Porter County Speeding Ticket...

[evilblackrifle]

OK, I know starting one of these threads will probably get me nailed (especially on ARFcom).

Here's the deal, on my way to church Sunday on Rt. 49 probably about 5-10 miles outside of Kouts, I got nailed. 71 in a 55. The cop had several cars in front of him, so he couldn't swing around very quickly.

When he approached my window, he gave me the usual BS. He was getting very beligerent with me, and there was no reason for this. He then continued to say, "I had to do over 100 just to catch up with you." Over 100? Really? For a minor traffic citation?

I travel Rt. 49 every day, and each day, Porter County Sheriff's cars whiz by me, and it just really pisses me off. I really feel like its a slap in the face. "Ha Ha look what I can do". I just want cops to obey the speed limit, is that really too much to ask? That's all I expect and want.

Because of his attitude, I filed a complaint today, which I know will not go anywhere. I spoke to Sheriff David Lain personally, and believe me, I will continue to follow up with him on a daily basis. I was told something about OIC. What is this? Is it a higher chain where I can file a complaint? I want this to go in this cop's file. I want more than a slap on the wrist for him. There was no reason for him to act in the manner that he did, other than to throw his weight around. Probably has a small penis.

Anyway, I called to get the amount for the ticket...$150. Not bad I guess. With the deferall, it is $242!!!! Never in my life have I EVER had a speeding ticket that cost more than $150. I talked to some people at work today, and they all said you do not mess around in Porter County; they will nail you, and its not cheap.

Here's my question: WITHOUT GETTING A LAWYER, what are my chances of getting it knocked down to a non-moving violation? Do I show up at my court date and ask for it? But, if I go to court for this, won't I end up paying MORE? (Court costs, ticket fees, etc etc?)

I've never gotten a ticket in Porter County before...this was truly an eye opener. I've gotten all tickets in Lake County, and the deferall amount is ALWAYS (in my case anyway) half of the ticket amount. So, if the ticket was $150, I'd pay $75 and get the deferall. I thought it'd work the same way here. Imagine my surprise when she told me it would cost $242!!!!!!

I know there are folks on here who have some insight, so please chime in. I could use all the help I can get. Really, what's my best option? $242 is a lot to swallow, especially now that I find out I might be losing my job...when it rains, it pours.

Please, no one tell me "well you should do the speed limit and this wouldn't have happened." I don't need it. EVERYONE speeds; I don't care who you are. EVERYONE does it. On another note: radar detectors...a friend of mine is a truck driver, and has the Valentine One...even though its illegal to have a radar detector in a truck....are these any good? Or are there other ones better out there?

Thanks for your help.

Erick

 

[gohard43]

Do you care if you have a couple points on your license? If not just pay the fine !! Points go away in time and if you don't get another ticket! I really don't think there a way to get it dropped to a non moving violation.

If you go to court, you will pay court fees.

Hope it works out for you!

 

[evilblackrifle]

I will end up paying much more than $150 in increased insurance premiums....

 

[gohard43]

I will end up paying much more than $150 in increased insurance premiums....

That's possible, I know in my cases where I have gotten a speeding ticket (twice) the insurance company never found out, therefore nothing happened. I know quite a few people who have experienced that as well. If your getting new insurance on a car/motorcycle then yeah there probably going to find out!

 

[ironjaw]

Erick, not gonna bust your chops, but if I were you, I'd do the deferral. I have a cdl and I am not offered the deferral option anymore, even driving my personal vehicle. Yes, it's a lot of money, but think if you do pay for just the ticket, how much your insurance jumps up! Some counties just throw the ticket out and you end up just paying for the court fees. Other counties, like Porter, make you pay for the ticket as well as the fees to 'hide' the ticket.

 

[Brandon]

so because you were speeding, and you never denied it in your post, got busted for speeding, and now upset and want the officer to get in big trouble? sounds about right, its the cops fault you were speeding. yes, lets make his life hard at work because you were speeding.
man up and move on.

 

[iamaclone45]

Don’t speed. Pay the ticket. Deal with it.

OR... Go to the court date and pay all the fines and fees. You will probably lose in court too (you were going 16 mph over).

And everyone speeds, yes... but not every one complains about it on forums.

