$300 ticket??? - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

PowerPlayoffs06 · 07-20-2007, 10:57 PM

I hope all the folks posting "QQ more" comments and throwing up websites citing traffic laws follow each and every law yourself. I'm talking things like hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel, signaling in parking lots, never going a breath over any posted speed limit including things like off ramp limits. Otherwise you're self-righteous hypocrites.

BlackArcher101 · 07-20-2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

I hope all the folks posting "QQ more" comments and throwing up websites citing traffic laws follow each and every law yourself. I'm talking things like hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel, signaling in parking lots, never going a breath over any posted speed limit including things like off ramp limits. Otherwise you're self-righteous hypocrites.

Seeing as how I'm the only one that posted a website citing traffic law.....

It's not law for hands to be at 10 and 2, to signal in parking lots... and yes, I do speed. This thread is neither about these and only about stopping at a stop sign which in fact I already do. Hence why I didn't get a ticket yesterday when I didn't notice a cop following me.

Dion · 07-20-2007, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

I love threads like this.

I will add the obligatory, 'if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.'

Nothing like clogging the courts because 'there was no one around and therefore the law doesn't apply here' or 'i was the middle car of 3' comments.

So if someone has a belief the officer erred in judgement, they should just shut up and pay the fine?

4 years ago I beat a ticket in court due to an error in judgement by an officer. The ticket was for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign when in fact I was entering a merge lane.

The intersection in question was golf course road and HW 2A in High River. Calgary has another intersection like this ( can't remeber the street name) and was used as part of my defence. The prosecutor agreed there was some error on part of the officer due to the fact that with merge lanes you need ONLY yield when entering.

PowerPlayoffs06 · 07-20-2007, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Seeing as how I'm the only one that posted a website citing traffic law.....

It's not law for hands to be at 10 and 2, to signal in parking lots... and yes, I do speed. This thread is neither about these and only about stopping at a stop sign which in fact I already do. Hence why I didn't get a ticket yesterday when I didn't notice a cop following me.

Alright, at least you've got the self-righteous part down.

BlackArcher101 · 07-20-2007, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

Alright, at least you've got the self-righteous part down.

How in the f?.....

ken0042 · 07-20-2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

Alright, at least you've got the self-righteous part down.

Except for the fact that he was indeed right.

Yep, getting tickets suck- and the fact that they are $300 instead of the $57 I paid for my first ticket is a bitter pill to swallow. However as mentioned the correct thing to do would have been to stop completely, then slowly pull out making sure it was safe.

One of my first tickets was a stop sign infraction- similar to what you described. It only cost me $57 to find out what I was doing wrong. And now almost 20 years later I still treat stop signs differently- correctly.

FanIn80 · 07-20-2007, 11:11 PM

Kind of off-topic, but since we're talking about speeding tickets... I'd like to inverse this and wonder where all the tickets are for the frickin mini-vans doing 80 on Deerfoot?

A vehicle doing 80 in the middle lane on Deerfoot during morning rush hour is far more dangerous than someone doing 60 in a deserted 50 zone in the middle of the afternoon.

ken0042 · 07-20-2007, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Kind of off-topic, but since we're talking about speeding tickets... I'd like to inverse this and wonder where all the tickets are for the frickin mini-vans doing 80 on Deerfoot?

Where are you talking about? Because a good chunk of Deerfoot is an 80 zone now.

Actually before we get this tangent going again, see pages 2 through 9 of this thread: http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=44101

We pretty much beat that one to death there.

FanIn80 · 07-20-2007, 11:18 PM

Well, I get on Deerfoot at 17th (or Piegan, depending) and get of at Glenmore... and no section of road along there is below 100.

(I'm not talking about the south-bound section between Heritage and Anderson, where all the construction signs are)

CaptainCrunch · 07-20-2007, 11:21 PM

A lot of times in a residential neighbourhood, the police watch intersections for rolling stops or speeding because there have been complaints.

I really feel strongly that it dosen't matter if your in the middle of three cars or were only 18 km's over the speed limit, or you almost stopped at a stop sign, you get a ticket and you don't have a right to complain about it.

Just think it could be worse, I mean what about the guy that was only going 10 km's over the speed limit and hit that little girl, or the guy that was in the middle of three cars and hit the one in front of him, or I was only rolling through that stop sign and I didn't see that guy on the bike until he was sprawled on my trunk.

If you want to get back at a police officer then don't do anything that justifies a ticket.

Oh and the thing that makes me laugh is when people snap at or yell at police officers, they've heard that and worse, and all it does is motivate them to show up on the court date to make sure that your not going to plea out your demerits or lower your fines.

.

Ford Prefect · 07-20-2007, 11:34 PM

I have found that, unfortunately, age matters with a lot of these traffic violations. When I was in my 20s I had my share of tickets. Some were valid, but others were pure BS. In one such case I successfully pleaded my case, politely, to the cop who stopped me. When it became evident that I was right and he couldn't give me a ticket, he did a full safety inspection on my vehicle ... it was the type of beater that most 20-year-olds drive so I guess he figured he'd be able to find something. After running through several checks without finding anything wrong he finally got me to put my parking brake on and put the car in gear. Still nothing. So he told me to depress the accelerator. Of course, the car started inching forward and I got a ticket for an inadequate parking brake. The moral of the story ... I was a young guy and he was going to give me a ticket regardless. I could tell a couple more stories just like that. Now that I'm in my 40s and a supposedly respectable member of society, I get warnings rather than tickets. Not that I mind of course. It's not right, but it's just the way some cops are.

