Worst State for PoPo and tickets?

[Chuck35]

Repulsive: tending to keep away or at a distance. "I won't go through Virginia on my motorcycle because they have that radar detector law" (that wasn't me, but I have actually heard this sentiment)

I do avoid riding in Virginia when it is reasonable to do so. By reasonable, I mean that it would not take me far out of my way, or take me off of a very nice route where there is only a short section in Virginia.

When I do ride in Virginia I normally unplug my RD and put it in my pocket, out of sight. However, last time I crossed Virginia pretty much all the way through from north to south, I left the RD on and active and never got hit with radar. I think the detector detectors are few and far between. You are more likely to get caught with an illegal detector by visual detection. Police are usually very observant. Keep it in a less obvious place.

I often avoid South Carolina due to their lack of CCW reciprocity with Georgia. That and the fact my ex lives there...At the very least I have to stop at the border and adjust my err luggage.

I'm originally from Va, the staties and many locals have detectors that alert them when a radar detector is in use. Unplug and hide it. slow down

 

[HotRodZilla]

Have you guys ever stopped to think, "Maybe Virginia is very pretty and historical, and the legislators would just like people to slow down and admire their pretty state?"

It could be true...Work with me here...

We have Corrales on the north side of Albuquerque. They are known for writing tickets and have a 30 or 35mph limit all the way through. Due to geography, there is one south entrance/exit and one north entrance/exit. As soon as people enter the village there's a sign that says, "Slow down and see our town. Speed up and see our judge." Haha...

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

Everyone should fight their tickets.
If everyone did, it would tie up the courts and they would be dismissing tickets left and right, there wouldn't be enough time to handle all the cases.

Here in California you can file for a "Trial By Declaration"

That means you fill out a form and write a report on why you are not guilty.

The officer who wrote you up then has to respond to your report and write his own report of the incident.

A lot of times the officer doesn't respond because they hate doing paperwork and the ticket is dismissed.

Even if you lose the TBD you can still request a court date for another chance at getting off.

Can you imagine if everyone filed a TBD how much time it would take the officer to respond to all of them?

For one it would cause them to write LESS tickets because they HATE to write reports........for another the officer would spend most of his shift writing responses to the TBD's and they would have to dismiss tickets. There wouldn't be enough time to respond.

If it did reach that point though I'm sure the law would be changed and they probably would do away with the Trial By Declaration option.

I love TBDs. I get to sit in the office, in a nice comfortable chair and write. I'm left alone and can do my thing. I also don't have to go out into the field to listen to all the whining and bitching from the citizens I have to deal with, or any number of ridiculous radio calls. Just for the record, TBDs are considered subpoenas and officers cannot just disregard them. Lastly, I have yet to lose on one of those in 25 years, and that includes the ones that were found guilty and still go to trial.

Well my riding buddy in San Diego has won ALL 3 that he's done......guess you didn't write him up!

And if everyone you wrote a ticket for made you do all that paperwork you wouldn't be on the street much to write more tickets!

Want to clarify something too.......I'm all for giving tickets when drivers/riders really act like jerks like speeding on crowded roads or stunting in traffic or construction zones ect.......

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

I love it when people take their tickets to court. I get two hours of guaranteed OT and I'm usually out of there in 15 minutes. In 17 years I have not lost a traffic case yet, and I've written thousands of cites. Some of the internet learned tricks people try to pull are very entertaining. I guess people think judges and cops don't use computers much...They would be wrong.

Half the problem is a lot of judges and cops are buddies and they're NOT impartial.

I lost a court case in San Diego where cops said a riding friend and I were seen from the air passing over the double yellow, we didn't!

2 cops, one on the ground pulled us over.

When we went to court they flat out LIED to the judge about the whole scenario, said completely different things than when they wrote us up.

One thing they lied about was my friend asked the cop how high in the air the plane flies...the cop said "about 10,000 feet".

In court they said he was only 1,000 feet in the air!

And when I called them on it, the judge mocked me...he said "Well are you trying to say these officers were out to get you"?? "why would they be out to get you"?? with a smirk on his face.

I took it in stride though because I pass on the double yellow all the time and have only got 2 tickets for it in almost 30 years of riding.

 

[Fred W]

Have you guys ever stopped to think, "Maybe Virginia is very pretty and historical, and the legislators would just like people to slow down and admire their pretty state?"
It could be true...Work with me here...

