I just got the most ridiculous ticket

[CaptainCrunch]

Sorry to hear that. Its tough, and 200 or 300 dollars is a tough pill to swallow when things are tight.



It is a legit traffic stop, and I'm sure the police are seeing all kinds of pressure to increase their ticket revenue right now. Not the right reason, I know, but these cops are told to execute policy and not make it.


Showing up in court might be a futile effort, but maybe you can go to court to negotiate the fine down, I don't know if they have that latitude anymore but they used to if you can explain your situation.



Its good the cop walked away and showed professionalism, I'm sure their jobs even in the simplest things like traffic stops are not easy, this city at times feels like an emotional powder keg, and every one I talk to has a story about where they've snapped in their day to day life, or gotten emotional over things that they normally wouldn't get emotional about.



I hope things work out for you.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

The public should be aware that police constables in Calgary DO have quotas. They call giving someone a ticket "boning" them. There are a bunch of fishing holes in Calgary that they hang out at towards the end of the month to pull people over, it is a total cash cow and I'd love to see this information made public.

Who cares? Don't break the law, and the police can't use you to fill a ticket quota. Pretty simple.

Doesn't stop me or anyone else from breaking traffic laws. But honestly, I do not care if they hang out and give out tickets. That is literally part of the job "we" (loosely) pay them to do. Have at it officers, fish away.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Who cares? Don't break the law, and the police can't use you to fill a ticket quota. Pretty simple.

Doesn't stop me or anyone else from breaking traffic laws. But honestly, I do not care if they hang out and give out tickets. That is literally part of the job "we" (loosely) pay them to do. Have at it officers, fish away.

No kidding. People love to use the quota line, but I’m sorry folks, quotas don’t mean they get to make #### up.

And if they do, lawyer up and fight it. Don’t say anything you don’t have to to a cop - they write it all down.

In general, don’t talk to the police. Their job and what you think their job is are not the same.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

I also said '#### you' to him as he walked away. He stopped, and I said 'yeah, you heard me' then I gave him the finger.

Wow, very not cool to tell the officer off when he was just doing his job.

I saw the later posts where you are attempting to contact the officer to apologize. Good on you. You're not the bad egg I thought you were from the initial post.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

No, I've decided to not fight it and own up to my mistake/ignorance. Now that I've calmed down tho I do feel bad and embarrassed about my actions and would like to apologize.

I would still dispute it, or make up an excuse (like snow covering the yellow line). You won't necessarily have to go to court. When I disputed mine, the person at the counter just discounted it and made it so no points would come off. Like no questions asked.

I think sometimes they think it's just not worth their time to have it in court, so they offer a deal.

[BsFaninCGY]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Wow, very not cool to tell the officer off when he was just doing his job.

I saw the later posts where you are attempting to contact the officer to apologize. Good on you. You're not the bad egg I thought you were from the initial post.

Very not cool. I just sent my apology email as well as made a small donation to the Calgary Police Foundation as a small act similar to buying someone a beer to make amends. I am human, therefore flawed. I appreciate the perspective from those who commented on this thread. I will be paying the ticket without contesting and learning from it.

[CaptainCrunch]

You seem like a good person that hit a crappy situation. Good on you for making amends. I would still see if you can negotiate the fine down.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

Very not cool. I just sent my apology email as well as made a small donation to the Calgary Police Foundation as a small act similar to buying someone a beer to make amends. I am human, therefore flawed. I appreciate the perspective from those who commented on this thread. I will be paying the ticket without contesting and learning from it.

I'm sorry I initially wished for you to forget about the payment date to get the late fee and the victim services fee on top of it. Now I'm starting to feel guilty about it...

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

Very not cool. I just sent my apology email as well as made a small donation to the Calgary Police Foundation as a small act similar to buying someone a beer to make amends. I am human, therefore flawed. I appreciate the perspective from those who commented on this thread. I will be paying the ticket without contesting and learning from it.

Good job man. I would thank your post but I can’t. I guess I’m out of thanks for today. There’s that feeling of rage and anger that immediately hits you when without warning you realize a minor traffic transgression is going to hit you hard in the wallet but in my experience holding it together and being cordial with the officer is always the path of least resistance.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Reaper

I'm sorry I initially wished for you to forget about the payment date to get the late fee and the victim services fee on top of it. Now I'm starting to feel guilty about it...

