SoFL_RX8

So I dropped my GF off at college this morning and took off as usual. I rounded the corner outside of campus at a pretty quick pace and accelerated to 65 (40mph zone) but the flow of traffic was about 55. I pull up to a stop light ahead and am stuck behind a pickup and next to a semi-truck. Leaving the light I stay close to the pickup in order to pass the semi and get out of the thick of the group.

Just as Im about to clear the Semi I hear a siren and see lights in my rearview. I pull it over and take off my seatbelt to get my wallet out and to get my registration from the glovebox.

The officer immediatly tells me he wants to arrest me for wreckless driving, speeding, and following too closely. I admit I had been speeding a bit, but tell him that I was following closely both because we had just left a red light, and because I was attempting to pass the semi.

He takes my info, and goes back to his car to write me up.

He returns and tells me he's giving me 3 tickets, and is giving me a warning on the 'Wreckless Driving' he witnessed.

First ticket is for going 63mph in a 35 (actually a posted 40, not 20 feet from where I was pulled over)

Second ticket is following too closely (like I said, we had JUST left a red light and I was making a pass)

Third ticket is for NOT WEARING A SEATBELT!!!! He SAW ME remove my seatbelt to retrieve my information, and I even was worried he'd try to give me a seatbelt ticket when he walked back to his car.
"But officer, you saw me remove my safety belt to get my registration and wallet."

"All I see is your seatbelt isnt on right now, so sign the ticket. Youre lucky Im not arresting you."

Now dont get me wrong folks, Im not against an officer doing his job. I was speeding (not dangerously, but I was over the posted limit) and got caught, fair is fair. Lumping on 2 bullshit tickets in addition though is just garbage. Following too closely, I guess thats up to him to decide, but he just f**ked me with the seatbelt ticket.

Now like I said, the speeding ticket was filled out incorrectly, and I can go back and take photos to prove that where I was pulled over it was a posted 40mph. My question is, do you guys think since he messed up on the speeding ticket (the more serious violation) that the court will be more likely to throw out the other tickets? I have a very clean driving record, 1 speeding ticket, 1 ticket for an expired tag, thats it.
You think its worth it to fight this guy, or should I just bite the bullett and chalk it up as a horrible loss?

I appreciate any input, just let me know what you would do in my shoes.

Oh and before people start bashing me for speeding on public roads, come to Miami and drive the speed limit, you'll be rear ended within an hour. The speed limit here is the flow of traffic.

FABRO

Take it to court and get it reduced. The judge could care less about you going the flow of traffic, so think of another excuse. Goodluck.

RXSeven1

Personally I wouldnt waste my time or money on a lawyer. Here in NJ you can get one ticket redction per year. I had a 70 in a 55, reduced to a 64 in a 55. 4 points to 2 points. Other than that though I have a stack of tickets. I just chalk them up as a loss. Wrong place at the wrong time. I got one for my radar dectector still sitting here thati have to pay next month....whatever.

expo1

I don't see how fighting to say you were doing 63 in a 40 is going to help you much. That is still over 20 MPH above the limit. You should try to get the speeding reduced to 49 in a 40 and take the seatbelt ticket to get the following one tossed. If you have time you might want to sit in on a municipal court date and look to see what happens to similar people. If you see one that has a lawyer that got him/her off get that lawyers name. Your Insurance surcharges will be more than the tickets should all three go through.

jmerc

There is a chance the ticket may get thrown out due to false information written by the cop. I saw a ticket get thrown out before because the cop gave a 45 in a school zone but the guy had pictures of the sign that said 25 when lights are flashing, however there were no lights to even flash, so the judge had to throw it out.

Also a lot of times the cop does not even show because most people just pay the ticket, and if the cop does not show he cannot testify against you and the ticket can be thrown out. Its always better to fight the ticket than to just pay.

bsteimel

iTrader: (5)

Always take it to court, 9 times out of 10 they'll drop it to a lesser penalty. You pay the court costs either way so you might as well take advantage of it. The worst they can say is no.

SoFL_RX8

Like I said, Im willing to take the hit on the speeding ticket, but the rest is just crap. The guy was trying to dick me, straight up.

When he asked me to sign the seatbelt ticket he even gave the "I may not be arresting you but Im f**king you any other way possible" look.

Bottom line, he lied about the seatbelt, the following to closely is BS cuz I had just left an intersection, and he fudged the speeding ticket to give me a harsher penalty. The guy was out to screw me, and I dont take kindly to it.

jp4wd

Im not sure if the laws in florida is the same as in illinois if you havent had a ticket in a long time, the court will more than likely put you in supervision which shouldnt affect your driving record or insurance at all...you still have to pay the fine though...just be carefull the next six months. To me its not worth the trouble of arguing the ticket if you can get away with just paying.

alfy28

This police officer might own a z or a s2k. but man sorry that you recieved this kind of treament. i hope you can get this corrected.

Trekk

Im in miami florida and in my past I have had more then 20 tickets for things speeding and racing (at night in the middle of nothing farm fields). I went to court on every ticket and never got a point put on anything and in most cases just was told to pay 1/2 the ticket total.
Unless they changed things here, you get the pretrial. Normally you should just ask judge what your he will do for you if you plee nocontest. You could try to take it to trial, but in FL the cops get payed to go to court, so dont think he/she wont show up. If its a young cop dont even attempt to take him to court. They are young and cocky, they will show up, unlike the old more layed back cops.

