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Thread: I got a ticket (Pennsylvania) - Need advice.

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default I got a ticket (Pennsylvania) - Need advice.

    Let me start this out by saying I've never got a speeding ticket before. I am 21 years old and had a "careless driving" ticket when 17 for not using a turn signal to change lanes. Anyway, I got a ticket tonight for speeding which is not something I do over the norm of the whole like 70 - 75 on the PA turnpike every now and then.

    11 PM or so:

    I was travelling on Rt 309 this evening after dropping off a video at Block Buster - did maybe 50 mph tops on the way there (speed limit is 55) then on the way back I had the issue. I was driving and a car was up my ass as I made a left from the Block Buster parking lot onto RT 309. I just let him sit there on my bumper since the area is like a Walmart/Shopping type area and the speed limit is lower than normal. Once it was in the more rural area I got up to and only slightly over the speed limit prob ably about 65 mph or so since that's about the average speed of traffic on this 2 lane highway/road. Guy is now still on my ass, only now its at this speed and so I floor it again for not that long because I went from 5th to 3rd and took third to near redline (I can't take my car much over 6000 rpm because the stock clutch slips with my turbo) - I really just wanted this guy off my ass I hate when people tail me and so I got away from him yet he still accelerated pretty close to me I'd say. I am not sure how was I was going, but I know I couldn't have accelerated past what 3rd gear is capable of because i had a very bad misfire at higher rpm in 3rd gear and put it in 4th and started braking. Then about 6 or 10 secs later, police lights behind me and I get pulled over.



    Officer asks me how fast I was going, I told him I wasn't honestly sure but it couldn't have been more than 75 - 85 or so but that I was honestly not very sure (because I was in 3rd gear but I didn't tell him that). The other guy was in a Mitsubishi 3000GT - I was NOT racing this car. He followed ME (I was ahead of him) the entire time up until when I moved over. The officer said I was lying when I told him that speed but I tried to get a word in that I was not claiming that actual speed, but it had to been near there and I had not looked to notice, I had no intention of going mind blowingly fast. He went to the other car and I was unsure of what they said to one another. The officer came back saying the other guy acknowledged he was going over 100. That didn't bother me too much because I had stopped accelerating, he very well could have gone over 100 - i wouldn't really know. He told me how this would be a great experience for everyone (or something to that effect) and went to his car. Comes back and gives the other guy whatever he gave him and guy drives off. Comes back to me saying he "clocked me" (exact words) several times, at 110 or something, which I know is false - I was NOT going that fast. He handed me my ticket - I explained that this is my first speeding ticket ever and that I had not used a turn signal when I was 17 and got a "careless driving" for that and the ticket was since void from my record - he said "maybe that will help you" but not much more as to what I should do.

    I come home and I read the tickets, rather upset - I talked to my girlfriend and mother about it because I was upset that I had been accused of this speed that I most certainly did not travel at. So I sat down and looked over the ticket. It says:

    106 mph in a 55 mph zone
    Method of proof: Radar[ ] Clocked [ ] A.O.V. [ ] ESP [ ] Vascar [ ] Other [ X] - he chose other, and wrote either "tracked" or "tracker" - can't make it out.

    Then below, it says like his badge info etc and name. It says Speed timing Devices Operator: His name. Miles followed " - ". Miles timed ".0877". Secs timed "2.96".

    I don't understand how he could have "tracked" me which he implied was pacing me, even though I know for 100% sure that there was no car following within 1/4 mi, but I will give him the benefit of saying 1/8 mi on this highway that has dips and such that you could not possibly see from one point to another to time a car let alone in the dark. Secondly, I deny guilt of 106 mph, but even at the max speed I was traveling, it was for no longer than 10 or so seconds - how would he have identified the issue, caught up within range to use a pacing method, and timed me for 2.96 secs, when the whole ordeal was <10 secs of speeding.

    Further more - when leaving I got his attention to let him know I was sorry, I wasn't lying by claiming ~75 - 85 mph, I plainly did not know. Then when leaving he told me how dangerous it is and how if my wheel fell off I'd be dead etc. He finished by saying something to the effect of "You're lucky you didn't have an accident with my wife and daughter driving home from a party right now or we'd have bigger problems than just this." Was that a threat?

    I need advice guys. The ticket doesn't read well. I am here in Quakertown, PA for school and I don't know any lawyers (nor can I really afford one, but if I had to...) in the area or anything like that - I've never had this issue, I am not a frequent law breaker. Help.

    Edit: Another detail is that under the defendent (me) it says Make: BMW Type: CP which i can only assume means coupe. Well he took the time to measure my window tint and tell me it's illegal, wouldn't he notice that there are another set of doors and that'd make it a sedan?

    I have no problem admitting I did wrong - I was speeding, it was in result to the instigation by the other driver, and I failed to suppress frustration and just let him pass. I did not do the 106 mph and I feel that I am being accused of that unfairly.

