Ticket for "Pacing" amongst other things..

[LeddZepp8687]

Alright...I was coming home from my friends house around 1am.. I went a little bit out of my way to avoid what looked like a road blocking accident. I was crusing down a nearly deserted road, However it is still a 4 lane road. I hit a red light and someone made a left turn, This is the ONLY car I have seen in literally 5 minutes. I gently took off from the light and eased into 50-60% throttle. I only wound the car up to maybe 55 maybe 60 at the MAX. I slowed back down to 50 (its a 45) Im just crusing along and way, way, way back I see a car FLYING up on me. But they oddly just hung way back, maybe 20 or more cars back. Next thing I know they've got thier sirens BLARING and lights on, yet they are in the other lane, they look like they are just passing me, then they hop behind me at the last minute.

Cop asked me if I knew how fast I was going. I told him 55ish, He said "close, 70" I was shocked....I said that I am postive I was not going quite that fast, and he insisted that I was...I was so pissed an trying to keep my cool so I just bit the bullet. He took my license and insurance card. Next thing I know they have like 3 more squad cars there. Then about 5 maybe more cops come to my window and being grilling the piss outta me. "Where are you coming from" "Where are you going" "Are you tired" "why are you speeding" a long list of seemingly dumb questions. Then they all left, leaving me and my origional cop. His parter came up and chatted with me about just random things..I brought up the fact that I knew I wasnt going 70, And asked him If I could see the radar gun. He said they didnt use the radar...I asked how he knew then, and he basically told me that he would have his parter come back and explain everything. That was that.

Cop comes back and says hes letting me off easy and giving me a ticket for 63. I didnt inspect the ticket while he was standing there. I asked him about the gun and he said he paced me...I brought up the fact that he was so far back, He gave me some bull about how he had been following me for a while, when I had been on this road for less than 1-2 minutes.

Then I get to work today, and look at the ticket. He wrote down that I was speeding doing 68mph in a 70mph zone, and that they had paced me for 4/10ths of a mile. Both of which are incorrect. I probably didnt even travel 4/10ths of a mile on the whole road combined.

Now illinois has this dumb rule of 2 moving violations before the age of 21. I have a ticket for failure to signal, that was another BS ticket. This ticket makes 2 tickets for me at age 19.

What Id like to know is: Is the pacing thing BS? I was told it was a mile or more for pacing tickets.

And is it possible to get out of the ticket on a technicality because of the 68 in a 70??

Just rather pissed and would like to be prepared for court.

Thanks!

 

[YoungJim]

Sounds pretty shaky. Find a weasel - I mean lawyer - who knows about these things. Hell, if they wrote you for going 68 in a 70 zone (?!) then they haven't got much of a case. Good luck.

 

[FordSVTFan]

Alright...I was coming home from my friends house around 1am.. I went a little bit out of my way to avoid what looked like a road blocking accident. I was crusing down a nearly deserted road, However it is still a 4 lane road. I hit a red light and someone made a left turn, This is the ONLY car I have seen in literally 5 minutes. I gently took off from the light and eased into 50-60% throttle. I only wound the car up to maybe 55 maybe 60 at the MAX. I slowed back down to 50 (its a 45) Im just crusing along and way, way, way back I see a car FLYING up on me. But they oddly just hung way back, maybe 20 or more cars back. Next thing I know they've got thier sirens BLARING and lights on, yet they are in the other lane, they look like they are just passing me, then they hop behind me at the last minute.

I suggest that if you dont agree with the allegation/charge on the ticket, that you go to court on the date on the ticket and explain the judge that the fastest you could have been going was 60 in a 45.

Cop asked me if I knew how fast I was going. I told him 55ish, He said "close, 70" I was shocked....I said that I am postive I was not going quite that fast, and he insisted that I was...I was so pissed an trying to keep my cool so I just bit the bullet. He took my license and insurance card. Next thing I know they have like 3 more squad cars there. Then about 5 maybe more cops come to my window and being grilling the piss outta me. "Where are you coming from" "Where are you going" "Are you tired" "why are you speeding" a long list of seemingly dumb questions. Then they all left, leaving me and my origional cop. His parter came up and chatted with me about just random things..I brought up the fact that I knew I wasnt going 70, And asked him If I could see the radar gun. He said they didnt use the radar...I asked how he knew then, and he basically told me that he would have his parter come back and explain everything. That was that.

Okay!

Cop comes back and says hes letting me off easy and giving me a ticket for 63. I didnt inspect the ticket while he was standing there. I asked him about the gun and he said he paced me...I brought up the fact that he was so far back, He gave me some bull about how he had been following me for a while, when I had been on this road for less than 1-2 minutes.

