legality: cop with lights off?
 

i just got busted with a $145 ticket doing 66 in a 40. is this just a rumor or arent cops supposed to have their headlights on when they are clocking on the side of the road at night? i live in minnesota and i always understood it that cops HAD to have their headlights on at night. damn im pissed.

well one thing is for sure....unless you know a cop personally...you can't ask THEM! lol you would probably have to ask a lawyer in your state...to get a straight answer..

but the bottom line is....were you REALLY speeding? if so....well....now you are looking for a loophole.

off course im looking for a loop hole. i realize i was in the wrong, im just thinking maybe the cop was to. he was f'in merciless. and it was my first ticket!

I have never heard of the police leaving their lights on to Clock Speeders.

The best you can probably do is try to get the fee reduced. But expect your insurance to go up.

Yeah, most cops I see clocking ppl keep all there lights off. I think they are allowed to do that. BTW, your insurance shouldn't go up for your first ticket though. Mines didn't and I'm 18yrs.

I live in Oregon so I don't know the exacts for the state that you live in, but I do know alot about the laws in Oregon because that is one of the things I'm going to College for is studying the Criminal Justice System.

Anyway...As far as I have gotten from the books I've read and the officers I've talked to is that ARE NOT required to hae their lights on when they are parked on the side of the road unless they pose a threat to themselves and others because they are not parked fully off the side of the road. Many people believe that if an officer has their lights off or is parked in a way their vehicle is not visible to other drivers it is considered entrapment and I believe that is where people have got the idea that an officers lights must be on. The only problem is that entrapment is basically impossible to prove. To be entrapment the accused must be able to prove that if it wasn't for the officers you would not have been participating in the illegal act. So in other words you were speeding whether or not the cop was around it's just because the cop was around that you actually got caught therefor the fact the cops lights were off have nothing to do with the fact you were guilty of speeding. You may want to check into the laws in your state, but as far as I know that's how things work around here.

Sorry I didn't have better news for you!! :(

I would like to add to this. The cops are not required to leave there lights on. They can sit "blacked out" right on the side of the road. As a matter of fact they even have a cool button on the consol that will balck out all of the lights on the car, even the dash lights inside the car. I work as a military police and we work close with the State and local police. Another thing do a search for your states web page and look around, you can find traffic rules and things like that, that might help you.

And I don't know if you have this option in your state or not...but here....if you get a speeding ticket and its NOT more than 25 mph over the limit...you can go to the courthouse...file a form and you get three months to go and take defensive driving...and then take the certificate back to the courthouse...and the ticket is dropped. sure you have to pay a filing fee of $60...and the course costs you $30....but that $90 is a one shot deal...and NOTHING goes on your record...and your insurance company never knows...its a good deal. you get one freebee like that per year....after that...you can ask the judge permission and its up to him whether or not he will let you take the course more than once in a 12 month period of time.

Wow - TX is lenient! No such thing like that here in NY - the state is too money hungry.

Basically, 11 points on your license in 18 months, and bye-bye license for a year. OR - 3 speeders in 18 months, same fate - and it doesn't matter how slow the speeders might be. This is why we frequently get tickets "knocked down" to ridiculous charges - like passing a stop sign. Often, the DA's will offer decent pleas like that - reduced fines, reduced points, reduced charges, just so you'll plead guilty and get the case outta there active files. They don't wanna see you in court again fighting the ticket, so they drop it down to make it tempting for you to just end the whole thing. It works.

Defensive driving takes 3 points off your license, but only points you HAVE. You can't take it and "save" the points toward future tickets. And you can only take it once every three years. It does get you a 10% insurance discount though. It's a 6 hour course, but there are MANY places to "take" it in "under an hour" - especially when it's offered by small insurance houses or something like that. They've got better things to do also, so you pay the fee, and they give you the completion certificate. Who cares - it's all bullshit anyway.

And congrats on the Survivor win, Nuke. :)

~HH

i was always under the impression cops had to at least have thier parking lights on if they were sitting around clocking people...and so far with all the cops ive seen, that is true is there anywhere (like a site) you can go to confirm this kind of stuff?

Having to leave their lights on when clocking people is just ludicrous(sp?)! I know in Florida they don't have to. If you were driving up and saw some parking light in the median you would immediately slow down (in most cases, even if you were under the speed limit). That shit about leaving lights on is some of the craziest stuff I heard in a while. That would be like Air Marshalls wearing uniforms or Undercover cops wearing a badge. Idiotic!

Hey squintz, have you ever gotten a warning?

first ticket? any decent lawyer will get you off and you won't even have to pay court fees. my bloody lawyer charges 100 and almost always gets the ticket removed from my record.

never had a ticket. never a warning. never an accident. never a parking violation. nothing.

first offense: $145.

merciless.

there is a first time for everything. but generally a decent cop will get you off easily at pretrial. you dont even have to go to court (actually your state's rules might be different). the lawyer will go for you. you won't have to miss work. usually the judge will dismiss it just because its your first offense. if not, lawyers know all kinds of shit to get you off. they can ask to see when the radar was serviced and checked and other stuff like that. don't feel to bad. its your first ticket and hopefully the last one. (how many times have i said that to myself ):D