To share my last encounter with the police about a month ago. Was stopped
for speeding in Colorado by a state trouper. I was speeding. However, I saw
him coming up on my fast from behind, so immediately used my handbrake (no
brake lights) to slow down. I have an high quality radar detector that never
went off even though the rest of my (two hour) trip it went off 15 times
(the county was doing a sweep for speeders that day.) He said he "had me"
(what ever that means) at 80 MPH which was close. However, how did he "had
me", e.g.. no radar, no clocking me by traveling the same speed as me for x
distance, etc. Yeah, in his opinion from visual observation, it probably
looked like I was speeding but he did not/could not prove it with factual
methods, e.g. radar, clocking, etc. A nice round number of 80 when I know I
was doing 83~85 which his radar would have given him exactly. (Additionally
info, I was on a posted 65 MPH, very straight road with only him and one
other car in my eye site. My car is set up for SCCA racing so handles well
at 100 MPH. So there really was not a safety issue at such...please no
flames on what is a safe speed. Anything over 25 MPH can kill in situations.
In traffic, I many times drive slower than the posted limit and always keep
plenty of distance between me and those in front and in back(tailgaters
because of my setup and experience I can stop much quicker than
most)....usually having car after car to cut in front of me and close up my
safety space and then I have to slow down even more to re-create the safe
space.With that said...)
He gave me a ticket for 80 MPH (in CO, as opposed to most states, the ticket
does not have a place to say how the speed was determined.) Additionally, as
in most states, one must have proof of insurance. My insurance card was 10
months old (my insurance company issues the card effective for one year with
same effective until date on it.). He said that it was too old and he could
have given me a ticket for no proof of insurance too so he was "giving me a
break". Yeah, right. It has an 800 number on the card and he could have used
my cell phone to call and verify. However, the "break" was just BS. Needless
to say, based on his attitude, he could have given me a ticket for "no proof
of insurance" if he wanted to since there is nothing to stop him. If he
would have, I would have to go to court to fight it and if so, even when I
show the judge the "proof of insurance" that I had, I would still have to
pay a (not sure what they call it but it is a charge) a charge for getting
the ticket even though I had proof. Of course, it is about half the charge
of not having the proof but hey in this part of the story, I was NOT Guilty.
Needless to say, cops can do what ever they want WRT giving tickets even if
they did not have "proof" and it costs us civilians to fight it. So I just
sent in the check for the ticket and got the points.
Other experiences have been similar. Received 3 tickets for non-registration
of truck & trailer and no lights on the trailer. Since that one was $400, I
went to registration office and took 2 hours to investigate (since I know I
was in compliant), copied the laws, highlighted them, spent 5 hours waiting
in court to be called, showed the judge the copy of the law and his comment
was, "I don't know what the law is (if he doesn't, why is he the judge and I
showed him the law) so I am going to let you go." "let me go"...I am
innocent but said "thank you and walked out. BTW, this was a small town in
GA and was given the tickets over a mile outside the city limits. When I
mentioned that to the judge, i.e. can you officer give tickets outside the
city limits, his response was, with red face, "you are not coming into my
court and get off on a technicality." Isn't that called the law????
My other 2 speeding tickets and one non-ticket encounter that resulted in a
complete search of my car, in 40 years are similar, i.e I saw the cop
before he could clock me and slowed down, but I will stop at this point.
When it comes to being stopped by cops, they have the power to do what ever
they want no matter what the law is. There is no innocent until proven
guilty when it comes to cops opinion (not fact) when they want to snag you.
Again, I have other stories of harassment but I will stop my ranting at this
point.
Daniel Wysocki
Twin*.*Computers
Fast Reliable Wallet-Friendly
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Button" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> So we're all going to have biometrically encoded? ID cards
> What use is the bill forcing their issuance if you are not legally
required to carry them ?
> If you are legally required to carry them, then what is the penalty for
not carrying yours?
> Now, if you get asked by the police for yours, and you left it at home
then:
> Will you be told off and allowed to go?
> or
> Will you have to pay a fine and then be allowed to go?
--
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