Rant about police- Update- Dismissed!

[Buster]

The other night I was sitting in my house, minding my own business, and there was a knock at the door. This was about the time that my wife was supposed to get home from work. I went to the door and there is a police car sitting in my driveway with the lights going. The officer asked if the driver of the car that just pulled into the driveway was home. I told him that it was probably my wife because she was due to come home soon. She opened the garage to talk to him and she gave him her license, registration, etc and he went back to his car ran the info. Anyway, he came back and gave her a ticket for doing 50 in a 40. I asked where it was posted on the road in question and he told me where the signs were supposed to be.

Well, I drove the same road the next day and the speed limit is not posted ANYWHERE. In our county, any road that isn't posted is 50 mph. So this officer pulled into my driveway, lights flashing, and issued my wife a ticket for "speeding" in on a road that she wasn't speeding on. Now she has to go to court over it to fight it and all because this officer either wasn't paying attention to the fact that there wasn't really a posted speed limit or he just didn't care and wanted to hassle someone. Either way, it's annoying and I'm pretty irritated about it.

It makes me want to drive up and down that road doing 50 until he pulls ME over so I can get him to actually show me this supposed speed limit sign, but I'm not sure I can control my temper enough for an episode like that.

 

[miss_jayne]

you can actually fight the ticket if there are no signs. go to the court office and get video of the road if you can. this same thing happened to my DH.

we have a road that goes from 50 down to 25 with NO warning signs. just, bam, it's 25. he fought it and won. there is still now '25 Mile hr zone' warning sign two years later.

 

[debilorrah]

I would be mad too, just take pictures or a video all along the route to show the judge. I know it is a pain in the rear all because he had a quota to meet, but you are stuck with having to prove innocence. Whoever said innocent until proven guilty had in backwards.

 

[Chickaree]

I say fight it. I had a similar incident while living in El Paso. I was driving on the New Mexico side unfortunately. So to fight the ticket I would have had to go to court in Santa Fe about 6 hours away. Not worth it so I ended up paying the fine. It stinks! Sorry you are having to deal with it.

 

[Buster]

Yeah I have a friend who is a police officer and he said to fight it. My biggest complaint is that this officer felt the need to do this in the first place when she wasn't even breaking the law. We are going to video the road and take pics of the sign on the highway that says it's 50 mph unless otherwise posted, but my gripe is that DW shouldn't have to take a day off of work because the officer felt like pushing his weight around that night. It's annoying as well that he sat his car in the driveway with the lights going like he was making a domestic disturbance call or something.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

I agree with Debi, he had a quota to fill. It does make you mad. I think that if you fight it and you win, the cop should have to pay your DW for lost wages and travel expenses. The cop wont be losing anything otherwise. I know that wont happen but it would be fair. IMO

 

[Buster]

My other annoyance at the whole situation is that we live on the corner of the road in question. When DW pulled into the garage she saw no police around at all. If she had seen lights she would have pulled over. This guy showed up, light a-flashin, after she had driven into the driveway and closed the door.

 

[Buster]

Quote:
I agree with you completely.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Oh my... So sorry that happened. I'm sure that is aggravating.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Quote:
I agree, fight it, but I do want to give you a heads up, there is no such thing as ticket quotas, that was done away with decades ago, and just makes the person chanting it look uninformed. Stick to stating the facts that you know, document everything, and remove emotion from the whole deal! You must not seem emotional or unreasonable. The cooler heads prevail.

Believe me, the judge will get sick of hearing people complain about a poorly marked zone being heavily patrolled, but only if people speak up. It is a pain, but you can make the system work for you.

Good Luck, It is always a tough thing! Have a copy of your wifes perfect driving record with you when you go, that never hurts!