m4dm4x Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 So the other day I was driving my 04 Legacy GT with my girlfriend in the car and we went past two police cars parked on a large main road. Note that I am the most pedantic driver and always follow traffic laws. My girlfriend jokes "hah better watch out your in a targeted car". Shortly after one of the police cars starts following me for several blocks, I think to myself "this moron just saw a young person in a sports car and wants to check if its stolen or try and pin me for something while following". So finally the police car puts on its lights and so I drive finding a safe place to stop (there were yellow lines everywhere). So the cop gets impatient and puts on the audible sirens. Ok so I pull over on the yellow lines and get my license ready. I am greeted with a police officer that decides to approach the passenger side of the vehicle and I put the window down. He says "the reason I stopped you is because you failed to stop at a stop sign". I respond that I am an extremely careful driver and asked him to point out any way in which my driving was dangerous. He fails to provide a reason. I say "look theres no reason for giving me a ticket I am sure I stopped at the stop sign" the police officers says "sorry mate id let you off if it wasn't for the other person on the patrol car". He went to the other officer to try and get me out of it (something i never even did) and then he comes back with the ticket(this time on the drivers side, its good to address the actual driver) and apologizes and thats that. I looked at it and noticed he had spelled my surname wrong. Ok so it's just $150 nzd but its completely stupid. A fine example of them trying to meet their quota by just targeting younger drivers(im 24) in sporty cars. Should I take this to court? Im pretty sure they would write it off instead of go through the hassle. What do you guys think? I know the cops in the states can also be assholes. I think I must have seen the 20 percent that make a bad name for the rest in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdvictor Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I new zealand, I had 400 NZD charges from Hertz, and 600 NZD in photo-radar tickets for a 2 week vacation. Yeah...assholes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 You should have asked him if he had a video. The cop cars often runs video recordings, and that may have court value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4dm4x Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Theres no way they got video, the patrol car was about 200 metres away facing a different direction (they would have just assumed). Im going to drive to the location and take photos. Surely their lack of evidence will help me. Im pretty sure they will just dismiss it if I take it to court. From the location they were parked theres no way they would have properly seen the car wheels. What if they were spinners? (joke). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grinchy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Fight it. I know here in the US something simple like a misspelled name can sometimes get the whole ticket thrown out, plus, the cop might not even show up. I don't know how it works over there in NZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Probably a case of cops needing to prove statistics. That's actually a big problem. In some places the need for cops and so on is measured by statistics and if an area is too low in the list the need for police in that area is considered to be less significant. That may cause them to need to "invent" violations just to keep figures up. And the statistic figures may even stay after a case has been dismissed in court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeislord Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 You should weigh the cost of paying the ticket/any insurance premium increase or insurance surcharge etc vs. fighting the ticket/losing a day of work and see which is more expensive. Cops are going to be assholes regardless. Even if you're right doesn't mean the judge won't give you the ticket anyway and tack on court fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
062.5iwagon Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Fight it. I recently pulled into a street to turn around...a cop accused me of pulling into that street to do a U-turn. Fined me for doing a U-turn, which I never even got a chance to do. I went to meet the prosecutor prior to the court date and he called the officer a jacka$$! Apparently not uncommon when cops need to meet their quota. It gives traffic cops a bad name. Now I think they're scum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molal24 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 It's the beginning of the year. Everywhere you go, they are running out of money. They are ticketing people left and right for no reason to simply make money. Two days ago my dad got pulled over for going I quote "39 MPH in a 45 MPH zone". Are you kidding me? Governments are trying to make any penny that they can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iyalla Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Ah you got the ole supervisor with the rookie patrol tandem. Been there, done that. Also happened to me at a stop sign. The rookie wasn't going to pull me over but I could see the supervisor gesturing for her to pull out and pull me over. So she did. He didn't even bother getting out of the squad car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Fan Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Yeah..it is well known that all police forces only hire idiots who lie at every chance....it is impossible that a police officer ever knows what he is doing. But it is also true that every driver who was ever stopped by the police is completely innocent of all offenses, no matter what. Another little know "Fact" is that every driver ever ticketed is a "Victim" of a quota system....wake up and take a little responsibility for yourself and your driving!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liljay794 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I was speeding behind one of my friends on a road that was pretty quiet, but the speed limit was 50mph. A police car passed us on the oncoming traffic side, and me and my friend kept going. I pulled into a street and the police car followed me, but my friend went straight and got away. The officer pulled his gun out on me, asked me to turn off the car, show my hands, and once he approached, he was extremely rude about getting an answer as to who I was following. Of course I didn't tell him because it was my friend, and he ended up giving me an attitude worse than a girl. I had asked to call my father, and he said I couldn't. At the time, I was 17 years old, so I figured I had the right to call my dad, which I was in the process of doing. He asked me to put the phone down several times, and several times I said no. Then he asked me to exit the vehicle, which I did then put my hands on my trunk. I put my hands on top of my beautiful car, then being a young kid for that being the first time me ever getting searched, my phone on my belt started vibrating. I just turned my arm a little bit, and both of the cops forcefully chicken-winged me and handcuffed me. I also have asthma, and being in a panic, I started having trouble breathing and they still wouldn't let the handcuffs off until I finally started freaking out. In the end, I got a