How many tickets did you get???

[JShiz]

Ohio highway troopers are the worst. I'm shocked i never got ticketed there....

[RIZZXX7]

reading all this crap makes me feel a little better getting that ticket 10 miles away from nantahala village...

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I think at that point (since I was getting a ticket anyway) I would state with an innocent and honest look on my face: "Sir, I'd just like to point out that if you'd ever been at another track, you'd know it's completely acceptable to pass when the car waves you by..."

There's your problem right there Kevin, not to sound like a dick but in my experience, and from talking to a bunch of cop friends, first thing you do is apologize profusely then make up some excuse, lame or not. When I got pulled over in Bryson City for blasting that U-turn the cop followed me into a parking lot. When I saw him following me into the lot I knew he was after me and I knew I was fucked, so I immediately pulled over, rolled my window down and said,
"I'm very sorry officer did I do something wrong"

Yes you did, you know why I didn't blue light you?

No Sir, I'm very sorry, & thank you for not blue lighting me. What did I do?

You pulled an illegal u-turn under a traffic light

I'm sorry sir, I was following a few friends of mine who are in this great town for the weekend, we're lost, looking for a grocery store which is why I pulled in here, I am unaware that a u-turn under a light is illegal here. I'm very sorry for that. In CT, if it's not marked No U-turn, No turn on red, anything like that, it's allowed. I'm very sorry & I'll be sure to spread the word to all my companions so we don't cause you officers any more unneeded trouble.

Well lemme see your license and reg and if everything checks out I'll let you off with a verbal warning.

Thank you very much Sir. To the best of my knowledge everything is totally acceptable as far as that goes. (which is true, becuase I paid my reg 2 years ago just never got it becuase the car was under the knife and coulsn't pass an emmisions test, which is why I still have '07 tags. I made some mention that a few friends of mine had just had a wonderful dinner at antonios and we're looking for a grocery store for some acetone for my car and some breakfast for tomorrow, small talk kinda stuff. Then the COUNTY cop shows up)

Do you have and drugs, alcohol, guns, knifes other weapons in the car?

Yes Sir, I have a pocket knife on my person. If you like I'll step out of the car with my hands on my head if you would like to take it from me

No, that won't be necessary, do you mind if we search your vehicle?

Not at all, Sir.

Ok, we're gonna check out your reg and license and get back to you

(Here is where I'm certain I'm going to jail, everyone else in the group too becuase the cop has the light on the '07 tag, and my up-to-date badge)

Cop comes back, reiterates that u-turns under lights are a no-no, I apologize again and point to the three other cars that turned around to get me and say that we're all in town and I'll be sure to mention to them so we don't cause anymore unneeded hassle for the law enforcement.

Have a nice night sir, and when you get back to CT, make sure they assign that tag to your car

My jaw FALLS OUT OF SOCKET, and I thank them again, wish them a very nice evening, then ask for directions to the nearest Wal-Mart so I can get some acetone to fix my car, and breakfast for tomorrow.

As soon as you start showing any aggression, you're fucked. Period. My pressed and white button down shirt probably didn't hurt either niether did the badges front and rear

Originally Posted by WE3RX7

Lol - welcome to my pain gentlemen. Growing up in VA I've learned much about our officers. My bro-in-law is actually a state trooper so I dont get hassled much in the central/richmond area, but everywhere else its a different story.

Our NOVA cops are actually cooler than the ones you find in many of the smaller townships, etc.

Top things they like pulling you over for - tint, radar detectors, exhaust and county/inspection stickers. They dont care where your car is from, if it doesnt fly in our laws, you're screwed.

Pleasures of being a "commonwealth" state!

At least none of you went to jail....

Some of us should've. Shit, I rolled by in the same caravan with a kinda loud exhaust and BLACK windows, I mean BLACK.

Originally Posted by Duffman692002

Oh, I forgot that it was the officer who initiated the stop first day on the job so I'm thinkin' he wanted to be big man on campus and himself a big drug bust on his first day.

I'm pretty sure that's what did it. Blows man, that and the hair thing is really not cool. What can you do though.

