Got caught! Passing Black Mustang @ 93Mph

While I'm sure that the ticket is a cool trophy to show off and prove that the Prius is not a slow mover, I still must tell you...You are driving a Prius. IMHO, the car just speaks of "chill, do the speed limit". It's 110HP for goodness sakes!

I used to be a speeder with a hot car (Subaru WRX modded/chipped 280HP), and now I'm paying for it. When I picked up the Prius, it was a blessing...for the next few years, I'm just cruising the tickets/points off my record and being as careful as possible.

I racked up over 12 points on my record, my insurance is skyhigh, and I've had to pay a drivers responsibility assessment for the last 3 years at $300 annually. Local governments, highway patrols and police forces LOVE people like us, because we make them lot's of money!

Trust me, it's not worth it...Everyone gets to their destination at the same time anyway, it's like the Tao of driving. Save your money, save your a$$! (and gas...)

...and yes, there is possibly no way out of that ticket unless you arrive to court with a lawyer. You can plead not guilty, but appear in court with a lawyer. Even if you don't want a lawyer, plead not guilty anyway, it will give you the xtra time you need to come up with a game plan.

 

If you decide to fight it get a copy of the traffic laws in your state to see if there's anything that can help you. For example is there a minimum distance the police have to clock you in order to determine your speed? 93 mph is pretty fast so I'm not sure the judge will have much sympathy even if it's your first ticket and you were on your way to mass. Prosecutor might let you plead guilty to a lesser speed and you might save some money. Use your connections and pray the cop doesn't show up.

 

Depending on what part of the Mass. Pike, the speed limit is 50 or 65... even 45 for one short stretch (I was ticketed on the 45mph stretch... only ticket in the last 14 years for me ).

But no matter what the limit was, 93mph is reckless driving in any car. Ad78, you might think you're a good, safe driver, but if you let yourself go that fast, you're not as good as you believe. I used to think I was a safe driver, until I had a baby... then I really started to pay attention to the crazy s**t I used to do while driving. I still have the impulse to drive like I'm in a hurry, but there's no good reason to drive that way.

If you need to get somewhere on time, give yourself enough time to get there. If you get there late, thank your lucky stars that you got there safely! You said you feel badly about it, but do you feel badly about driving like an insane person, or just about getting caught doing it? Slowing down will help with more than just avoiding tickets.</lecture>

 

Could I try it in one of these?

 

Sorry, wrong.
I'm a compliance officer and there is no joy in writing a ticket.
Wanna do a cop a favour, get all angry as he hands you the ticket, it really takes away any anguish handing the ticket to a person who is a pr**k. I hate handing a ticket when I think it's a genuine mistake and the person seems to be a good person ... but it is my job.
Effing and swearing never gets you off, it is better to ask a cop if there is an alternative way to deal with it before he/she starts writing but don't sound like you are offering a bribe. You might ask if there is a possibility to lower the speed/seriousness of offence to a lower category.
Tell the cop you have friends in high places, he will take a lot more care filling out the ticket, it wont get you off. You friend may be impressed with the officer's good work and a good report will be better if you go to court with the matter.
If you did the crime do the time or pay the fine. You would hate the cop to give a house breaker a warning after he broke into your house. You wouldn't like the cop to give a warning to a hoon doing burn-outs in your street at 3AM. Cop it sweet.
In Australia always try to be out of the car before the cop is, it is a lot better to be in neutral territory when you talk rather than the cop talking to you through the window. Don't do this in the US unless you have good life and medical insurance from what I hear. If the officer meets you on the roadway, ask the officer to move to the footpath because you are concerned for his and your own safety. "Lets go on the footpath, it's a bit safer than the road."
Take it seriously but keep a sense of humour.

 

Interesting to hear this... and all of what you wrote. So there is NO discretion in writing a ticket where you are? Tons of it here. All depends on the phase of the moon, the mood of the cop and how pleasant you, the offender, can be. One of my best lines ever was, "no, I did not see the 15mph sign, nor did I know that I was driving 25mph. I saw all the kids milling about, and had all my concentration on safely driving by them." No ticket on that one.

 

You might look at it this way...the radar is usually 1-2mph too low so it stands in the courts - if he had clocked you at 95mph, you could go to jail in many states.

Al Gore III, by any chance?

 

I think you alluded to this but I want to make it clear.

DO NOT do this in the US. Police officers want you to stay in the car, exiting the car and walking towards them will get you thrown to the ground and handcuffed at gunpoint, thats an aggressive move.

I'm impressed by the lack of cop bashing here. Usually on car sites this type of thing spawns a whole bunch of cop-hate which really bugs me.

 

BTW, Mass Staties are famous for going after out of state plates May or may not actually be true, but having picked up a few of those souvenirs in my days commuting to college (ME to NY) I'm inclined to believe it.

I would do some research, if MA does not report tickets to CT (seems to vary state to state) I would pay the fine and move on. Whether or not there is some way you could fight it, you were breaking the law and you got caught. Is it really worth your time to drive up there to court to have the judge tell you as much? If they do report it and your insurance is going to find out about it you would probably be better off going the traffic school route (even with the drive). Its amazing how much and for how long most insurance companies will soak you for a ticket.

Rob

 

And keep your hands where he can see them. Do not be rummaging through your glove compartment for the registration or bending down to reach for anything on the floor while he is watching you (and he is). He will think you are either grabbing a gun or stashing drugs.

 

avoid all of the above... or well see your video on the TV series COPS

 

Yeah I like watching drunk yokels get tazered on cops too, but we don't want to see any PC'ers on there lol

 

I'd bet better than the Mustang! LOL

 

Some of our best members/moderators are cops. You think we're dumb?

 

They are only doing their jobs. They are not setting speed limits, politicians do.

 

One has a job to do. I want a result of a reduction in offending not a fine. When I can warn I do but when the offence is substantial or severe I have very limited discretion. When I know from my experience a person should know better I will issue a penalty to act as a deterrent from further offending. If all we did was warn and never backed that up with penalties the warning would have no affect.

A part of my job is educating people also. I know that most people working in large logistics companies, especially those who have been in the industry for a long time know the rules and the consequences. We expend a lot of energy doing presentations, distributing printed and multi media information through industry groups and associations not just fining people who make mistakes.

So education first, assess if a warning can be given and be affective next then on the spot fine and as a last resort court summons. I get paid the same amount if I issue 2 fines a month or 40.

The fines I'm talking about range from about $70 to a maximum of $275,000 from the courts. There is a range of industrial sanctions we can issue as well. The more serious the breach the higher the penalty.

At the end of the day I am paid by the tax payer to do my job. I do it to the best of my ability and use my judgement in what I do.
If I never issue a fine am I doing my job? No.
If I never warn and always fine is that fair? No.

Sometimes a nice person needs a reminder to pay attention, seek information and conform to the law. Sometimes I assess that a nice person has something to gain from not complying with the law but even though they should know better they still break the law. This may be the case with most speeding offences. There is a sign displaying a speed limit, a driver needs a licence to show they know how to obey road laws, speeding will get you to your destination quicker, something to gain, serious enough breach to issue a fine, 24MPH over the limit, I would think so. (I don't enforce speed limits) Should the driver have known how fast they were travelling? Well they seemed to be passing another vehicle so they could have checked speed first.

I have no personal beef with the offender so it doesn't feel good to issue a fine but if they give me a reason to have a personal issue with them then issuing a fine doesn't feel so bad. I try very hard not to let the way I personally feel about a person influence what my course of action is in relation to an offence but I am human so it may happen unintentionally.

 

I apologise for offending you...sorry about that.