Happened today, and has a humorous (not for me though!) twist to it...
Officer was in a speed trap on a highway (65MPH limit). I passed the patrol car going about 90MPH, and looked at the speed trap location just to be safe.... and ofcourse hit the brakes VERY hard after i saw the cop. My radar detector (a pretty high quality one) Valentine One radar detector, received 0 alerts from Laser or X/K/KA band. So I decided to be slick, and I thought immediately, "let me take the next highway exit, even if I don't see him following me". Ofcourse, he slowly starts pulling out of his location, turns his headlights (not siren) on (but gets jammed a bit by the oncoming traffic).... I get stuck in the middle and right lanes behind typical idiots driving 10MPH below the limit during rush hour, and I reach the HOLY GRAIL, the exit... WHEN OFCOURSE the split second I take the exit lane, the cop JUST ARRIVES behind me and tails my ass.
So I drive another two blocks, and then when there's a shoulder, the cop flips his siren on and I pull over immediately. So he asks me if I knew what I did wrong. (Now from what I read on a very reliable website, it says to admit everything, be polite and passively beg). So I go "yeah I saw you on the highway, I know I was speeding, I apologize, I just started going fast and didn't even notice it." Then he goes, yeah you were doing 83 in a 65, which struck me as WAY OFF (and just a random guess in my opinion by the officer), since unfortunately my speed at the time was much closer to 90MPH and my radar didn't go off at all. And he mentions "You also tried to take the first exit so I couldn't follow you, huh?". To this I said, I live in XXXX town (town was only two exits away actually).
Officer then returns and mentions that radar detectors are illegal (which I am 99% sure they are legal in the state of New Jersey), and mentioned he would "give me a break on writing a radar detector ticket, but not on the speeding ticket". He then hands me the speeding ticket, writing and saying to call the court, come in, and that "perhaps something could be worked out".
As I pull away, I notice the officer hasn't moved for the minute that I was putting my license/etc. away, so I assumed he wanted to see if I would pull a U-turn to get nack on the highway, which would suggest I was trying to outrun him. So I headed straight (the opposite) way, the one smart thing I think I did all day.
So, do I:
1. Go to court with a lawyer to fight the ticket? (Leaning towards this because New Jersey has the highest auto insurance rates in the country).
2. Go to court alone and admit the mistake, pleading for a lesser penalty?
3. Go to court alone and be aggressive, claiming the officer should bring a report of his radar scan of my car, and that he claimed a radar detector was illegal, which lessens the judge's view of the officer's trust/knowledge?
Note, I have never received a traffic ticket, never had any points on my insurance, and have never committed a felony.
Officer was in a speed trap on a highway (65MPH limit). I passed the patrol car going about 90MPH, and looked at the speed trap location just to be safe.... and ofcourse hit the brakes VERY hard after i saw the cop. My radar detector (a pretty high quality one) Valentine One radar detector, received 0 alerts from Laser or X/K/KA band. So I decided to be slick, and I thought immediately, "let me take the next highway exit, even if I don't see him following me". Ofcourse, he slowly starts pulling out of his location, turns his headlights (not siren) on (but gets jammed a bit by the oncoming traffic).... I get stuck in the middle and right lanes behind typical idiots driving 10MPH below the limit during rush hour, and I reach the HOLY GRAIL, the exit... WHEN OFCOURSE the split second I take the exit lane, the cop JUST ARRIVES behind me and tails my ass.
So I drive another two blocks, and then when there's a shoulder, the cop flips his siren on and I pull over immediately. So he asks me if I knew what I did wrong. (Now from what I read on a very reliable website, it says to admit everything, be polite and passively beg). So I go "yeah I saw you on the highway, I know I was speeding, I apologize, I just started going fast and didn't even notice it." Then he goes, yeah you were doing 83 in a 65, which struck me as WAY OFF (and just a random guess in my opinion by the officer), since unfortunately my speed at the time was much closer to 90MPH and my radar didn't go off at all. And he mentions "You also tried to take the first exit so I couldn't follow you, huh?". To this I said, I live in XXXX town (town was only two exits away actually).
Officer then returns and mentions that radar detectors are illegal (which I am 99% sure they are legal in the state of New Jersey), and mentioned he would "give me a break on writing a radar detector ticket, but not on the speeding ticket". He then hands me the speeding ticket, writing and saying to call the court, come in, and that "perhaps something could be worked out".
As I pull away, I notice the officer hasn't moved for the minute that I was putting my license/etc. away, so I assumed he wanted to see if I would pull a U-turn to get nack on the highway, which would suggest I was trying to outrun him. So I headed straight (the opposite) way, the one smart thing I think I did all day.
So, do I:
1. Go to court with a lawyer to fight the ticket? (Leaning towards this because New Jersey has the highest auto insurance rates in the country).
2. Go to court alone and admit the mistake, pleading for a lesser penalty?
3. Go to court alone and be aggressive, claiming the officer should bring a report of his radar scan of my car, and that he claimed a radar detector was illegal, which lessens the judge's view of the officer's trust/knowledge?
Note, I have never received a traffic ticket, never had any points on my insurance, and have never committed a felony.
and he cut you a break on the radar detector..
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