Alright, so I was headed home today on a backroad and I along with about 15 other cars were stopped in a 10 minute time period by 2 officers for "Rolling through a stop sign".

My question is, is it even legal for the police to pull over more than 1 vehicle at a time, let alone 5+??! There was one officer standing on the side of the road slightly uphill signalling people over, and another writing out the tickets. Can this be considered some sort of traffic trap and isnt that illegal??

One thing that made me question if what they were doing was legal is that the officer tried to "scare me" out of going to court by threatening to tell the judge that I was speeding coming up the hill and that I "may get more violations" that way.

Im really starting to hate the police in this area, such *********!

 

Did the officer offer this "advice" about not going to court unsolicited, or was it a statement made in the course of some vigorous back-and-forth from you about the validity of the ticket? If it's the former, then he was clearly unprofessional and likely behaving illegally (i.e., an officer can't offer legal advice or try to discourage you from contesting the fine...in fact, they need to advise you directly of your rights to contest the citation). But if it was the former, he (?) was likely just being a human being responding to what he perceived as a difficult individual.

Which is why my personal advice is to never engage in any discussion with an officer. Just "yes sir" "no sir" and take your ticket. Save the backtalk for court.

And I don't know specifically about CA, but multiple vehicle stops are perfectly legal where I live. Happens all of the time. And generally, those are the tickets that are fully justified (and will hold up one way or the other in court)...otherwise they wouldn't be wasting their time and the court's time handing out so many worthless tickets.

 

I don't know what it is, but cops all over seem to have a real hard-on for doing the speed trap thing these days, AND pulling over multiple cars all at one time (which I presonally think is the equivalent of showing off, and rubbing it in, all at once). It's always irritating to be stopped, and ticketed, but I've just been stopped TWICE recently, on the same street, by the same cop, a cop that recently has been ticketing some of my co-workers as well. (As you can imagine, we are not happy about it.)

Being as I drive for a living, as many of my co-workers do, and considering the fact that we have to use that one street about 20-30 times a day, we are all pretty pissed off, and wondering if there is ANYTHING we can do. Sadly, I don't think there is. Although, someone mentioned to me recently, that you have a right to see what speed they clocked you at, on their laser or radar gun, and that IF they can't show you (because now some other poor bastard's speed is on it), then they can't ticket you. I've not tried this yet, so I've no idea if it's true. I do know that some judges don't appreciate police officers writing tickets in an assembly line fashion, but other judges could care less. (More than likely, there is nothing we can do. Sorry.)

I now have $230 in speeding tickets (2), and I've not even gotten my MINI yet! I'm just driving a rental until my baby is ready for pick-up, as my old car's lease ended a bit too soon for an easy transission. So, I'm racking up all kinds of unplanned extra motoring costs as is, and can't really afford to pay the tickets. Of course, NOT paying IS NOT an option. So, what's a fella to do? I don't know. But, hopefully, some knowledgable folks will be able to give us some helpful advice. (Other than, "Just pay it, and shut up you lead foots!") (I hate it when people just assume you are a bad driver, just because you've gotten a speeding ticket.)

P. S. I really, really hate the fact that I now know my neighborhood's speed trap cop by name. (We now don't refer to him as that blaketie-blank cop, but as that blanketie-blank Officer Tuttle. Yes, his name is Officer Tuttle. Think maybe he's trying to overcompensate, because of his name, or something like that?)

P. P. S. You have to look at the lighter side of these sorts of things, or it would otherwise drive you nuts. Good luck. :smile:

 

Well... I know I've just been lucky to get no tickets since I got my MCS... and I am usually alert to cops... but JCampos, if you didn't stop and BillyB if you were speeding... well... sometimes you get a ticket.

[CooperBeagle, while not a lawyer, advises you to admit to nothing on this public site.:smile: ]

Many, many years ago I got six speeding tickets on just one trip to Colorado and back from Indiana. The first two before I even got out of my home state. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I'm still dumb, but manage to get fewer tickets.

Dogslow.

 

There is something you can do: the speed limit.

I know you didn't want that advice but be honest -- you knew the speed limit and you chose not to do it. I do the same thing on a daily basis (I've been lucky so far) so I don't assume that you're a bad driver. But what kind of advice do you really expect about how to get out of paying for doing something you knew to be illegal? The fact that many of your coworkers have been ticketed by the same oinker doesn't necessarily hint at conspiracy, rather it likely eludes to the fact that your coworkers have made the same decision you did.