    Jon

    PS: You guys know I am a resonsible driver. I've only done burn outs on our own property, never had a speeding ticket before... I don't know what to do about this.

  2. #2
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    just take it too court....8 times outta 10 the cops never show up. Just have a court date set to like 4+months down the road. Im assuming there is no physical/written evidence(beside what he said on the ticket) to prove your speed, if so, 4 months gives plenty of time to forget about even pullin you over and the judge could throw out the case because of both factors (memory and no written evidence).

    Thats my 2 cents...never gotten a ticket (yet, knocks on wood)

  3. #3
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    I assume there's a place to check on the Ticket that you contest responsibility for the citation. They'll give you a date to go before a magistrate and you'll have a chance to explain your version of events but since you were evidently speeding excessively whatever the real number they will probably find you responsible so it may just be best to pay it and move on. Certainly you get a number of such violations before your license would be in jeopardy so what's the problem? You admit you were speeding and unless you can convincingly persuade the Court you weren't, which seems unlikely since another ticket was presumably issued to the other driver which would appear to support the Officer's claim, the court isn't just going to say;" Ohhhh okay sonny, we'll give you this one, you just keep her under the speed limit from now on." I have one speeding ticket which should drop off my record soon , maybe has already but even with that i would have had to get four more speeding tickets before the State would call me in for mandatory reeducation/ suspension. You should be still quite a way off from risking the loss of your license. Nobody likes having a blot but these go away eventually and you're still free to drive. If you spent all your money on the Turbo ask the court,if you go that route ,for a payment schedule to pay it over time in installments. Good luck.
    Last edited by Jehu; 09-17-2006 at 01:50 AM.
    1995 540i Manual build 1/95

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoldenOne
    just take it too court....8 times outta 10 the cops never show up. Just have a court date set to like 4+months down the road. Im assuming there is no physical/written evidence(beside what he said on the ticket) to prove your speed, if so, 4 months gives plenty of time to forget about even pullin you over and the judge could throw out the case because of both factors (memory and no written evidence).

    Thats my 2 cents...never gotten a ticket (yet, knocks on wood)
    If this was a Municipal cop and not a State Trouper they Usually have a designated Officer to act as prosecutor, to present the case against you. State police more often would rather take their overtime/detail construction zone nap job than sit in court so if it was a Statey he may luck out going to court otherwise I'd say he has a better chance of winning the lottery.
    1995 540i Manual build 1/95

  5. #5
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    2 things also (Atleast in FL):

    1:If youre 30+ mph over the speed limit the cop has the option to take you to jail

    2:If he had written 110 in a 55, that would be a 2nd degree felony and mandatory jail time cuz you doubled the speed limit

  6. #6
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    Its not a felony in PA. If he had written 110 on the ticket he'd have to show numbers for that. The ticket doesn't make sense, he couldn't have paced us from over 1/4 miles away, he didnt mark VASCAR on the ticket (timing device) and local police have no radar in PA.

  7. #7
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    IANAL
    He IS claiming to have paced you, up to you to prove him wrong.
    Are the cats eyes standardized/do the roads in PA have hash marks on them that maybe you don't know about? Is the road in question ever monitored by aircraft? Perhaps he used the aircraft marks, if he did actually use anything at all. It sounds, however, as though he's using the other guy's admission as the determination of the violation.

    PS
    awww, **** it, let the shitheads come out.
    either he used a table from marks, or he ********ted something into a table to get a number. i don't think you can just enter something into any vascar unit and get a number.
    Last edited by ryan roopnarine; 09-17-2006 at 02:11 AM.
    "..Torchinski v. Peterson that it is legal to carry a concealed weapon, so long the weapon is totally slick like a huge ass machine gun that you carry under a trench coat, like in the Matrix."


  8. #8
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    3rd and took third to near redline
    you can't do 100 or 110 mph in 3rd gear
    its impossible you can take that to the bank.
    i think about 6000 rpm in 3rd is about 120ish kph
    which is 75 mph jon. take him to court and swear black and blue you were in 3rd no matter what they say, its physically impossible to go that fast in 3rd gear!!!
    Last edited by rob101; 09-17-2006 at 02:32 AM.

    Germans: Why can't they make everything?

  9. #9
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    I know - and when I let off and put it in 4 it missfired and i braked and just stopped accelerating. i told the officer ~75 - 80 since i was in third (didnt tell him i was in third) and he said I was lying.

  10. #10
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    well dude i don't know about in america, but it sounds like the whole thing has some serious holes in it the kinds of things that would get a ticket thrown out if it went to court. after all he couldn't even see that you were in a sedan.
    i doubt its even possible for you to do 110 mph in 4th gear.
    Last edited by rob101; 09-17-2006 at 02:45 AM.

    Germans: Why can't they make everything?

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