Busted!

[IgottaBug!]

On my 57 mile commute to work this morning, I had the cruise control set at 85 mph, which is cruising speed on the stretch of highway that I travel. Everything was going just fine when I noticed a couple of cars behind me, a Hyundai tailgating the car behind me. Out of politeness and following the rules of the road, I moved over to the right lane to see if the car behind me wanted to speed up and get the tailgater off of him.

Well, before I knew it, I was moving up on a caravan of semi trucks. Checked my mirror, blind spot, signalled, and moved back over to the left. About 1/4 mile further, the car behind me moves over and here comes Miss Tailgater. Now that we're next to the trucks, I tap the brakes twice. Once to release the cruise control and the other to let her know that she's a bit too close. I guess she wasn't paying attention, because now she's close enough for me to describe her facial features and what she's wearing!

Having been rear-ended and almost ran into a ditch before on the highway, this didn't sit well with me. I see a break in between two trucks about a half mile up, and smash the pedal. As I'm looking in the rearview mirror to see if anyone would follow, I look up to see a State Trooper sitting in the divider! In complete panic mode, I tap the brakes I don't know how many times, downshift two gears, and realize that it's too late. As soon as I passed him, he turned on his lights, and I immediately pull over.

He clocked me going 102 mph in a 65 mph zone. After pleading my tailgating case and asking for a little break, I drove away with a ticket and a $105 fine. Things could've been worse. The Trooper and I actually had a good conversation about speeding after he asked was my car a turbo and laughed when I told him yes. He explained that with me going that fast, was that if someone decided to draft me that it would be a problem. I told him no, the problem is NASCAR (no offense to NASCAR fans), and he got a good laugh out of it. I don't have any moving offenses on my record, so hopefully I'll have a sympathetic judge or district attorney and get court supervision. Lesson learned.

[AmyJane]

OH That stinks! I got a speeding ticket in July and I thought making monthly pymts on it would help me out but God forbid it showed up one day late ( I live in NY and got my ticket in PA) they were sending out letters saying there was an impending warrant for my arrest. I got 2 of these letters and they were a bit scary so I just sent them the rest of the money and was done with it. I was doing 83 in a 65 and the trooper was nice enough to lower it to 73.

[FineExampl]

83 in a 65?? Ha! I'm up there with igottabug. I did 64 in a 30. After speaking to the prosecutor it got reduced to 45 and they lowered my ticket and i had to pay a fine. Ended up being nearly $300. Lesson learned.

Judge asked me why i was doing more than double the limit. I told him truthfully, "I have no idea, sir."

[AmyJane]

Well when I was living in Orlando I got caught doing 58 in a 25. I had to go to traffic school to get the points removed.

[IgottaBug!]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

OH That stinks! I got a speeding ticket in July and I thought making monthly pymts on it would help me out but God forbid it showed up one day late ( I live in NY and got my ticket in PA) they were sending out letters saying there was an impending warrant for my arrest. I got 2 of these letters and they were a bit scary so I just sent them the rest of the money and was done with it. I was doing 83 in a 65 and the trooper was nice enough to lower it to 73.

Yep, I remember that post! I would've been scared too! There's a judge here in another suburb that lets you know that if you miss a court date, he'll issue a warrant for your arrest, and the cops like to serve those early mornings on the weekend. I've got enough time to come up with the money, court date is Dec.15

I just hope that the judge or district attorney will hear me out and be understanding as to why I had to put some time and space between me and the tailgater. Hopefully, to aid in my good behavior (after I got pulled over) and to tell the judge of my good nature, the State Trooper will be there.

[IgottaBug!]

Originally Posted by CyberGreenBaby

Well when I was living in Orlando I got caught doing 58 in a 25. I had to go to traffic school to get the points removed.

Traffic school is what I'm hoping to avoid! Man, is that boring! The curriculum is based on a bunch of too! I had a couple of friends go through it, and I almost cried listening to their stories.

58 in a 25! You should have jumped out of the car dancing like you had to use the bathroom really bad, asked for some tissue, and for the cop to block you from view of traffic. I heard that worked somewhere. Guess it only works if you and the cop are opposite sexes though.

