I've a question for our police officers..

[Hyp]

Originally Posted by mulehead7

Are radar detectors illegal in Texas? Three tickets + higher insurance would have easily paid for one.

They are not illegal in TX. I've been using one since I got my license... I will tell you tho, after the officer sees the radar detector, he writes the ticket with no warning.

[Moorepheus]

I don't know, sounds like you have a heavy foot. Maybe it's time to put the Camaro away and drive a Cobalt. Yea, some of us older guys/girls were 23 once before, but don't you think you should have learned your leason after the 1st, let alone the 2nd, this now being your 3rd. My best advise for you is, "With great power comes great responsibility". Take it for what it is. Maybe you will learn from this last ticket you got, it doesn't pay to speed.

[JProberts]

Originally Posted by biojack

if you follow the speed limits, then it is irrelevant how polite and cooperative you are. Don't give them a reason to pull you over.

Yeah right, no one follows the speed limits, it's damn near impossible really.

[ELDuran]

Originally Posted by THE EVIL TW1N

Actually, when someone makes me laugh when Im citing, I generally thing, "Cool, this guy isn't being a jackass about getting a ticket. This should go pretty smoothly then.... sign here."

I said this to a Police officer once.... ( It's a real joke but I used it )

A police officer stopped me for speeding and asked politely, if he could see my licence and registration.
I replied in a huff, 'I wish you people would get your act together. Only yesterday you took away my licence and then today you expect me to show it to you?

I still got the ticket but at least he laughed. And he lowered my speed by 6 miles, from 91 to 85. (It was on a 70mph highway) So I can go to traffic school.

[elpatofeo]

...all I have to say is learn your lesson and don't speed anymore. Usually I stick to driving no more than 5-8 miles over the limit and I'm fine here but it also depends on the office like others have said here. I just got lucky about a week ago and I was already pissed off at myself (20 over the limit) cuz I was like 5 minutes away from home (coming back from SoCal) and I get pulled over...luckily he just said "nice car, drive safely"! I don't expect to get let go that easy all the time so I'm very carefull and watch my speed. good luck in court brotha'!

[myold88]

ZZZ28ZZZ and all the other officers responding to this thread I only have one question for you. If ahart04 was another officer would he have gotten any of those 3 tickets ?... I think not !!. Don't get me wrong, excessive speed is wrong. I have friends both retired and currently on the force but none of them (or their wives) have ever received a ticket-EVER !.
This is why speeding tickets are generally unfair in my opinion.

[Seminole]

Are low speed limits inherently safe?

70-0 stopping distance is 158 feet
60-0 stopping distance is 109 feet.
30-0 stopping distance is 27 feet.

I couldn't help it. I don't believe people drive more safely at lower speeds than they do on the highway.

Physics and reality clash with your opinion, Believe it, or not! ®

[sen10l]

Originally Posted by myold88

ZZZ28ZZZ and all the other officers responding to this thread I only have one question for you. If ahart04 was another officer would he have gotten any of those 3 tickets ?... I think not !!. Don't get me wrong, excessive speed is wrong. I have friends both retired and currently on the force but none of them (or their wives) have ever received a ticket-EVER !.
This is why speeding tickets are generally unfair in my opinion.

and their wives??

How on earth will the traffic officer know that the wife is related to a police officer? Does the wife say "my husband is a police officer can you let me off?"

[Diabel1969]

bottom line, slow down! Your in a car that gets noticed, you've got 2 under your belt already, now a third.. and your just going to fast! If you had been going maybe 45 in a 40, or even 48 in a 40, they may just let you go by, or give you a warning, but 12 over is writeable, and they will most likely write you as soon as they run your plate and your license and see you've been here twice, now three times already.. Time to walk the line..

[Mark25]

I have often felt that there should be different levels of driver's licenses...that is, licenses for those who "prove" via driving tests and driver education, etc., that they can handle cars at higher speeds than others who can't even walk straight. I mean, you wouldn't give an F-18 to a person qualified only to fly a Piper Cup, right? But if you've attended one of the more expensive driving schools and passed their driving test with flying colors, then you should be able to drive faster than the numnuts who went to A-1 Driving school where all you had to do was pay the fee and they hand you your certificate. It would also mean that you would have to be re-tested (on the road) every few years to ensure that you can still meet the high standards.
So, when that cop pulls you over, you can whip out your "Platinum Driver License" and he will say..."Thank you, please be on your way, no ticket merited here."
AFTER ALL, DRIVING SHOULD BE A PRIVILEGE AND NOT A RIGHT.

[ud_lose]

"Only drive as fast as you can afford." Here we have cops that their only job is traffic, and they do not give breaks. Precinct cars are more likely to give you a break, because we don't get road as hard to write tickets (too much other nonsense to deal with). In other words just slow down, that traffic cop will write you every time. Some of our traffic guys would write their own mother.