You guys gotta look into Police fund donations. I'm telling you. The one in CT is called the One Hundred Club. It's something like $1,000 your first year, $250 after that, they give you a badge, a couple stickers, and a business card. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it. I got pulled over doing 52 in a 25, ( I was racing some little douche in an Audi S4, I was in my Cherokee and pulling on him through some back roads ) gave the cop license, reg, and the little card. He comes back 10 minutes later saying he's gonna let me off with a warning, blah blah blah, gives me the card back and says

What's this?
This?
Yeah, this 100 Club thing.
Sir, it's for you and your family
(confused look)
It's a donation for CT officers, state troopers and correctional officers who are injured or killed in the line of duty. It serves to protect the families of the people that protect us.
Oh, cool. I just transfered in from NY, my captain told me to let you go

[leknaw]

I was just to the end of the tail when I noticed a TNST behind me. I pulled over tho the gravel like parking spot by the river, where other RXs had stopped. The tropper, no lights on, pulled over in the parking spot as well. I had already stopped my car and had step out as I noticed the officer approaching my car. He had a grin on his face and started to talked about how much he liked my car and the fact that he used to owned one back in the day. He went about to look and talk about the other cars that were in the area.
When I left on Monday, and as I was making my way to SC on highjay 74, I realized that I had passed a ST at arounf 80 MPH, (speed limit was 65), I slowed down and got on the right side lane. After a few minutes behind me he lit me up. I pulled over, turned the car off, sat the keys on the dash, had my paperwork ready and windows rolled down. He asked me where was the car registered at, since it did not came up on his system. After explaining to him about my recent work on the car he let me go. Drove another 500 miles and had one officer driving behind me to later turn around. No other issues and no tickets

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I wasnt aware I had a problem, but please, do enlighten me as to the nature of said problem.

All I'm saying is we seem to have the same the same gritty, defensive and aggresive personality. I filter mine on occasion. Between the age of 16 - 19 I got pulled over for
Running a yellow
low 40's in a 30
75 in a 55
35 in a 25 and
85 in a 55 - interesting story behind that one, cop pulls me over from the right lane ans says he caught me at exit 7. I told him thats impossible becuase I got on at 8,
no I caught you at 7,
here's my license, look at the address, why would I backtrack a mile to get on the highway,
I caught you at 7
you caught a red cherokee, I bet I can go to the Jeep dealership and point out 10 red cherokees, my mother even owns one. Do you think it's possible that maybe there was a nother red cherokee that you saw and not me?
He didn't like that and also hit me with failure to use a signal, seatbelt, something else too, when all was said and done it was ~$450.

Then I got a kick in the ass and almost ended up in jail becuase of my mouth. I learned to filter it when dealing with cops. Since 19 I have gotten pulled over for
47 in a 25
52 in a 25
no reg displayed
illegal left turn
got blue lighted for 85 in a 55 and when I started to pull over, he just drove off
I think there were a few others but most recently an illegal u-turn in an unregistered car. I didn't get ticketed for any of those. I changed my approach and it works for me, that's all I'm saying.

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I've never liked the "yes sir, no sir, sorry sir I'll never do it again sir, allow me to offer a totally irrelevant excuse sir, in the hopes that you won't realize I have insulted your intelligence sir, and while you are here may I kiss your ass some more sir?" approach. I'm told it gets real old, real quick, for them, and they'd rather be talked to like normal people in a courteous manner without the asskissing and bullshit.

I'm not saying be a groveling fool. I certainly don't take that approach, but the yes sir, no sir, thank you officer seems to go a LONG way

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I am told that the officer 95% of the time has it made up in his mind before he gets to the B pillar what he is going to do to the driver unless he finds more stuff to charge you with during the course of the stop (it rarely goes the other way, with him planning to ticket you and then deciding not to). TX TOO LONG so unless you have cleavage to flash you are basically at his mercy at that point.

I disagree with that. In my experience, respect goes a long way. I'm not saying offer to stroke his ballon knot with your tongue, but like I said, respect goes a long way, as does admitting fault. If you defend wrong actions, you're fucked.

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I never, and I mean NEVER, give consent to search, and of course I recommend this policy to everyone I know as well. No good can come from it. The police are NOT here to be our friends, they are ALWAYS looking to build a case against us whenever possible...that is their primary role in society.

Most people say "if you don't have anything to hide, what can it hurt?". Plenty. The majority of police are probably honest and normal, but there are still a few bad ones in every department. If you get unlucky enough to run into one of these, who is to say he won't use the opportunity to 'search", to plant something in your car? I live in a pretty small, semi-rural area and even still, some of the departments around here have been known to 'find" drugs in the cars of people I know for a fact are not users or dealers. While such an occurrence may not be LIKELY, why take the chance? We all have nice cars and I for one do not want the cops or the dogs in or around my ride that I have spent time building, tearing up interior panels and such. Because of this, and the fact that it is my right, I refuse to consent.

