• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

How To Avoid A Speeding Ticket

moot

New member
This is not a thread touting the times my Valentine 1 has assisted me in avoiding a ticket (although it certainly has). Instead it is a comment on Victor Cruz's Article How to Avoid A Speeding Ticket. While the Article contains a great deal of valuable information, I must respectfully disagree with one aspect of his advise.

Mr. Cruz advises that upon being stopped you confess to the alleged violation and save any contest for court. Everything you state to the officer is either being recored on video or will be entered as an annotation on the ticket. It is far more difficult (read virtually impossible) for you (or your lawyer) to deny you were speeding in court if you have admitted the violation to the officer. I obviously agree with Mr. Cruz to remain polite. Confessing to the offense MIGHT convince the officer not to write the ticket, but if you admit the violation you have traded your chances of beating the ticket in court for the chance the officer will not ticket you. Not a trade with good odds in my experience.

My exchange would go more like this:

Officer: Do you know why I stopped you?
Me: No Sir.
Officer: Do you know how fast your were going?
Me: I'm pretty sure my speed was not excessive.
Officer: You were speeding, we clocked you at 70 in a 50.
Me: I see.

You have been polite. You have not argued. AND you have not destroyed your chances to beat the ticket in court.
 
Last edited:
I have used a similar reply when I got stopped by an officer that got a phone call that said I had passed on a double yellow.

I knew he could not ticket me on the basis of a phone call, but if I admitted it might be able to make it stick. Conversation went like this.

LEO-Do you know why I stopped you?
Me- no sir
Leo- we got a call from a highway crew saying you passed them on a double solid line
Me- I can assure you I do not make unsafe passes
LEO- Well they said you passed them and a car over the yellow
Me- I have been riding a long time and do not take chances, especially with my wife on the back, I value our health and well being too make to make a pass in an unsafe location.


He did check my papers and as it was in a national park, gave me a written warning, which means nothing.

For those that know it it was on the 441, through Smokey Mtn park. HUGE wide road, plenty of places for Grandma in a 6 cyl Buick to pass a caravan of tractor trailers, yet pretty much Double yellow from end to end. I think they do it on purpose just to write tickets, Blue ridge parkway is the same.
 
what i do is this, thusly

"officer, i'm not sure this makes any difference but two of my brothers are policemen and my sister is also. here are their PBA cards."

nyuck, nyuck

but usually, my plate just generates a friendly warning and a salute.
7700418626_bf96c588bd_z.jpg


of course, when you ride like the 66 year old fart i am, you don't get stopped much.
 
Last edited:
+1 on not speeding, that won't happen. Speeding and changing lanes will get you their fast. Having a radar dectator and getting stopped is a 100% guarantee of a ticket
One you get stopped, pull OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF ROAD shut down and remove helmet and be polite, gray hair helps in getting a warning
 
Stay with traffic flow and you'll be fine. And don't ride behind Kevin when he's in the left lane. :jester
 
There is the possibility that many speed limits are unrealistically low. I remember hearing that some state laws say that speed limits should be based on the average measured speed of drivers using the road. The presumption being that the average citizen isn't a total fool.

I'll betcha even former LEO's exceed the speed limits sometimes.
 
+1 on not speeding, that won't happen. Speeding and changing lanes will get you their fast. Having a radar dectator and getting stopped is a 100% guarantee of a ticket
One you get stopped, pull OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF ROAD shut down and remove helmet and be polite, gray hair helps in getting a warning


Well I said it somewhat tongue-in-cheek, forgot the smiley .

But honestly I've tried speeding, in overall time for a trip {IMO} it's really not that much of a time saver. And again {IMO} it just tires me out more.

So, mostly I stick close to the posted limit, cheat a little in open country.

And the cost of ticket, points on license , and now insurance companies adding premium rates for a year after the offence .....too me it's just not worth it.

Not besmirching anyone, or saying do it my way,...just explaining.
 
I find gray hair gives you a better chance of getting out of the ticket once you are pulled over.
 
I've tried speeding, in overall time for a trip {IMO} it's really not that much of a time saver. And again {IMO} it just tires me out more.

What you said is true if you are just speeding to get there faster, which may apply when I'm in my car on the interstate for hours at a time. But on my RS, speeding is a incidental to riding the bike in a way that produces the most enjoyment. :burnout
 
What you said is true if you are just speeding to get there faster, which may apply when I'm in my car on the interstate for hours at a time. But on my RS, speeding is a incidental to riding the bike in a way that produces the most enjoyment. :burnout

That I understand :wave And I hope ya never get caught:)
 
And the cost of ticket, points on license , and now insurance companies adding premium rates for a year after the offence .....too me it's just not worth it.

surcharges on insurance for 6 years in Massachusetts.
 
That I understand :wave And I hope ya never get caught:)

Thanks! My last speeding ticket was in 1992 while enjoying my R65 coming down from Rabbit Ears Pass into Steamboat Springs. The state trooper said there was a lot of wildlife in that area and I might get hurt riding that fast. I believe him.

Ride safe, ride often, and enjoy it as much as you can. The dance won't last forever. :dance
 
There is the possibility that many speed limits are unrealistically low. I remember hearing that some state laws say that speed limits should be based on the average measured speed of drivers using the road. The presumption being that the average citizen isn't a total fool.

I'll betcha even former LEO's exceed the speed limits sometimes.

It's called the 85th percentile rule...and if the cities, towns, counties, etc, etc followed that traffic engineering theory, the posted limits in most cases would be...higher.

But that being said, if you can't do the time (or handle the fine), then don't do the crime. LOL Or at least be judicious in the use of the throttle hand.

I'm older, so like a few others around here, I'm just not in such a big hurry to have encounters with traffic enforcement. And what's worked for me (last paid ticket in 1982) is being forthright with the officer. Play games, and they can play games right back...usually which ends with "Sign on this line please, this is not an admission of guilt, but merely a promise to appear in court, and press hard as there are 5 copies...". :wave

Cheers...!

PS. Our Bro-in-Law is a former traffic officer...and he speeds a LOT, but only in places where a "little" extra speed is "reasonable". Of course we grew up back in the old days in Nevada when there were NO posted speed limits on the open highway. Just "reasonable and proper for the existing conditions". Oh, for the good ol' days!!!
 
What a Hoot!

"I talked the cop out of giving me a ticket by ..." As a LEO, I can tell you from first hand experience, this is very very rare. While it may make someone feel good to think they talked the LEO into not issuing the summons, most likely it never happened. When the officer turns on his or her blue lights, it has already been decided whether the infraction warrants a summons or a warning.

The tactics presented will will aid in maintaining the officer's position on summons v warning but will very seldom have enough influence to change from ticket to warning. On the other hand, not using these tactics, being a jerk, can very quickly turn a warning into a summons.
 
Back
Top