Please don't take this as an anti-cop rant. I know some really good cops, and have two good friends who are RCMP officers. But cops are human and some of them are dicks. And the dicks will give out dick-headed tickets just because they can.

jammies · 07-20-2007, 11:40 PM

My theory is, if you didn't see the police car/officer that gave you the ticket, you clearly weren't paying enough attention to everything going on around you. So, whatever you did may indeed have been dangerous, despite you thinking otherwise. If you saw the police and still did something illegal, well...

That being said, the selective enforcement of traffic laws does not win the police any friends. I see no problem with people fighting tickets they feel are unfair - "wasting the time" of police is not an issue, the idea that you should waive your right to a fair trial because it "costs the system" is asinine; rights not exercised eventually are lost.

Dirty Mr. Clean · 07-20-2007, 11:41 PM

Since it was a right turn on a stop sign the Crown will drop the charge down to fail to follow a signal sign which is $125 if you stop downtown to deal with it.

Dion · 07-20-2007, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

or you almost stopped at a stop sign, you get a ticket and you don't have a right to complain about it.

.

There is an intersection where I live where, where I technicaly should get a ticket. There's a vehicle in question that is parked too close to the stop sign (got a ticket once for that type of thing - that's how I know). I stop but can't see who is coming because of the illegally parked motorhome. My only choice is to creep further into the intersection to see if anyone is coming.

Do you have a suggestion as to what else I should due to avoid a possible ticket in the future?

Dion · 07-20-2007, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammies

I see no problem with people fighting tickets they feel are unfair - "wasting the time" of police is not an issue, the idea that you should waive your right to a fair trial because it "costs the system" is asinine; rights not exercised eventually are lost.

My point exactly!

Caged Great · 07-20-2007, 11:54 PM

My dad has gotten several of the tickets that have been mentioned including the going through a yellow light.

The best though was getting a ticket for a dirty license plate when there was a huge snow melt that day (thereby making almost every car, and plate dirty).

Fight your tickets though, of the 9 tickets my dad has gotten in the last 10 years, he fought all and had to pay for 2. The other 7 got thrown out.

At worst you'll get a reduction.

(Ps, I don't drive otherwise I'd describe my own tickets)

jayswin · 07-21-2007, 12:17 AM

It's all about the minivans.

I'm still pretty young, but when I had a sports car, I would get pulled over all the time for nothing, and I'd have to sit there while the cop would try to find something wrong.Then I bought a minivan, and I can do no wrong now. Minivans are the sh** when it comes to avoiding tickets. Unfortunitly, they're not the s*** for anything else.

Hemi-Cuda · 07-21-2007, 12:39 AM

when i first moved to Calgary i got a bunch of quota tickets simply because i didn't know the city well enough, and hit a bunch of radar traps. first one was doing 50 in a 40 zone (coming from a small town i had never even seen a 40 zone before, that one pissed me off), second was getting caught on 16th beside SAIT when i didn't realize the limit dropped to 50 from 60, and the third was finding out the hard way that there was a playground zone next to my place. and i actually got a 4th ticket for going through a red light (turned left too late and didn't see the cop sitting at the light). that one was completely on me for being an impatient ass and the cop had every right to ticket me, but by that time i was afraid of losing my license (i only had a BC Novice license at that point) and went to those Pointts guys. even though i was totally in the wrong, they got the fine reduced and no demerits, though i ended up paying more anyways because of their fees

the joke was on me though as when i finally got my license switched to an Alberta one, i found out when i received my ICBC driver's abstract that none of the tickets transferred from Alberta to BC, so essentially i had a clean driving record. ended up paying those Pointts guys for nothing, though i forgot about that when i saw the difference in insurance i was paying with no recorded tickets vs. what i should have been paying

Torture · 07-21-2007, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

There is an intersection where I live where, where I technicaly should get a ticket. There's a vehicle in question that is parked too close to the stop sign (got a ticket once for that type of thing - that's how I know). I stop but can't see who is coming because of the illegally parked motorhome. My only choice is to creep further into the intersection to see if anyone is coming.

Do you have a suggestion as to what else I should due to avoid a possible ticket in the future?

I think what you're supposed to do (if I remember correctly from driver's ed) is stop at the line, then inch forward to where you can see, and stop there as well.

Mightyfire89 · 07-21-2007, 12:45 AM

First of all, speaking from a personal point of view, if you get a ticket, go to court and ask for a reduction...9 times out of 10 you'll get some kind of reduction (fine, points or both). Judges, for some reason I'll never understand, are fond of giving you a speech about driving safer and then making you pay 50 - 75% of your original fine or taking some points off.

Speaking from the other side of the equation, if you get caught exceeding the speed limit (and it makes not a hill of beans worth of difference if you're doing the same speed as two other cars around you, what is the cop gonna do, pull all three of you over?), or don't come to a complete stop, or whatever, don't bitch and piss and moan to the cop...it only makes the decision easier to give you a ticket...trust me. Among cops, there's a thing called the 'SCA' or 'Stunned ***** act' (also known as 'being stupid in a no stupid zone), as soon as you verbally abuse a cop, you've crossed that line and are GOING to get a ticket.

Not all laws are seemingly right and not all laws are seemingly just, but it is the job of peace officers to enforce all laws...with some amount of discretion of course.

And hell yes there are dick-head cops out there, but there are alot that are trying to be fair and do the right thing too. It's just another cross section of society. I'm sure there are dick-heads in your line of work too.