depending on the type of speed limit you have you might not be breaking the law.
If its a Prima Facie speed limit then if you can prove that your speed was not dangerous then you are free to go. If its absolute then you are screwed.

 

I'd say it looks like we got a great crew of LEO's on this board and I hope you guys teach the rookies the ropes. I was at a house party of rookies once and they were as different as anyone else.. most were easy goin' straight headed guys like you and a couple were power tripping idiots that probably never had a girlfriend or somethin'... way too high strung! All I could think was, "Imagine these guys on a swat team... they'd blow there buddy's head off after blowin' off their own foot"... pretty scary really... even some of the other LEO's thought so.
That said, do the world a favour and take a rookie under your wing.

 

Mark10 I quoted this guy to make a point. He'd probably get a ticket.

I had to look up the definition of "prima facie" (a matter appears to be self evident from the facts). So if the sign says 45 MPH Speed Limit and you lock a guy in doing 60 MPH you would have "prima facie" evidence that he was speeding.
The point I'm trying to make is that most cops don't want to debate the law on the side of the road. That's what court is for. You start throwing out terms like "prima facie" and "probable cause" and the "communication" is gonna get pretty one-sided after that point.
You can talk yourself out of a ticket but most folks have a bad habit of talking their way into one!
Another point; we have gotten traffic cams at most of our major intersections and just got another grant to get more for the secondary intersections. There is NO WIGGLE ROOM with those things! The bulk of the tickets that I have seen issued from those have been for not stopping for a right turn on red. It takes 3 pics (coming, going and your tag) and even has about a 5 second video if someone challenges it. So just because you don't see a cop, don't mean you aren't being watched!

 

Many moons ago I had an officer "warn" me about coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. In his words, "I want to see your foot touch the ground when you stop". He wasn't wrong in the spirit of the law, because a complete stop implies the vehicle you're in is under total control. How many times have you done a rolling stop only to have some car suddenly appear in your intended track?

I do the same thing a lot. But, if I come to a heavily traveled road, I take the extra 3 or 4 seconds at a complete stop to be sure the way is clear.

As for the speed thing, for a motorcycle, its acceleration ability counts as a defensive driving tool. Bursts of speed to extricate yourself from a sticky situation is justifiable. I don't think any officer would misread your intentions there.

The motor officers I know take the situation into account before applying the law. They would sooner warn a motorist than ticket if they can. Attitude during the stop counts for a bunch.

 

Has any local government / police force ever said NO to these traffic cams ?
When these are installed with federal grants what are the stipulations ? (on how they are used)

 

That's pretty Orwellian

 

This sounds just like you were on some sort of quota system for ticket writing. Please say it is not so.

 

Or how about if the rider came to a stop sign, seen a patrol car off to the side and the officer was jowl deep into a jelly donut and proceeded to do a burn out to a wheelie can the rider count on the officer:

A)chucking the donut out the window and giving pursuit
B)realizing the rider had a head start and the donut was deliscious(the white powder would mess the uniform) and stayed put
C)not even notice it because the donut was too good and momentarily blinded his judgement


In all seriousness when I was in my 20's I never pulled over and always made the officer chase me down. I knew the cities back alleys and mountain switchbacks as good as they did. Most of the time I got away. I ain't lying. On my 1981 Roadster/Sportster! On the ocassion when I got caught it was never more then what the ticket was for why they were originally pulling me over for in the first place. The ones who caught me were a combination of either pissed or seemed scared/nervous like they weren't use to non compliance. In some cases I would make it to my house and back then I was aways golden if I got home, I don't know about now, that was 30 years ago. And yes I had to move alot because eventually I would be targeted for harassment(also it was back before computers and each state did not interface with one another. So you could just a move about the USA and get yet another license. However if I ever got stopped in RI,Penn,Conn,Kansas etc I was hemmed up). I am 52 and somehow survived my youthful indescresions and conduct myself painfully as a good citizen. Got too much to lose. I am neither ashamed nor proud of my past it is what it is. Oh and most importantly I got some great memories/stories to share with my grand kids.

 

I think you just helped make my point, which is that most cops are willing to cut a break to someone most of the time, but the ones who want to nit pick, argue, and prattle on endlessly about the subtle nuances of their situation usually aren't the ones who get breaks. That's just the way it is.

And for the record, I'm still in law enforcement, just not at the local level anymore. And I think you and I would get along just fine nowadays.

 

No quota here..Simple time management on my part. It's illegal for a police department to have a "quota" per say...Some departments do have job performance/productivity stipulations though...

It was simply my way of saying I'd rather go after the idiot driving like an idiot, being reckless and possibly causing an accident thereby injuring innocent people then bang the everyday Joe Blow working stiff for a single violation, more then likely a simple mistake on his behalf...catch my drift?