2 tickets in 1 night... son of a b*tch!
05-30-2004, 03:23 AM
#1
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2 tickets in 1 night... son of a b*tch!
ok, well tonight has not been a fun night lemme tell ya.
at like 1145 pm i got written up for 85 in a 55 and then a ticket for "obscured license plate".
here's the story (kinda long cuz this is bs, cliff notes at bottom):
I'm driving my friends red mustang (on the dallas north tollway for those of u in the dfw area .. headed north at around the belt line exit). i'm driving my friend home because he is drunk and i have only had 1 drink earlier in the night. we are going 70-75 in the far left lane and we spot a texas state trooper off on the shoulder in the right hand lane (right before u get to belt line exit). i immediately hit the brakes and am going 60 mph when i come up to him and pass him (the speed limit on the tollway is 55mph but as you ppl from dfw area will know.... the tollway and then bush turnpike are almost like the autobahn, almost everyone goes 65-70 most of the time which is already 10-15 over the limit). anyways so im cruising at 60mph and it takes him until after the main tollplaza to catch up to us so we exit and he pulls us over. he immediately comes over and says we're receiving tickets for speeding 85 in a 55 and an "obscured license plate" so immediately i ask what he means by an "obscured license plate".
he proceeds to ask my friend and i to step out of the vehicle and look at the rear of the car in which my friend has one of those license plate covers which is a clear plastic with a slight tint of gray on it. he says that the cover "obscures" the license plate and can aid in running tollbooths and such. well we politely pointed out that we have a tolltag so obviously he's not using this cover to try to run the tollbooths. and we also pointed out that my friend went to our local autozone 2 yrs ago and had purchased such an item and the owners of autozone claimed it was perfectly legal. and my friend has had it on his car for over 2 yrs and has never once been pulled over for it until now. this state trooper informed us it was illegal to have such a cover and that he was giving us a ticket for it, no warning. we then proceeded to argue as to why autozone would sell something like this if they knew it was illegal, but to no avail. he claimed that we could've gotten it "from the streets.. theres a lot of illegal stuff around that people will tell u is legal just to sell u" so my friend continued to argue he got it at our neighborhood autozone and he could go over there right now and show him that they carry them.. didnt get this "from the streets" good lord
so then the trooper asks for my id and insurance and such and i tell him that i was driving my friends car to see how it compared to my car since i'd never driven his car. so then i get hit with the ticket. i ask him how he clocked us at 85 because the very fastest i was going was 75 i admitted to him, especially when i got closer to him we were going 60. so he brings me to his car and starts explaining the functions of the radar and that his radar caught us "from the rear" ie: he had a radar mounted in the rear of his car?!? texas state troopers with rear mounted radar?!? the radar he showed me was mounted to his dash pointing forwards and he said it didnt store the speed that it had clocked. i politely asked him if he had locked onto me and was sure it was me. we were in a pack of a good 6-10 cars and were in the left hand lane but by no means were we ahead of traffic, we were pretty much going the flow of traffic. the trooper tells me that "no he didnt lock on to me, we've found it better procedure to not do so" so i was like wtf
so basically im wondering if u guys can help me out here with a few logistical points. do texas state troopers really have radar that are mounted/point from the rear? and also, when i go to court can i contest that it might not have been me because the trooper straight up told me to my face that he didnt lock on to my car, he just fired in the pack and assumed it was me because i was in the "fast lane" and "seemed to be going the fastest of the bunch."
as far as court goes myself and my friend (its his car and he was riding shotgun) are going to show up. i'm a junior in college right now and am a pre-law/business major. also my dad is a lawyer so i figure i should bring him along as well. im going to fight this hard because this is ridiculous i know i was not going 85. so ive been doing my research over various laws, regulations, conduct etc regarding texas department of public safety and texas state troopers. just wonderin if anyone had any links they might think helpful to fight the "obscure" license plate by having a cover over it... because both my friend and i were out of state at college and when my friend bought the cover like 2 yrs ago everyone said it was legit and he has never been pulled over for it.
oh also, the trooper wrote down my drivers license # wrong on the ticket. he completely forgot a # on there, so i know that goes to my benefit, but how do i go about arguing that, just mention it to the judge?
thanks for reading i know its long but this is bs im fighting this to the end and gonna try to put my pre-law classes into experience here and ill have my dad or another lawyer from my dad's firm present as well. any other preliminary measures i should take before showin up to court?
