Got a $325 speeding ticket last night...

I hope it was the original a much better flick.

Anyways, what I’ve started to do, because i can't stop driving 80+. When I fly past a cop, and I see him coming to get me. I will just pull over and stop and wait for him. I've gotten out of 3 speeding tickets doing this, 1 was 30mph over, and the others were like 15-20 over. But then once, when I tried it again, I got a ticket, on the NYS thruway (toll road) doing 76 in a 65. I was really pissed at the cop, he shouldn’t be pulling people over for 11 over the limit.

Then I drove back from Miami fl, to Upstate NY. In 17hours, normally 24hours car trip. 100+ the entire trip. Not a single ticket, and without a radar detector.

Hampshire (UK) is funny - they have several unmarked Subaru Impreza's and have great fun when a riceboy in a Nova tries to race them.

The other successful stealth car they had was a V6 VW Corrado.

Gareth

While we are on the subject, here are some tips to getting treated a little better when you get pulled over (this is for minor stuff, you're on your own if you're going 150mph in a school zone during construction.) Most of these tips were told to me by actual police officers.

1. Pull over AWAY from traffic. Like you and I, cops don't like to be hit by cars. Unfortunately, a lot of cops DO get hit by cars each year while standing by someone's door. So, instead of pulling over at the side of the road, use a parking lot or at least pull over as far as you can away from the road.

2. Put on your hazard lights. This is for the same reason as above. In addition to the police lights, your hazards will help warn other drivers to slow down. This also helps in case your grandmother drives by: Then you can tell her that your car broke down and the police man was helping you out!

3. If you have any tinted windows, or if it's dark out, lower all of your windows. Even if it's cold outside and even if nobody is in the backseat. The reason that tinted windows are illegal in most states is because police can't see into the car. It has nothing to do with your ability to see out. Otherwise, dark sunglasses would be illegal.

4. Turn on your interior dome light(s). Again, this will help the officer see inside the car and put them more at ease.

5. Turn off the car and put the keys on the dashboard. Turning the car off should be a no brainer, but putting the keys on the dash lets the officer know that you have no plans of making a run for it.

6. Most important: Don't lie. People lie to the police all the time and there is nothing more that will make them unsympathetic towards you. And they can smell a liar from a mile away. If they ask why you rolled down all your windows, admit your windows are tinted and you wanted them to be able to see inside. If he asks why you were speeding, don't make up a story about your wife about to give birth to your first born. Instead, admit you were careless and are embarrised about it. You don't need a good excuse, you just need to show that you are a good person who made a bad decision and feels bad for it.

I hope this helps a few of you. It won't get you out of anything real bad, but it might make the punishment a little less. But if the officer is having a really bad day or you're in a city that has monthly quotas and it's the 31st at 11pm, good luck!

Hampshire (UK) is a pain.

They have zero fixed speeding camera sites and rely totally on mobile and handheld devices, meaning my GPS speed camera detector is no use while I am in the county. I actually avoid driving through Hampshire if I can for just this reason...

He did say it was 3am... probably not much traffic.

Yeah, not much traffic if any. I'll admit it, I was driving irresponsibly. But I was not driving dangerously. There is a difference.

Oh well, I learned my lesson. I hope.


p.s. It was actually my car's fault anyway.

I always would constantly maintain a visual scan for highway patrol, including scanning for unmarked cars, which isn't easy

I used to do that, but after getting too many speeding tickets I figured it was easier to just go the speed limit. Now I only use that method when I'm drinking and driving.

Dead right here, I've gotten out of WAAY more fines than I've been pulled over for. I'm always nice and apologetic, yes sir, no sir, here's my gun, would you like me to remove the clip? Believe it or not, showing my gun first is a sure fire way to win trust. Most expensive ticket: 11 miles over in FL. $176. Cheapest: 50 in a 25, mandatory court date, $60.50. in AL. Now that I work in the government and know damn near all the cops in my city, I haven't gotten a ticket in 5 years.

The funniest one was when the mayor called me on my cell and said he needed me in his office NOW, so I dropped what I was doing, hopped in the car, and off I was. Got clocked doin a litle over 60 in a 30, the cop asked me where I was in a hurry to get to, I told him, he kinda laughed like there was NO WAY the mayor is calling this 25 year old kid, and went back to his car. Meanwhile I pulled out the cell and proceeded to call the mayors secretary. While I was on the phone, he overheard me talking to her, recognised the I really WAS talking to Becky, and tore the ticket up and told me to get going. Hehehe... Of course, when I got to his office, the big emergency was that he couldn't get a word file to open (because it was a word perfect doc). Doh!

New slogan:

VNC prevents speeding tickets!

Tell me. If only I wasn't at lunch, or had he explained the problem rather than just "Get over here"

$325 just too damn much for a speeding ticket.

Bet the PD has brand new everything. Luckily
here speeding tickets only cost $75 unless you
get caught in like a construction or school zone.
Then they are still only $150-$200..

Useful things to look for in the UK, in order as vehicle closes

The most obvious sign - very bright headlights (although most Impreza turbo drivers go for the same type:-)

Antennas non-standard for type of vehicle

Anything suspicious in the front grille - okay, sometimes it'll be a strange mod by a teenager, but best to play it safe

Police cars almost always have 2 occupants if on duty

Police cars tend to have 2 rear-view mirrors

Police cars very rarely have any stickers in the back windscreen - and definitely no dealer stickers.
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On the topic of speed limits, I am more than happy to drive 20mph in town, but on a wide motorway with no traffic in the middle of the night - 70 is nonsense. There was a guy stopped a couple of weeks back at 140mph in a 70 zone, was let off because the judge and jury agreed he wasn't driving dangerously, and I have seen 180mph done safely in certain situations.

The Association Of British Drivers states the case best. And until the govt make sensible speed limits, I will almost certainly use my own judgement on safe speed when out of town. If that means keeping very alert, using detectors and playing the game with Mr. Plod, then so be it

In Australia, the police could be driving almost anything. They have Australian, Japanese and European built cars. I've even heard tell of people being booked by on-duty police driving a ute! The most unlikely one I ever saw was a family sedan, that had a cartoon character novelty sunshade in the rear window. I would never have picked it.

We get booked for doing the speed limit + 3km/h. 25km/h over the speed limit attracts a mandatory 1 month suspension of our driving license. 45km/h over the limit means a 12 month suspension.

Richard.

I don't generally speed at all. There is one exception, of course, and I got caught. When I first moved to San Antonio my wife stayed in Houston to sell the house. On weekends I'd drive home to see her, which is about a three hour drive. It also happened that our anniversary fell on a weekday during this time, so I worked it out so that I could take half the day off and drive out to see her. She had no idea and it was a real suprise.

Trouble was, I got caught doing 85 in a 70 trying to get to her work before she left. This isn't so bad, except that I realized a *month* after the fact that my driver's license had expired. This was a complete suprise, I simply never thought about it. Apparently the cop hadn't checked, which was a very good thing: I can't imagine my wife's response if she'd gotten a call from jail two hours away on our anniversary.

Police cars almost always have 2 occupants if on duty

In the UK that's a fairly good (negative) indicator - IIRC, UK police regs say that they aren't allowed to stop you unless they have 2 officers in the car - the rule is there mainly to protect the officers from violence and career-threatening accusations of improper behaviour.

I wish that rule applied in the US. Of course, if I had the "magnivision" that tfabris apparently has - I wouldn't have to worry about looking for an extra officer in the car!

the rule is there mainly to protect the officers from violence and career-threatening accusations of improper behaviour

gee...video cameras work for us...and make for some great episodes of Cops.