Most people give consent to search because they just want the experience to be over with, and they figure that doing this will speed their release up. This approach is for the lazy who do not care about their rights, and often it is wrong regardless. Most of the time it does the opposite by adding time to the stop. IF you refuse consent, the cop has 2 options: ticket (or not) you for the original violation, or call for a dog to walk around your car. Just like us, most officers are lazy, and when faced with this choice most will just do a visual survey of the inside of the car as best they can and then go ahead and do whatever they would've done about the first violation. I also tend to think that the chances of the dog hitting and giving a false positive on my car are lower than the chances that a dickhead cop might not like the way I look at him and might see fit to "find" something that wasn't there during a search.

From my experience, and with people that fir my "profile" if you will, the cops are fishing. And I've been told this. Someone in their 30's, nice car, $200 sunglasses, pressed buttondown shirt really doesn't fit the norm of a drug user or dealer. What the cops are looking for are the Wall Street guy who's dabbled in coke to keep going, the lawyer who smokes some weed to relax, shit like that. By simply asking to search thier car, they're trying to figure out in one question, if they are that small percentage or not. By saying, by all means, search my car, you're basically saying I got nothing to hide, I'm not what you're fishing for. By refusing a search, you're basically admitting that there is something in the car.

On the flip side, if you're a total fucking retard like my shitstain younger brothers girlfriend and drive a beat to shit old whatever it was with bumper stickers like phish, and the greatful dead, it's 4:19 you got a minute? you're fucked from the start. It doesn't help that the dumbass was driving around with a bag under her seat. She refused the search, 10 minutes later the cop came back with a warrant and 30 seconds after that she was arrested. Basically, I've been told, always consent to a search. If you say "No," they'll just get a warrant and you'll be searched anyway. If you say yes, and there is something in the car, don't hesitate at all when you say go for it and hopefully the cop won't pick up on you're bluff.

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

Aggression? Who said anything about aggression?

Look...in case you didn't "get it" I was making a joke. By saying "on any other track" I was making the joke that the officer would infer that I think the dragon is also "a track". Obviously I was not fully serious with recommending that remark, it was intended to create humor amongst ourselves, but apparently fell on dense readers (or I have an odd sense of humor).

Hey, this is the internet, this is serious business & yes I did think you were being serious in mentioning that, my bad

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I have been known to make small, perfectly legal, comments or questions to the officer. Like perhaps "ah man, you really ticketed me for 48 in a 40? Come on officer, we both know that you go faster than 8 over on a daily basis yourself even when you're off duty, yet you penalize me for doing the same thing? Ever hear of a double standard?". The look on his face is usually priceless, and sometimes I think it makes him stop and think.

That wouldn't fly with any of the cops up north, at least none in my area.

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

I once (before I had a v1) got stopped for 66 in a 60 in a speed trap area (artificially low set speed limit on a 4 lane interstate not yet in a city area) as I crossed a county line in NC on the interstate heading toward asheville. When the officer returned with my ticket, as I signed it I said "so I take it you are the welcome committee for XXX county...you must not get many return visitors with a greeting like this". He actually enjoyed the truth in my comment, it seems, because he grinned from ear to ear and had to stop himself from laughing..

Yeah, if I said that to a cop up here, he wouldn't be laughing with me, he'd be laughing at me all the time thinking, you poor SOB

Originally Posted by RotaryResurrection

While that is kinda cool that you basically have a "get out of jail free" card, but it has always seemed counter productive to me, to fund the very organization you hope to avoid contact with, while in fact you are probably funding more officers and equipment which then increases your (and others') chances of contact with them. I suppose if I still raised as much hell as I did 12 or 13 years ago then this might be a worthwhile investment, but for the occasional traffic stop every year or 2 that I get into now, it wouldn't seem worth fooling with to me, not to mention the fact that I just dont like the idea of giving them money, either voluntarily or via a ticket/fine.

Nah, you mis-understood what the purpose of it is. It's for CT state troopers, officers, and correctional officers who are disabled in the line of duty. It's for the widows/orphans of the fallen. Think 9/11 victims fund without the corruption becuase there are like 5 people who tend to it. The money doesn't go to any state or local precincts, and I get to write it off on my taxes. I plan on writing that check, for whatever the amount is, for the rest of my life. If there was a national one, I'd donate to that one as well.

If your approach works for you, great. But I can tell you a few of the comments that seem to be enjoyed in TN or NC, won't go over well in CT, NY Metro or anywhere in MA or RI and that's where I'm getting my experience from.

[vex]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

I got pulled over for blasting a U-turn in Bryson city under a traffic light while following 2 other cars back from dinner. About 5 minutes later a county officer joined the city officer that pulled me over. There are questions about my reg being up to date, haven't gotten a ticket in about 12 years, I generally wear a button down shirt and I have 2 badges on my car for donations I make to officers funds in CT. I didn't get a ticket, but I did get directions to Wal-Mart when I asked the officer. They were cool, no doubt about it. Had this occurred in NOVA, my buddies would've been bailing me out of jail.

