By avenator on Nov 17, 2008

I am a British tourist who got a ticket for speeding. I was doing 97 in a 75 but luckily the officer only hit me with doing 85. What are the implications if i dont pay the fine as im returning home tommorow. will i get arrested or fined double when i return to the states in Feb 08. He has my driver number and address but no passport number. do customs have the record on the computor when i enter next time. cheers

By Nicki on Sep 8, 2008

I think most people would agree that traffic laws should be enforced only for legitimate safety reasons, not revenue enhancement.

We have problems with Politicians because we are failing in our duty to control them.

BS so called traffic safety laws are a result of our failure to control out of control government growth.

We need to get the government out of our personal lives on everything and then reduce its size accordingly.

Reduced government size will result in less need to use the traffic system as a back door tax system, or what it really is.

Legalized Highway Robbery.

Nicki

By Baja Joes on Aug 29, 2008

I was with a friend who recieved a reckless
driving ticket for spinning his tires for
aprox 10 feet while taking off from a stop sign. He did not exceed the speed limit.
In some states he would have been ticketed
for “exibition of speed”. I always thought
that ticket was unfair especially because it stayed with him for 7 yrs and followed him
when he moved to another state.
He broke the law but I will never believe it was reckless driving.

By Alyant on Jul 14, 2008

Hi,
my friend got a ticket for speeding because of a medical reason of his girlfriend, and he already contested about it, so that the fine is already reduced. However, when he asked to pay it by working on community service, the judge directly refused his request without saying any reason. What does he have to do now, knowing that the his financial condition is not that good? Is there any way to re-contest? Thank you

By walkerny on Apr 16, 2008

still not a peep from our commentators in blue defending “professional courtesy” given to other officers, as well as friends, family, girlfriends, etc., while the rest of us pay sums shylocks would be proud of

By walkerny on Apr 16, 2008

JOE

Your comments are appreciated and understood, however most ticket revenue is generated by targeting people who don’t vote for the politicians in the geography they are caught in. You know, THEM… So in Canada, I get a ticket yet have no vote. What I CAN do, is vote with my feet. Ontario is now off my list for vacation and hockey tournament. That will cost them thousands in tax revenue over time. I also will not, of course, PAY the fine in question.

I get pulled over locally once every 7 or 8 years and have ALWAYS been let go. They aren’t interested in pissing off people who vote.

So yeah, when you get a local issue, like photo tickets, fight it hard, but we have no power over the pols from other countries, states, counties and jerkwater cities and towns, probably 20% of jurisdictions that write 90% of the tickets.

By JOE on Apr 16, 2008

Well walkerny you would be more effective in the long run to take that aggression and form a coalition to take your fight to the politicians. They bare the ultimate responsibility for allowing this to happen. Cops can’t enforce laws that aren’t there or legal. It just can’t be said enough, the final solution to all these driving problems are political. Fighting with the cops will not solve the problem. If your upset about all this revenue generation, as you correctly identified, then you need to get like minded people on your side and go after the politicians. Otherwise, your ultimately spinning your wheels, so to speak.

By akbar on Apr 16, 2008

i am a single father and tickets have caused me not to be abel to take care of my family be cause my work i need a license to drive can some one out there help my ticket was 1,400 but detriot has razed them to 4,060 they say it is because pentaltes but every on nos they are broke in MI PLEASE HELP.

By pillsbury on Mar 18, 2008

hey - walker ny
Law enforcement enforces from the PROFITABLE end of law. It cost money to go after the REAL problems in society, like meth labs,child molesters and crackheads busting into peoples houses. Or stealing AC units from churches for the copper.
We need legislation, but them crooks we have running the gov. will smile to our face and agree with us til they git behind closed doors. When they pass bill S1959, things will really git bad.

By pillsbury on Mar 18, 2008

Makenzie - If you were sitting in the dark or light on the side of the road with yours lights on or off - south carolina h.p. would have burnt you for “illegal parking” for probably about $240 smackers.
s.c.h.p. is getting worse.

By walkerny on Mar 18, 2008

notice how the cops stopped posting after the practice of ‘professional courtesy’ was mentioned. (Cops letting each other off the hook when stopped for speeding).

