don't try this at home.

i *completely* spaced out. going from 505 onto 5. it's central valley boredom, completely empty freeway in the middle of flat nothingness.

i didn't pay attention to my speed and was doing what i thought was just casual cruising.
i see the cop sitting on the other side of the freeway on an offramp and i look down on my tach,
4200 rpm, oh shit, that's gotta be too fast.

15 minutes later he catched up to me and pulls me over. had me clocked at 96 (!) ...


i got lucky, the cop turned out to be a car nut. he aksed if i was going up to the raceway. so we talked cars for some 15 minutes or so.

he wrote me up for 80, which is the minimum he could do (short of letting me go free) ...

so here's to the cop on I5, whatever your name is, i owe you a cold one!
Andy

Yeh ..... sometimes they cut you some slack.

In the end, they extract their punishment for being anti-establishment behavior thru money confisication or a porition thereof via traffic school.

Time to get that speedo hooked up big A.

here in the beach area of Delaware, speeding tickets are a revenue crop - i do not speed because of this.

the speed limit on most non major roads here is 50mph - the 901 coupled with v8 is a nice combo.

i find that my 195x60x15 tires keep me out of trouble too because my speedo runs about 4.7% faster than my actual speed. shorter tires are built in speeding protection.

i hear some GPS units will beep at a programmed speed ??

jim

Hey Andy, you are getting a work out these days.....tickets, clutches, alternators etc......

I only have one thing to say...Valentine 1. I never leave home without it. It has saved my butt so many times I have lost count. I put a strip of velcro on the dash of each vehicle and can move it around with ease.

The price of one speeding ticket will pay for one.

He probably clocked you rather than radar, radar not used on interstates that much. At least pay attention to the tach if the speedo is not hooked up. When was the last time you did the traffic school deal?

That used to be a totally desolate stretch, nothing between the Nut Tree and I-5

Andy, are your tire sizes or gearing changed? I thought 4k in 5th was 100

If he had known about your "record" he would have never cut you any slack.

Naughty SiRandy

Isn't there some speed over which they just lock you up?? He probably just didn't want the hassle. Were you wearing a hat?

This is NO joke. On the way home last night I am on my bike I get stopped by CHP on a bike. You were over 80 mph PLEASE slow down. Thank you............. no joke then he just let me go.

I've got a GPS that you can set the max speed you want to go on it. Called the Finedrive 400. It's saved me a couple of times. Especially in Arizona, those cops are sneaky.

In California it supposedly used to be when you double the speed limit = jail.

Andy, what do you think your top speed is?

Excessive Speed and Designated Lane Use

(In summary, keep it down and keep to the right)

22348. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision ( of Section 22351, a person shall not drive a vehicle upon a highway with a speed limit established pursuant to Section 22349 or 22356 at a speed greater than that speed limit.

( A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than 100 miles per hour is guilty of an infraction punishable, as follows:

(1) Upon a first conviction of a violation of this subdivision, by a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). The court may also suspend the privilege of the person to operate a motor vehicle for a period not to exceed 30 days pursuant to Section 13200.5.

(2) Upon a conviction under this subdivision of an offense that occurred within three years of a prior offense resulting in a conviction of an offense under this subdivision, by a fine of not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750). The person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13355.

(3) Upon a conviction under this subdivision of an offense that occurred within five years of two or more prior offenses resulting in convictions of offenses under this subdivision, by a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). The person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to subdivision ( of Section 13355.

© A vehicle subject to Section 22406 shall be driven in a lane designated pursuant to Section 21655, or if a lane has not been so designated, in the right-hand lane for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb. When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, the driver shall use either the designated lane, the lane to the immediate left of the right-hand lane, or the right-hand lane for traffic as permitted under this code. If, however, specific lane or lanes have not been designated on a divided highway having four or more clearly marked lanes for traffic in one direction, a vehicle may also be driven in the lane to the immediate left of the right-hand lane, unless otherwise prohibited under this code. This subdivision does not apply to a driver who is preparing for a left- or right-hand turn or who is in the process of entering into or exiting from a highway or to a driver who is required necessarily to drive in a lane other than the right-hand lane to continue on his or her intended route.

Ugh! Nice that it wasn't a completely unpleasant experience, but still...

Diablo region PCA is getting their DE program together, and there are occasional meetings early Saturday morning. I've cruised down to Dublin in one p-car or another numerous times, usually at high speed.

One week I take the fly yellow EX500. I'm the only thing on the road whatsoever. Sho 'nuff, a Chip picks me up at Grand Avenue on I-580 in Oakland and follows me to about Golf Links Road before I notice him. Highly embarassing that I didn't spot him much, much earlier. Paced me at an average of 83mph.

I can't complain about his behavior, he was perfectly professional about it all and only wrote me up for 79 in a 65 zone. I'm still waiting for something explaining the whole traffic school thing to show up in the mail, as I haven't gotten a ticket in the 2.5 years since I moved out here. Sigh...

When I travel north on the I-5 my Valentine picks up active radar on pretty much every CHP that I encounter. Usually way in advance, thank you very much!

Best to keep CHPs on friendly terms!



This is a pic from Buttonwillow Raceway where the CHPs couldn't resist coming to see Chris Murray's 'CHP' inspired race boxster. Great public relations for PCA!

