Chickenshit tickets and why people don't like cops

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Originally Posted by SnowRider4Life

I also got by first ticket in over 3 years by getting clocked by a plane over Memorial Day weekend. The shitty part about it was the fact that I wasn't even speeding, only doing around 68 in a 65. The cop that pulled me over told me that the pilot in the plane basically uses a stopwatch and 2 marked points on the road to determine your speed. I figure that they have to give x number of tickets in a given day using this method in order to justify the cost of putting the plane up in the first place.

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Damn. Now that is a chickenshit ticket. Did they write it for 68 in a 65? I'd be steaming. I'd definetely haul that one before a judge if it was in your area. Stopwatches are prone to human error :the_finge

Anyway, I was in a car that got a ticket for 79 in a 65, while only doing 71 (I wasn't driving) crossing Nebraska back when it was 65. It was a stopwatch as well. Patrolmen sitting up on an interstate bridge. Easy for a patrolman to mess that one up I think. It was shortly after that that the Nebraska Highway patrol actually asked the legislature to help them get rid of their quotas :yourock: Good vibes to the NHP because of that, and they've never touched me at 5 over.

Writing you a ticket for 3 over though? Come'n.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

Damn. Now that is a chickenshit ticket. Did they write it for 68 in a 65? I'd be steaming. I'd definetely haul that one before a judge if it was in your area. Stopwatches are prone to human error :the_finge

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Of course not....they wrote it for 85 in a 65. I was last in a line of at least a half dozen cars in the left hand lane, none of which were doing anymore than 70 mph. I saw everyone hitting their brakes indicating that there was a cop ahead, looked down at my speedometer, saw that I was within the speed limit and didn't even tap my brakes as I passed the cop in the median. As soon as I passed him he flipped on his lights so I moved over a couple of lanes to let him pass and pull over whomever he was after.....unfortunately it was me. I was nice to the cop at first, but as soon as he handed me the ticket I let him know what kind of a bullshit move I thought it was on their part. I explained to him how stopwatches are prone to human error and how this ticket was only a means to increase revenue in an already affluent part of the county. Being my first offense in 3 years I wasn't facing any increases in insurance or any others fees besides the fine itself so I just went ahead and paid the ticket.

I've received plenty of tickets that I deserved and I never got pissed because I knew that it was my own fault and I got caught.....but giving me a ticket for something that I didn't do :cussing: :the_finge :FIREdevil

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Originally Posted by PaSucks

I have no problem with cops as a whole, I have a problem with wasting our tax resources on chickenshit.

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Traffic tickets are a tax resource. :cussing:

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Originally Posted by SnowRider4Life

...I explained to him how stopwatches are prone to human error and how this ticket was only a means to increase revenue in an already affluent part of the county. Being my first offense in 3 years I wasn't facing any increases in insurance or any others fees besides the fine itself so I just went ahead and paid the ticket.

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Soooooooo, this deters the cops from continuing giving out shitty tickets how? You knew you were right, and you rolled over because you were too lazy to stand up for yourself. Rock on, this is why cops will continue to give out tickets, because most people don't fight the bullshit.

All you needed to do would be appear in front of the judge and say, "he used a stopwatch to time me" and the charges would disappear. Most states have a trial by written declairation law where you don't even have to set foot in the court to fight it. I did it for my recent ticket going to mammoth and lost, but ended up costing the judical system more $ in labor than I gave them. If you can't win, deter them in any way possible and cut off the revenue source.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

Soooooooo, this deters the cops from continuing giving out shitty tickets how? You knew you were right, and you rolled over because you were too lazy to stand up for yourself. Rock on, this is why cops will continue to give out tickets, because most people don't fight the bullshit.

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I showed up to court with every intention of fighting the ticket, but due to the number of tickets given out that weekend every other person in the courtroom was there for the same thing. I watched the judge shoot down the attempts of 3 other people trying to fight the same exact ticket using the method that you stated. You may see it as being lazy, but it was useless trying to fight the ticket when the judge had his mind made up before I ever stepped in front of him.

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Originally Posted by PaSucks

Blurred, if he sees me walk into the house, he sees me carying the food. That being said, I'm sure the cops know a lot of drivers deal on the side. (I'm not one of them)

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On the side? I bet they make a shitload more dealing than delivering Pizza!

Speaking of the good ole' days, I got pulled over driving home from a friends' house one afternoon back in High School. I was going about 20mph in a 30 Zone, as stoned as humanly possible, and the car freakin' reeked. As the bubblegum machine lights up I reach over and light a Clove Cigarette and start digging for my visine, which I can't find. Cop asks me why my eyes are so red and I tell him I'm a lifeguard (true) and that the chlorine gets to me over time. This was also why I was driving so slow since my eyes were watering so bad. I show him my little "Lifeguard" suit in the back seat, and he lets me go. As he walked away I could hear him chuckling and saying "I gotta remember that one..."

