Speeding Ticket Q: Why would the officer do this?

Factual Questions
21

I got my first ticket in decades a couple of weeks ago. IIRC the cop said he clocked me at 66 in a 45 which would have been $95, but he wrote it up as 65 so it was only $75. Didn’t explain it other than to say something like “that way it saves you a little money.” It was weird, because the cop seemed almost apologetic about giving me the ticket.

(At the time I had no idea how fast I was going or what the speed limit was on that road. Travelled it yesterday and saw that it is generally 50 or 55, but for one stretch goes down to 45.)

22

[QUOTE=Monty]
Isn’t it a myth that cops have ticket quotas?
[/QUOTE]
From chat with the many LEOs I’ve known, it’s a myth.

23

It probably varies from force to force.

24

I always thought that writing you up at a lower speed also makes it harder for you to argue that the radar gun was miscalibrated.

25

[QUOTE=Monty]
Isn’t it a myth that cops have ticket quotas?
[/QUOTE]
It’s a violation of Texas statutory law for police forces to have ticket quotas, but there are periodic allegations that the Houston P.D. is trying to find a way around the statute by making the number of tickets an officer has written part of his or her performance evaluations, which would amount to an informal quota:

HPD internal memo asking for ticket quota?

HPD puts 33 patrolmen on desk duty as punishment

26

[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
I got my first ticket in decades a couple of weeks ago. IIRC the cop said he clocked me at 66 in a 45 which would have been $95, but he wrote it up as 65 so it was only $75. Didn’t explain it other than to say something like “that way it saves you a little money.” It was weird, because the cop seemed almost apologetic about giving me the ticket.

(At the time I had no idea how fast I was going or what the speed limit was on that road. Travelled it yesterday and saw that it is generally 50 or 55, but for one stretch goes down to 45.)
[/QUOTE]

I have had several officer reduce the speed for which I was written with the explanation that it would cost me less.
My last speeding ticket the officer had me dead to rights on radar at 89 MPH. She pulled me and the two guys that were right behind me over. She came to my car, we chatted, and she said that she was going to cite me for 75, not 89 like the other two guys. Apparently they had given her a ration of shit, and I was nice to her. She told me the fine schedule was about half of what it would be. We chatted for a few minutes about my car (brand new Volvo I was transporting) and when it was all said and done, she said she was sorry she had to write me a ticket as I had been so nice.
I wished her a nice day and went about my business.

27

[QUOTE=ENugent]
I always thought that writing you up at a lower speed also makes it harder for you to argue that the radar gun was miscalibrated.
[/QUOTE]

To me, that would have the opposite effect. If they don’t put down the speed from the gun, are they indicating (to me) that they aren’t positive that they had you at the higher speed. Now, if they seem nice about it, then they are probably being charitable. My officer didn’t seem to be in a giving mood…

28

[QUOTE=Iggins]
This is kinda what I was thinking… I’m still planning on showing up at court at the appointed date, as I think that he made a judgment call about my speed, and was incorrect.

Rob
[/QUOTE]

I seriously doubt he made a judgment call about your speed. Most likely he just reduced the speed on the ticket to avoid greater hassle for himself. Even if he did make a judgment call, that wouldn’t necessarily get you out of the ticket.

My dad was a notorious speeder, and we were pulled over and ticketed on many family vacations in the 60s by cops without radar guns; they don’t have to have radar to pull you over for speeding.

29

[QUOTE=Martin Hyde]
I seriously doubt he made a judgment call about your speed. Most likely he just reduced the speed on the ticket to avoid greater hassle for himself. Even if he did make a judgment call, that wouldn’t necessarily get you out of the ticket.
[/QUOTE]

You know, I actually agree with you, in general. And I’m usually the type to take my punishment without much complaint. However, I actually think he got the wrong car. I’d post my version of the traffic stop here, but it’s probably more an MPSIMS thread, and I don’t think I want to go into it that much. I should Pit the guy, but that would actually take some effort on my part to work up a real lather about it a couple of days after the fact… :slight_smile:

30

I’ve recently received two speeding tickets. It’s very rare for me to speed. But in my defense I was attending some family matters and my mind was elsewhere.

For both of them, the officer knocked it down. I did not argue, other than to say what my business traveling on that road that day (sometimes they ask you what your hurry is).

And apologize.