[Whitacre]

I hate when cops sit there, and then you were caught speeding because of someone else. That happened to me in my Audi going 68 in a 50, but i have never seen anyone in the past few years go 50 other than when heavy traffic or old people are around...or Oregonians who went too far and are just wondering on my roads! :-)

But i got over because this big truck got right behind me tailing me, and as soon as i got over this car came right behind me and pulled me over. i was SO pissed i was actually very rude with the cop because he was being very rude with me. That and the Audi goes waaaaay to fast without me even noticing...Im contesting it.

[noR]

Doh.

Right right, so the proper thing to do would have been to signal right, and apply your brakes until there was an openning. Lesson learned I hope?

Man that sucks though...

[mentalVdub]

first speeding ticket was on christmas day.

second speeding ticket a year later.

third ticket was earlier this year. was going 105 in a 70. cop told me "you were going 90" and winked at me. i was glad to receive a ticket at 90. 30mph over the speed limit and i'm in jail.

2.slow my arse.

[squeebug]

The only ticket I got was from a camera. I was going something like 35 kph in a 30 in my Jetta.

I think I've had my 2.slow going faster down the autobahn than my 1.8 I've done about 125 in the 2.slow and only around 115~120 in the 1.8.

[Herbie3Rivers]

When I get in that situation on the highway, I normally give my brakes a quick enough of a tap to kick the lights on, but not really slow down (I still keep my foot on the gas to nail it) and then give them a quick wave to let them know that I see them. Every once in a while it's fun when my dad's with me in the car since he's a sherrifs reserve deputy. He'll toss me his badge, I'll move over and flash it at the car tailgating me as they try to pass. They see it and hit their brakes and fall way back behind me. Maybe the cop'll never show up to your court date and the judge'll throw it out.

[beckwheat75]

I was actually lucky the other day. I had this guy tail gaiting me, to the point I could no longer see his headlights. He finally passes me and then slows down to a mere 35 in a 55. I stayed behind him for a mile and a half when finally I had had enough. I go out to pass him when he accelerated, now there is a car coming the opposite direction and I am at the pivotal moment. Speed up or slow down? Well, I opted to speed up when I notice that he ,the guy, suddenly slams on his breaks and much to my disappointment when I get back over into my lane the car coming the other direction was a cop. We lock eyes and he motions for me to pull over. He clocked me doing 82 in a 55 but when I explained what had happened he said that he thought thats what was going on and just wrote me a warning. SHEW!

[IgottaBug!]

Originally Posted by beckwheat75

I was actually lucky the other day. I had this guy tail gaiting me, to the point I could no longer see his headlights. He finally passes me and then slows down to a mere 35 in a 55. I stayed behind him for a mile and a half when finally I had had enough. I go out to pass him when he accelerated, now there is a car coming the opposite direction and I am at the pivotal moment. Speed up or slow down? Well, I opted to speed up when I notice that he ,the guy, suddenly slams on his breaks and much to my disappointment when I get back over into my lane the car coming the other direction was a cop. We lock eyes and he motions for me to pull over. He clocked me doing 82 in a 55 but when I explained what had happened he said that he thought thats what was going on and just wrote me a warning. SHEW!

You got really lucky on that one! Most cops would've said that you could've just let him go and not try to pass him again.

I've been thinking about my situation, and the sad part is I have to admit that I used poor judgement because of someone else's lack of judgement. I gave the girl behind me a chance to pass me. Unfortunately, she had a Hyundai (wife has one, poor acceleration) and couldn't pass me before I got too close to the semi in front of me. By that time I was doing 80 - 85 mph and could no longer see her headlights or half of her hood! That's probably an exaggeration, but she was too close for my comfort, and it pissed me off. Oh well, hopefully when I tell them that I'm a veteran and have all kinds of driving experience, they'll ease up on me. Luckily for me, I wasn't driving my Mustang.

[Alan From NYC]

Originally Posted by IgottaBug!

He clocked me going 102 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Have you considered flying a plane instead of driving?

Yeah, I know. 57 miles is a lot for a one way commute. Still, it's the path you chose and you gotta learn to slow down and simply allow more time.

And me? I'm a slowpoke. Just ask Amy and Justin.

[IgottaBug!]

Originally Posted by Alan From NYC

Have you considered flying a plane instead of driving?

Yeah, I know. 57 miles is a lot for a one way commute. Still, it's the path you chose and you gotta learn to slow down and simply allow more time.

And me? I'm a slowpoke. Just ask Amy and Justin.

