Confused, what to prepare for?

[thomor]

I was pulled over for "speeding" a few weeks ago, which I know I wasn't doing because I know that road is full of troopers enforcing so I kept within the speedlimit(and I'm not talking about +5 over, I mean I was doing exactly the speed limit) 65 in a 65.

Anyways I got pulled over, and the cop said I was doing 75mph(10 over):confused:, he said he paced me. Anyways the cop ended up giving me a ticket for careless driving to "give me a break".

Now I definetly want to contest this, since I know I wasn't speeding, and because the worst case scenario is 2 points on my license...which can be taken away by driving school.

Now my question is...do I prepare for court to fight a careless driving ticket? or do I prepare to fight a speeding ticket?

Thanks for the help

[Bully]

Prepare for the charge that is on the citation. That is the one you were charged with. Now, as far as "careless driving" goes.........There are a lot of factors that the public doesn't generally know about when it comes to speed enforcement. In California, you have the basic speed law. It says that you can't drive at a speed that is unsafe for conditions. Those conditions include road surface (and anything on it), weather, traffic, etc. I have even written an unsafe speed ticket for a person talking on a cell phone. It held up in court too even though there is no specific cite for cell phones in California. Think about the conditions that were present at that time and remember that an officer can set a limit to what he thinks is a safe speed.

[exComptonCop]

Now I definetly want to contest this, since I know I wasn't speeding


Ultimately, it will boil down to your word, against the Trooper's word. I hope you have more than a "I know I wasn't speeding" defense :eek:

[SgtScott31]

As bully already advised, careless driving is not only about speed, but other factors that may have been evident when you were stopped.

As Compton advised, you need to have a better defense than "I know I wasn't speeding."

Us Troopers/Officers/Deputies have better things to do than pull people over and falsely accuse them of violating traffic ordninances. Do we make mistakes? Sure, who doesn't, but as already stated, it's your word against his, along with a calibrated speedometer to pace you with ;)

[thomor]

I think the main reason he pulled me over is because I was driving suspiciously. On that road almost everyone hauls ***(80-90mph)...so a car thats doing speed limit thats not driven by a 60 year old really stands out like a sore thumb.

As far as careless driving...I think from the ticket checkboxes he is going to claim it was raining and was wet, and my speed wasn't safe(I'm sure here he'll claim I was speeding). I sort of have a countermeasure to that, I got a printout from a weather site that says that there wasn't any rain at the time of the stop...so it'll pretty much show that the officer wasn't 100% truthfull in writing the citation. Because he checked rain when there was none.

So I hope that will make the trooper's word less than golden.

But the good thing about careless driving, is that the prosecution has to prove that my driving was careless...which is usually hard for them to do, since there was no accident involved.

Actually this isn't the first time this happened, about a year back I was driving(once again the speedlimit), and this cop pulled me over for 62 in a 40(I think he got the speed of cars at the intersection ahead) since he used a moving radar...anyways I knew he was full of it so I went to court to fight it, but he didn't even show up, and it was thrown out.

But yeah I'm ready for the worst, which is losing. But its really not that big of a deal, careless driving is something people plead down to from harsher offences, and the 2 points can be removed thru traffic school. And the fine is like 80 bucks + the extra $30 in court fees.

To tell the truth the worst part of going to court, is that the prosecutor treats you like a common criminal, even for a traffic ticket. That is until they find out you actually want to go to trial...then they fall over backwards trying to get you to plead down. Probably has to do with the fact that you guys get paid overtime for showing up to court, so they end up spending more money than my ticket is actually worth.

[SgtScott31]

Good luck with your endeavor, but I highly doubt that a weather printout will do much. Our weather guys here are hardly ever right...besides, it doesn't have to be raining, rather just that the roads are wet...

[thomor]

My main thing will of course be to prove that the things I was doing were in no way careless.

And this is actaully a past weather printout(i.e. the actaul #s that were recorded right now, not the future predictions).

As far as it doesn't have to be raining...do you mean for careless driving? Because yeah I know you can get a careless driving ticket even if its sunny...my main thing here is to show that he checked off raining even though it wasn't, to help his case...and if he manipulated the ticket that way..then what else could have he conjured up.

But yeah I know its a long shot, but hey its worth a try since even if I lose its nothing major. I mean I know I'm in the right, so I'm not going in to court with the old "But everyone else was doing it"

[Bully]

As far as careless driving...I think from the ticket checkboxes he is going to claim it was raining and was wet, and my speed wasn't safe(I'm sure here he'll claim I was speeding). I sort of have a countermeasure to that, I got a printout from a weather site that says that there wasn't any rain at the time of the stop...so it'll pretty much show that the officer wasn't 100% truthfull in writing the citation. Because he checked rain when there was none.


I remember about a year ago, I was riding my motor into work. It was supposed to be a dry sunny day. I got to the top of Kellogg hill on the 10 fwy and a freak down pour started. There was a motorcycle in front of me. A beater with a driver that don't habla hydroplaned and hit the motorcycle. Launched the rider who face planted on the freeway and was DRT (dead right there for those of you that don't habla). That freak storm never showed up on the weather sites. Go figure.

Don't rely on your "counter measure". Maybe a sprinkler was broken and soaked the ground. Maybe your tires were bald. Maybe your windshield was dirty. Maybe you were on the cell phone. Maybe your glasses were too dark.
The only one that knows for sure is the officer. He doesn't have to tell you his reasoning until you go to court.