Emotional responses...

[karl262]

This might be a great opportunity to discuss anger management techniques and strategies.

What should one do when things get hot and control is fading fast?

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[metallicat]

Originally Posted by karl262

This might be a great opportunity to discuss anger management techniques and strategies.

What should one do when things get hot and control is fading fast?

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

I don’t know that one reaction to an emotional event necessarily suggests he has anger management issues.

[TorqueDog]

This is one of those 'spirit of the law' versus 'letter of the law' incidents. I am usually on the 'spirit of the law' side.

If the circumstances are as you described it (quiet and barely anyone around), then I would want you to get pulled over, have the officer explain why what you did was illegal, and give you a warning instead of a ticket so that you don't make the same mistake again when it might actually matter.

If it was busy as hell and you pulled that, then yeah, your driving created a potentially dangerous situation, and you should have received a ticket.

Swearing at him after was just bad form.

[karl262]

Originally Posted by metallicat

I don’t know that one reaction to an emotional event necessarily suggests he has anger management issues.

I meant just in general, not specifically op. This can happen to anyone, not just those with anger management problems. Anger management is probably a good tool for everyone to have, right? Why not discuss?

Maybe the next guy having a stressful day and tempted to mouth off a cop for a traffic ticket happens to remember something he read here and keeps his cool. Or maybe not but this time the officer is also having a stressful day.

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[Slava]

CP is awesome for this. I mean it sounds incredibly innocuous, and surely a quick chat could’ve sufficed. But in this thread we get everything from “it’s the law and if you don’t like it, don’t break the law” to “maybe you should look into anger management”. It’s hilarious, really. Everyone’s on their high horse right away.

And whoever was hoping for the extra fees, my wife has that handled. She gets tickets and forgets about them, so we get to pay those extras as well!

[karl262]

Originally Posted by Slava

CP is awesome for this. I mean it sounds incredibly innocuous, and surely a quick chat could’ve sufficed. But in this thread we get everything from “it’s the law and if you don’t like it, don’t break the law” to “maybe you should look into anger management”. It’s hilarious, really. Everyone’s on their high horse right away.

And whoever was hoping for the extra fees, my wife has that handled. She gets tickets and forgets about them, so we get to pay those extras as well!

I dunno, I don't think I said "maybe you need anger management", that's a bit of a stretch and certainly not the intention. I guess I just see an honest and regrettable mistake (fully owned up to) as a learning opportunity for lots of people. He'll, I'd love to know what I could do to help myself if I'm having a s*** day and about to lay into a cop for pulling me over.



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[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by BsFaninCGY

Completely. No argument. A bad day got worse and I couldn't keep my cool. I'm looking into what could have happened after that now and I guess I'll consider my luck changed at that moment and my day got better.

It likely won’t help with the ticket but it might help with your karma or whatever if you called up the police and tell whoever to pass on a message to officer x who gave you the ticket that you’re sorry for being a jerk to him as you were just having a bad day.

He’s likely got a thick skin but it still helps. Cops get a bad rap for so many legit things.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Slava

CP is awesome for this. I mean it sounds incredibly innocuous, and surely a quick chat could’ve sufficed. But in this thread we get everything from “it’s the law and if you don’t like it, don’t break the law” to “maybe you should look into anger management”. It’s hilarious, really. Everyone’s on their high horse right away.

And whoever was hoping for the extra fees, my wife has that handled. She gets tickets and forgets about them, so we get to pay those extras as well!

And then some weirdo drops in the thread, reacts to a handful of posts and says “everyone is doing this thing I’m reacting to!”

Claaaaassic CP.

[Matata]

If you go to a courthouse to fight the ticket, you'll probably at least get a pity reduction, just explain that you think the ticket is too expensive for someone in your situation and that you think the officer was egregious in how they decided to enforce the law. Could save you 50% if not thrown out.

[afc wimbledon]

As I recall single solid line and you can cross if you are not obstructing traffic, double is never crossable, so you are pretty much hooped