Yes, I did consider flying a plane once in my youth. You needed a college degree for that, and at the time I was quite sick of school. Read the post though next time. I wasn't in a rush. I just don't like people riding my ass. I've been hit by a drunk driver, had someone cause me to spin out on a curve, and almost ran into a ditch by an angry old man. So, I have cause to be worried, especially at highway speeds. I'm not pointing the finger, and admit that I am at fault. Tapping the brakes didn't work and I couldn't get over due to a convoy of trucks in the other lane. That left me with no other choice but to put time and distance in between us. Unfortunatley for me, it cost me a ticket at the time, and ultimately its going to cost more. End result is, I'm safe, but at a cost. If you got hit in the back of the head by someone that was following you too closely, would you let it happen again???

[yelojkt]

78 in a 35, and an exhibition of speed. I now only race in parking lots. Whenever I have somebody tailgating me on the highway I just move over to the right lane.

[Sukhoidave]

Originally Posted by IgottaBug!

That left me with no other choice but to put time and distance in between us.

I don't think I'd make this statement to a judge. When I hear that it makes me think you feel justified driving that fast and that you would do it again in the same situation.

I understand your concerns with your history of bad drivers causing accidents but careful conservative driving is an available choice.

[IgottaBug!]

Well, I had my day in court finally. I think that anyone who's been to traffic court before can attest to how much it sucks! I got there a little late and was pretty worried, but was told not to worry by the security guard at the front door, reason being there was standing room only. After taking off my coat, running it through the X-ray machine, forgetting there was change in my pocket, and getting scanned by a not too bad looking female cop, I finally got into the court room. It was like a scene out of "A Time To Kill"! All kinds of people from all walks of life jam packed like sardines on the benches, in chairs, on the walls, and standing in the aisles. You had your DUI's, under age drinkers, weed smoker's, drug paraphenelia carriers, and of course your speeders. Some people had multiple charges pending. Then there's the ONE judge, about two dozen lawyers, and two or three clerks.

Now that I'm done describing the scenery, I'll get to the details. I finally get called up before the judge after two and a half hours, he was polite, read to me why I was there, asked if I had a lawyer, told me how much I could get fined (up to $1,000) , and asked me how would I like to plead. I don't think that my nerves have ever been as shaky in my life. And I've shot or blown up just about everything in the U.S. arsenal of weapons! A million things were running through my mind at that point, but I clearly remember thinking, "does this judge care why I was speeding?" As he and the State's Attorney sat there staring at me wondering if I understood a bit of what the judge had just explained to me, the answer was clearly no. So, I took a deep breath, stood up straight, and mumbled guilty. I wound up getting smacked with a $500 fine after finding out that there was no court supervision available in that county. I calmyly walked across the hallway to the County Clerks office and paid the $160 I had in my pocket, and I have until 3/16 to pay off the rest.

Very expensive lesson learned here:

1.) I could've used that money for mods
2.) Spend some good money on a radar detector
3.) Do your homework before speeding at all! Beware of the local laws
4.) The next time somebody rides my ass on a two lane highway, I'm going to go the same speed as the car next to me and piss everyone off until the tailgater backs off
5.) Spend some good money on a radar jammer as well

I think that I curled up in the bed for the rest of that day, but I'm okay now. I'm a fighter and I do pretty good when the going gets tough. So, now that my insurance is about to go up, I have to come up with a way to earn some extra $$$$ to cover it and the cost of the ticket. No, sweat. What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.

Oh yeah, at least the judge didn't jump up out of his seat and threaten to take my license away from me.

[IgottaBug!]

Originally Posted by yelojkt

78 in a 35, and an exhibition of speed. I now only race in parking lots. Whenever I have somebody tailgating me on the highway I just move over to the right lane.

I wish that I could've moved over yelojkt, but there was a convoy of trucks in the left lane. I was shooting for an opening up ahead, but that's when I saw the trooper.

[LadybugEwa]

The way I discourage tailgaters:
1. I look in my rearview mirror and mouth the words "get off my @$$"
2. Tap brakes only once, to turn cruise off.
3. Then sit there as the bug slowly decelerates. That's the reverse chicken part - how slowly do you dare drive on the highway? How slowly does the @$$ behind you dare to drive on the highway? You'd be surprised - once a huge tow truck was tailgating me at 120km/h and I had to slow to 60km/h to make him pass. I was in the right lane and he was so close I couldn't see inside the cab.
I'm thinking of putting one of those "please pass" lights on the back from a vintage VW... Funny, cause I love to go fast.