Ice has posted in other threads about several PDs in the DC area, but I gotta say that the Metro PD guys are pretty fucking cool generally. Beware of Prince George's County, MD - however. A buddy of mine just retired from there on disability - he had carpal tunnel and couldn't hold his gun steady any more. He had also shot at least 5 people in his career, and had been sued by 3 of them for doing so wrongfully. No, he's not an aberration.

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Originally Posted by Tippster

On the side? I bet they make a shitload more dealing than delivering Pizza!

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I bet you'd be surprised to learn that bike messengers also deal drugs huh?

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Originally Posted by lemon boy

I bet you'd be surprised to learn that bike messengers also deal drugs huh?

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Or that card dealers from Blackhawk sometimes deliver pizzas?

I got fucked today, 77 in a 55. It says on the ticket, that if this is the third or subsequent speeding violation in the last 18 months you must appear in court on the assigned date (no mail-in option). This is my third in 18 months.

When they say 'speeding violations', are they referring to tickets recieved or convictions?

Because, I already took care of one of the tickets and it was settled as a parking violation. WTF?

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Originally Posted by ski_adk

Those strange white hash marks on the side of the road...those are start & finishing lines. A trooper in the airplane clocks your passage through the speed trap, runs the time into a computer and relays the speed to pursuit vehicles on the ground.

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I've also seen this firsthand from the CHP. Highway 50 to Tahoe, at Eldorado hills.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

I'm glad its that way as well. I was driving south and completely in the country, the 40 mph limit extended well beyond the developed area. I was simply speeding up at the 55 mph sign. This was two years ago, when I went through last year they had changed the area that I was nabbed in to 55.

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I know what zone your talking about, it's where they always sit. I've done the same thing, but probably didnt get pulled over because my plates are the right state.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

The fact that you seem to be preaching to me bothers me slightly, since I am an extremely strict driver, and always slow down for speed zones, plus or minus a few feet here or there.

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I did come off preaching, sounds like we have similar driving habits. The 10 mile on either side, 191, and I-80 comments were for the public good, not directed at you.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

The cop asked me for papers on my dog, rabies, health certificate etc, and I did not have any with me, though I do have them of course. I had no intention of traveling to Canada with my dog, and never in my life have I carried papers simply to cross a state line.

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Now that is chicken shit...who does that?

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Originally Posted by Geoff

I've also seen this firsthand from the CHP. Highway 50 to Tahoe, at Eldorado hills.

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Yup, those are it. I'm wondering if sometimes the purpose is to just make you think you might be timed, alot of the hash marks have signs that say 'Aircraft Patrolled'.

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Originally Posted by LaramieSkiBum

Now that is chicken shit...who does that?

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He was definetly poking me, my dog is a barker so maybe that ticked him off, but she was in the back and shut up as soon as we started talking. Maybe he thought it'd be fun to search my car or something, not sure. He'd have found nothing.

I think he was from the Gestapo. He had a German accent, smelled horribly of stale cigarettes, and looked hungover to me. I wasn't about ready to say anything to piss this guy off, because he was one angry dude.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

He was definetly poking me, my dog is a barker so maybe that ticked him off, but she was in the back and shut up as soon as we started talking. Maybe he thought it'd be fun to search my car or something, not sure. He'd have found nothing.

I think he was from the Gestapo. He had a German accent, smelled horribly of stale cigarettes, and looked hungover to me. I wasn't about ready to say anything to piss this guy off, because he was one angry dude.

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I think you hit on something there. some of my hometown cops/city proc. (not Laramie, those cops are sweet), and friends that went through criminal justice and on to cops, all seem to have a bit of the power hungry/infuriority/love to beat the shit out of people complex. You might expect this, since the pay really isn't what it's all about.

I know this is a very bad generalization. With all the shit these guys have to put up with, seeing largly all the bad things and no good come of much, I can see why I would be angry and pissed off. I also have several good friends who turned out to be cops of one sort or another who are the complete opposite, I couldn't pissed them off, I know I've tried.

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Originally Posted by lemon boy

I bet you'd be surprised to learn that bike messengers also deal drugs huh?

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No. Which one would you consider their SIDE job? Just how do you spell front?

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

All you needed to do would be appear in front of the judge and say, "he used a stopwatch to time me" and the charges would disappear.

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I'm not so sure about that. It seems like they'd have to have the system worked out pretty well to justify using it. I'm curious what the distance is between the marks on the road. Say it's 1/4 mile. Going 60 mph it would take 15.0 seconds to cover that distance. Going 70 it would take 12.86 seconds, so it's not like we're talking about a few hundredths of a second being the difference between you speeding or not. Yeah, the timer could screw you by starting and stopping on different cars, but if they actully time your car I think they've got you nailed.

