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#1 ·
Okay, I've been debating doing this for a while now. And, I'm kind of tired of the "I hate cops" threads. Have you ever wondered why a cop gave you the ticket rather than someone else? Is this mod or that mod legal? What would a cop do if he saw this or that happen on the road? As many of you know, or have been able to figure out, I'm an Officer with the California Highway Patrol (It is, therefore, my primary job to give tickets, take drunks to jail, and write-up accident reports). I've been doing the job for about three years, which doesn't make me an expert. I figure that it would be nice to allow you guys to "pick me brains" on stuff. I'd like to be able to answer questions that you guys have about certain situations, and what not.

Keep in mind that some of these answers are MY opinion, not those of the department, or even other Officers. Even if you do what I suggest, you might still get a ticket, or go to jail. There will have to be rules, though. Here they are:

Main rules are these --

1) RESPECT -- I'm not going to put on my flame suit, anyone that's going to post in this thread SHALL be respectful to me, and other Officers. Anyone who is not, won't get a reply. Call anyone with a shiny piece of metal on their chest a "Pig", and you won't get a reply.
2) HONESTY -- Be honest about what happened, and how you reacted. What you, and the Officer said.
3) BE NICE -- Not following this is the most important. Foul language SHALL be kept to a minimum! If you can't express your anger without first calming down and using adult words, then I have no room for you in my life.

Others are things along these lines --

1) Questions about Vehicle Code SHALL be in regards to California laws only! I don't work in other states, and therefore have no knowledge of their laws. If you bring up a law in another state, you have to post the law in question. Even then, I would only have limited knowledge in regards to it.
2) You can ask me what I would do in a given situation, but don't expect other Officers to do the same.
3) Other Officers can post replies to questions, but everyone SHALL follow the two primary rules.
4) I enforce the law, I don't write the law. If you have a problem with how a law is written, this isn't the place to air your concern.
5) After I turn the ticket in, I have limited knowledge on how to deal with it. My knowledge is limited to what I have encountered in my own experiences with getting tickets (yes, I do get them from time to time).

Questions about the CHP might be able to be answered on the Departments website www.chp.ca.gov

With all this in mind, let's see how this thread goes. I'll try to answer questions as best, and as quickly as I can. I don't have the ability to spend hours upon hours each day on these forums, so I might not be able to answer things right away.
 
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#1,469 ·
First of all for clarification, in my jurisdiction speeding is a criminal offense, requiring that conviction is beyond reasonable doubt, some other jurisdictions may be decriminalized for speeding. Essentially the goal of the TIPMRA is to poke holes into the competence of the case that it was indeed exactly the speed as noted on the ticket, and the qualifications of the officer and device used and ultimately have the case dismissed. Using the records of past case laws pertaining to the particular method of measurement used which has gone to supreme court and was then proved that certain qualities of the measurement process were in fact necessary and valid to be accurate in order to convict the individual as going that particular speed. This usually consists of showing reasonable doubt in the accuracy of the speed measurement device or officer by requesting different data on maintenance/tuning/certification etc, if the prosecution cannot come up with that requested relevant evidence (which doesn't need to be subpoenaed) then there is in fact doubt in the competence of the case, which was previously proved as reasonable via the case laws. However I always just plead not guilty and work with the prosecutor to lower the charges so that it's not on my record (Minnesota Dimler amendment ftw), much easier process.
 
#1,472 ·
Well <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:smarttags" /><st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> is different in that speeding was decriminalized. So I can’t ask for a jury trial in a speeding ticket case. However, fact remains that the prosecution has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. So despite the difference (criminal vs. not criminal) the burden of proof remains the same.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
With that being said, I’ll still stick by my original guess that if the prosecution missed a step, the judge, magistrate, commissioner, or justice of the peace for that matter will overrule your objection, shut you down, enter a guilty verdict and move to the next case.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I’m not suggesting that I wish you would be found guilty. (Check my screen name, I've been in the same boat as you more times than I'd ever admit). What I’m saying is that these proceedings move fairly quickly and unless you are an attorney, chances are a missed step by the prosecution will more likely go unnoticed by a layman.

Additionally, having the ability to cite case law for each and every possible outcome will require many hours of research. Something that the average person wants to neither do nor can understand.
 
#1,474 ·
Well, after 8 years of nothing, I got popped yesterday for going 89 in a 65. I guess I was somewhat overdue. :(

What are my options and how much am I looking at? TIA.
 
#1,477 ·
Hey, just wanted to thank you for taking your time out and answering our questions.

