I was on my way home from work today, and I was ready to relax on the couch and have a beer. I was just cruising down the road minding my own business. Nothing wreckless. Not weaving, speeding, nothing. The light in front of me turned yellow and It was either stop quickly or speed up to make the light. I made the positive choice and I hit the brakes. A few seconds later I hear screeching tires behind me. Not wanting to get hit I let the clutch out and went through the light. Granted, I never checked to see whether it was still yellow or if it had switched to red. The driver ended up in the middle of the intersection and I went on my way. No big deal. A few seconds later I see the lights in my mirror. I pull over and am completely cool and calm with the officer. He asked for license, registration, and insurance which I gladly handed him. He came back with a ticket for running a red light. I asked why I was being ticketed for saving myself from being hit by a careless driver and he acted like they did nothing wrong. Maybe it's just me but I think he saw the bike and just wanted to give me a ticket. I'm setting up a court date tomorrow. Thoughts?

 

Personally, I think you did the right thing. I think you should take it to court, and I think if you present your case you SHOULD win. Knowing how the world works, I'll just have to hope for the best, but I can honestly say: I would have done the SAME thing. It would have cost EVERYONE more if you would have been hit, how can that be right? Sportbikes are BIG red flags to Johnny Lawman, it's like a challenge to them Best of luck

 

Sounds like you have a good case. If the police have dash cam footage of it (and what you're saying is accurate), you shouldn't have a problem getting it overturned.

 

hey, at the end of the day, everyone was still alive and well...so you definitely did the right thing.

i know that there are good and bad cops, but to me, traffic cops dont ever really seem to care about what is right or wrong anymore, they only care about issuing the ticket. there's too many cops like that nowadays. in the older days, cops were revered because they were supposed to protect the public and issue tickets/take you to jail for endangering public safety or someone's personal property, not punish you for making rightfully minded decisions that conflicts with a petty law

tickets ARE their money makers and there IS a quota. so they'll issue anyone a ticket if they can.

take it to court and win. you shouldn't have a problem. remember that the judge is "your honor", wear a nice shirt and tie, and say "yes" or "no" as opposed to "yeah" or "nah"

 

No doubt they are the easy money makers, however every department I have been to/ worked in. I can promise you no quota, that's conspiracy BS.

However back to the point, I'm sure even if the dash cam doesn't see what you described, you will be ok and the judge will throw the ticket out. I can't believe if you told the cop that story and wasn't a **** about it he STILL ticketed you. I'm sure you will get it taken care of.

 

if you've worked with departments and whatnot, and you can promise it.... good. you know know more than me. i was going off of what a former officer had told me about why she and a few other "low" ticketing officers were laid off when her department had to make cut-backs, thats all. whether there is or isn't, i think we could all agree that there should NOT be a quota.

- not trying to hijack a thread or anything.

 

so the police still gave you shiet even though the car behind you ended up in the middle of the intersection?

Sometimes logic escapes people

 

Yes, I was still ticketed. Maybe they just like to harass sport-bikers. Maybe it's because mine is bright orange. Maybe his wife left him the day before. Whatever the case may be, I feel I was singled out and unfairly ticketed. Profiling if you will.

 

But what if Johnny Lawman rides a sportbike?