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Originally Posted by The AD

I'm not so sure about that. It seems like they'd have to have the system worked out pretty well to justify using it. I'm curious what the distance is between the marks on the road. Say it's 1/4 mile. Going 60 mph it would take 15.0 seconds to cover that distance. Going 70 it would take 12.86 seconds, so it's not like we're talking about a few hundredths of a second being the difference between you speeding or not. Yeah, the timer could screw you by starting and stopping on different cars, but if they actually time your car I think they've got you nailed.

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Say they are a half-second off on both the start and finish lines, which seems very plausible, all of a sudden the difference goes from just over two seconds to just over one. Not to mention he was only clocked at three over to begin with. In PA the cop can't even write a ticket until you are at least six over. I would imagine that is true in many states, but I'm sure there are exceptions.

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Originally Posted by Tippster

On the side? I bet they make a shitload more dealing than delivering Pizza!

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I was actually hesitant to use "on the side" as I figured for some of them they actually make more from the drugs, but then I got to thinking about the guys that I know do it, and I have to say I disagree with you. The one guy is more of a gambler than anything and that is where his real money comes from, so both pizza and the drugs are on the side, and the other kid is too small time with the drugs to make any money.

Lots of half-assed dealers have come and gone, but they never last because they end up spending their delivery money on something and then don't make enough back to pay the shop their checkout and they get canned.

Think about it, if you are using your delivery time to deal, you aren't going to be much of a pizza driver, and the shop probably won't keep you around for long.

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Originally Posted by PaSucks

Say they are a half-second off on both the start and finish lines, which seems very plausible, all of a sudden the difference goes from just over two seconds to just over one. Not to mention he was only clocked at three over to begin with.

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Not true. He said he got a ticket for going 85 in a 65 zone.

How could they be half a second off on both ends? I've timed lots of events with a stopwatch and it's very easy to get within 0.1 seconds of the electronically recorded time.

It's still worth fighting, though.

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Originally Posted by The AD

I'm not so sure about that. It seems like they'd have to have the system worked out pretty well to justify using it. I'm curious what the distance is between the marks on the road. Say it's 1/4 mile. Going 60 mph it would take 15.0 seconds to cover that distance. Going 70 it would take 12.86 seconds, so it's not like we're talking about a few hundredths of a second being the difference between you speeding or not. Yeah, the timer could screw you by starting and stopping on different cars, but if they actully time your car I think they've got you nailed.

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It's not the .1 second to push the button, it's the eye looking from ground level attempting to see when your car crosses the painted line (if looking from ground level). If you've been to a drag race, it is very hard to gauge exactly when the car crosses the line if you're sitting at ground level, and the car is traveling on flat ground. This is where the bulk of the error comes from.

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Originally Posted by The AD

Not true. He said he got a ticket for going 85 in a 65 zone.

How could they be half a second off on both ends? I've timed lots of events with a stopwatch and it's very easy to get within 0.1 seconds of the electronically recorded time.

It's still worth fighting, though.

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I thought we were talking about the guy doing 68 in a 65. My mistake.

Also, did you time the events from 10,000 feet off the ground? I think not. I see no reason to run a speed trap with an airplane when a radar gun and a hiding spot work better and are cheaper.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

It's not the .1 second to push the button, it's the eye looking from ground level attempting to see when your car crosses the painted line (if looking from ground level). If you've been to a drag race, it is very hard to gauge exactly when the car crosses the line if you're sitting at ground level, and the car is traveling on flat ground. This is where the bulk of the error comes from.

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Aren't we talking about airplane surveillance here? In any event, in a drag race, yeah it's difficult to know when the car crosses the line to .001 seconds, but you can sure as heck be accurate to .1 second I would think.

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I thought we were talking about the guy doing 68 in a 65. My mistake.

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Yeah, that's what he said he was going, but apparently the ticket was for 85 in a 65: "Of course not....they wrote it for 85 in a 65"

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Originally Posted by The AD

Aren't we talking about airplane surveillance here? In any event, in a drag race, yeah it's difficult to know when the car crosses the line to .001 seconds, but you can sure as heck be accurate to .1 second I would think.



Yeah, that's what he said he was going, but apparently the ticket was for 85 in a 65: "Of course not....they wrote it for 85 in a 65"

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Oops, I missed the airplane part of that post. Yes, it's much easier to tell from above and fairly accurate, provided their measured distance is correct. My drag racing point was that on flat ground, you might not be picking the correct point where the car starts or finishes the timed section, which if you take 100 ft. off of each end of the run, you are effectively increasing a 65 mph car to a 77 mph car.

As for the court argument point, ask to see the officers speed calculations, measured time, measured distance (go pull a tape on your marks piggy), method, etc. Make them work for your $150.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

My drag racing point was that on flat ground, you might not be picking the correct point where the car starts or finishes the timed section, which if you take 100 ft. off of each end of the run, you are effectively increasing a 65 mph car to a 77 mph car.

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I don't think many drag strips have giant white lines painted on the finish.