[chezbmw]

Not sure if this is the right section, but anywho...

I was on my way home tonight on a two lane country road at 2am, and I was about 20 miles from home when I get stuck behind a car doing 35 in a 55. Now being the patient driver that I am, I waited for a few miles, contemplating whether or not I should pass at the next opportunity. When I came to the next dotted line, I hesitated for a few seconds, then said "what the hell", and passed the dotted line on the left, only to realize that not only was the car an undercover cop, but the dotted line was about to end. I completed my pass (without excessive speed or reckless behavior), but when I completed the pass, I was passing back over a double yellow line. The cop pulled me over and gave me the whole reckless driving speech, and wrote me a ticket for "improper passing in a no passing zone". Now after he wrote the ticket, I told him that it was not a double yellow line when I passed, and he agreed with that fact, but he said that in the state of GA, a pass has to be both executed and completed within a dotted line to be considered "proper". I obviously had no intent on passing improperly, and I clearly had reason to pass (not wanting to continue for the next 20 miles doing nearly half the limit), so should I fight this, considering the fact that he wrote the ticket for passing in a "no passing zone", when it was in fact a passing zone?

[PINeely]

When I was seventeen I got ticketed for the exact same reason, same circumstances as yours. I ended up having to pay it. It's the only ticket that I never could evade somehow which considering some of the other things I had been ticketed for, is hilarious.

I fought and fought but they gave me the whole "the law is the law" speech and made me pay up in the end. I hope that if you do fight it they don't follow it to the letter like they did with me. Best of luck!

[Dougeefresh]

As my coworker who was a cop for 7 years says, always fight a ticket = go to court for a moving violation. Good chance that the cop won't show and it gets thrown out. Otherwise explain the situation and depending on your past record you may get off the hook, or get a supervision.

[upstatedoc]

#recognizingundercovercopcarsftw

[Malibu1]

Pay the fine you did the crime. The double line is there for a reason. If means not safe to pass. If you did not know the road had a double line there then you didn't know the road well enough to be making blind passes...But that's just me, I am not trying to be a jerk or anything.
If you take it to court you will most likely get the fine reduced or dropped completely...Some States that use the points system consider passing on a double line more points than speeding. Hope it works out for you.

[Templar]

Small town cops sometimes show up against you, as they don't usually have that many cases. It's all up to chance.

Review the law and make sure what the cop says about passing is true. If it is, and the cop shows up, you will lose. If he doesn't, you might have a chance to win and have it thrown out. To me, also depends on the level of the fine. If it's cheap I would just pay it and go about my business as my time is more valuable to me than something under say $100. If it is over $75 I would definitely consider fighting it. That's just my personal feeling though.

[chezbmw]

Well I know the fine is $178, which I don't mind paying, seeing as how I did, in fact, fail to complete the pass properly. My point is that, yes, I did not complete the pass correctly, which has it's own violation code. The code that the cop ticketed me on was for when someone passes through a double line, leaving and re-entering the lane, which is completely false in this situation, and the cop knows that. I don't mind paying the ticket for failing to properly complete the pass, but I refuse to take points on my license for something that I honestly did not do!

[Templar]

Originally Posted by chezbmw

Well I know the fine is $178, which I don't mind paying, seeing as how I did, in fact, fail to complete the pass properly. My point is that, yes, I did not complete the pass correctly, which has it's own violation code. The code that the cop ticketed me on was for when someone passes through a double line, leaving and re-entering the lane, which is completely false in this situation, and the cop knows that. I don't mind paying the ticket for failing to properly complete the pass, but I refuse to take points on my license for something that I honestly did not do!

Would you get points on your license for the other violation?

Like I said, it's up to you. I've seen small town/country area cops actually show up to court. In bigger cities, they have better things to do so if you go fight it you're almost guaranteed to get it tossed. I'd say maybe it's a 50/50 shot of him showing up. If he does, you may get the violation changed but you're still going to get some sort of fine/punishment.

Have any lawyer friends with experience? They may be able to give you a better idea.

[iBoost]

Definitely fight it. Specially if its your first offense. You might just have to go to traffic school or something in that nature though. Good Luck!

[chezbmw]

Ok, thanks. I'm definitely going to fight it. At least try to get the violation changed to what it should be. Hopefully the cop won't show.

[miiipilot]

Bring up the fact the cop was impeding traffic by doing 35 in a 55 zone.

#entrapment

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by miiipilot

Bring up the fact the cop was impeding traffic by doing 35 in a 55 zone.