CLIFF NOTES***
got 2 tickets: speeding 85 in a 55 and "obscured" license plate while driving my friend home in his red mustang on the tollway in dallas goin north. goin to court for sure, trooper wrote my driv. license # down wrong, completely forgot a # on the ticket. also told me he didnt "lock me on" with the radar (we were in a pack of 6-10 cars) and claims that "having anything that obscures your license plate is illegal"
i did a lil research (we've been out of state at college) and found out that you cant even have anything touching your license plate in tx now... we've been out of state for like 3 yrs how are we suposed to know when the laws change we dont get a publication or anything. but yea, any help on how i can go about swaying the judge to either dismiss or reduce the tickets is more than welcome/appreciated. oh yea stuff regarding state laws and state trooper conduct (regarding the "not locking his radar on")
sorry for the length im just quite pissed and am ready to fight this!!
at like 1145 pm i got written up for 85 in a 55 and then a ticket for "obscured license plate".
here's the story (kinda long cuz this is bs, cliff notes at bottom):
I'm driving my friends red mustang (on the dallas north tollway for those of u in the dfw area .. headed north at around the belt line exit). i'm driving my friend home because he is drunk and i have only had 1 drink earlier in the night. we are going 70-75 in the far left lane and we spot a texas state trooper off on the shoulder in the right hand lane (right before u get to belt line exit). i immediately hit the brakes and am going 60 mph when i come up to him and pass him (the speed limit on the tollway is 55mph but as you ppl from dfw area will know.... the tollway and then bush turnpike are almost like the autobahn, almost everyone goes 65-70 most of the time which is already 10-15 over the limit). anyways so im cruising at 60mph and it takes him until after the main tollplaza to catch up to us so we exit and he pulls us over. he immediately comes over and says we're receiving tickets for speeding 85 in a 55 and an "obscured license plate" so immediately i ask what he means by an "obscured license plate".
he proceeds to ask my friend and i to step out of the vehicle and look at the rear of the car in which my friend has one of those license plate covers which is a clear plastic with a slight tint of gray on it. he says that the cover "obscures" the license plate and can aid in running tollbooths and such. well we politely pointed out that we have a tolltag so obviously he's not using this cover to try to run the tollbooths. and we also pointed out that my friend went to our local autozone 2 yrs ago and had purchased such an item and the owners of autozone claimed it was perfectly legal. and my friend has had it on his car for over 2 yrs and has never once been pulled over for it until now. this state trooper informed us it was illegal to have such a cover and that he was giving us a ticket for it, no warning. we then proceeded to argue as to why autozone would sell something like this if they knew it was illegal, but to no avail. he claimed that we could've gotten it "from the streets.. theres a lot of illegal stuff around that people will tell u is legal just to sell u" so my friend continued to argue he got it at our neighborhood autozone and he could go over there right now and show him that they carry them.. didnt get this "from the streets" good lord
so then the trooper asks for my id and insurance and such and i tell him that i was driving my friends car to see how it compared to my car since i'd never driven his car. so then i get hit with the ticket. i ask him how he clocked us at 85 because the very fastest i was going was 75 i admitted to him, especially when i got closer to him we were going 60. so he brings me to his car and starts explaining the functions of the radar and that his radar caught us "from the rear" ie: he had a radar mounted in the rear of his car?!? texas state troopers with rear mounted radar?!? the radar he showed me was mounted to his dash pointing forwards and he said it didnt store the speed that it had clocked. i politely asked him if he had locked onto me and was sure it was me. we were in a pack of a good 6-10 cars and were in the left hand lane but by no means were we ahead of traffic, we were pretty much going the flow of traffic. the trooper tells me that "no he didnt lock on to me, we've found it better procedure to not do so" so i was like wtf
so basically im wondering if u guys can help me out here with a few logistical points. do texas state troopers really have radar that are mounted/point from the rear? and also, when i go to court can i contest that it might not have been me because the trooper straight up told me to my face that he didnt lock on to my car, he just fired in the pack and assumed it was me because i was in the "fast lane" and "seemed to be going the fastest of the bunch."
