[thetable]

My last ticket I went to court to fight it, the officer wasn't there (if they went to court for every ticket, they would only be able to write one ticket a day) and I would have to come back another day. Meaning ANOTHER vacation day wasted. My vacation is more valuable to me than the cost of the ticket. The judge was very polite, but made it clear that they don't go against the officer very often.

It is the responsibility of the court and the prosecutor to present evidence against you. If they have no evidence to present, the case should be dismissed. Sorry friend, you got had by the revenue generation system.

In Virginia, they are very good about giving the officers one court date every so often so that all their cases will fall on the same day.

[HemiKat]

It is the responsibility of the court and the prosecutor to present evidence against you. If they have no evidence to present, the case should be dismissed. Sorry friend, you got had by the revenue generation system.

In Virginia, they are very good about giving the officers one court date every so often so that all their cases will fall on the same day.

In a court of law an officers word is considered evidence. If the cops says you did and you have no proof you didnt then you loose.

[thetable]

And if the officer ain't there to say you did it...

[Suzukirider09]

Most likely if the officer aint there and you can have enough evidence or atleast convince the judge that you weren't "speeding"/"racing", etc. you will win. experience from watching speeders fight back .

I haven't tried another idea yet, guess I been lucky not to have, but try safety reasons, or you learned that in motorcycle school (if you took it).

Like there is one or two cars infront of you stopped to turn left and can't for awhile because of a line of traffic, on a two lane highway, and its on the other side of a turn or on the other side of a hill, I will pass on the shoulder and keep going "SAFETY" so if the moron in the car coming up on you doesn't see you, u don't get pinned between the two cars.

Traffic light doesn't turn green, treat it as a stop sign"LEARNED IN MSF PROGRAM", im sure those will beat the court systems anyday, if they have any heart, that is.

[Nero]

There was a town in Alabama that had officers out on the Interstate every day nailing everyone for anything 5 mph over AS LONG AS you were from out-of-state. That means you didn't vote (and get the mayor/police chief out of office) and you were most likely to plead 'no contest' to avoid having to drive back there to go to court. They also turned most of the $ over to the police, who were very well-equipped with the latest stuff, to say the least.

[Jacobz]

To cops, motorcycles are eye candy. So if you're breaking the law in any way, all of his focus will be on you. I'm not saying it's right, it's just what will happen.



First off, I am now retired and didn't work for the State of PA.
It seems everyone has their opinion about the cops, radar, etc and they are entitled to such.
A lot of the information out there is wrong. One point in particular is that if the officer doesn't show for the court date, the ticket will be thrown out...totally wrong in most courts. If you research court documents you will see that the court date will be adjourned and you will have to reappear at a later date.
I worked my final 4 years in absolutely nothing but Radar & Traffic. I would average probably 12 tickets in an 8 hour shift...Now, ask how many were for radar?... Maybe 1 per shift from a blatant violator with 20mph over the limit. The rest of the folks were in fact speeding but I gave them an unimportant ticket for an equipment violation so that the State wouldn't use me or the machine to raise revenue...
The equipment ticket would be dismisssed by just getting the violation repaired in 24 hours and I think they learned and remembered and heeded what the speed limit actually was for the future because I gave them a break.
And yes, when it came to Radar and V&T laws I probably did know more than your attorney.
Bottom line and the simplest thing to do is: Don't Speed.

In the state of Texas if the officer doesn't show then the ticket is thrown out. That said out of all the people I've known who when to traffic court none of them have ever had the officer not come to court.

[Psycho1]

Friend of mine got a ticket for "Speed Racing" on his ZX-14, although all he really did was rev his engine back at a Honda Civic that reved him and laughed at a red light. Ticket said his speed was clocked on radar at 45mph in a 45mph zone. He went ot court to fight it, and the officer said "I didn't see him racing, but I could hear him. He must have slowed down before I could catch up to him". The Judge claimed she needed more time to think about the testimonies before rendering her judgement, then sent everyone home. My friend got a letter in the mail letting him know he was still found guilty.

[Nero]

Friend of mine got a ticket for "Speed Racing" on his ZX-14, although all he really did was rev his engine back at a Honda Civic that reved him and laughed at a red light. Ticket said his speed was clocked on radar at 45mph in a 45mph zone. He went ot court to fight it, and the officer said "I didn't see him racing, but I could hear him. He must have slowed down before I could catch up to him". The Judge claimed she needed more time to think about the testimonies before rendering her judgement, then sent everyone home. My friend got a letter in the mail letting him know he was still found guilty.