street-racing ticket and a reckless driving ticket. My lawyer talked to the officer, and dropped it to improper passing, and I was yelled at big time by the judge in the court-room. I am now 18 years old, and have learned my lesson as to not driving fast. I drive worse than an 80 year old lady now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 wtf? in the states theoretically they can throw out a ticket if anything is wrong on it, model year of the car, color, type of car, name spelled wrong etc. I dunno how it is there. Someone else said photo radar.. sounds like a locked down oppresive police state to me. The cop was probably following you waiting on you to do something they could construe as illegal. IMO that type of behavior should be illegal. If you follow someone/monitor them long enough they will break SOME law eventually. liljay.. do you look like a criminal or something? I understand if they followed you and you were doing like 120 in a 50.. They dropped it to "improper passing" yet you didnt pass anyone? How is that even legal? "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock2534 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Well did you run the stop sign or not? You said you are sure you would have stopped as you are a careful driver, maybe you didn't see it?? Why would he need to provide you with a reason that you were driving dangerously if you had indeed ran the stop sign? I would figure that part out and then proceed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 wtf? in the states theoretically they can throw out a ticket if anything is wrong on it, model year of the car, color, type of car, name spelled wrong etc. I dunno how it is there. Someone else said photo radar.. sounds like a locked down oppresive police state to me. Urban myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 probably so.. I've never tried to do that.. and wouldn't.. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddseth Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Urban myth. I would have to disagree with you. I received my first speeding ticket (a nasty one) this past summer and in Washington DC, you have small hearing with 3 or 4 other defendants in front of a public magistrate. There was a guy in my hearing that had run a red light. The police officer, who was young and looked like he had been up partying the night before, wrote the wrong intersection down on his report and the magistrate threw out the charges since the officer had not taken down his information properly. If any part of the report is incorrect, it significantly lowers the credibility of his report and thus disqualifies the evidence. Another reason I would take it to court is because you mentioned that the officer was 200m away when he 'witnessed' you running the stop sign. If you can prove that the office was too far away to have a good vantage point of the incident, you will significantly delegitimize the officer's report. I would suggest taking photos from the officer's vantage point to show that you cannot accurately view the intersection from so far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Yes, location would be the one of the parts that could help. But name misspelling? Immaterial. After all you got the ticket, came to court, so it must be you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 "I dunno anyone named micheal smith.. my name is michael smith." "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeislord Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 "i dunno anyone named micheal smith.. My name is michael smith." lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_J Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 It's the beginning of the year. Everywhere you go, they are running out of money. They are ticketing people left and right for no reason to simply make money. Two days ago my dad got pulled over for going I quote "39 MPH in a 45 MPH zone". Are you kidding me? Governments are trying to make any penny that they can... This I think explains why in the U.S. and apparently New Zealand gives more tickets than usual. The local city/county/state governments are in a major $ crisis with huge budget cuts. The law enforcement is under a lot of pressure to bring in citations to not only raise revenue from fines...but also just to keep their jobs. Plus keep in mind cops want to get promoted to detective, SWAT or other elite positions ASAP to make more money, etc. You either have to raise taxes, fire government workers or cut services. I know that some U.S. states barely have the money to pay for simply keeping police cars on the road yet alone payroll. Although maybe he didn't make a perfect stop. It was still enough of a reason on a slow day to get a ticket. I know it is a PITA ...but I try to make an exact stop especially in areas where I know cops issue a lot of tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 The whole idea of cities/municipalities/states being funded by traffic ticket revenue is flawed. Actually corrupt by definition. Ideally there would be a national fund to improve road safety and driver education where the money would go. The point would be to remove direct financial incentive for cops to hand out tickets, and yet do something material to increase safety on the roads. Perhaps we could see them go after tailgaters, lack of signaling and left lane blockers instead of "evil speeders". Likewise insurance companies should be banned from determining premiums based on driver record, at least for minor violations (DUI and accidents would be a different story). That would remove the incetive for them to "sponsor" cops with radars/lidars. Furthermore speed limits should be set by road engineers not by "lawmakers". I can dream on, since the sheeple is brainwashed here to blindly obey (and love/respect "hardworking") police instead of seeing them what they are - legalized roadside thugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddseth Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Perhaps we could see them go after tailgaters, lack of signaling and left lane blockers instead of "evil speeders". But that would require the officers to actually go on the road, investigate calls, be observant, collect evidence via video and notes, and work hard instead of sitting in their car and watching LED numbers while they play solitaire on their mobile laptops! All jokes aside, I couldn't agree with you more about this topic. Sure, someone speeding and shifting lanes while cutting people off and tailgating and whatnot is dangerous, but what is dangerous about going 80 in a 65 mph zone at 12:00 AM with no cars on the road. And how many times have we been tailgated in the right lane while going with traffic or cut off by some moron who is too dumb, lazy, or inconsiderate to use their signals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I wish all cops were like my friend. The only people he targets are people who don't pay taxes. He leaves the tax payers alone. How many criminals do you think actually pay taxes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noeladams Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Well you can beat it if they got your name wrong! I got a ticket once and the location of the ticket and location that I got it at was about 20 miles away. Got thrown out because due to the laws of time I couldn't have been in both places at once...... (unless dr. brown is your friend) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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