:smile:

 

Bite the bullet, go to court. When you talk to the prosecutor, Deny whatever the charge on your ticket is. When he counters, deny again and keep denying. It is for them to prove their case against you. As long as the keystone kop is not there they have no evidence. If they offer you to plead guilty but pay a minimal donation to the United Way or some other charity, refuse it. Keep denying that you did nothing wrong. Do not bad mouth the Kop or even complain about anything. Just deny, they will have no choice but to drop your case. Believe me, you will floating for the rest of the day. This does not work with speed traps though, especially with newer laser guns that they use due to aiming at individual cars.

 

How does it make sense to go to court where you are sworn to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" and deny everything over and over when you KNOW you were speeding? That is called perjury.

Hey, I'm all for fighting a ticket or charge when I know I am not guilty, but if you KNOW you broke the law then be a big boy and face the consequences if you are caught.

 

If you want to play sometimes you have to pay!


Sorry, but here in Florida the assembly line is perfectly legal. As for showing off... the large parking lot full of cars awaiting thier ticket is useful as a phycological tool to remind other motorist that they should mind the rules. In most states you are entitled to see the radar/lidar reading for your stop and also see that the device has been calibrated recently. If you were hit w/ Lidar, forget it, those things have upwards of 100 memory slots and all the cop has to do it check his log and punch in your slot and bingo, you were speeding! Jacksonville Florida uses these tactics all the time especially for running red lights. They even go so far as to outfit the police as construction workers sometimes to spot cars at the intersection. It's all been proven legal here.

I like Pennsylvania, they post the speeding fines on billboards so you can check and see how fast you can afford to go that day!

 

So, you got a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. Did you stop? If not, pay the fine and stop next time.

 

It's not at all uncommon to see teams of state pork with a row of cars pulled over on interstates. So. it is legal here. I agree it is to make a statement to people like me. We assume if we are fitting in with the flow of speeders we are safe.

But what I really hate is being the single one pulled over from the pack. I've been told here that red cars like mine are more prone to be made the example, and that sometimes they also want to look at the Mini.

I was pulled over three times within the first 4 months of owning mine. I'd not been tagged for years prior to that. In each case I didn't argue and simply offered a remorseful "guilty" when they strolled up. All three eventually got as friendly as their role allows, asked something about the car, and let me go with a warning.

I would never say it to a cop, but I blame the car. It is too hard not to speed.

P.S. My referring to pork aside, highway troopers see some horrible carnage. Here they usually ignore up to 9 over. Imo they are doing right to pull over jerks who do dangerous things. But I still have sore feelings toward the local cop who pulled me over, strutted up like I was some heinous criminal, and it turned out the outrage was my not having a front plate.

 

I'm on highway 95 in Florida going fast, you all know what I mean FAST! I went over five miles,when........
When I look in the rear view mirror, I catch a glimpse of a unmarked car with a single globe on top of hood maybe over a .25 of a mile back.
I always check my rear mirror just for this problem I pull over quickly two lanes and slow down.
Yup, I was pulled over and asked "How fast I was going" I said to him maybe 6 mph over the speed limit.
Then he ripped into me how he saw me on an entry ramp and it took him 3 miles to catch me. I looked and said nothing... He again asked me how fast I was going. And this time I smiled that I believe him, and his story, but didn't say anaything except that the my Mini S is a "fun car to drive",:smile: after some chitchat...
He let me go. knowing that he never clocked me or followed me long enough at a controlled distance. I knew this also because of his long story of the chase.
He told me to please slow down in the Mini and if he catches me again....................you heard it before.

I am ready to drive away and he ask me with his head at my open windowfor the last time how fast I was going.
I had to finally to be a little honest with him and said "really fast",
"fast enough that I won't be doing this for a long time and not on this road"
He smiled also and said it was like tryng to catch a fast rat.
"I'll set a better trap nextime."

 

The cop is full of crap. He cannot bring up violations in court that are not specified on the ticket. If he tried to do this, it would beg the question, "why didn't he also put 'speeding' on the ticket?" By writing mass tickets, he was obviously trying to meet a quota that morning, so why not pad it a little more? After all, isn't speeding more serious than not sitting at a stop sign for a full five seconds? And how would he be able to tell if you were speeding since he was distracted by the five other people he pulled over at the same time, much less be able to determine whether or not you "rolled through" the stop sign? He was obviously trying to make up for lost time spent at the doughnut shop that morning. I would fight it.

 

I work from home, so I don't get to motor as much as I should.
(That was a disclaimer, and to make you feel sympathy for me right from the start)

Many years ago, I heard a comic tell a story about his dream that everyone on the road got a set of those suction-cup dart guns, and when they saw someone speeding, they shot the car.

If a cop saw someone driving down the street with a million darts stuck on their car, they would pull them over and write them a ticket.

Wouldn't it be great if every car had an engine immobilizer in it that had a counter, and every one else could "Zap" the crazy speeder and when the counter got to 5 (let's say) they would have a 1-minute "timeout" to stew at the side of the road.

