Apparently it was because they had already ticketed her, but the choices were to pay on the spot or go see a judge at that very moment.
The “pay on the spot” is the killer ,, think of it from her side ,, the only reason small towns do that is because they are robbing people ... typically they do not report the ticket info and it doesn’t show up on your license ... this is done so that they get fewer complaints and they can continue thieving longer and longer ... decades of abuse ... if they followed the rules and reported the “infraction” (and driving 71 on a straight clear road through the friggin desert is not anything that should deserve a ticket) then there would be no reason for the pay now in cash scheme ,, they could ding your license with a suspension no matter what state you are from and get paid..
The cops are the thieves in this instance .
New Mexico absolutely does not have a pay at the roadside option. That’s regular Mexico.
You have two options statewide. Sign a penalty assessment admitting guilt. You may then mail in the fine, pay on the courts website, etc. You risk getting an arrest warrant issued if you do not send it in within 30 days.
Option 2, see a judge. If you are from New Mexico, you get a court date. Otherwise, you must go meet a judge right then. You will probably be asked to post bond equal to the fine if you wish to set up a different court date.
But there is simply not an option to pay at roadside. The woman was an ass looking for a cause who lead a speeding chase through an area where she could have killed tourists, motorcyclists, bike riders, etc. Her kids are no more valuable than mine.
She could have signed the ticket with no danger. If she fled, she could have driven normally into town. She was the danger here. Not the guy going for her tires. At the 2nd stop, it would have been better to deploy a spikebelt in front of her van though. She had already fled once.
That sounds like Oklahoma!
I got my first ticket in NM, right after the speed limits were dropped to 55 on I-40.
Paid by mail.
There is no such thing. Maybe 50 years ago, but not today.
I got a speeding ticket in NM five or six years ago and I got a ticket and received my bill at home in California a month later and sent in my money.
I suspect that the deal was the police were denied a search of the vehicle and they were going to call in for a warrant.
The NM highways are known as a transportation route for drug smugglers heading west with drugs and heading east with bags of money. The traffickers use different profiles as to not attract attention. So it would be reasonable to inspect a vehicle that reeks of pot and has a large carrying capacity.