first, i want to say... no disrespect to BT or any law enforcement on the board...
with that out of the way, here is what happened…
Saturday, September 4 th , 2:45PM
I am on the Busa, traveling south on a freeway here in San Diego. Traffic is jacked up as usual (and it is a holiday weekend), but is moving along at 70-75 MPH. Posted limit is 65, but traffic moves at 70-75 on this freeway. Nobody does 65. Lots of cars, packed freeway. I am going around 75, and in the far left lane. I have been behind some compact car for miles…
I look in my rear-view mirror and I have a CHP cruiser right up on my ass, lit up. So, I quickly pull over to the center median. Yes, I know I shouldn’t pull over to the left, but he was right on my ass, and I have to say I panicked a little. He walks up behind me and immediately tells me to take my gloves off. I guess the ICON titanium gloves are a little intimidating. Before I could even get my helmet off, he is walking around the bike, telling me what he can ticket me for… no red reflector on the back, a plastic cover over my plate, that I pulled over on the center median… then he tells me that he visually estimated my speed at 89 MPH. I was half-expecting him to take his baton and smash my front headlight out and give me a ticket for having a missing headlight! Because of his demeanor, I asked him what was going on… I wasn’t stunting, driving reckless.. so what is all this?
So, I question his visual estimation… and he goes on about his training, that he is qualified to make those kinds of judgments, that he does it all day, etc. I don’t doubt that they are trained to do that, but I found it a little odd he estimated my speed right at 89MPH…
Another car pulled up behind his (to ask a question, show him something, not sure). While he was occupied with that driver, I walked over to his car and looked inside. His radar device read 76! I walked back to my bike, and waited for him.
He walks back to me, and hands me a ticket for going 89MPH, and this includes a fix-it citation for having a cover over my plate… the cover is transparent by the way…
I then tell him that I looked at his radar device in the car, and it had me for 76. He then tells me, “oh yeah, it did read 89, but I locked it in at 70-something.†He never mentioned a radar reading before this. I then told him that I would like to show the reading to him, and let’s go over and take a look. He became very defensive at that point, and told me that if I wanted to do that, he would give me a ticket for being in the center median, and that is a $300 fine! WTF!?!? So, I tell him that if we ever go to court on this, I’m sure the judge will be very interested to hear that you threatened me with another ticket, and asked him what he thought the judge would think? He talked some nonsense for 30 seconds, and then finally walked me over to the car. He hoped in quickly, not commenting on the reading… cleared it out.. and then showed me how the radar was tracking the cars going by, and then locked in a speed. He didn’t prove anything….
We politely exchanged a few more words, I walked back to my bike.. and drove off…
You know, I’m not sure what this guy’s problem was, but he obviously had an anti-biker bias the moment he pulled me over. Maybe some guy on a silver bike blew by him the day before, and he couldn’t catch him. Maybe the guy that stole his girlfriend had a silver Hayabusa too! Ha. What sucks is that when you go to court, it is extremely difficult to prove the officer was lying. In this case, he was. There was no way I was going 89 because the traffic wouldn’t allow it and I just put a new tire on the bike, and was taking it easy until I broke it in.
I still may try to fight it.. not sure yet.
with that out of the way, here is what happened…
Saturday, September 4 th , 2:45PM
I am on the Busa, traveling south on a freeway here in San Diego. Traffic is jacked up as usual (and it is a holiday weekend), but is moving along at 70-75 MPH. Posted limit is 65, but traffic moves at 70-75 on this freeway. Nobody does 65. Lots of cars, packed freeway. I am going around 75, and in the far left lane. I have been behind some compact car for miles…
I look in my rear-view mirror and I have a CHP cruiser right up on my ass, lit up. So, I quickly pull over to the center median. Yes, I know I shouldn’t pull over to the left, but he was right on my ass, and I have to say I panicked a little. He walks up behind me and immediately tells me to take my gloves off. I guess the ICON titanium gloves are a little intimidating. Before I could even get my helmet off, he is walking around the bike, telling me what he can ticket me for… no red reflector on the back, a plastic cover over my plate, that I pulled over on the center median… then he tells me that he visually estimated my speed at 89 MPH. I was half-expecting him to take his baton and smash my front headlight out and give me a ticket for having a missing headlight! Because of his demeanor, I asked him what was going on… I wasn’t stunting, driving reckless.. so what is all this?
So, I question his visual estimation… and he goes on about his training, that he is qualified to make those kinds of judgments, that he does it all day, etc. I don’t doubt that they are trained to do that, but I found it a little odd he estimated my speed right at 89MPH…
Another car pulled up behind his (to ask a question, show him something, not sure). While he was occupied with that driver, I walked over to his car and looked inside. His radar device read 76! I walked back to my bike, and waited for him.
He walks back to me, and hands me a ticket for going 89MPH, and this includes a fix-it citation for having a cover over my plate… the cover is transparent by the way…
I then tell him that I looked at his radar device in the car, and it had me for 76. He then tells me, “oh yeah, it did read 89, but I locked it in at 70-something.†He never mentioned a radar reading before this. I then told him that I would like to show the reading to him, and let’s go over and take a look. He became very defensive at that point, and told me that if I wanted to do that, he would give me a ticket for being in the center median, and that is a $300 fine! WTF!?!? So, I tell him that if we ever go to court on this, I’m sure the judge will be very interested to hear that you threatened me with another ticket, and asked him what he thought the judge would think? He talked some nonsense for 30 seconds, and then finally walked me over to the car. He hoped in quickly, not commenting on the reading… cleared it out.. and then showed me how the radar was tracking the cars going by, and then locked in a speed. He didn’t prove anything….
We politely exchanged a few more words, I walked back to my bike.. and drove off…
You know, I’m not sure what this guy’s problem was, but he obviously had an anti-biker bias the moment he pulled me over. Maybe some guy on a silver bike blew by him the day before, and he couldn’t catch him. Maybe the guy that stole his girlfriend had a silver Hayabusa too! Ha. What sucks is that when you go to court, it is extremely difficult to prove the officer was lying. In this case, he was. There was no way I was going 89 because the traffic wouldn’t allow it and I just put a new tire on the bike, and was taking it easy until I broke it in.
I still may try to fight it.. not sure yet.