I was recently on a trip to norcal and i recieved a ticket. The ticket was for following too closely to the vehicle in front of me. The car that I was following was actually my friend's car, I was behind him with reasonable distance, not riding his bumper or anything at all. I was hoping if there is any possible way to fight this. If I totally believed that I was a 100% at fault then I wouldn't mind about it as much, but for the traffic conditions given, I thought that the distance was resonable. I am sure that the officer which issued the ticket to me did not think the same, however. Would it help if I had my friend write and sign me a letter also as a witness?
 
#1,486 ·
They are supposed to be clear white. If they have a little bit of a blue tint to them like many/most LEDs do, then technically, maybe. This cop may have been a little bit of a jackass, but not sure why you're so fired up since he didn't cite you or anything...
 
#1,494 ·
That's a fantastic question. Unfortunately one that I don't have the answer to. I think you could try to contact the US Government, or Customs, or something along those lines to find out more information. Maybe even a government agency from the Netherlands would have the information.

I don't see it being any different than a Mexico or Canada based car being here. So my best guess that as long as you have the drivers license from abroad and the car is registered there, you shouldn't run into any problems. Best bet is to not break the law while you're here :D
 
#1,502 ·
Hi Frobie. Excuse me if this question has been posed before but I'm not gonna go through 1,500 posts or search "100mph".

Anyways, last night I got a speeding ticket for driving "100". I scanned the ticket so if you need to see it I can post it.

22349(a) V.C. EXCEED 65 MPH.

For those that know the 118 freeway in Simi Valley, it is one long strip of freeway. At 11:30pm last night, I decided to see how fast I can take the car up to. There were no cars in front of me and I ran it hard and I got it up to 162mph and let off as soon as I saw taillights on the horizon.

Well during the take off from about 80mph, a street cop was at an onramp (below freeway level) just writing his notes after issuing a citation. He saw my tail lights and he said his radar indicated 107 mph. So he started his cruiser and for a few seconds he said he was doing 125mph and just kept seeing my taillights still pulling away.

Like I had mentioned I let off gas as soon as I saw tail lights. From that point on I brought the car down to 70 mph. I look into my rearview mirror and I don't see any headlights. Maybe 3-4 seconds later, I look up again and I see these headlights coming up fast. But I am so far away it takes him a good 30 seconds to come up to my tail. BUT BEFORE HE DOES GET TO ME, I had already passed 3 cars when I slowed down to 70mph, and I noticed him slowing down beside, not behind, each of the 3 cars behind me like he was checking out their tail lights. When he finally gets to me, it takes him awhile, maybe 10 seconds checking out my rears from the #1 lane, while I've been sitting on the #2 lane for a long time already, when he finally goes behind me and lights me up.

When he gets to my passenger window, he asks "Do you know why I'm stopping you?" I say, "was I speeding?" He says, "How fast were you going?". I say, "I don't know, I don't think I was speeding". He then says he clocked me at 107mph and when got his cruiser traveling 125mph, he just kept seeing me pull away. BUT THE ONLY TIME I SAW HIS HEADLIGHTS, I ALREADY SLOWED DOWN TO 70MHP. He writes the ticket at only "100" because he is cutting me a break. I want to AND I NEED TO go to court for this cuz I already took traffic school just 14 months ago.


I'm sure he is BS'ng about the radar 'cuz my very trustworthy Passport did not go off one bit during this run. He was fishing for the perp when he was looking behind us 4 cars and chose my M3 cuz the 3 cars I passed were slower cars.

Can I fight this?
 
#1,506 ·
Hi Frobie. Excuse me if this question has been posed before but I'm not gonna go through 1,500 posts or search "100mph".

Anyways, last night I got a speeding ticket for driving "100". I scanned the ticket so if you need to see it I can post it.
I edited for space...

Can I fight this?
You can fight this. However, you're going to be hard pressed to win it. There are several reasons why you shouldn't. And, I'm not going to chastize you for your actions. But, keep this in mind. Had the officer written you for 125+ which he could easily have done, you'd be looking at a $1500+ fine and a 30 day suspension on your license. Only being cited for 100 is going to be in the area of $300 -- but no suspension. The officer cut you a tremendous break. Don't be that guy that still fights this even though you were cut this big of a break on the fine/punishment.

As far as him taking awhile to catch up to you and light you up. He was probably checking to see if the other cars matched the one that he saw fly by. And, just because you didn't see him doesn't mean that he never lost sight of you. He probably stayed behind you for those 10 or so seconds while he ran your plate and put out the location of vehicle stop. I've had people try to tell me that I simply pulled over the wrong car, or was mistaken on the speed. But I assure you that I've been doing the job long enough and am enough of a car guy to know the kind of car I'm after even in the dark (just by headlights/tailights). Good luck if you have any other questions, ask away!
 
