Pelican Pete

Perhaps some of you have noticed that I have not posted to this forum for the past week or so.
I've been on VACATION ! Yay. :-)
I have been spending the past week on the Jersey Shore, particularly Long Beach Island.
I am posting this from the public library computer because I just had to vent my anger and frustration.

Last night I went out with a few local friends.
On the way home I got pulled over !!

I wasn't doing anything wrong at all.
I was driving BELOW the speed limit (by 2 or 3mph). I had my seatbelt on, as did my passenger. I was not drinking either. (I do not drink and drive, nor do I condone it.)
What happened was that I was in the right lane. I wanted to pass the car in front of me, so I signalled left to change lanes. Checked the blind spot and everything. It was safe. I was in complete control.

Up ahead, I saw a car on the median with its headlights on. I figured that it was either a patrol car entering the highway, or a civilian making an illegal U-turn.
So after putting my left tires over the line, I went back into the right lane, to give that car room.
It was a very controlled, smooth motion. I did not swerve. My passenger didn't even notice that I had started to move over.

As it turned out, it was a patrol car. And the cop pulled me over, thinking that I had been drinking.
Okay-- fine. I have no problem with them doing their jobs. And I applaud their efforts to crack down on drunken driving.
But as soon as he ascertained that I was NOT in fact drunk, he should have let me go.
But because I have a nice car and NY plates (or maybe it is the Pelican Blue color), he insisted on giving me a ticket, and he wrote me up for failing to maintain my lane.
He even said to me when he handed me the ticket, "You don't have to appear in court, you can just mail in your payment."

LIKE HELL I WILL ! (I didn't say that to him. But I did try to explain the situation, and how I did not do anything wrong.)

In fact, I did NOT do anything wrong, and this was just a blatant attempt to harass an out-of-town driver.
I'll come back down here for my court date, and I'll make another vacation out of it. :-)

If anyone can offer some help on how I might go about fighting this ticket, I would be very appreciative.

-- Peter

Audi2Ody

In fact, your actions indicate that your main concern was safety for yourself and the patrol car that may have been attempting to enter the roadway.

The judge should rule in your favor.<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=161"</a><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/a4registrydl.jpg" BORDER=0></a>

ModifiedA4

As far as advice goes, just showing up to fight is usually a good thing, at least when I fought tickets in NY.

Here's my own tale of why

Jersey cops suck. I was coming back from LBI one time as well in my jetta with CT plates, I was accelerating out of a toll booth with a loaded 8v Jetta with 3 passengers and I SEE the cop on the median but my radar detector doesnt go off. (I'm like 100 yards away from the toll booth now) He pulls me over, stating I was going "very fast". Very Fast my ***!, I'd like to think how my loaded POS (reliable though) jetta could ever go very fast from a complete stop out of a toll both.

So he goes back to the patrol car and comes back saying he clocked me on RADAR going "uhh 72"...A blatant LIE! I'd like to know how I could've accerated from a stop to 72mph in about 200yards! And on top of that, my radar detector never made a peep (it has saved my *** many times, I know it was working)...



Since i was going to school in upperstate NY and it was going to be finals week during the schedualed court date I had no choice but to pay the ticket...

Since then, NJ state troopers have had numerous scandels....Figures..

ChrisR

Doug K

<p>Daktor71
1999.5 1.8tqm

Vladimir

jackasses. Please no offense to good officers. I have met several in my 9y of driving.
However, all out of state ones are jackasses!

valium

that is always a PITA. Has to make quota or do SOMETHING to avoid being bored to death.

Jon

phred

Check out the National Motorists Association. Also try Nolo Press, they have a DIY book on beating traffic tickets, although they focus on speeding tix.

You ought to think twice about returning to Mayberry. The cop is going to know the judge quite well, and vice versa, and it will be his word against yours. Why do you think they will prefer your story, true though it may be? From the cop's POV, he saw you do a funky driving maneuver and was justified in pulling you over. But you're right, he should have let you go once he saw you weren't DUI. I guess he figured if he had to go to the trouble of doing a traffic stop, someone had to pay. And he might have been behind in his quota that month.

Bonnie

I never got a ticket in all the years I lived in NY, even though
I did some pretty daring things in my Prelude, because NY
cops have better things to do than watch every Tom, Dick and
Harry thing that goes on on the road.

I got two tickets in the six years I am living in NJ, and don't
know anyone that hasn't experienced the same thing. I am
also a very careful driver, don't drink and feel I am being
targeted because of the car I drive. I have a court appearance
in a month.

It seems the NJ cops have nothing better to do than to sit
and wait for every little infraction, no matter how minor it is.
Aaaarrrrggghhhh....

BDuncan

I'm convinced people drive like absolute idiots in NY because they can. I hardly ever see police on the highways enforcing traffic laws, and that's evidenced by the stupid things folks do all the time, and not even slyly.

In my mind, more traffic laws should be enforced by the police (fairly and consistently), so there's some fear of consequence in the minds of idiots. I'm sick of arrogant a-holes using turnlanes to cut around traffic, etc.

Driven

Peter,

Of course you should appear in court. You may, with some luck, appear on a day when the officer fails to appear himself and that alone will get you out.

However, it might be helpful to look up in the NJ vehicle code the exact wording of the statute that he says you violated. You may find something in the wording to help out. Statutes must be strictly interpreted.

Also, the standard which they must overcome is "reasonable doubt." If you can make a legal argument that raises reasonable doubt for the court, it will help.

That said, I appeared in court to fight a ticket, armed with a graphic drawing that I made using my computer; a 72-point large quotation of the wording from the statute I had allegedly violated; and pictures of the intersection where the officer said I'd "failed to yield" to oncoming traffic.

I had never fought a ticket before (though this was not my first) and I made a presentation that lasted about fifteen minutes and also a rebuttal after the cop made his spiel.

It was taken under submission. I lost.

Do your best...fight like hell....but remember, the game is rigged in their favor so you have to be either very right or very lucky to stand a chance.

Good luck!