My speedometer must be broken…. You must have me confused with another car… I think your radar gun needs calibrating… I think that super-fast deer over there is the one who should get the ticket… One of these statements is not a common excuse for trying to get out of a speeding ticket. [More]
speeding tickets
Judge: It’s Not Nice To Leave Nasty Notes On Speeding Tickets, But It’s Your Constitutional Right To Do So
By 9.16.15
No one gets a speeding ticket and rushes out to pay it with glee, at least, no one who likes holding onto their money. But even if it’s pretty rude to scrawl an obscene message when paying that ticket, it’s speech that’s protected by the First Amendment. That’s according to a judge who said a man’s civil rights were violated when he was arrested for writing a nasty note on a speeding ticket in New York in 2012. [More]
Man’s License Suspended Over A Ticket From 1981 After DMV Fixes Its Typo
By 8.18.14
What’s the last thing you remember about that time you didn’t get a notice that your license was suspended? That’s right, you wouldn’t remember it if it never happened to you. One man found himself with a suspended license over a ticket from 1981, something he wasn’t warned about back then because the notification letter had his name misspelled on it. [More]
Calling 9-1-1 To Report A Fake Murder Won’t Get You Out Of A Speeding Ticket
By 7.28.14
Getting pulled over for speeding is no fun, of course — but when those sirens come on, most responsible drivers accept that they’ll just have to face the music and take a ticket. One Florida man had bigger ideas than getting a ticket — and by “bigger” I by no means “better,” because reporting a murder that didn’t happen is just not going to work out. [More]
Judge Stops Town From Punishing Drivers Who Use Headlights To Warn Others Of Speed Traps
By 2.5.14
Flashing your headlights is a well-established means of communicating any number of things to other drivers on the road. It could be a reminder for the other driver to turn on their lights (or turn off their brights). Maybe it’s a call to your traveling partners in another car to pull off at the next exit. It’s also a way for some people to alert other drivers about a police speed trap up ahead. Some towns have outlawed that practice, but a federal judge says that’s going too far. [More]
Oklahoma Lawmaker Wants Cops To Issue Traffic Citations Via Email For Safety’s Sake
By 1.28.14
It’s dangerous out there on the highways and byways of America for a police officer issuing a traffic ticket. Handing out those tickets means leaving the relative safety of the car and walking over to talk to drivers, a risk one Oklahoma lawmaker thinks could be avoided with electronic citations. [More]
Court Throws Out Case Against Driver Ticketed For Wearing Google Glass
By 1.17.14
The saga of the California driver ticketed for wearing a Google Glass device while behind the wheel has come to an end, with the court throwing out the controversial charge, but leaving open the door for police to issue Google Glass-related tickets in the future. [More]
Driver Ticketed For Wearing Google Glass Goes On Trial Today
By 1.16.14
UPDATE: The San Diego traffic court commissioner in this case has thrown out the citation against the driver, saying the police officer had no proof that the driver’s Google Glass device was turned on while she was driving. [More]
Cops Play Santa, Hand Out Lotto Tickets Along With Speeding Tickets
By 12.26.13
A speeding ticket can be awfully expensive, but police in Melbourne, FL, were giving some lead-footed motorists a chance to win enough money to pay off their citations by handing out scratch-and-win lotto tickets and speeding tickets on Christmas day. [More]
Video Proves Traffic Lights Are Rigged To Issue More Tickets, Or Maybe It Proves They Aren’t
By 8.28.13
Red-light cameras — those automated devices that snap photos of drivers caught zipping illegally through an intersection — are a hot-button topic across the country, as cash-strapped governments employ them as a cost-effective way to bring in revenue while opponents claim they are often inaccurate. One New Jersey lawmaker says he has definitive video proof that some traffic lights are rigged to snag a higher number of drivers on camera, but the maker of the cameras says the video actually proves just the opposite. [More]
Colorado Lawmakers Have Magical License Plates That Prevent Them From Getting Tickets
By 8.2.13
Okay, so the license plates given to state legislators in Colorado aren’t actually magical, but they are invisible, at least on the state Dept. of Motor Vehicle database, thus allowing some scofflaw lawmakers (scofflawmakers?) to get out of hundreds of dollars in parking and speeding tickets. [More]
U-Haul Charges Me For 3-Year-Old Speeding Ticket, Won’t Give Me Any Details
By 2.8.13
Consumerist reader Dave says he hasn’t rented anything from U-Haul in around two years, so he was surprised this morning to receive a text from the company. Even more alarming: The message said he owed U-Haul money for a speeding ticket from three years ago. [More]
Report: Judges Collect More Than $1 Million In Traffic Fines By Calling Them 'Court Costs'
By 5.18.12
Imagine you’re caught speeding — or driving recklessly, or driving without a license — and you appear in traffic court all set to pay the fine. But then the judge tells you that he’s not only knocking your offense down to a warning, but also discounting your penalty and collecting the lesser amount as “court costs.” You’d probably be very happy. Only problem is, it’s probably illegal and it keeps bad drivers on the road. [More]
Skipped Step Results In Mass. Police Writing 896 Illegal Speeding Tickets
By 5.8.12
It’s a pretty big case of “Ooops,” on the part of the Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation, which forgot to follow its own regulations when it determined the speed limit on a new stretch of road in Salem. Now, nearly 900 speeding tickets could be reversed — if the drivers are willing to go to court. [More]
Student Uses Smart Phone To Beat Speeding Ticket
By 2.24.11
A student describes how he was able to get out a speeding ticket by whipping out his Android. [More]
Angry Driver Buys Police Department's Website, Launches Anti-Speed Camera Site
By 6.9.10
Brian McCrary in Bluff City, TN received a $90 speeding ticket in the mail earlier this year, thanks to an American Traffic Solutions speed camera the police department turned on in January. McCrary says when he looked up information to call the police department with questions about the ticket, he discovered something else: that their website’s domain registration was about to expire. So he bought it. [More]
Trapster: A Cellphone Social Network To Fight Speed Traps
By 6.2.08
Each year, Americans spend billions (yes, we said billions) of dollars on traffic tickets. Launched in April, a new service called Trapster aims to help keep some of that money in your pocket by alerting you to nearby speed traps through your cell phone or PDA. According to CNN, Trapster incorporates a live database with your mobile device’s GPS or WiFi capability to alert you to nearby police speed traps as well as radar and red-light cameras. Details and demonstration video, inside…..