That’s right, you sanctimonious parasites on the public treasury, you have no comeback for that practice.

HYPOCRITES !!!

By walkerny on Mar 18, 2008

I see more and more of these revenue collectors than ever, hiding at bottom of hills and other dark, sneaky places. I say we fight back. If everyone would flash their signals for the next few miles after passing one of these tax collectors, we’d dry up their revenue, or at least make it less profitable. Better, if I have time, I’m going to write a sign “Speed trap ahead” and flash it to oncoming traffic. Maybe even stand down the road for a few minutes (parked legally and standing on public property out of the road.) Freedom isn’t free, we have to fight this growing menace. When did the police decide to become revenue agents. Is that why they joined the force? Maybe for just an easy public service job. It sure isn’t about safety or fighting crime for hordes of cops in New York. I see traffic stops all over, very few meth labs busted.

By Makenzie on Mar 18, 2008

OMG, I was given a ticket this morning by a police officer sitting in the dark with all his lights off doing 7 miles over the limit? How in the heck can it be legal for them to do this? If it were me sitting on the side of the road with all my lights off I would be considered Suspicious?

By kyle on Mar 17, 2008

I feel the same way as most of you i don’t feel most of the time im driving unreasonable i have a very high level of standards for my driving my friends at time say why are you always getting in the right lane. I do admit when im on the interstate i do usually exceed the speed limit but there is no set speed i drive it varies due to time of day how many cars are near by and other factors one posted speed limit can not do. I do from time to time go out on a very empty stretch of highway and reach speeds well in excesses of 100 mph but only when there is next to no traffic. One thing i notice is when i drive my bike i like to run 10-20% faster then traffic because it puts me in the position doing the passing and that helps a lot because i am moving through them instead of them running up on me not paying attention and when i am on my bike i am 100% focused on driving and driving only that is why i have breaks and suspension that reflect that. To me it seams unfair when my bike will stop in half the distance most cars will.

By Ken on Mar 13, 2008

To the officers who’ve posted here:
How many of you have been stopped (off-duty) for an infraction only to be let off as a “professional courtesy”? Thought so. Ever wonder why people don’t respect you? All you need is a major attitude adjustment of being “above the law”.

BTW, Deputy Sue, based on what you’ve posted, you have my respect and you are what I’d like to see more of in the law enforcement community. It genuinely sounds like you picked the field for the right reasons.

By Douglas Guerra on Mar 1, 2008

Jenny

If you never plan to visit the States again, don’t pay the ticket. There are zero consequences for you - unless maybe you’re Canadian. However, if you have gotten a ticket in one State, didn’t pay it, then you are stopped in another State while visiting the US again, I don’t know what the situation is. I have asked this question on several Web-sites but have never gotten an answer.

By keythewish on Mar 1, 2008

Jenny said:
> I’m a tourist and I got a traffic ticket but I’m not sure how much I have to pay. I was driving at 93mph. The speed limit for the highway was 75mph but the description for my violation was exceed 85mph. So, do i pay for the fine slated for 18mph over or 8mph over?

I’m making an educated guess here, so you might ask the court clerk to clarify (usually there’s a phone number you can call on the citation). My guess is that the violation is exceeding the speed limit, but the 85 mph is put in as an evaluation of the extent, in order to set the penalty.

Typically, the fines and/or penalties are determined by how much you exceed the limit. In this instance, 85 is 15 mph faster than the posted speed. I once got a speeding ticket for exceeding by over 20 mph. The impact of that was not only did the officer claim he could take me in for reckless driving same as a DUI, but that I was not eligible for defensive driving to clear the ticket.

By Walkerny on Feb 26, 2008

For all the sanctimonious tax collectors with a badge & gun, I have had the pleasure of being with many officers off the job in a social setting, and they ALL speed and ALL get off by dispaying their ID. It’s called ‘proffesional courtesy’. They also give friends & family their business card and that gets them off, at least in the home jurisdiction.

The few who were not given ‘professional courtesy’ in this jurisdiction or that whine about it like stuck…errr…farm animals.

HYPOCRITES!!