#1,504 ·
We don't calibrate the radar units. The units are calibrated every 36 months at the longest by an independent lab. We use San Diego State to do ours and actually have ours done every 30 months so that we're never out of compliance.

However, we check the calibration at the beginning and end of each shift. At least, we're supposed to...
 
#1,505 ·
Here's the ticket if need to view it.
 

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#1,507 ·
thx for the quick reply...PM sent.
 
#1,508 ·
I was just wondering, if i wish to deal with my ticket through "trial by written declaration", how should i go about handling it? should i formally send in a request first with my courtesy notice, stating i wish to have a "trial by written declaration"? or should i just go ahead and send in a completed "trial by written declaration" form along with my bail amount and the courtesy notice?
 
#1,524 ·
Question for you Frobie:)

Guy was crossing the street on a crosswalk (no signal lights just a stop sign). My buddy was in a hurry and drives around the guy and gets pulled over by a cop.
Do you know how many points is this and how much is ticket going to be? It's in San Francisco County.
Thanks:)
 
#1,525 ·
Should be one point. I think it's a simple moving violation. As far as the fine goes, I'm sure Speeder has that information somewhere under a rock :D If he doesn't, you might be able to track it down on the interweb.
 
#1,534 ·
Hey frobie, I've been following this thread for a while and appreciate what you're doing here.

Anyway, I recently got a ticket for going 82 in a 70 on I5 at 12am near sac international airport. There was nobody around and I was merging on the freeway at the time. I'm assuming he didn't use radar, since he left that box blank on the ticket, so he must have paced me. The only problem is that by the time his headlights were behind me, I had already slowed down to 65-70.

My question is, do I stand a chance if I contest this ticket, considering that I was merging at the time?
Also, I don't know if this is important, but in the max spd. box the cop wrote 65, and I know for a fact that the limit on this section of I5 is 70. Can I make a point out of this?

Thanks for the help, I tried searching for similar posts, but I am still confused on the matter.
 
#1,535 ·
Anyway, I recently got a ticket for going 82 in a 70 on I5 at 12am near sac international airport. There was nobody around and I was merging on the freeway at the time. I'm assuming he didn't use radar, since he left that box blank on the ticket, so he must have paced me. The only problem is that by the time his headlights were behind me, I had already slowed down to 65-70.

My question is, do I stand a chance if I contest this ticket, considering that I was merging at the time?
Also, I don't know if this is important, but in the max spd. box the cop wrote 65, and I know for a fact that the limit on this section of I5 is 70. Can I make a point out of this?
You're gonna have a hard time getting out of it. I understand that it was late with probably not a whole lot of traffic out, but you were still going 82. It's a maximum speed violation ticket so it's a matter of yes or no, were you over the limit. So you'd have to have a reason why the officer made an error rather than you not going that fast, if that makes any sense.

I'm pretty sure that the I-5 through any town (for the most part) is governed by a 65 mph max. I know that the Sacramento Airport is on the north end of town, but it's probably still 65. Double, no, triple check before you try to use this in court. If it IS a 70 zone, then take pictures of the signs, and try to find out through CalTrans the official max speed through there.
 
#1,541 ·
hello officers,
i have a question im curious about. I am pretty sure the highway police use Ka bands on I-5 for most freeways, so what is the maximum distance a Ka band can travel? Would my radar detector be able to detect the Ka signal before the Ka radar can get my speed, so i can slow down when it's beeping? oh and also, do you know the distance for the k band to?
thanks
 
#1,545 ·
Yeah, we use Ka band. I'm not sure of the max distance that it travels, however on a flat, straight road I can pick up cars over a mile out. But we did just get a couple of lidar units here and there across the state :pimpin:

Depending on how the officer is using his radar unit you might be hosed when you start beeping or not. If the officer is using it properly (visual estimation first) then by the time it goes off, you're probably already in his window. However, if he is using it incorrectly (driving around with it transmitting), then when it goes off you might have time to slow down.

For your third question, I have no idea about K band. In fact, I don't think many agencies still use it. Don't quote me on that, though!
 
#1,544 ·
HAHAHAHA I don't really like donuts, or coffee for that matter :D

And I think that most people who've met me would consider me a pretty level-headed, even-keeled kinda guy. In fact, most people don't believe me when I tell them what I do :)
 
#1,549 ·
Your signature is supposed to match what's on your license. But, as long as it's not Donald Duck or something crazy like that, whatever you sign will work. As long as he/she remembers you if you go to court, then it won't really matter what you signed.
 
#1,550 ·
Any legal methods in getting front window tints?

