How the SDMB saved me from a big ol' speeding ticket

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Let me start off by saying that I have learned my lesson.

I really dodged a (figurative) bullet driving home over the weekend. I was behind schedule and wanted to try to make up some of the time. So I decided that going 80 would be pushing it, but I was willing to risk it. The highway was wide open, there was literally no traffic. As I got off one highway onto another I started to accelerate and got up to speed (80).

A short time after I’d been cruising along I noticed a car in my rear view mirror really moving. Eventually they caught up to me and passed me. I decided that if they were going to go that fast, I should go ahead and follow them to make some really good time. Turns out they were going 90! So I felt adventurous and decided to follow.

So I was following this car for the entire trip (approx. 100+ miles) and had made incredible time! I was about 10 minutes from my destination, still following this other speed demon, when what do I see? A highway patrol car going the other way! My heart sank. I wasn’t sure if he’d gotten either of us, but as I’m watching him in my rear view mirror I see him make a U-turn in between the highway. This is when I try to figure out what to do.

I remember back to reading a thread on the SDMB about speeding. That thread gave the advice that if you see a trooper to slow down (like it would have mattered considering how fast I was going). I wasn’t sure if this is what I wanted to do or if I should just keep going 90 and kind of try to out run the guy (yeah, now I realize how stupid that, and everything else, was). Then to add to this scenario an exit was coming up. I didn’t know if I should take the exit and hope I wasn’t followed or just stay the course going the speed limit.

I decided taking the off ramp would be too risky so I just slowed down to the speed limit and wait to see what happens. Meanwhile, the folks in the car that I was following must not have noticed him or thought he was going to get me, because they just kept on truckin’. Some relief came when I saw the trooper go speeding by me and turn on his lights. I was fully relieved when I saw him get out of his car when I was positive he wouldn’t stop me.

So thank you SDMB for saving me from a potentially very pricey speeding ticket. That close call was enough and I’ve changed my ways. No more excessive speeding for me!

2

I wish my hubby had made such a decision - he got stopped enroute from Nashville to Gallatin… gonna cost us $125…

<sigh>

3

ooooo FairyChatMom, on Gallatin Road or on the bypass?

Not that they aren’t both bad. I never got a ticket on either one of those roads, but I got pulled over several times on Gallatin Road. It’s an easy road to speed on. If that’s any comfort to ya. :wink:

4

I have also noticed that they are working the HOV lanes pretty hard around Nashville lately.

5

Don’t hit the brakes, though. If Smokey sees your brake lights, he knows that you know you were going too fast. Just let off the gas, and let everybody around you get caught when they hit the brakes so hard the nose of the car goes down…AMHIK :wink:

6

I don’t know which - he was heading from the airport to his hotel around midnight. Said it was a deserted country road. I’m waiting for him to 'fess up to our learning-to-drive daughter - she’s commented to me how he drives too fast. 'Twill be interesting.

The very advice my Uncle Walter gave me as a teen. Every time I’m cruising along a bit fast, I disengage my cruise control and think of Uncle Walt. :slight_smile:

7

This is true. Many cops will consider your brake lights as an admission of guilt. I always use the hand brake to slow down to the speed limit.
I drove up to Nashville Thursday night - the troopers were everywhere on I-65, and Metro was all over the city limits.

8

I don’t doubt this, but I think my case was an exception. While I may have “admitted” to speeding by hitting the breaks, it was kind of like the other car was challenging the trooper by making a run for it.