as far as court goes myself and my friend (its his car and he was riding shotgun) are going to show up. i'm a junior in college right now and am a pre-law/business major. also my dad is a lawyer so i figure i should bring him along as well. im going to fight this hard because this is ridiculous i know i was not going 85. so ive been doing my research over various laws, regulations, conduct etc regarding texas department of public safety and texas state troopers. just wonderin if anyone had any links they might think helpful to fight the "obscure" license plate by having a cover over it... because both my friend and i were out of state at college and when my friend bought the cover like 2 yrs ago everyone said it was legit and he has never been pulled over for it.
oh also, the trooper wrote down my drivers license # wrong on the ticket. he completely forgot a # on there, so i know that goes to my benefit, but how do i go about arguing that, just mention it to the judge?
thanks for reading i know its long but this is bs im fighting this to the end and gonna try to put my pre-law classes into experience here and ill have my dad or another lawyer from my dad's firm present as well. any other preliminary measures i should take before showin up to court?
CLIFF NOTES***
got 2 tickets: speeding 85 in a 55 and "obscured" license plate while driving my friend home in his red mustang on the tollway in dallas goin north. goin to court for sure, trooper wrote my driv. license # down wrong, completely forgot a # on the ticket. also told me he didnt "lock me on" with the radar (we were in a pack of 6-10 cars) and claims that "having anything that obscures your license plate is illegal"
i did a lil research (we've been out of state at college) and found out that you cant even have anything touching your license plate in tx now... we've been out of state for like 3 yrs how are we suposed to know when the laws change we dont get a publication or anything. but yea, any help on how i can go about swaying the judge to either dismiss or reduce the tickets is more than welcome/appreciated. oh yea stuff regarding state laws and state trooper conduct (regarding the "not locking his radar on")
sorry for the length im just quite pissed and am ready to fight this!!
05-30-2004, 04:39 AM
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yea, that license plate thing has been around for a while, i got one for my plate frame a while back
but just goto court and fight it, if he wrote your # down wrong..tell the judge....and if he didnt use a radar, fight that to, check the ticket to see if their is anything saying he used a rader or not....if its checked he did, then hes a liar and make him appear in court, and tell the judge exactly what he said
but just goto court and fight it, if he wrote your # down wrong..tell the judge....and if he didnt use a radar, fight that to, check the ticket to see if their is anything saying he used a rader or not....if its checked he did, then hes a liar and make him appear in court, and tell the judge exactly what he said
05-30-2004, 08:58 AM
#3
Administrator Alumnus
Unofrtunately, the license plate thing might be tough to get off of.
It's your responsibility, just like everyone elses to know the state laws. The state is not responsible for sending you an update list of laws that may have changed. You have to be proactive on that side.
It's your responsibility, just like everyone elses to know the state laws. The state is not responsible for sending you an update list of laws that may have changed. You have to be proactive on that side.
05-30-2004, 09:48 AM
#4
Cars are an addiction
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I got a tinted plate cover to. Right on the box it said "may be intended for off-road use only. Check local regulations befor use"....
I just never saw anyone get a ticket for it...
I just never saw anyone get a ticket for it...
05-30-2004, 10:07 AM
#5
GEEZER
slow the fuck down.
05-30-2004, 10:29 AM
#6
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you can try to argue that the plate is to keep the tag "clean". IMO, that should be a non-moving violation and the ticket should be given to the owner of the car, not you. so if he gave that to you, that's probably not valid.
as far as he said he clocked you from the rear, i think he means that he's following you and caught you when he's behind you. in radar, he can go both directions. he can be either be coming towards you from the opposite way, or coming up behind you. the radar itself will make the adjustments.
as far as he wrote down the wrong number, i that that means the ticket is invalid. look up on that.
as far as he said he clocked you from the rear, i think he means that he's following you and caught you when he's behind you. in radar, he can go both directions. he can be either be coming towards you from the opposite way, or coming up behind you. the radar itself will make the adjustments.
as far as he wrote down the wrong number, i that that means the ticket is invalid. look up on that.