One was coming back from a class and some family business, and the other was to get down into town so I could take my Mom for a doctors visit.

I was polite, did not argue, and all my stuff was in order.

The simplest answer is that law enforcement officers are people too.

31

As someone who gets pulled over often for having a “lead foot,” and gets out of them usually because of… well, just because, I can say that being polite and respectful goes a long way. Johnny Law (the unidentified law enforcement professional) probably saw you as a polite person who was just driving a bit fast. He doesn’t want to hurt you; he just wants to (a)slow you down and (b)show his boss that he’s not sleeping (not necessarily in that order). The biggest mistake people make when they get pulled over is getting nasty with a cop.
We’ve all got a job to do, and enforcing the law is theirs. If you don’t like the law, call your congressman or congresswoman!

32

If I were ticketed for going at 65 where the limit is 60, I would certainly contest the ticket, on the basis that speedometers (at least in the UK) are only expected to be accurate to within 10%. I could therefore claim that my car was well-maintained but the speedo was showing 59 the whole time, and how could I know it was under-reading? That’s why, over here, you won’t usually get a ticket unless you are at least 10% + 2mph over the limit.

33

Yeah, my cop just said “I clocked you going a little fast.”
I didn’t object, just pulled my wallet and said something about being a little late toget home, and had just gotten stopped by a freight. (True, but no excuse.)
He said something like their town had a zero tolerance policy - I got the impression that once he stopped someone he had to write them a ticket.
He said he’d try to get me out of there as quickly as possible. Seemed almost apologetic.
I said something like “Take your time. I was cutting it close before. Now I’m gonna be late so I might as well take my time.”

When he came back, he told me he wrote it up for 65 instead of 66, and said if it made me feel any better, he’d go back to the same spot and catch someone else within a couple of minutes. It didn’t.

It is funny. In the week or so since I’ve been paying attention to speed limits. I often feel as tho I’m driving way too slow. Don’t really feel any safer. In fact, I almost feel like I’m paying less attention, just putzing along in the right lane, instead of thinking about what I’m doing. Doesn’t really seem like it takes any longer to get anywhere. And I really hate just tossing $75 out the window…

34

[QUOTE=toadspittle]
I think you meant to say “…he reduced it so he wouldn’t have to go to Court.” B/c it’s a major pain in the butt for him, and if he doesn’t make it to court that day, you’ll often get off scot-free.

That happened to my friend–got a ticket, demanded a court date, officer was delayed, case was dismissed. When my friend drove out of the parking lot afterwards, the officer was racing in to try to make the court date.
[/QUOTE]

That’s why, but where it was they will set the officer’s Court dates so he has all of his on the same date in the same court. They want as few people as possible to actually show so that they can keep the docket moving. On the occasion that I did go, each cop would get up and they would go through a bunch of tickets with him.

For the most part, the officers here aren’t going to be jerks about it but you aren’t getting out of the ticket.

The only time I did, I was pulled over for not having my lights on when it was raining. I just got a verbal warning.

35

I see this as the opposite of the story about how to sell ice cream. The story is that you always start with a little less on the cone or in the cup and pat on a little extra. You never put a huge scoop on and then scoop off the part that’s more than a regular serving. When people are getting something good, they like to see a little extra added on at the end. In the opposite scenario, when people are getting something bad, it is good human relations to knock a little bit off before giving it to the “customer”.

36

[QUOTE=Monty]
Isn’t it a myth that cops have ticket quotas?
[/QUOTE]
It varies by state. For instance it’s against the law in Pennsylvania for them to have quotas, but there was a scandal a few year ago (cite) where a state trooper alleged that they force troopers to write at least “the station average” in tickets, which is a de facto quota and shows a basic misunderstanding of what an “average” is.

37

[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
It is funny. In the week or so since I’ve been paying attention to speed limits. I often feel as tho I’m driving way too slow. Don’t really feel any safer. In fact, I almost feel like I’m paying less attention, just putzing along in the right lane, instead of thinking about what I’m doing. Doesn’t really seem like it takes any longer to get anywhere. And I really hate just tossing $75 out the window…
[/QUOTE]
Preach it, brother. When I break the speed limit (which is every time I drive), I’m constantly vigilant for cops/cameras, and any hazards (mindful of the fact that if I have an accident and they can prove I was speeding, the consequences will be far worse, even if the collision was unavoidable at any speed). When stuck behind a car doing 10 or 20 under the limit, I switch off (although obviously I now make an effort not to). I know which I think is safer.