We have Corrales on the north side of Albuquerque. They are known for writing tickets and have a 30 or 35mph limit all the way through. Due to geography, there is one south entrance/exit and one north entrance/exit. As soon as people enter the village there's a sign that says, "Slow down and see our town. Speed up and see our judge." Haha...

That may be their motivation, but I seriously doubt it. I think that they believe that they "know what is good for us" better than the public does, and they probably think they are setting the too low speed limits "for our own good.". Either way, if it is because they want us to "slow down and enjoy their lovely state" or it's because they think they "know what's good for the public" neither is a good reason to set a speed limit lower than the average motorist drives.

The people that set speed limits (and other road controls like signs, etc) are not always qualified to do that. Many do not fully understand the concepts of the devices they are setting. They think that because they set the speed limit lower the traffic will slow down. It won't. It will just make more average people into law breakers.

A couple of years ago there was a motion to lower the maximum speed limit in the community that I live in down to 25 mph. There was no shortage of do-gooder types that thought this was a marvelous idea. I mean... Just think of the children!

Luckily there was a ground swell of average people that objected and put it to a vote at Town Meeting, (which we still have in NH, one of the purest forms of government) where it was soundly defeated. But, here's the kicker... if the Town Council had passed that motion without a vote (which wasn't actually required) it would have become the law. The Town Council is made of unpaid citizen volunteers. They have no idea what traffic controls are all about.

 

[luvtoride]

Opinions fred, we are all welcome to them. I still think its ridiculous that people complain about radar detectors. I know someone who will actually go around the state of virginia to get somewhere instead of going through it. Do u know what I think about that? You guessed it... I think its ridiculous. You're welcome to complain but you'll still have this woman right here that thinks its ridiculous. & the law isn't changing anytime soon. That's all I've got to say about this subject.

 

[retro]

It's not about "safety". Never has been. It's a revenue source, nothing less.

Case in point, my last ticket (while passing thru California) was for the heinous crime of travelling at ~19 miles over the posted speed limit (84/65). In order to pull me over, the cop (coming from the opposite direction on a hill top) slammed on his brakes and pulled off the roadway onto the soft sandy shoulder causing the vehicle travelling behind him to have to brake hard so as not to rear end him. And then - on the top of a blind-to-oncoming-traffic hill - the PO pulls an illegal U-Turn, flips his lights on and tells me to "Pull over" thru his loudspeaker even tho there's no shoulder, just sand. I'm thinking to myself, "No way!" And continue another half mile or so until it was safe enough for me to pull over.

"Safety" my a$$. This was never about anything more than the lousy $237 it generated. The only unsafe acts were performed by the leo, "in the performance of duty for the public's safety". Right....

Cops are kinda like Muslims in that its perfectly fine for them to lie outright, even under oath, to get what they want, but Brother don't you ever try lieing to them!

 

[ionbeam]

^^^^^^ I see the lock coming....

 

[FJRay]

Probably right. Didn't need that shot. Oh well it was a good thread.

 

[Pterodactyl]

84 in 65 is ticket worthy. Sometimes you just deserve it.

And the comment about LEOs and Muslims says much about the poster and nothing else of value.

 

[Fred W]

Hope to get this in before the lock:

Heidi, I agree, it is somewhat foolish to circumvent the entire state because of one law. Much easier for me to just put the RD away and slow down a little. But it does show that the state tends to side with safety over personal freedoms and rights. Maybe it's a Commonwealth thing? I know that Mass is that way and I suspect that PA is too. Not sure about KY.

Connecticut used to also outlaw RDs. That was overturned by popular vote. Why? Because the speed limits are too low and everyone in that state routinely breaks them. And people there realize that they have a right to receive any radio waves regardless of who transmits them. We will have to agree to disagree about this one. It's certainly nothing I feel particularly strongly about, but I still have a hard time understanding why anyone would just "go along with it."

Also for the record, none of this has anything whatsoever to do with any particular religion or race, so I would say that FNG retro is completely out of line spewing racist comments like that. Plus, I do not think it is just a money making thing for the municipalities. I think that they really do believe that they are "doing good" by helping people to drive slower. It's just too bad that they are wrong. What's the saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

 

[Ignacio]

This is why we can't have nice things....sigh.

Certainly the post by the newbie was WAY over the line, but a few folks that want to denigrate cops as some sort of class are tiresome. And the folks jumping on with 'in before the lock' aren't helping either. Go for a ride people!