By Galaxyline617 on Jan 7, 2008

What gets me are the numerous school zone postings with flashing yellow lights and no school can even be seen within no less than a mile in either direction. When I have researched the location of the school, I have found the school to be on a completely different street that actually is perpendicular from the street the signs are posted on. ONE child may be crossing the street where the school zone postings are found but I have never seen a child or a crossing guard anywhere near the flashing lights or posted school speed limits.

Something is wrong with this picture if you ask me.

By Jim on Dec 13, 2007

I have to agree with the writers who claim that Mass has quotas, especially for out of state drivers. I was on my way to work thru Mass with no traffic, dry roads, and before 6AM in the morning. My experience was to get a ticket after the officer had to round up my speed to 80. To protest the fact that the officer had done this, I took a day off of work and traveled to court, only to be told that the officer couldn’t be wrong.

By Linda on Dec 13, 2007

My husband and I was going to town when we came upon an area where people were passing in the turning lane. All the cars were doing that and we thought there must be some kind of accident so we followed the other motorist. A policeman pulled us over and wrote my husband a ticket for doing the same thing all the other cars were doing. How fair was that. He explained that the reason we passed the way we did was because we thought someone had an accident or there was a stalled vehicle on the road. Why do some officers do things like this to some people and let others drive on. I personally thought it was very rude of him and he was a rude talking officer. He said he didn’t care if there was a hole in the road we were in the wrong and would pay the fine. If we had of had the money we would have fought that ticket. I appreciate the fact that you have to enforce the laws but to do something so trivial to me just makes the police look bad. If we would have been speeding or had been the only car to pass in the turning lane I would also have understood but when all the other cars were passing that was I think it was very unfair and proves that the law enforcers sometimes do need to write tickets to meet their demands.

By Jenny on Dec 6, 2007

I’m a tourist and I got a traffic ticket but I’m not sure how much I have to pay. I was driving at 93mph. The speed limit for the highway was 75mph but the description for my violation was exceed 85mph. So, do i pay for the fine slated for 18mph over or 8mph over?

By Mark D. Girouard on Dec 3, 2007

My son was ticketed for going 51 mph in a 35 mph zone. After doing some research we found out that the speed limit was unenforceable under Massachusetts law and should have been posted 50 mph (also according to Massachusetts law).

My son lost his license for 90 days, had to take 2 driving classes, pay $500.00 to have his license reinstated, take both the written and road test again, and also pay the fine which was $160.00 (A new junior operator law was enacted a few months prior to his being stopped), all because the city of Worcester, Massachusetts violated the law!

By Emily on Nov 19, 2007

Why cant America think more like Europe? Germany/Switzerland/Austria has the most intelligent and safest highway in the world called the Autobahn. They drive fast there without speed limits and its perfectly alright. Yes, there are speed limits in the city were theres allot of people but once you are out of the city into the rural areas your free to drive that high performance M5 BMW as fast as you want. The drivers in Europe are way better drivers then here in America. America has become so anal and restricted with so many things, not just with the issues of our highways.

By Officer Josh on Nov 18, 2007

I cant speak for the state of Mass. but in MD it is illegal to establish quotas. We have expectations that is to issue citations but not a certain amount i mean we have to show were doing something. And yes if i am in a hurry i do speed when im workin usually if i do have a call but i dont usually put my lights on if i dont need to. Otherwise i have nowhere to go except my district so i personally dont usually speed around. And detail pay has nothing to do with the individuals police department. Sitting in front of 7 eleven is an off duty thing that 7 eleven pays us for or whatever store. Almost all officers do it for extra cash since we get paid so low. Dont hate cuz they pay us to sit around and talk to people i mean you would do it to. I’m not trying to be rude here im just saying i dont see them ever taking speeding fines away and the people that complain are people that are speeding or whatever violation they committ. I am quite leanient on fines i usually dont write unless your going 15 over on the hwy and if there the only one on the road i just warn them i mean i use common sense. But small violation like that i have cought fugitives and serious fellons on just a simple traffic stop. I dont write everyone a ticket it depends on there attitude i mean most people are terrified to get a ticket so getting pulled over is enough. But then what do they do they do the speed limit for a week and then go back and speed again. But your right i cant speak for all officers cuz some do take advantage of there power but your gonna have that with any position of power. Its a never ending battle. like this blog, lol.