An officer's view of a ticket

[Nimp]

I received a speeding ticket about a decade ago, and it's never stopped bothering me. I'm curious what some professional officers think of it.

I was traveling out of state, in the left lane of a highway, had cruise control set to 63 in a 55. This was typical "with the flow of traffic" speeding. I don't deny for a second that it was a violation.

A police officer pulled up behind me, lights and siren on. Given the situation, I thought it most likely that he was trying to attend to an emergency. As such, I tried to merge into the right lane to let the officer pass but the convoy of trucks in that lane weren't giving way. Instead, I sped up to approximately 70mph for a few seconds, and then merged into a gap in traffic that was ahead of the convoy.

Much to my surprise, it turned out the officer wasn't attending an emergency. He was just planning to ticket me.

My questions: Had you been the officer and been on an emergency response, would you prefer the action that I actually took (merging as quickly and safely as possible) or the action that would've been slightly more law abiding? (staying the same speed or decelerating, and holding you up while trying to merge into a convoy of trucks that were tailgating each other.)

Second, would you have written my ticket as 63 (the speed I was going for myself) or 70 (a speed I achieved solely because I was trying to help an officer reach an emergency without delay.)

[mcsap]

It depends on whether or not I felt you needed to speed to do what you did coupled with your attitude and any other possible violations.

I usually consider the totality of the circumstances.

[Darin]

I'm more concerned that you are still bother by a speeding ticket from 10 years ago. It's just a speeding ticket and NOT the end of the world.

[Creeker]

I'm not going to second guess any Cop's 10 year old traffic stop.

I wasn't there, I don't know all of the details, nor could you know what special enforcement actions were mandated.

[Ispbear]

I'm more concerned that you are still bother by a speeding ticket from 10 years ago. It's just a speeding ticket and NOT the end of the world.

That's what I was thinking Darin.


If after ten years your still traumatized by receiving a speeding ticket, maybe you should seek some professional help.

[shugs]

On the off chance you are asking a real question. If you are in the left lane, and lights and sirens is coming up behind you, and there is a convoy of trucks in the lane to your right, then I wonder what was wrong with the left shoulder?
If there is no left shoulder (speaking from my own personal preference) then I should hope you would speed up a little and SAFELY!!! merge to the next lane when available. This does not mean go 100mph, but a 5mph increase is usually all you need for a lane change. If I am after you, you will soon know. If I was on my way to an emergency, I will be thankful that you are not one of the ones that slows to 30mph when i am coming up from behind at well, let's just say i am coming up pretty fast. I wonder if people know just how quickly I run through a set of brake pads.

[Creeker]

...I wonder what was wrong with the left shoulder?
....

Not to be disagreeable, but in my state, drivers are supposed to yield to the right.