Posted on 04/10/2005 8:43:30 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Drivers quick with an excuse
Sunday, April 10, 2005
By Larry O'Connor
When confronted by a traffic cop, motorists will say the darnedest things to dismiss their misdeeds.
Last year, police agencies in Jackson County doled out 47,005 tickets. In return, officers writing those dreaded citations heard at least that many excuses.
Few are original and even fewer are legitimate, officers say.
"Only in about 2 percent of the cases will they tell you the truth," said state Trooper Dave Clark, a 16-year road patrol veteran.
At least in one instance, the oft-repeated claim of urgently needing to go to the bathroom was no snow job.
About 21/2 years ago, sheriff's Deputy Dan Deering stopped a driver who was zipping down U.S. 127 well over the posted 55 mph limit.
The driver claimed she had to go to the bathroom.
To flush away doubt, she bolted past the deputy, ran into the adjacent woods and proceeded to relieve herself, Deering said. In the passenger seat, her husband sat dumbfounded.
"I handed him the ticket," said Deering, a seven-year road patrol veteran.
Another speeding driver claimed to be on his way to Foote Hospital to deliver vital organs for transplant surgery.
With no heart or kidney in the front seat, Jackson police Officer Chuck Brant was somewhat dubious and ticketed the driver. Another driver later offered the same excuse but at least produced a bag of blood products.
"I let him go," said Brant, the city's top traffic enforcement cop.
For the ticket writer, part of the fun is poking holes in the concocted claims.
"I put (the excuses) into the top of the funnel and keep pushing them down with questions," Deering said. "Pretty soon the funnel is upside down."
In my particular car, it was a bad resistor on the backside of the instrument cluster.
Set the buzzer off, and the car wouldn't start without teh resister.
*grr*
I don't have teh car anymore, but if I ever have that jhappen again, I know what to do.
KILL the BUZZER!
;-)
While I don't think the original idea will really work - especially since its now well known and overused - aren't officers unable to "fix" tickets?
If I recall correctly, once a ticket is written in the book, only the court can dispose of it. I think this is the result of ticket fixing scandals in many cities.
Maybe someone in law enforcement could chime in.
Lawyers are so full of .... themselves
There is a county road one mile south of my house where the Sheriff sets up his radar only on sunny, warm, and otherwise pleasant days. Two cars are always busy writting tickets.
It's not always that easy. I pulled the seat belt buzzer in another car and lost the interior lights. The bastards wired the light circuit through the buzzer. I mentioned this to the dearler (under warranty) and apparently they knew exactly what to do (they put in a jumper) and didn't charge me.
Okay....I had to get input from my traffic cop son on this...He says there's no particular type of vehicle he pulls over; just whoever comes up on his radar gun. I asked him about pulling over good looking women, as my daughter seems to get her share of tickets. He said, nope, it's illegal....That's my boy...
He said the most common excuse is "late for Dr's. appt."
The best one he's heard personally was a woman that made an illegal u-turn....said she had to hurry and get home and pump her breasts; they were "about ready to explode." I guess he believed her, didn't examine her......
This is the kid that when 4 mons. old, I nursed while driving, so he gave her a break. LOL
Officer: "Where's the fire?"
I told him, opened the trunk, and showed him my turnout gear. No ticket.
Yeah, they do that once in awhile.
Transmission controller module in one car, I forget which, had the airconditioning wired through it.
Weird and annoying with that car.
On another car, the stereo is wiredthrough the AC.
*unnngh*
Good to hear that they didn't charge you.
Has anyone ever gotten a ticket on a cold, miserable, rainy day (unless, or course, there was an accident involved)?
Therefore, it is all about revenue generation. Whenever a town or municipality is inclined to (which is often), they can post their cops to speed traps and write tickets at will.
It's unfair but unfortunately it will never change because too many nannies think that these speed limits are for "public safety."
Your Tag is the best advice so true and brillant...
(I need to get some turnout gear)
One week after getting my license, I was pulled over on a Friday night while taking some friends home from work. We worked at Long John Silver, were still wearing uniforms and REEKED of fish and grease. The cop asked 50 questions about whose car it was, where we were going, where we had been, had we been drinking, etc.
I was scared to death! Finally, he says that my tags are expired, but that he isn't going to give me a ticket THIS TIME.
Damn good thing, since the tags weren't expired at all. I guess 3 teenagers driving around a subdivision at 1:00am on a Friday night was too much to resist.
Good point. Here in Tucson, the cops sit right outside the spot where a new speed sign is posted, hoping to bust people who speed up prematurely. But they wouldn't lift a finger to go after the perps who stole my son's wallet and ran up two thousand dollars in bills. We even had them on a store camera buying things. Didn't matter. They gotta write those tickets. They busted my wife for three miles otl in a 25 zone. She drives a lot slower than I do.
Anybody remember the tyranny of the 55 mile an hour limit which gauged us for years. But you got soccer moms and liberals and children's advocates, most of whom drive like maniacs, all over it if you ever try to get speed limit changes officially.
I know that tickets in Illinois can be fixed. I've had a few fixed myself as recently as 2003.
I've only gotten one speeding ticket in my life. I'd like to say that it's because I'm a silver tongued devil, but it's more accurate to say it's because I'm boring.
The one I did get, I supposed I deserved. I'd just come off a six-month tour in Western Ontario where the speed limit was set by the rear bumper on the car in front of you of your common sense on open roads. I had developed quite a lead foot. Back home, I picked up speed down a hill to about 45 mph just as the speed limit went from 35 to 25, classic speed trap country.
As the female officer approached I recognized her as the sister of my next door neighbor. Effecting my best Cockney accent I said, "You got me copper, it's a clean nim." Maybe, I should have asked about her nephew.
The court clerk asked, when I went to court, if I was pleading guilty. I told her no. So, I went before the assistant DA.
The DA threw it out, sayingI shouldn't have even been ticketed.
I almost got caught in one two weeks ago. The members of Memphis' finest couldn't decide if I was speeding or not. ('nuther speedtrap) They did get the person who blew past me (roughhly 15 over in a residential area.)
If there was a way for civil disobedience that wasn't so expensive, I'd do it.
Exactly. Cops are collecting evidence when they pull you over and not just looking to have a friendly conservation. A person is just admitting guilt when they tell the officer that they were speeding - the cop will bring up that fact if the person tries to fight it. Some people think that throwing yourself to the mercy of the cop is going to somehow help - never does.
The best strategy is to be polite and as low profile as possible when pulled over. DO NOT ADMIT GUILT. Then if the person does try to fight it in court, you at least have a leg to stand on.
I've been pretty successful in going to court, pleading not-guilty, and having the charge dismissed since the cop didn't show up. Even if the cop does show up, the judge usually reduces the speed or has me pay the full fine but eliminates the speeding violation which is great for insurance reasons. If a person is belligerent or yells "I'm going to fight this! I'm going to see you in court! What's your name and badge number?" during the traffic stop, the cop is certainly going to show up at court and the judge probably won't be as lenient.
In Cobb County (an Atlanta suburb), the court date is actually just an arraignment and then a second court date is set to try to case if the defendant pleads not-guilty. Hoping the cop won't show up doesn't work very well in this type of set up.
They seem to have enough manpower to distribute tickets, yet law enforcement has the balls to claim they don't have the manpower to find, let alone deport, the over 12 million illegals in the US.
I'm just asking that they deport about 50 thousand per state per year... or about 1,000-2,000 per county.
That sounds like a nightmare. Could you share some details?
What would that be? Is saying you're an attorney actually practicing law?
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