Lets split it and say you were on this 4 lane road for 1 1/2 minute doing 55. That means you traveled about 1.5 miles.

Then I get to work today, and look at the ticket. He wrote down that I was speeding doing 68mph in a 70mph zone, and that they had paced me for 4/10ths of a mile. Both of which are incorrect. I probably didnt even travel 4/10ths of a mile on the whole road combined.

By your own admission you traveled about 1.5 miles on this 4 lane road. So, yes he most certainly could have paced your for 0.4 miles.

Now illinois has this dumb rule of 2 moving violations before the age of 21. I have a ticket for failure to signal, that was another BS ticket. This ticket makes 2 tickets for me at age 19.

Apparently there is a lot of BS happening in your life.

What Id like to know is: Is the pacing thing BS? I was told it was a mile or more for pacing tickets.

Pacing is quite legitimate. Especially pacing with a witness (partner). Typically pacing for a 1/4 mile is sufficient.

And is it possible to get out of the ticket on a technicality because of the 68 in a 70??

I would call the court and try to play it by asking the clerk why you received a ticket for going 2 mph under the speed limit, if in fact the ticket says 68 in a 70. But if you must show up in court to plead it out, the officer can amend the ticket to reflect the actual limit.

Just rather pissed and would like to be prepared for court.

Thanks!

I dont suggest going to court and telling the judge that pacing is BS, and this ticket is BS and your previous ticket was BS.

Go in well dressed and prepared with a cogent argument and tell the truth, the judge will recognize the truth and hopefully cut you a break.

 

[tistan]

I go to court on tuesday for about the same thing, but the officer in my case wrote the ticket for 25mph more than I was going. Instead of getting a 85 in a 55 I recieved a 110 in a 55. I saw the officer about a half mile back with his lights on and I had already slowed down to the speed limit and got ready to pull over. He new I was speeding, but he never paced me like he said.

 

[SilverELEX]

*removed by moderator*

Read the rules before you post in here again!

 

[TRiedy]

Ive got a question..

I got a ticket by pacing from a FL State Trooper for 70 in a 55 I believe(cant remember exactly). I knew I was guilty and accepted the ticket, but how do they know what the distance is from your car so they know how fast you are going? Because if they didnt keep the exact same distance from your car while pacing, couldnt it come out as faster or slower than you are really going? I just dont see how they can tell you were doing exactly 57, 62, etc. Or do they just get an approximation and pick a number around that? Thanks in advance for the info

 

[Lawfficer]

Ive got a question..

I got a ticket by pacing from a FL State Trooper for 70 in a 55 I believe(cant remember exactly). I knew I was guilty and accepted the ticket, but how do they know what the distance is from your car so they know how fast you are going? Because if they didnt keep the exact same distance from your car while pacing, couldnt it come out as faster or slower than you are really going? I just dont see how they can tell you were doing exactly 57, 62, etc. Or do they just get an approximation and pick a number around that? Thanks in advance for the info

You are correct, there is no way to keep the distance PERFECT. But as well all know, you can get to within a dozen car lengths or so and match the persons speed pretty close. A person with normal vision can tell if they are catching or falling behind a car they are watching. I normally do that, then take 2mph or so off the speed I THINK they are going. Pretty fair in my book...

 

[Iceman II]

Most of my pacing is done at night time. I can get pretty darn close to them without them even knowing I am there. The fines are in five mile per hour increments.

 

[TRiedy]

You are correct, there is no way to keep the distance PERFECT. But as well all know, you can get to within a dozen car lengths or so and match the persons speed pretty close. A person with normal vision can tell if they are catching or falling behind a car they are watching. I normally do that, then take 2mph or so off the speed I THINK they are going. Pretty fair in my book...

alright thats what i thought.. makes sense about the dozen car lengths. the officer was cool about it though, we talked for a few min when he found out i was in the air force(i had actually just left my house getting ready to start my journey all the way back to ky) and he dropped it down to the next lowest fine bracket. saved me some cash and definitely helped me out! ive always been respectful and used the 'sir' when ive been pulled over.. does nothing but help, and i think they deserve it anyway :thumbsup:
...even if theyre giving me a ticket at the time lol

 

[TRiedy]

Most of my pacing is done at night time. I can get pretty darn close to them without them even knowing I am there. The fines are in five mile per hour increments.

yea i hear ya.. headlights are headlights in your rearview. especially if theres no light bar to see in the light from the vehicles headlights behind the cop car. i dont know what it is, but i can usually tell LEO headlights coming up from behind. unless its one of the camaros or other undercover cars around my area. i got pulled over one other time by an unmarked dakota(it was either a dakota or a durango). couldnt tell at all! until he switched on the lights.... those things light up like a spaceship!