Speaking of NOVA, one of our crew did get pulled over for an illegal exhaust.... even though it passes TX inspection where the car is tagged, the driver still got a ticket. Not cool, NC/TN officers = cool

sounds like NoVA. Probably around farifax county. I'd say get it db tested where it's registered and send in the receipt and a letter of account and they *should* throw it out.

[vex]

Originally Posted by Duffman692002

I had no issues with the police while on the dragon but everywhere else was a different story.

As Brian said, it was my car that the driver got ticketed in while passing through NOVA. She said that all they wanted to see was the registration and insurance, show them the insurance but she didn't know where I kept the registration info. I keep the registration in the folder along with the owners manual but in Texas we're also required to have a vehicle registration sticker in the windshield, guess the NOVA guys were blind and couldn't see the bright blue/white sticker right above my inspection sticker. She got ticketed for my radar detector too.

Sounds more and more like this happened in Fairfax County. No they won't accept the reg decal on the windshield. They're stupid like that, and will not accept the inspections of other states legality if you're driving on VA roads--which is a catch 22, but usually can be dropped/complied with in court. They're really just banking on you to pay the ticket and send money without defense. I'm not sure, but you may be able to get an lawyer to stand in for your defense, but you'll probably pay more in retainer fees than actually paying the ticket. You may be able to continue your case until next year and go to court a few days before the dragon. But, I don't know if they'll let you continue that long.

As for the radar detector, they can not ticket you for it if it is un-plugged and not easily reached to plug in or power on. AKA, in the glove box, behind the seat, in the center console. Just be glad they didn't confiscate it.

After I left Brian's I got pulled over in Ohio and spend 2 hours in the back of a cruiser while two Akron cops and their dog tore apart my car, and I do mean tore apart. The pulled my storage bins out, took off my kick panels, pulled the spare out, poked around under the dash, crawled under and prodded around every fender well, and snooped around under the hood before the officer with the dog did the 'I don't know' gesture to the other officer after pointing at various things in the engine bay. Originally he said he pulled me over for following too closely, though I had about the same distance between the car in front of me as everyone else did around me, and loud exhaust which I'll give him since it is a touch on the loud side, but I feel that the real reason was that I have OOS plates and my car was covered in days worth of road grime and a bit on the faded side which automatically meant I was up to no good. Suppose my long hair and goin' on 26 hours without sleep also added to their suspicions. :/ The found a magnet in my car and gave me all kinds of grief over it as well as having a gas mask in the car with me. When all was said and done, the officer who initiated the stop gave me a warning for following too close and sent me on my way without as much as a thank you for your co-operation or any kind of apology for costing me 2 hours.

Sounds like you consented to the search. If not what was the probable cause?

All was well for the remainder of Ohio, all of Illinois, MO and most of OK where I got stopped again...for exhaust. I explained to the officer that I had already been stopped twice for it and showed him the warning from the Ohio officer and I was on my way without any fuss. Really cool guy actually.

Yeah, usually if you get the ticket for an offense in one day you do not get a ticket for it again... Most times.

[Kentetsu]

I saw a lot of cops, even on the NC side. Everytime I came across one, I was stuck behind slow traffic though. I really wanted to show the troopers what my car could do, but the damn slow drivers kept messing it up for me.

[My5ABaby]

I figure that if I can make the cop laugh, I might have a chance to get out of it if I otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

[Rx-7fetish]

Ive been pulled twice in south east VA where i live, first time i think the cop was just having a bad day because i knew him, second time i blasted around a turn on the way to school because i was late for a class. I told him sorry i was late for class and didnt realize i was going that fast. I didnt honestly my suspension is pretty decent setup. He told me to slow it down and let me go on my way. There pretty decent here it also helps that im 20 and have a perfect driving record.

[vex]

I'll be honest, it all depends on the cop and situation.

There's cops out there that will ticket you for anything and everything. You'll see them if you go to traffic court and they have dockets with 50-100 people in them. The average, from what I've seen are officers that have maybe 2-4 people on a docket. Just luck of the draw when it comes down to which officer you get and when.

[88turboii]

if the goal is to get out of the ticket, i think TT's on to the right idea. you just have to put yourself in the cop's shoes, he is more likely to let a ass-kisser off than someone who challenges them/exercises their rights. Its sucks thats how it works, but thats life

the only sure-fire way to almost guarantee to get out of a ticket is to volunteer for your local PD or FD as a reserve. You work a couple weekends a month, you get one of those blue-stripe stickers, youll never get pulled over

[HockeyRX-8]

Almost got a ticket in VA for having a radar detector....but the cop was chill and he let me go with a warning