[Madcat0911]

Originally Posted by myold88

ZZZ28ZZZ and all the other officers responding to this thread I only have one question for you. If ahart04 was another officer would he have gotten any of those 3 tickets ?... I think not !!. Don't get me wrong, excessive speed is wrong. I have friends both retired and currently on the force but none of them (or their wives) have ever received a ticket-EVER !.
This is why speeding tickets are generally unfair in my opinion.

Think of that as an employee discount then. Otherwise, buying pizza is unfair, the guys who work there get lunches for free and 20% off the rest of the time.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Seminole

70-0 stopping distance is 158 feet
60-0 stopping distance is 109 feet.
30-0 stopping distance is 27 feet.



Physics and reality clash with your opinion, Believe it, or not! ®

This information is incomplete. You're forgetting about the consideration of reaction time and whether the car behind you or in front of you has stopping power on par with your own. You're forgetting that people driving slower cause lines of traffic which lead to erratic driving behavior. People have more accidents at intersections than on the highway, but highways are far faster than people turning left at a green arrow. Once again, speed is not the only or even primary factor in accidents. Stopping power doesn't necessarily prevent accidents. You might be able to stop before me by going 10 mph slower, but I'm going to be driving safely behind you or in another lane to compensate for the difference.

Safe, not necessarily defensive, driving stops accidents. Speed limits merely take the focus of driving away from the road and place that focus on the needle under the window.

On another note, speed limits, by their very name, reflect an absolute maximum that should be driven on any road. Why is it then that the vast majority of drivers drive the absolute limit or higher all of the time? Is it possible that the limit is too low that everyone feels safe at the same velocity? And from what are we safe? We don't go out on the roads worrying about collisions most of the time. Our main concern is getting pulled over.

Think of the benefits of increasing speed limits. Less traffic means less accidents. Less time traveling on the highway means less sleepy drivers on long commutes. I could go on, but this rant must continue instead.

I'm not sorry to say that speed limits contribute very little to safety and very much to inconvenience and citizen fear. It merely forces Americans to fear the police who are around to protect, yet their primary role on the highway is to punish. Perhaps punishment should be reserved for those significantly exceeding traffic rather than picking 1 out of every 15 cars that speed by the radar station. If the majority of Americans drive over the speed limit, that's a pretty democratic indicator that the speed limit should be raised. Instead, the majority of Americans are the bad guys. Logic isn't backing the obvious. It's a democratic system, yet the speed limits reflect the seeds of an authoritarian police state.

In a country where the plurality rules, does it really make sense that such a large number of drivers break the rules regularly have no say in the rules they are breaking?

[irocnroll]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

This information is incomplete. You're forgetting about the consideration of reaction time and whether the car behind you or in front of you has stopping power on par with your own. You're forgetting that people driving slower cause lines of traffic which lead to erratic driving behavior. People have more accidents at intersections than on the highway, but highways are far faster than people turning left at a green arrow. Once again, speed is not the only or even primary factor in accidents. Stopping power doesn't necessarily prevent accidents. You might be able to stop before me by going 10 mph slower, but I'm going to be driving safely behind you or in another lane to compensate for the difference.

Safe, not necessarily defensive, driving stops accidents. Speed limits merely take the focus of driving away from the road and place that focus on the needle under the window.

On another note, speed limits, by their very name, reflect an absolute maximum that should be driven on any road. Why is it then that the vast majority of drivers drive the absolute limit or higher all of the time? Is it possible that the limit is too low that everyone feels safe at the same velocity? And from what are we safe? We don't go out on the roads worrying about collisions most of the time. Our main concern is getting pulled over.

Think of the benefits of increasing speed limits. Less traffic means less accidents. Less time traveling on the highway means less sleepy drivers on long commutes. I could go on, but this rant must continue instead.

I'm not sorry to say that speed limits contribute very little to safety and very much to inconvenience and citizen fear. It merely forces Americans to fear the police who are around to protect, yet their primary role on the highway is to punish. Perhaps punishment should be reserved for those significantly exceeding traffic rather than picking 1 out of every 15 cars that speed by the radar station. If the majority of Americans drive over the speed limit, that's a pretty democratic indicator that the speed limit should be raised. Instead, the majority of Americans are the bad guys. Logic isn't backing the obvious. It's a democratic system, yet the speed limits reflect the seeds of an authoritarian police state.

In a country where the plurality rules, does it really make sense that such a large number of drivers break the rules regularly have no say in the rules they are breaking?

You have more of a time to react at slower speeds than you do at higher speeds. And less of a chance to get injured during an accident at a slower speed.