If you have a medical condition where your skin is extremely sensitive to the sun, is there a way to get front window tints? Obviously this would have to be proven by a doctor, but is there a form a doctor can fill out, or a prescription you can carry stating you need front tints?
 
#1,553 ·
If you have a medical condition where your skin is extremely sensitive to the sun, is there a way to get front window tints? Obviously this would have to be proven by a doctor, but is there a form a doctor can fill out, or a prescription you can carry stating you need front tints?
With the doctors note you can get tint applied to the front windows legally. However, there is a stipulation. The tint has to be removeable during the hours of darkness. So it has to be a static-cling affixed tint, no adhesive. For the most part as long as you have the note, and you get something not too dark (35-50%) you should be fine. Just remember that you COULD still get a ticket.


Oh yeah, it's tint, not tints...
 
#1,551 ·
Not sure what was going on but t'was spooky

I was bookng up the 5 one night in the fast lane, and accidently pulled up behind a CHiPendale will doing 85-ish. I thought I was toast, but he did not pull me over. So I continued to trail him a few car lengths back doing 85-ish and he still did not pull me. Then every once in awhile my detector would alert Ka band and I would slow down and it appeared he'd slow down too. Then he'd speed up, and then I'd speed up. We did this dance a few more times, but I never got pulled. What was up with that?
 
#1,554 ·
I was bookng up the 5 one night in the fast lane, and accidently pulled up behind a CHiPendale will doing 85-ish. I thought I was toast, but he did not pull me over. So I continued to trail him a few car lengths back doing 85-ish and he still did not pull me. Then every once in awhile my detector would alert Ka band and I would slow down and it appeared he'd slow down too. Then he'd speed up, and then I'd speed up. We did this dance a few more times, but I never got pulled. What was up with that?
Chances are that he was shooting radar for opposite direction traffic. Your detector would go off every time that he changed from the front antenae to the rear to double check which car was speeding. Did he ever turn through the center divide and take off in the opposite direction?

If you remember, what day and time was it, and where were you?
 
#1,555 ·
That's a really bad habit that's going to land you a ticket! You COULD follow him around, but you're going to draw a lot of attention to yourself that you might just not want. Like what we've talked about before, just because the lights/siren aren't on doesn't mean that there isn't a reason to speed. I know it's off topic from what you're asking, but that's probably the next question :D
 
#1,559 ·
I saw a car today with a what looked like a great solution to the "front license plates are ugly on an e46" issue. He had removed the front license plate holder leaving the black european bumper trim. From that trim, he cut out a spot wide enough to put the plate. Of course the plate is too tall to fit in that space. So he had then cut the plate so that only the numbers remained with no top or bottom. He put the middle, with the numbers in that trim spot. It looked great.

So it looked like

headlightsgrillegrillegrillegrillegrilleheadlights
bumperbumperbumperbumperbumperbumper
blackblackblack| 7abc999 | blackblackblack
bumperbumperbumperbumperbumperbumper
airdamairdamairdamairdamairdamairdamairda

So, is this legal?
 
#1,562 ·
I saw a car today with a what looked like a great solution to the "front license plates are ugly on an e46" issue. He had removed the front license plate holder leaving the black european bumper trim. From that trim, he cut out a spot wide enough to put the plate. Of course the plate is too tall to fit in that space. So he had then cut the plate so that only the numbers remained with no top or bottom. He put the middle, with the numbers in that trim spot. It looked great.

So, is this legal?
Well, I guess that the important part of the plate is displayed, which COULD make it legal. However, it's illegal to modify a license plate since it's technically state property. You can't repaint it, so I don't see how you could cut it to shreds without getting in trouble for it.

I've often thought about mounting it behind the mesh portion of the lower grille on my car :shhh: It'd still be visible to the front, but not hanging off the bumper.
 
#1,564 ·
Frobie, could you please explain the 11-99 stuff? I know what the foundation is about but could you give a quick breakdown of what you or other CHP officers do differently if the car is tagged as such with the plate frame? I know there isn't supposed to be any preferrential treatment but that's always being debated. Thanks! :)
 
#1,568 ·
In theory, there's no preferrential treatment. However, you may be more likely to get a verbal warning than someone who isn't an 11-99 Foundation member. Or, you might not even be stopped. It used to be that members rarely got stopped and especially rare for them to get a ticket. But, more and more people are joining just to try and get out of tickets instead of donating for a good cause. This has led alot of officers that I know to start stopping and even citing members of the foundation.

I guess bottom line is that if you are looking for a good organization to donate to (tax write-off to boot), then it's a good one. But do it for the right reasons and you won't worry about the possibility of getting a ticket, right?
 
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