Wrong car?

[bconner]

My wife just got pulled over today with a ticket issued. First some background info; my wife works in insurance claims dealing with high profile claims. She is constantly working on fatalities resulting from accidents. She knows better than I do the dangers of reckless driving. She is a very conscientious driver. Today, she was driving on an interstate here in Denver. She was driving between 65 and 70 in a 65 MPH zone in the right hand driving lane. She was pulled over for doing 90 MPH and swerving in and out of traffic. She told me that she was not doing that. Now, I am inclined to believe her because she has NEVER had a ticket nor been in an accident that she has caused. Plus whenever I drive, she harrasses me about speeding (which I do, on occasion). This does not sound like her driving.

Is it possible that an officer saw someone in a similar car (dark green Honda Civic) driving like that? Is it also possible that while trying to catch up with said lawbreaker, he happened upon her car and thought that it was her? If so, is there anything that we can do about it aside from trying to convince a judge that this was not her? I do not doubt that the officer saw someone driving like this (especially here in Denver), I just doubt that it was her. If she was driving like that, she would admit it to me, I am sure. She does have to appear in court in ~6 weeks.

Any ideas/suggestions/advice/insight?

Thanks.

[michiganstud]

I, myself, as with any other LEO on here would never pull over a car unless they were ABSOLUTELY 100% sure which car it was that was speeding.

Major element in court. ID the car and the driver.

Speeders are like shooting fish in a barrel. If I wasn't sure I wouldn't stop a car. I would just wait for the next one.

Also I know your wife might not lie to you, but ever been a kid and get a ticket? Did you ever tell your mom or dad you were guilty? Would you tell them you were going 90 in a 65?

[bconner]

It would more likely be the other way around. My wife, in a lot of ways, wears the pants. I would have a hard time admitting it. My wife would tell me the truth and tell me to deal with it. Double-standard? Absolutely. I know it may be hard to believe that my wife wouldn't lie about something like this, but I believe that she wouldn't do it, and I believe her when she tells me she didn't do it. If she was cited for doing up to 75 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, I would likely believe the officer, but not in this case. Like I said before, I am not calling the officer a liar, I just think he may have gotten the wrong offender.

[bconner]

Yeah, this was Pena Blvd near I-70. It sounds like I will have to talk to her some more to figure this out. If she says the officer was pacing her, I will have to believe him. She didn't make it sound like he was following her, though.

[acreature]

Your only course of action would be to go to court and have the case headr by the Judge. We are not going to say the Police Officer was wrong, for we were not there. If her record is spotless, with exception of this, she may receive a good bit of consideration.
But again I/we were not there, so good luck.

[samseed101]

Another thing to think about:

Have you ever been driving down the road and seen a car weaving in and out of traffic while flying by people at 90 MPH? Kinda hard to miss isn't it? And if you were the type that worked on high risk claims and often talk to others about their speed then you would definitely notice.

It sounds like your wife is saying that the officer stopped the wrong car. But if it was a different car that was driving erratically, then where was it? Did she see this other car pass her or pass anyone else? If she is generally on top of people about their speed and driving habits, yet did not see this vehicle operating well in excess of the speed limit, then it would mean one of two things.

A) She was distracted and paying attention to something else, in which case she could have easily been the vehicle in question.

B) She was paying attention, yet was still speeding and there never was another vehicle being driven erratically by a female in a similar make / model / color.

[JD45]

She was driving between 65 and 70 in a 65 MPH zone in the right hand driving lane.

That's what she says. I'm not implying she's lying to you, but maybe a misstatement of the facts?

From what you're describing that kind of driving would really attract my attention and have me locked in on that car.