My friend and I were on our motorcycles and were going 85 in a 75. We got pulled over and were told that we were going at least 90 but they never clocked us. They also said we were swerving in and out of traffic(6 lane road). We weren't, we were just passing cause we were going faster then other people. We used our blinkers every time and checked to see if we were clear before changing lanes. We never even saw any cops and don't know how they spotted us. The only cop we saw supposedly called in ahead and said we were weaving but we never changed lanes next to him.

They wanted to put us in give us a reckless driving ticket and put us in jail. I don't think we were doing anything to provoke anything more than a speeding ticket. I think they were profiling us cause we were on sport bikes and they have had troubles with them lately.

But my question is, do you think we could get off the ticket, cause I don't think they had a just reasoning to give us that.

Thanks.

You can take it to court, but it might cost more to win the case than it would to just pay the ticket :/ it's likely they were just profiling you and/or hoping you guys were drunk so they could bust you.

How much is the fine, and what other consequences are there (e.g. losing licence), how much disposable money do you have, and how important is the principle to you?

Depending on the price of the ticket, I'd just pay it. Probably easier than dealing with the hassle of bringing it to court. Cause it'd be your word against theirs basically.

From what I have seen of the american court system, it is almost never a good idea to plead guilty or no contest to anything that might be a wrongful charge. The verdict can come back to haunt you.

Are you trying to weasel out of it all, or just the careless driving part (leaving the speeding part which you admit to)?

You can often contact the officer who gives you the ticket to discuss it. You MUST be incredibly polite and willing to work with their schedule. Tell them straight up, yes, you were speeding, but that the other stuff is untrue and offer any proof you have and whatnot. If the officer lowers it/does away with all of it, great. Write them a thank you letter. If not, write them a letter a little bit later once again pleaing your side of it.

If you've made it to the the hearing, I believe the plea of "nolo contendere" is proper in these situations, since you're not refuting everything, just the careless driving parts. Show up to your court case (if it doesn't work for you, press for a rescheduling, which actually works in your favor). Around here, it's entirely common for the officer to not be able to make the court case and that'll help your chances of lowering it to a simple speeding ticket or waiving it all together.

Bummer. I have no advice, but I do know that we don't need bikes that will do 0 to 60 in X number of seconds. What is needed is one that will go from 85 to 60 in .01 second.

Good luck.

Unfortunately if it ends up being your version of things vs the officer's version of things in court then the judge will almost always side with the officer. It's [censored], but that's how things tend to work. That said, it can still be worth it to contest any aspects of the ticket you believe to be unjustified in court, as there's a decent chance that the officer won't even show up to give their side of things, which results in the case against you being dismissed.

Beyond that, take stock of what is actually recorded on the ticket you recieved. If it's only for speeding, and if there's no difference in the fine for 85 vs 90, then just pay the fine. You were speeding, you were caught, deal with it. If there are additional charges that you believe are inaccurate then decide whether fighting those charges is worth it. If there are criminal charges that could result in jail time then talk to a lawyer. If the charges are minor enough (non-criminal) that you'll be comfortable contesting them without an attorney then before the court date file a motion for discovery, requesting things like maintenance and calibration records of any equipment the officer used to measure your speed, training records for the officer who wrote you the ticket, etc. With the information in hand plan your defense carefully beforehand. Also, don't lie about anything, and don't try to contest things that are true (e.g. if you were going 85 don't try to contest or justify that, just focus on elements of the case that you don't believe are true).

You will not win if you fight the ticket. At least, it is not likely to happen. In any traffic court that I have been in (and I have been in a lot) it is always the officer's word against yours and unless you can prove beyond a doubt that you were not doing whatever the ticket was issued for, then you are just wasting your time and your money.

Plus, I have heard every excuse in the book come from people I have ticketed and they always make up a story to make it seem like they are the victims. "Oh, the officer never saw me so how could he give me a ticket?" "Hey, I think the officer's radar is broken." "I swear I wasn't speeding and I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt."

You get the idea.


I would get in some serious trouble if I did not show up to court when someone was fighting a ticket I wrote.

This just makes me wish I could hurry up and get my motorbike license.

11 months now... The wait is killing me!

You use the word blinkers instead of indicators?

Become an outlaw.
What have you got to lose?

How could they even think about doing any of this without clocking you? That seems unreasonalbe.

Here's an idea.

Don't ride your bikes like jackasses. You were going ten miles over the speed limit, you were passing other vehicles and probably doing so in an unsafe manner.

Pay the ticket and use your head. What you perceive as, "not doing anything wrong" is obviously not what others saw. Hell, you don't see anything wrong with going 85 in a 75 either. I'm pretty sure you were at some point doing 90 but the problem is, you can't see your speedometer when you are whipping past cars.

Sorry if I seem harsh. But you were caught. Now pay the fine.

This post makes me happy.

Pretty much this.

From your discription in the OP, I'd say you were driving recklessly and got busted. Quite frankly what it sounds like is you even saw the cop and just kept on going. svck it up buttercup.

You explicitly state that you were speeding. That is reckless driving.
Swerving in and out of traffic on a bike is also reckless driving. A bike should be treated as a car, thus no nipping in and out of traffic or going down the sides of other vehicles.

Ultimately, what would you rather have happen to you, this ticket or a horrible accident which would be entirely your fault. Because, by your own admission, you are a reckless driver.

(Id also like to point out, that if your post here was used in court against you, you can 100% guarantee you would lose)


:haha:

Hopefully you are an organ donor because the world needs more organs.

10 miles over the speed limit is not a good idea, even if the officer said you were going faster. Don't bother taking it to court; it'll just be a waste of everybody's time.

I've been driving for 4 years now, and I've only ever been pulled over once. I was driving back from school last year with one of my friends, and a cop pulled me over for "driving excessively in the passing lane." What happened was I was trying to pass a car in front of me, but I was only going a couple of miles per hour faster, so it didn't happen quickly. I cop came up behind me in the passing lane (going very fast), so I backed off and went back behind the car that I was trying to pass in the travel lane. The officer clearly thought that I had been traveling by the side of the other car, and pulled me over. That was unfair.

Out of everything you choose to question this?

I still say blinkers Indicators sounds too lame and who wants to waste the extra second to remember when you can say blinkers

@the op, seems like you deserve the ticket. You should just pay it.

This is rather common in America actually.

I understand both words, but in personal conversation I usually just say blinkers as well.

Yes. I've actually never heard them called indicators. It's either "blinker" or "turn signal".

And to the OP: If I saw a person on a bike going 10 over the speed limit, I'd say he was driving recklessly too. Don't do that.

I like this post.

The Tallest said all that needs to be said.