That is f'd up!

[Psycho1]

yeah $300 something fine, and I believe 2 points against his license.

[HemiKat]

On I-75 by me they keep a State Trooper car there 24/7. 99% of the time the car is empty, just trying to keep people aware.... then that 1% of the time they get ya!

[Zepp]

To cops, motorcycles are eye candy. So if you're breaking the law in any way, all of his focus will be on you. I'm not saying it's right, it's just what will happen.



First off, I am now retired and didn't work for the State of PA.
It seems everyone has their opinion about the cops, radar, etc and they are entitled to such.
A lot of the information out there is wrong. One point in particular is that if the officer doesn't show for the court date, the ticket will be thrown out...totally wrong in most courts. If you research court documents you will see that the court date will be adjourned and you will have to reappear at a later date.
I worked my final 4 years in absolutely nothing but Radar & Traffic. I would average probably 12 tickets in an 8 hour shift...Now, ask how many were for radar?... Maybe 1 per shift from a blatant violator with 20mph over the limit. The rest of the folks were in fact speeding but I gave them an unimportant ticket for an equipment violation so that the State wouldn't use me or the machine to raise revenue...
The equipment ticket would be dismisssed by just getting the violation repaired in 24 hours and I think they learned and remembered and heeded what the speed limit actually was for the future because I gave them a break.
And yes, when it came to Radar and V&T laws I probably did know more than your attorney.
Bottom line and the simplest thing to do is: Don't Speed.

In Michigan they wait 15 minutes past your scheduled court time, then it is dismissed if the officer isn't there

Sorry but cops do dismiss tickets, ask me how I know
Seems that the lawyers advice worked fine for me sir.

The lawyers are good at what they do. They negotiate or get tickets thrown out all the time.

As for don't speed, sure that works. Problem is most people speed at times including you. If you say you don't ever speed then I call BS on that. Oh that's right, Professional Courtesy is a perk for cops, sorry I forgot. LOL

I got stopped for DOING the speed limit before. The road was two lanes each direction. The right lane next to me was full of cars and I had no way to get over. A cop pulled up behind me so I wasn't about to speed up to try and pass the whole line of cars. The cop pulled me over and chewed me out for not going the flow of traffic. I was going the flow, which was the speed limit. The cop said that I was holdin him up, he was the flow of traffic for that lane. WTF?? I had never heard of that before. He said that the law there is the speed limit or the flow of traffic. Ok. I understand, NOT!!!!!

[mambopalace]

In Michigan they wait 15 minutes past your scheduled court time, then it is dismissed if the officer isn't there

Sorry but cops do dismiss tickets, ask me how I know
Seems that the lawyers advice worked fine for me sir.

The lawyers are good at what they do. They negotiate or get tickets thrown out all the time.

As for don't speed, sure that works. Problem is most people speed at times including you. If you say you don't ever speed then I call BS on that. Oh that's right, Professional Courtesy is a perk for cops, sorry I forgot. LOL

I got stopped for DOING the speed limit before. The road was two lanes each direction. The right lane next to me was full of cars and I had no way to get over. A cop pulled up behind me so I wasn't about to speed up to try and pass the whole line of cars. The cop pulled me over and chewed me out for not going the flow of traffic. I was going the flow, which was the speed limit. The cop said that I was holdin him up, he was the flow of traffic for that lane. WTF?? I had never heard of that before. He said that the law there is the speed limit or the flow of traffic. Ok. I understand, NOT!!!!!

I'm not trying to argue with you or be unfriendly but rather make it a little easier for any of our group that may have the unfortunate incident of getting a ticket and how law enforcement views us as bikers. I personally don't want any of us to get tickets. I ride, I speed, but it doesn't mean I'm above the law.
We all ride, we have to look out for each other.
Cops look at like this: Oh, you hired an attorney to fight the ticket - He's happy that you spent your money for a lawyer and he feels the score is 1-0 in his favor already because often time, the lawyers fee is more than the fine would have been in the first place. If you have a bunch of previous points on your license, then by all means hire that attorney.

[thetable]

He's happy that you spent your money for a lawyer and he feels the score is 1-0 in his favor already because often time, the lawyers fee is more than the fine would have been in the first place.

If the only cost involved was the speeding tax, then I would pay all my fines, but insurance goes up too. In Virginia, it goes up and stays up for three years.