05-30-2004, 10:48 AM
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If you had any women with you, tell the judge that the officer seemed to smell of alcohol, and he started grabbing them in an inappropriate manner. It worked for my ex and she got off.
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05-30-2004, 11:25 AM
#8
CLS 6MT Navi
madj80 that pisses me off you and your girlfriends lied like that. Be a partial man and be responsible for your actions. I think you're probably lying. If true, I wish the cop had fought you for his job, that's a serious claim.
As far as license plate thing, yea there was some publicity about it a while back and lots of people with specialty frames were in violaton. There was some warning and a grace period I think.
Drive safe.
As far as license plate thing, yea there was some publicity about it a while back and lots of people with specialty frames were in violaton. There was some warning and a grace period I think.
Drive safe.
06-01-2004, 12:26 AM
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Rear-facing radar antenna has been a reality since the early 1990s. 
You can't challenge the principles of radar in a Texas court. You might be able to say it wasn't you speeding, but forget about attacking radar or the department policies or their training. DPS doesn't have to lock in your speed, this is simple traffic control; not a controlled lab experiment.
I don't live in Texas, haven't in 20 years...even I knew they had a license plate obscurity law.
I have rec'd dozens of tickets in my life; not once did I get a ticket when I wasn't speeding. And there have been literally hundreds if not a couple thousand opportunities where a cops could have given me a ticket 10 mph faster than I was really going. There's a big difference between 75 and 85mph; radar doesn't lie, if someone else in the pack was going 85 while you were going 75, you would have known it.
If the mistake on your ticket is not material, it doesn't matter. Writing a ticket just needs to convey/clarify the facts of the incident, it's not an writing exercise. If everything else it correct and you confess you were driving, what does it matter? The judge will probably ask you for you DL# and correct it on your ticket for you, so that the points can be properly assigned.
BTW, it's just a speeding ticket. If you aren't prepared for the consequences, keep your speed down. I can almost guarantee you a trooper is not going to tag you while you are doing the speed limit.
Madj, the cops have video cameras in their car. If the cop is harassing her and she lies and the cops knows she lies, the next time he harasses her, he'll get it on video. When she struts in and says she was fondled, she'll go to jail. If the cops harass you, make the complaint. Don't be an idiot and make up a lie. That's not payback, that's stupid.
You can't challenge the principles of radar in a Texas court. You might be able to say it wasn't you speeding, but forget about attacking radar or the department policies or their training. DPS doesn't have to lock in your speed, this is simple traffic control; not a controlled lab experiment.
I don't live in Texas, haven't in 20 years...even I knew they had a license plate obscurity law.
I have rec'd dozens of tickets in my life; not once did I get a ticket when I wasn't speeding. And there have been literally hundreds if not a couple thousand opportunities where a cops could have given me a ticket 10 mph faster than I was really going. There's a big difference between 75 and 85mph; radar doesn't lie, if someone else in the pack was going 85 while you were going 75, you would have known it.
If the mistake on your ticket is not material, it doesn't matter. Writing a ticket just needs to convey/clarify the facts of the incident, it's not an writing exercise. If everything else it correct and you confess you were driving, what does it matter? The judge will probably ask you for you DL# and correct it on your ticket for you, so that the points can be properly assigned.
BTW, it's just a speeding ticket. If you aren't prepared for the consequences, keep your speed down. I can almost guarantee you a trooper is not going to tag you while you are doing the speed limit.
Madj, the cops have video cameras in their car. If the cop is harassing her and she lies and the cops knows she lies, the next time he harasses her, he'll get it on video. When she struts in and says she was fondled, she'll go to jail. If the cops harass you, make the complaint. Don't be an idiot and make up a lie. That's not payback, that's stupid.
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