Alternately, your insurance-rate could be based on the number of zaps you got in the last month. What fun!

That would be some kind of fun, and the asses speeding and killing people would get their fair comuppance.

(I'll go hide in the basement now)

 

Yep, multiple stops are not only legal, but more economical and efficient for the state. A state trooper friend of mine (yes I admit to such friendships) just worked this labor day weekend on laser patrol. He and another were the "shooters" (only taking shots of cars as they drove AWAY, past their hidden point), while EIGHT patrol cars picked up the pigeons along the interstate afterwards. Talk about an unfair advantage, they "scored" nearly 150 citations in a little over three hours.


What to do other than drive the speed limit? Outfit yourself with the best radar/laser detectors (www.valentineone.com), never be the lead or tail dog, and give my friend's jurisdiction a wide berth. (Even I won't speed through it.)

 

(I'll go hide in the basement now)

As well you should...

wink wink nudge nudge - Bodinski

 

Hey my friend!!
The Passport 8500 radar detector is just as good a the Valentine. Had it for a year already and not a single ticket

 

Au Contrare mon ami (had mine for over five years without a ticket),

But I'll admit that they are very close, especially in Radar, where there is an advantage for the X-50. Laser is another story though. Check out this independent testing site. http://www.speedzones.com/ The Escort X-50 is the "latest and greatest" of the Passport/Escort family of detectors. It is a great detector too.

 

How pathetic....you get stopped repeatedly in the same spot for speeding and you come here and cry that the cop is the idiot. What are you ...19? Don't they have a points system where you live? Is it just a money fine? Obviously you are incapable of learning...and certainly not capable of one trial learning...points tend to do a better job of that than just money fines.

Ditto for rolling stops.....you break the law and then complain that you got stopped.

Unbelievable.

So the cure for speeding is a radar dector? How about cruise control? See that sign?....find a speed at or 2 above that and set it.

Peter...in Denver

 

Well said, FloridaChris!

 

Actually, the "going to court and lying" scenario ISN'T perjury, as you are never under any obligation to incriminate yourself.

 

Wrong. Lying under oath IS perjury. You are correct that you are under no obligation to incriminate yourself. That is called refusing to answer by taking "the fifth amendment". There is NEVER an excuse to LIE under oath.

 

Hey Peter in Denver, when did I ever say I got pulled over in the same spot more than once??? Dont be a ****.... you ask if I am 19 but you are trying to "flame" me on a internet message board..... what are you??? 6?!

The stop sign was in the middle of the hills and had ABSOLUTELY no line to stop at. The guy in front of my rolled through as I stopped about 5 ft back from him, then I continued. The cops arguement was that "he heard my car the entire time"..... OF COURSE YOU DID!!! IVE GOT A F'ING MAGNAFLOW!!

As for your question JSun, I never backtalked the cop... I was very very polite actually addressing him as "Deputy" since he was a Sheriff. He heard my car come off the line and assumed I was speeding since I revved it somewhat high (5000RPM) SINCE I was headed uphill.... 5000RPM in a magnaflow isnt the most quiet sound in the world. He was clearly THREATENING me about taking this to court by THREATENING to bring up other charges in court.

Another thing, why is everyone trying to flame me?? Its really pathetic that you feel that I DESERVE my ticket and should just PAY UP. You have no idea the events of the day, you have no idea how I drive... if you have come here to tell me I am immature and need to learn how to drive, you should really consider getting a job or finding something else to fill your time with.... maybe a puzzle, maybe some solitaire.... better yet.. GO MOTOR!

Here is the site I found that has helped me out and should help out all of you in CA from getting stupid tickets like this one.

http://www.ticketassassin.com

 

Why is everybody flaming this guy? He didn't say he was speeding - he said that the fascist cop threatened to tell the judge that he was speeding if he tried to fight the stop sign ticket. He also didn’t say that he rolled through the stop sign – he said that he was ticketed for rolling through a stop sign. Just to clarify this – California requires that a car sit stationary at a stop sign for five seconds, otherwise it is a “roll through.” It also requires that motorcyclists put both feet on the ground for five seconds. There was a cop in Riverside that used to sit near a stop sign that was on the peak of a steep hill near my work. Scooters and motorcycles have a back footbrake so it is impossible to sit still with both feet on the ground at this intersection, otherwise you would roll backwards. Knowing this, this cop would sit there and write tickets to motorcyclists all day long. Even know they stopped for the required time, if they didn’t put both feet on the ground he would write a ticket. I finally told the cop to quit parking in my parking lot because it was private property and we was not welcome.

 

Thanks!!! I was getting really annoyed with all the flaming going on here.

 

It is a free internet forum, everyone has a right to their opinion and to voice it. If you don't like it, deal.