I got a speeding ticket.. once.. 15 mph over. I paid the deferral in Howard County and the cost was between $200-250. That was enough to make me learn my lesson.

 

[evilblackrifle]

so because you were speeding, and you never denied it in your post, got busted for speeding, and now upset and want the officer to get in big trouble? sounds about right, its the cops fault you were speeding. yes, lets make his life hard at work because you were speeding.
man up and move on.

Let me be clear!

The cop's demeanor was very inappropriate, and I will not stand for it. Is that clear? I will NOT have anyone in a public position yell at me and treat me in such a manner. Is that clear? Yes, for the way the cop treated me, you're damn right I want him to get in trouble. On the other hand, I wouldn't be so upset if he treated me as a human. Period. Also, there was no reason for him to drive as he did to pull me over, admitting to doing over 100 mph for a minor traffic citation with no lights/siren, and putting other people's lives in danger at the same time. Do you need me to speak this in spanish? French? Italian? I was very clear in my original post where my position is. And if that means making his life hell at work, then so be it. You treat people the way you want to be treated. My recourse is very limited, but you can bet I'm going to **** someone off at the Sheriff's Dept. I will even take it to the Office of Professional Standards...or the Porter County variant.

Again, I don't treat anyone like this, and I don't deserve to be treated like a piece of meat.

To any cops out there: don't speed, obey ALL traffic laws that you enforce, or you will have a complaint filed against you. Period. You are not exempt from the law you are held to enforce.

Later.

 

[.40caltrucker]

When he approached my window, he gave me the usual BS. He was getting very beligerent with me, and there was no reason for this. He then continued to say, "I had to do over 100 just to catch up with you." Over 100? Really? For a minor traffic citation?

Never got a ticket so can't help there.

The thing that gets me the most is how do they justify him driving over 100 to pull you over for going 16 over. That's insane to say your actions are unsafe so I can perform an even more unsafe action to stop you.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

If the cop really does have a small penis he won't show up in court. Fight the ticket and bring up the lack of manhood to the judge.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

To any cops out there: don't speed, obey ALL traffic laws that you enforce, or you will have a complaint filed against you. Period. You are not exempt from the law you are held to enforce.

Later.

I don't speed. So don't get all butthurt when I stop you for passing me when I'm doing the speed limit in my marked police car.

 

[robbran144]

a little bit of thread jack, how long do tickets in indiana stay active is it 2 or 3 years?

 

[magic man]

If the cop really does have a small penis he won't show up in court. Fight the ticket and bring up the lack of manhood to the judge.

I agree with Frank_N_Stein, If you do go to court or when you talk to the sheriff again, definitely bring up the officers small member. They will understand and drop the ticket no questions asked.

 

[Dredd]

The Law doesn't make mistakes.

 

[sepe]

Here's the deal, on my way to church Sunday on Rt. 49 probably about 5-10 miles outside of Kouts, I got nailed. 71 in a 55. The cop had several cars in front of him, so he couldn't swing around very quickly.

When he approached my window, he gave me the usual BS. He was getting very beligerent with me, and there was no reason for this. He then continued to say, "I had to do over 100 just to catch up with you." Over 100? Really? For a minor traffic citation?

I travel Rt. 49 every day, and each day, Porter County Sheriff's cars whiz by me, and it just really pisses me off. I really feel like its a slap in the face. "Ha Ha look what I can do". I just want cops to obey the speed limit, is that really too much to ask? That's all I expect and want.

Because of his attitude, I filed a complaint today, which I know will not go anywhere. I spoke to Sheriff David Lain personally, and believe me, I will continue to follow up with him on a daily basis. I was told something about OIC. What is this? Is it a higher chain where I can file a complaint? I want this to go in this cop's file. I want more than a slap on the wrist for him. There was no reason for him to act in the manner that he did, other than to throw his weight around. Probably has a small penis.

Anyway, I called to get the amount for the ticket...$150. Not bad I guess. With the deferall, it is $242!!!! Never in my life have I EVER had a speeding ticket that cost more than $150. I talked to some people at work today, and they all said you do not mess around in Porter County; they will nail you, and its not cheap.

