posted by Mindz

So you're saying that you knew you were in a turn only lane with 100 meters to go to the intersection. You decided to cut over the solid line as the person in the correct lane turned, and got a ticket for it?

I just want to make sure I understood the story correctly.

No I realized that I was in a turn only lane but i could go straight out of that lane and end up in a lane on the other side of the intersection because the other side was two lanes wide and so was our side. I didnt have to haul ass or cut anyone off to go straight.

[20Camaro11]

I am not a cop, but from his perspective, I bet he saw a clear and obvious traffic violation and did his job.

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by 20Camaro11

I am not a cop, but from his perspective, I bet he saw a clear and obvious traffic violation and did his job.

+2 it would have had nothing to do with having a radar detector or any mods.....you screwed up, plain and simple. as Tony always said " YOU DO THE CRIME, YOU DO THE TIME".

[TRC-SS]

Heres my 2cents on radar detectors.....IN MY OPINON...(no haters)..Radar detectors are used for one reason and one reason only....to detect police running radar because you speed!!!.....people who obey traffic laws dont have radar detectors.....so me being a police officer since i was 19....if you have a radar detector and you have been pulled over for speeding....its an instant citation.... However...radar detectors dont change my judgement on anything other than speeding. I dont like them,.... i caught a group of kids breaking into cars last year and there method of telling if police were around were by using radar detector and scanners...well didnt work so good for them since mine is always on standby mode until i find my pray

But 90% of the time the drivers attitude depics if you will be getting a warning or a citation..the other ten is the violation and your drivers history (Again no haters...he asked for my opionion and i gave it)

[zirotti]

TRC, you sound like a great police officer! Can only hope there are others like you where I live

[Reaper1a]

I mostly agree with TRC....except on the radar detectors - they don't affect whether or not I write someone up (nor do mod's or type of car). I'm pretty lenient on speed, it's more of the circumstance. If the "flow of traffic" is a little faster than posted, ok...if it's 0400 and NO other cars around and you end up going a little fast, ok...it's pretty much about safety for me (anything over 10 above the posted limit is NOT safe btw ). If however you're driving is unsafe, I'll light you up. And as TRC said, demeanor goes a long way. Don't argue, dont get pissy, and don't blame me for your actions...if you do, you just made your own day worse off than it had to be. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but most people don't understand the nature of this job (hence all the blanket cop hating that is so prevalant). Just because I caught you, doesn't make me the bad guy (as I said, be nice or even a little humble about it, and you'll probably only get 2 minutes taken out of your day instead of a citation)
As for the OP, kinda sounds to me like even though you're saying it was an honest mistake, there were probably other/better options to deal with being in the wrong lane (no offense). You're probably not going to get very far in court.

[2ndgenz28]

"radar detector"

I always pull mine off the dash, if there is a moment where I can safly make the move before stopped, or once stopped and the spot light is on me, I can tug on the power cable n pull it off the velcro without looking like Im moving around to much and kick it under the seat.

I run radar cause they never shut them off around here.
They run with it on full shift and I can pick them up a mile away.
More of a proximity detector then radar

[CamaroSkooter]

There are multiple places near where I live that have a devoted left-turn lane, straight-through lane, and the right lane as a right turn only even though the other side of the intersection has two lanes. If everyone is obeying the posted signs, the straight-through lane ends up really backed up whenever the light turns red. Then you get a bunch of people that fly down the right lane and either try to cut into the "middle" lane to go through the intersection "legally" or they just blast through the intersection staying in the right lane.

I consider both instances extremely dangerous and there should be no leniency when it comes to being ticketed in these situations.

What it boils down to is impatience. You realized the right lane was a turn-only lane, but you disregarded it instead of doing the right thing by going ahead and turning right and finding a safe place to make a U-turn. I'm not sure why they set up intersections that way, but always assume that they're set up in that manner for a reason typically associated with safety. I see this happen too often and it annoys me that 95% of the time the offenders get away with it because there simply aren't enough officers out there to enforce stuff like this.

Pay the ticket, take defensive driving or get deferred disposition (probation), and move on. You're never going to win in court on this one.

[usmc8411]

LOL at police calling citizens "prey". Anyways you have a right to run a radar detector. Since its legal, police shouldnt be able to discriminate against it and write more tickets to people running them then people not. I know there is no way to prove this, but hey, it is what it is.

Oh and to quote myself.

Originally Posted by usmc8411

If the speed limit on a certain highway is 65 mph and the police write xx amount of 75 in a 65...why dont they look at raising the speed limt instead of constanly phucking people over on bullship.

Look at it like this...most cops wont pull you over until you do about 10 over.

So if your in a residential area with a speed limt of 25 mph and you get tagged for 35 (which is not the place to be speeding I might add) you were ticketed for going 10 over...so in court you pay $75...but if you look at it another way you were essentially going 28% over the speed limt.Which is about $2.60 per percentage over the speed limit.

Now guy B is in a 65 mph zone doing 75 and gets pulled over and written for 10 over...goes to court and pays $75...but in reality he was only going 13% over the speed limit. Which comes out to $5.70 per percentage over the speed limt.

How is that fair when its far more dangerous to speed in residential areas?

Point being, its not about safety, never has been, never will be. Its about revenue and overtime. Obviously if someone is doing a buck forty on the highway it would be a safety concern, but 10-15 over in a 65 or 75...please.

These limits were made when cars were big hunks of shit that couldnt accelerate, turn or stop....with sharp metal pointing at your face all over the inside of your car.

If its safe for a 9,000,000 pound tractor trailer to do 55 then its safe for cars to do 75. How many highways have you been on where the speed limit is 65 then on the same stretch of road drops to 55...and you see cops there like white on rice...then it goes back up to 65 and there are no cops around? Is there some mystery to that? Nope, they know they can nab more people where the speed limit drops so thats where they hang out. They call it being "proactive". LOL.

[Dr Jkel]

Just remember this valid point.

I recently got a ticket for 25 over, I was doing 50 in a 25 according to the officer. They changed the speed limit that day, it had been 45 for 20 years. Why did they change it, I have no clue.

I am a Federal Law Enforcement Officer and was in my Uniform. The Alabama State Trooper wrote me a ticket anyway because he said I should know better, TRUE.

I went to court and asked for traffic school which I was granted. When I went to traffic school the instructor was very nice and offered a little piece of advice that I thought was really good.

Here's what he said.

Most municipalities monies are generated by tax revenue. With the economy the way it is there is less revenue because people are spending less and they have to make up that money some way, and tickets are a great way. Used to be that less than 10 was ok, not anymore. Around here they allow no more than 4 over.

They have even dropped the speed limit on some Interstates to 55, and yes the sped traps are there everyday, they are pulling people over 5 at a time.

They are more aware of moving violation, illegal lane change etc....

Now here is the kicker to this, last week State Troopers pulled over a Semi for making an illegal lane change, no turn signal, once they pulled him over something seemed funny and they searched his truck. 5 million dollars and 6 kilos of cocaine later he was arrested. All because of an illegal lane change.