I always took nocontest cause everytime the judge said "no points no school" thats all im after.



Oh and never get your stuff ready for the cop before he ask for it. They dont like that 1 bit.

XDEEDUBBX

ouch....

Vrimmick

My advice is plead not guilty and go to court. I did it many, many times and most recently on a speeding ticket (85 on 55). I was clocked by a cop, pulled over and written a ticket. I requested supporting deposition, which the cop never sent over so the judge dismissed the case. Remember that you have rights in this beautiful country. You can request all the information from the police chief regarding that cop, like his training records on a particular radar he clocked you with, FCC license, etc, etc. (it's part of a public record) and remember you have a right to a speedy trial - 45 days from the day you plead not guilty. So plead not guilty and if your court date is 45 days later... you're case most likely will get dismissed. There is a lot you can read online on how to prepare for your own defense. Anyway most likely you will go to court and there will be one cop to negotiate with all the defendants regarding traffic matters. They usually reduce charges - I guarantee you you'll be happy that you didn't pay.

NoTears316

I'm sure you're upset over getting the tickets, but just to point out a couple things I noticed in your post that you may not want to mention in front of a judge. You are claiming that you were following too closely because you "just left" a red light, but then you got ticketed for doing 63 in a 35. Unless everyone floored their accelerator (including the semi) there is no way you would have needed to get to 63 to pass someone. Change your story or don't bother fighting it. I don't believe it, so what makes you think a judge would?

balefire

iTrader: (2)

Every county is different. I would take each person's experience with a grain of salt unless they dealt with the ticket from your county. Some counties are ruthless and impossible to fight without a lawyer. Others are quite easy to fight...

On another note, after getting 2 tickets in 1 wk span a few years ago, I used the following advice and it has worked for me SEVERAL times since that I have been pulled over.

http://www.keelynet.com/misc/ticket1.htm

There were several things you did that I would not have done based on that article. Good luck in the future.

Vrimmick

http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/ this is some good info

Design1stCode2nd

As the saying goes power corrupts...

Always take a ticket to court, better yet postpone it at least 2 times in hopes the officer won't show up. Gotten out of many tickets that way.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

^^ Yep, just like what he said.

Always ALWAYS fight it in court, Im not sure about the postpone limit in other states but NYC I think is 48 hours. meaning I can just *oh I have something to do I cant come* 2 days before the court day.

Cops have their own holidays and sick days, so if all postpone court days land right on his *sick/holidays* scheulde and he feel good about spending another 1/2 day in court, u'll be fuxked. but most cops are fat and Lazy (Yep, arrest me for that Bitch, now go have ur freaking donut)

'ringmeister

the people who are telling you to forget about it, thats it's not worth the time or money are giving very foolish advice. it will cost you far more in the long wrong than if you retain a lawyer, or even plead not guilty and make a crt appearence by yourself. most lawyers who specialize in traffic offenses (they are ez to find, many in the yellow pages) charge a flat fee of around $500. more for a dui but that is more serious charge. even if you go to court by yourself the prosecutor will 99% of the time work with you to expedite the proceeding and reduce your tkts. the 1st thing to do is wait till the last possible date (its on the tkt) and call to postpone the crt date. they will mail you a new one and you just bought yourself a few months usually.

lshu

Wow that really sucks, I would be pissed with the seatbelt thing. I got 2 speeding tickets in 2 weeks, and funny thing is that my traffic school instructor specifically mentioned to us NOT to take off our seltbelts when stopped by police to prevent this sort of thing from happening. You learn some good stuff there.

JeRKy 8 Owner

Three tickets in one stop....hahaha you are my hero.

9291150

You got hit hard, so you don't need more grief from us. But take this as a life lesson, judging by your signature all the cop sees is too fast & furious. Here's what I've learned in my old age...

1. Don't draw attention to yourself. This means avoid loud music, loud cars, loud bodywork, etc.
2. Always scan, especially if you're speeding. That cop speed trapped you well before you were at the lights...so why didn't you see him? Plus, all speed trap areas should be top of mind, or if you're not familiar with the area then don't speed.
3. If you get pulled over, don't move an inch. They don't know what you're reaching for, and if you are moving around you are only increasing their anxiety.
4. If you don't have an excuse, don't BS. Trying to "get ahead of a semi" is no excuse to tailgate. You're better off saying, "you know officer, you're right, I was in a rush and wasn't thinking, but if you check my record you'll see I never do that kind of stuff". Argue all you want after you get a ticket, but never before.

This is not to say that the cop wasn't an ***, I've met my share, and he probably would have booked you for dangerous driving if he felt he had a real case. But as a young man (I'm assuming) with already 5 tickets, you got no choice but to fight those, and avoid new ones.

jskup1

iTrader: (7)

It's all about revenue for the city. They don't care about you (or anyone else) or the excuses.

iewgnaw

i discovered to ALWAYS be a look out for police officers.. when i speed!

User24

iTrader: (1)

About that 40mph sign: it's not 40mph until you are perpendicular to it. If you weren't directly perpendicular to the 40mph sign yet, it's not a 40mph zone.

Rr#3nesis

What college you go to? I go to Dade... And yes, driving slow in Miami will get your rear end wrecked. No pun intended.