The Highway Patrol are cool, and actually spoke at a PCA Thunderhill event and stressed SAFE driving to and from the track and mentioned a 'high speed chase' of a Porsche up I-5 that was totally unacceptable (wasn't an event participant but still gave us a bad rep). TIP from the presentation.... They don't nab you for a little over the limit but don't push it above 10 over, they have to stop you for that....

I've got a V1 that I bought shortly after my first p-car, back in 1997-98. I think it was the advert in Panorama that did it, shortly after some problems with an Escort or similar.

IIRC Valentine used to offer a trade-up / rebuild program that I guess I should look into. But I'm more interested in "stealth" hidden installations these days, especially as I've already got a GPS widget dangling from the windshield on trips...

Don't forget you have options.

1) You have the right to a trial by written declaration. See ticketassassin.com for info on this and how to fight it. If you don't like the outcome of the written declaration trial, you can still go to real court. The risk of the cop showing up decreases with each step here. When I got my ticket about 2 yrs ago - nobody made me aware of this right.

2) Traffic school will get the point off your license, although you won't be able to do that again for a while. You need to have had no tickets for a while though.

I'm inclined to fight all tickets just in case, and if you don't like it, go to court with your tail between your legs and ask for traffic school. If you do get off then you might maintain the ability to go to traffic school next time.

I have a point on my license at the moment, and it pretty much doubles the cost of whatever vehicle I'm "associated with" on our insurance policy.

TicketAssassin actually recommends that you ask the cop for a warning at the scene because if you're able to get off at that time, it's your best bet.

Lucky though - it could have been a lot worse.

You could live in rural Michigan like me and, after you recognize the cop who stopped you, you say "hi, sorry" and he says, "hey doc, just slow it down please" as he lets you go.

But, cars rust out here something fierce so it's a definite tradeoff I guess.

Anyway, I once visited SF and was stopped speeding in a rented car on the Embarcadero ?sp? and the cop was professional, smiled and gave me a ticket anyway. What good is that? Giving you the ticket for a "lower number" and making you feel like he did you a favor just never felt good to me.

Good luck in court!

Paul

well, here's the deal:

i was doing 96 in a 70 zone. according to the cop, they don't stop you unless it's 10 miles over or more.
so, the least amount he could write me up for was 80. like i said, short of letting me go free, that was the best he could do.

the way he explained it, the 80 in a 70 zone won't get me in much trouble ...
Andy

I did well over a hundred mph from Palo Alto down to Morgan Hill and back again today with no attention from the cops whatsoever. Powered by an aircooled flat 4 no less.

WOW!

I gotta tell ya, the fact that you got a ticket speeding and you STILL want to buy the cop a beer is great! I have been in law enforcement for almost 10 years now and not one person I've ever given a ticket to has EVER offered to buy me a beer! Then everybody else writes good stuff about cops. This site kicks ass! And if you can't find the cop that cited you, I'll drink his beer for him!

Chris

Hey Sir Andy my SO works for the court system and had this to say in response to all the advice about Trial by declartations and court trials. They are options to you however if you are found guilty then the option of traffic school may not be given. Since traffic school is a pre-trial diversion and is solely up to the judge after a trial. So do traffic school on line!!!!! By the way the officers name is listed on the ticket so you can locate him and buy him that beer. My SO probably knows
the officer if you were stopped in Yolo County. Also be happy the officer cited you for 80 instead of 96 because traffic school is not an option if you are cited for more than 25 miles over the speed limit. ( SO=Significant other)

In many years back East and a number of tickets, I only had a few bad experiences with state troopers. I'm always polite, hands on steering wheel, announce it if I'm going to open the glovebox or reach in a pocket before removing hands from the wheel, etc. I recognize the amount of stress a lone officer can build up in these situations, and don't want to make it any worse.

Jersey was always a bad time. People must abuse those guys every time they pull somebody over.

Connecticut was hit-or-miss. Generally good/professional, but one guy pulled me over in '97 in my new-to-me 85/1 944, inspected the car in detail for 20 minutes or so, and complained that the only thing he could do was write me a fix-it ticket for a light bulb.

New York -- well, I didn't get pulled over much in NY. Which is surprising given the number of high-speed, late-night runs out to Watkins Glen for track events.

I got one ticket in New Hampshire, many years before I started zooming up to NHIS for track days. A friend and I stopped in a diner or something off I-91. A trooper decided to follow us onto the highway a few cars behind and pace us. Massachusetts plates were a red flag for him, I guess...

But Massachusetts is where I drove most of the time, and where I got pulled over the most. And most of the time, the troopers were very pleasant people to deal with even when they wrote me up. On several occasions I was warned off and turned loose. In general, I came away feeling like we had some very decent, reasonable human beings serving the public -- not because I got out of a few tickets, but because they all seemed to genuinely care about the safety of the motoring public rather than relishing the opportunity to punish somebody.

That said, I did on one occasion get pulled over by a complete d*ck of a lieutenant who decided to play Iron Jack with me. Twenty questions: "Why do you think I pulled you over? ... Why didn't your fancy radar detector warn you? Do you think it's broken? ... I'll tell you, it's because I was behind you in this SUV. You weren't expecting that, were you?"

Anyway, I've always held the boys in blue in high regard despite a small number of counter-examples.

I'll tell you the one problem I have here in California -- unified jurisdiction. Despite all the fancy computerized automatic reporting that was supposed to happen, speeding tickets I got outside MA never showed up on my record. Never. But I think there are counties here as big as some of the states I used to pass through, and it's all the same system. Feh.