Here's my question: WITHOUT GETTING A LAWYER, what are my chances of getting it knocked down to a non-moving violation? Do I show up at my court date and ask for it? But, if I go to court for this, won't I end up paying MORE? (Court costs, ticket fees, etc etc?)

I've never gotten a ticket in Porter County before...this was truly an eye opener. I've gotten all tickets in Lake County, and the deferall amount is ALWAYS (in my case anyway) half of the ticket amount. So, if the ticket was $150, I'd pay $75 and get the deferall. I thought it'd work the same way here. Imagine my surprise when she told me it would cost $242!!!!!!

I know there are folks on here who have some insight, so please chime in. I could use all the help I can get. Really, what's my best option? $242 is a lot to swallow, especially now that I find out I might be losing my job...when it rains, it pours.

Please, no one tell me "well you should do the speed limit and this wouldn't have happened." I don't need it. EVERYONE speeds; I don't care who you are. EVERYONE does it. On another note: radar detectors...a friend of mine is a truck driver, and has the Valentine One...even though its illegal to have a radar detector in a truck....are these any good? Or are there other ones better out there?

Thanks for your help.

Erick

I'd say you probably were giving him attitude based off of your 1st post here. Maybe try dropping the attitude, finding some personal responsibility, and man up a bit. Just because you got caught(and most likely gave attitude) doesn't mean anyone has a small penis.

About police whizzing past you, not all calls are runs with lights and sirens but they do need to still get there in a bit of a hurry. Instead of getting a radar detector, try leaving a few minutes earlier if you're always needing to speed to get places on time.

 

[edporch]

I grew up in Jasper County where hwy 49 begins at hwy 14, so I know the road you speak of up by Kouts.
I've had a Valentine 1 for some years, and it is a very good radar detector.
The best as far as I'm concerned.
But a radar detector is only ONE tool and it alone won't make you immune from getting tickets.
I've been using a radar detector since the mid 1980's and it's more important to be observant of everything going on around you.
For speed traps and approaching police cars, and to anticipate where they could be hiding.
Never forget to keep an eye out for vehicles coming up from behind, especially at night until you know they aren't police cars.

When driving on multi-lane highways, try to avoid hanging out in the left lane and stay in the right lane if you can so the cars ahead of you will shield you and reduce the distance a police car has to be to get radar on you.
You'll likely be able to see them coming before they can get a line of sight on you.

These are a few things you can do.
BUT YOU'LL STILL END UP GETTING TICKETS....LOL :-)
But this may reduce the number you get to a manageable level.

But make no mistake, the speed limits are artificially low in a great many places solely for the purpose of making money for the government from speeding tickets.

The WORST part of this is the hypocrisy of a police officer chasing you down at 100+ mph on hwy 49, and then giving you a song and dance about how "dangerous" it is for you to drive 71mph on a road that up to the Arab Oil embargo of the early 1970's, had a 65mph speed limit. (people typically drove 70mph on these roads and weren't ticketed in those days)

This with old clunky bad handling "boats" with drum brakes all the way around.
The cars of today handle much better than their 1950-60's counterparts.
So to say that 71mph on that road is "dangerous" is an insult to our intelligence.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE REVENUE...

 

[CountryBoy19]

I will end up paying much more than $150 in increased insurance premiums....

You typically have to do more than get a speeding ticket for your insurance co to find out.

 

[Denny347]

Hmm, how do I catch a speeder if I cannot speed to catch him? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[E5RANGER375]

if you were speeding then i believe you should man up and pay your fine. BUT, on a side note what the cop did ..... speeding to 100 MPH to catch up to you was EXTREMELY ILLEGAL and unsafe and lacked common sense. these are the stories that scare me. where is the rational decision making process here?

i also do not agree with high speed chases unless that person is a direct and immediate life threat to a citizen. chasing cars because of failure to yeild, or speeding is retarded in my opinion and I have wrote my representatives for several years to get this behavior stopped. i think the police in a chase become more of a danger to the public and themselves than the criminal.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I don't speed. So don't get all butthurt when I stop you for passing me when I'm doing the speed limit in my marked police car.

thats funny **** right there. people passing a marked police car and speeding to do it. i hope you light them up (red and blues, not beating, lol) everytime.

I have passed cop cars but only when they are going under the speed limit. maybe to run plates either way, i pass safely and within the speed limit