Just got pulled over last night two days before my 21st birthday. The cop said I was going 78 in a 55 (I would never drive this fast because my gas mileage would drop to less than 10 mpg). My speedo said I was going no faster than 68. The cop then comes back hands me a ticket for going 61 in a 55 and says happy birthday. There were also two other cars one in front of me and one behind me that had been pulled over. So I am guessing they were just pulling everyone over. It was snowing and he said he shot the truck from behind.

I am hoping the cop does not show up in court, but if he does could I make a case that the laser gun was innacurate due to the snow or maybe that it hit my tonno cover flapping behind me? I would usually just pay the fine even though I am pretty broke, but I dont want it to affect my insurance rates. I am pretty bitter because I would have had a clean slate after my 21st but if I get this ticket I wont. Any advice as to how often the cops show up or experiences trying to contest a ticket are welcomed.

 

Of course here in CO, accelerating through a yellow light is a no no.

And the weird thing is, we have an intersection (44th & Sheridan), where an Arby's is and the Mountain View police always sit and catch speeders or red/yellow light offenders. Of course this is an extremely small city and they and they try to find reasons to ticket people.

My mother got a red light violation at this above mentioned intersection while I was in the car with her. Funny part is, we hit the corss walk when it turned yellow, so there was no chance of stopping. A car even came through the light after us, but was speeding so my mother was the easier target for the cop. This was the 1st ticket my mother has received since I've been alive (31yrs).

My father also got a red light ticket in this municipality, at the light just west of the above mentioned intersection, which again I was with him too. We were sitting at the red light, as the cop was sitting in the Lakeside Mall parking lot clocking people. Light turns green, car next to us goes, my father starts to take off and not even a block down the cop from the parking lot pulls him over saying he just ran the red light.

Some insight on this city:

In 2006, the Mountain View police department was found to have been issuing fraudulent tickets outside of its jurisdiction, and forced to stop. http://cbs4denver.com/local/Colorado.News.Mountain.2.549477.html The same article notes: "Even though Mountain View is small, its police department is aggressive in traffic enforcement. In the last 2 1/2 years, they've issued approximately 7,200 tickets, according to assistant town attorney Hilary Mogue Graham."

In 2007, Police in Mountain View became the target of a federal lawsuit after several members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club claimed they were stopped and unlawfully detained and searched.http://cbs4denver.com/local/mountain.view.colorado.2.561662.html

http://www.speedtrap.org/city/1512/Mountain%20View

 

^ lol id hate to live there, 2.5 years and 7200 tickets?! thats crazy

 

Almost 8 tickets a day. In a small town that is just plain insane. I got two tickets in a week span from the same cop (he waited for kids leaving the HS to do something, anything, that he could stop them for... one of the tickets was for the tires squealing in my Mom's mini-van. In court he said the tires squealed for 15' after I finished my turn... a Dodge Grand Caravan != Viper. He also said the vehicle swayed through the turn. Duh it is top top heavy w/ high center of gravity? But I digress...) and I was the only two tickets he had written. The ticket numbers were in sequence!

And a week later he let a girl go for the same thing he ticketed me for.... I wonder what I wouldn't have done for ***** of my own back then!

 

Big... food for thought... Although he wrote it for 6 over, he can go back and charge you with the 78 in the 55. The Judge will ask why you are here if the Officer gave you a break and the Judge can order you to pay the 78 fine amount instead.. It's been done.

I felt sooooo bad for writing an older lady in her 60's for speeding in a school zone. Not a single violation on her record. Her speed was inexcusable.

I stopped a couple for 70 in a 30 on a back stretch of road. Why it is only 30, who knows! Walked up to the driver and asked for information... Wife was crying... I looked over and her head was dripping blood, and she looked like hell. They were a mile away from the hospital... I looked at the driver and said, just go! I did stop by the hospital a little later to find out she had fallen and cut her head open. The husband asked if I needed his information still and I said nope, don't care!

 

And that's with only 12 officers on the force and the city having only 569 residents.

This may seem like a small town/city, but keep in mind it is a suburb of Denver, so many people pass through their city limits every day.

My father has since passed away, but my mother and I now avoid going anywhere near the Mountain View city limits.

 

Small town politics suck. Its the reason I got out of law enforcement years ago.
Back in 88 I worked as a deputy for a small town in IN. The main road going through this small town was a state road that lead to a recreational lake. In the summer we got tons of people traveling through coming back from a day or weekend at the lake. We were told to target them for speeding (5 mph over) or any other violation that would give us a chance to look in their vehicles. Indiana's open container law was fairly new at that time and a beer bottle cap anyplace in the passenger compartment was considered an open container. There were a number of tickets written for empty bottles, cans, or caps in coolers, even a 12 pack with a can missing was considered an open container, even an empty can in the bed of a pickup was reason for us to get someone out of the truck and search it. Occasionally it did lead to drugs or weapons but usually all it did was **** people off. I disagreed with this targeting and voiced my opinion but did what I was told. Then one day I happened to stop a city councelman's daughter and gave her a ticket for 10 over and got my job threatened for it and had to tear up the ticket. I decided that day to get into another career.
Anyway, small towns do target stop, its usually not the officers that make that decision but sometimes they go with it, sometimes they dont.