#entrapment

in ny you have to have your flashers on under 40mph in a 55.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by chezbmw

Not sure if this is the right section, but anywho...

I was on my way home tonight on a two lane country road at 2am, and I was about 20 miles from home when I get stuck behind a car doing 35 in a 55. Now being the patient driver that I am, I waited for a few miles, contemplating whether or not I should pass at the next opportunity. When I came to the next dotted line, I hesitated for a few seconds, then said "what the hell", and passed the dotted line on the left, only to realize that not only was the car an undercover cop, but the dotted line was about to end. I completed my pass (without excessive speed or reckless behavior), but when I completed the pass, I was passing back over a double yellow line. The cop pulled me over and gave me the whole reckless driving speech, and wrote me a ticket for "improper passing in a no passing zone". Now after he wrote the ticket, I told him that it was not a double yellow line when I passed, and he agreed with that fact, but he said that in the state of GA, a pass has to be both executed and completed within a dotted line to be considered "proper". I obviously had no intent on passing improperly, and I clearly had reason to pass (not wanting to continue for the next 20 miles doing nearly half the limit), so should I fight this, considering the fact that he wrote the ticket for passing in a "no passing zone", when it was in fact a passing zone?

be patient.

it will save you a ticket..

[chezbmw]

Originally Posted by miiipilot

Bring up the fact the cop was impeding traffic by doing 35 in a 55 zone.

#entrapment

I'm definitely going to bring that up, as I clearly had a reason to pass, seeing as how I had 20 more miles to go behind him. But it was 2am and we were the only cars on the road for miles. So not sure about the impeding traffic part, but it shows that what I did wasn't putting anyone in danger.

[chezbmw]

Originally Posted by Litos

be patient.

it will save you a ticket..

Haha, next time I will be sure to continue the next 20 miles doing 20 under the limit. Apparently that's the thing to do at 2am. I think I was patient enough. I waited until a passing zone, and didn't want to fly by the guy and startle him, so I took my time passing, which, in the end, caused me to cross over a double line, which is why he wrote me the ticket. So one could argue that patience is what got me this ticket.

[firstkill]

options
1. fight it and take your chances in court or by mail
2. traffic school it and eat the fine and time wasted for traffic school
3. get a lawyer and fight it, pay the negotiated fee and ticket ( they will also change it to a non moving violation )

for my wife, she crossed double yellow lines leaving a carpool lane early. its costing us 150/yr extra in insurance.

for fighting, you may have to waste a day of work and do #2 anyways. a lawyer saves the most time.


fk

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by chezbmw

Haha, next time I will be sure to continue the next 20 miles doing 20 under the limit. Apparently that's the thing to do at 2am. I think I was patient enough. I waited until a passing zone, and didn't want to fly by the guy and startle him, so I took my time passing, which, in the end, caused me to cross over a double line, which is why he wrote me the ticket. So one could argue that patience is what got me this ticket.

There's actually nothing wrong with doing that. You're saving gas and reducing the probability for injury should you get into an accident. And you're doing all of this while adding only ~15 to 20 extra minutes to your commute time (probably less because impatient drivers tend to grossly exaggerate the extent to which slow drivers "hog" the road).

I know because I used to be an impatient driver myself. In fact, I still am an impatient driver in some regard. I get antsy when I'm caught behind someone going the speed limit or slightly under, but I force myself to calm down and exercise more patience (while making sure to never tailgate)

[NemesisX]

So yes, you were most certainly impatient, and if you want to shift the blame to the officer then you'll likely find yourself with more traffic violations in the future.

[NemesisX]

The cardinal rule of thumb for good driving is to always go with the flow of traffic. If traffic is going 80 in a 70 on an interstate highway, go 80 while making sure not to tailgate anyone.

If someone is going 55 in a 60, go 55. Barring an imminent emergency, trying to "get ahead of the pack" and get around slow drivers is poor and impatient driving.

[Billup]

I was impatient a few weeks back. Truck pulled out in front of me on a 2 lane back country road with a trailer. He was going 20 under the speed limit. I picked up some speed to pass him before the double lines. Came around the bend decelerating, got popped by a State Pig going the opposite direction.


Still waiting from DMV for my previous driving record to hopefully have the points from the ticket dropped and only have to pay the $260.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by chezbmw

Haha, next time I will be sure to continue the next 20 miles doing 20 under the limit.

cool - then you won't feel obligated to start awesome threads like these....

stay thirsty, my friend.....

[chezbmw]

Originally Posted by Litos

cool - then you won't feel obligated to start awesome threads like these....

stay thirsty, my friend.....

If you don't like it, don't read it simple