Total Motorcycle Community Forums

From what I've heard, cops are Gods in the legal system of rural Virginia. I don't think I want to try to discredit an officer. However, it's a first offense and I'm hoping that driving school will be offered, especially if I come from so far away.

storysunfolding wrote:From what I've heard, cops are Gods in the legal system of rural Virginia. I don't think I want to try to discredit an officer. However, it's a first offense and I'm hoping that driving school will be offered, especially if I come from so far away.

You really should fight it, especially if you were doing the speed limit as you said.

I fought a ticket in Dayton and was offered a lesser charge of "equipment failure" with no points and no fine. Then I had to check out with the cashier and was charged $65.00 in court fees, including $15.00 to subpeona the officer. Of course, I had to take a day off work and was not compensated for my time.

After that little fiasco no one can convince me that traffic tickets are anything more than a revenue source. If you don't believe me, ask your local sheriff's office how much they've budgeted for citation revenue for 2006. The answer should be, "What the heck are you talking about?" - but they will have a number.

I don't hate cops. Most of them around here are pretty reasonable. I was pulled over once for not changing lanes when his car was pulled over on the side, but I explained my side and he just told me to move over or slow down next time. Considering I usually do 30 over the limit on the back roads I'm probably just lucky I haven't been ticketed. An officer even told me once that he doesn't even bother with traffic fines anymore because it's too much hassle. But he wasn't a traffic officer so I'm still cautious on the highways...
Yeah, police have a job that I'd hate to do. Especially in the cities where people would rather shoot you down then get a seatbelt fine. So I respect them.

Mag7C wrote:I don't hate cops. Most of them around here are pretty reasonable.

Yeah, police have a job that I'd hate to do. Especially in the cities where people would rather shoot you down then get a seatbelt fine. So I respect them.

My dad was a cop for 27-years. I have nothing against them, appreciate what they do, and am glad they do it so I don't have to. My biggest beef is with the Highway Patrol. They do far more ticketing and far less policing, and seem to be the most willing to skew statistics to pass a law aimed at generating revenue.

Recently several states have begun campaigns for increased safety in construction zones. The driving force is a new law which doubles the fines in said work zones. PENNDOT recently began displaying 75 white crosses at its Erie garage with the names and dates of AFSCME members killed on the job since PENNDOT was formed in 1970. The AFSCME reported in a newsletter at the time that 100 workers had been killed since 1967. The causes of death.....well, seven died in a plane crash in 1977, twenty six were killed by PENNDOT construction vehicles, one drowned, one was electrocuted, and the list goes on. Turns out only 26 of the 100 deaths were associated with motorist traffic. Twenty six no-doubt tragic deaths, but a far cry from 100. And of the 26 deaths, there are no statistics showing how many were due to speeding vehicles and not foul weather or any number of alternate causes. And this is just Pennsylvania. I have read similar stories from Wisconsin and Illinois recently as well. So why the need to skew and misrepresent the numbers? Because 100 has more impact (no pun intended) than 26? Sounds like desperate justification of an unnecessary law to me.