Indeed. Like parents who berate the teacher if their offspring is below the class average. Of course, the officers in this case could achieve the aim by issuing no tickets at all - what a great idea!

38

[QUOTE=Iggins]
To me, that would have the opposite effect. If they don’t put down the speed from the gun, are they indicating (to me) that they aren’t positive that they had you at the higher speed. Now, if they seem nice about it, then they are probably being charitable. My officer didn’t seem to be in a giving mood…
[/QUOTE]

My thinking is basically that if the gun showed you doing 76, it’s highly likely that you were doing 65 or more, even if it was miscalibrated a bit. If you were written up for 76 in that instance, you might be able to argue that the gun wasn’t that accurate.

39

[QUOTE=Iggins]
So, it could really be benevolence?

Rats! I really wanted to believe that he hoped I wouldn’t contest the ticket if he reduced the penalty.

:slight_smile:

This was in WA, and I’m an OR resident, BTW.
[/QUOTE]

I used to clerk traffic court in WA. From my experience:

[ul]
[li]It will state on the ticket the actual speed you were clocked at. The judge will confirm that the officer was giving you a break. [/li][li]There is probably a radar gun spiel on the back of the ticket that the officer signs that states that the radar gun was calibrated that day before he started clocking people. This will stand up in court as the officer’s statement. If you subpoena the police officer, he will basically state the same thing verbally. [/li][li]I never saw a speeding ticket successfully dismissed in a contested trial. The radar gun was always believed. [/li][/ul]

You could still mitigate the ticket or defer it (if you are eligible.) That will require an appearance in court which may not be worth your while. IANAL, municipalities & judges may differ etc.

Obligatory anecdote: My husband went to court to contest a ticket. The defendant in front of him was contesting his speeding ticket as well. Not only was he denied that finding, the judge also raised his fine to what it would have been if the officer hadn’t given him a break on his speed. :eek: My husband took a deferral instead.

40

[QUOTE=Gulo gulo]
I used to clerk traffic court in WA. From my experience:

[ul]
[li]It will state on the ticket the actual speed you were clocked at. The judge will confirm that the officer was giving you a break. [/li][li]There is probably a radar gun spiel on the back of the ticket that the officer signs that states that the radar gun was calibrated that day before he started clocking people. This will stand up in court as the officer’s statement. If you subpoena the police officer, he will basically state the same thing verbally. [/li][li]I never saw a speeding ticket successfully dismissed in a contested trial. The radar gun was always believed. [/li][/ul]

[/QUOTE]

Yes, the ticket does indicate the 72 MPH reading. I didn’t realize that until I reviewed the ticket again.

I suppose I’ll give the Cliff’s Notes version of MY perspective of the ticket.

I was traveling in the left most lane of a 3-4 lane highway (just before the Glenn Jackson bridge into Oregon). However, I wasn’t passing anyone at the time. I was traveling with traffic, and had a semi truck in the lane to the right to me, matching his speed.

I rounded a bend and noticed two cars stopped on the left shoulder a little way ahead, with a motorcycle between them. I realized it was a police cycle, but it’s lights were not on, and the officer was near the front car. A couple hundred feet past that was a second police motorcycle, with lights flashing and the officer was leaning into the other (third) stopped car.

I slowed down to change lanes into the adjacent right lane, so as to clear the far left lane (that’s a law in Oregon, to give space for a traffic stop). I changed lanes behind the semi, and as I got near the second officer, he had returned to his bike. As I went past the officer he pointed at me and directed me to pull over. He had to get on his bike to drive up to where I pulled over.

All three of us in the car were surprised and confused. I was not traveling any faster than the semi at any time, and had slowed to change lanes. So, I would guess I was never traveling faster than 65. I didn’t check my speed, as I was watching traffic and the officers.

He indicated that I was traveling 72, and the limit was about to change to 55 on the bridge, so I was traveling way too fast. He mentioned the 65 on the ticket, and I thanked him and went on my way.

It seems to me that we wasn’t looking at the laser gun until he got back to the bike, and he must have done that as I slowed to change lanes.

Long story short, I wrote a check for $81 today. I haven’t sent it yet, but I don’t think I’ll be going in to contest it. I suppose it makes up for times I really was speeding.