23 June 2010, 3:31 am
I got a ticket back in April for doing 48 in a 35. The cop stopped in the middle of the road and waited for my light to turn green. A soon as there was room for him to get behind me, he swung behind me quickly and tailgated me so close that I couldn't see his headlights. I was doing 30 around this time. I watched him through my rear view mirror the whole time and I noticed he was getting closer to my car, so I sped up and he kept getting closer. A few seconds later, I see a car pass both of us and I am now doing a little over 35 at this point. This is what leads me to believe he didn't have his radar on. A couple of seconds later I see blue lights and I pull over. He tells me I was doing 48 in a 35. I looked at my speedometer as soon as I saw his lights and it said less than 45. I went to court today since I sent the ticket back in the mail with a not guilty plea. Instead of presenting my side to the judge like they do in most court systems, I am sent to talk to the prosecutor who tells me I am guilty and when I try to tell my side, he says the cops have a right to do as they please even though I felt harassed about it. If he wouldn't of followed me so closely, I wouldn't of been speeding. I didn't even see the cop who pulled me over in the room and when I told the prosecutor that I wasn't even doing 48, he dropped it to 40 with no argument. I wanted the whole thing dropped but he went to the judge and said I agreed, which I never did. I tried again by telling the judge exactly what I told the prosecutor but he just told me that cops are good drivers and he wouldn't of hit me. Is this legal? I feel like I don't deserve this ticket. I'll pay it but is there someone I can talk to so this never happens again? I've never heard of someone telling their case to a prosecutor instead of the judge and I don't think it is right that cops can do that. If this is legal, next time I think I'll just hit my brakes and take my chances. This happened in Huntington, Wv. To dancing_smurf, I was very much sober. I don't drink and I don't do drugs. The cop was with Marshall University and not the HPD. He was trying to meet his quota. The whole point of this is because I felt harassed and I am tired of cops abusing their power by trapping citizens into speeding so they can meet their quota.... Read More »
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