Busted! How do you contest it?

[sAsLEX]

Also in your letter to the PIB (?) point out that this speed guessing prick admitted to doing 140 Kays (thats more than double of what he reckons you are doing and 90 kays over the limit) in a 50 kay area to catch you up. Who was the real Speeder/Hazard here..?

Did he inform comms of his over double the speed limit pursuit? Obviously a pursuit if he had to nearly triple the speed limit.

[scumdog]

Cops hate having to go to court and be crossexamined cause they know that you have heeeeaaps of time preparing yourself because you got only one case-yours, after weeks they cannot remember whether you were actually coming or going.

The crux of the matter though is: Do you think you could have fun doing it ???
If not, just pay up !!!!!

Pfft! Yeah right, like a day in Court is SO much harder than doing real work!

And speaking of which, why has nobody ever before said "Why are you taking a hopeless case to Court when the cops time could be better spent fighting real crime"??????????

[sAsLEX]

And speaking of which, why has nobody ever before said "Why are you taking a hopeless case to Court when the cops time could be better spent fighting real crime"??????????

As its probally a trafffic cop not a real cop, they dont solve real crimes anyways

And he is only writing a letter at present.

[Patrick]

Did he inform comms of his over double the speed limit pursuit? Obviously a pursuit if he had to nearly triple the speed limit.

Wasn't a pursuit. Obviously catching up, but not a pursuit as he wasn't actively doing anything to avoid being caught...

Gotta love your avitar though....NICE!

[VasalineWarrior]

Bikey cop-thanks for the advice! I will write the letter (nice and courteous) after the infringement comes in the mail and explain the situation, I hope this will be enough to squash the matter and prevent the need to go to court, but I guess if they throw it out and want to burn me then I am willing to stand in front of judge for this and plead my case.
Will let you all know how it gets on, id say it will be a few months at least in the process

[VasalineWarrior]

[QUOTE=Patrick]Wasn't a pursuit. Obviously catching up, but not a pursuit as he wasn't actively doing anything to avoid being caught...

Oh and for the record guys, I was in a 92' diesel hilux ute that hasnt, wont and never will see the other side of 120km/hr. The more I think about it the more his 140km/hr hacks me off!

[SwanTiger]

Don't contest it, just learn your lesson - keep your mouth shut when they ask how fast! that's like asking a murderer if they killed their victim and them admitting to it.

[Jase W]

Oh and for the record guys, I was in a 92' diesel hilux ute that hasnt, wont and never will see the other side of 120km/hr...

Ooh i dunno, ive had mums 'well used' rural post hilux up to some fair speeds - drifts well in the wet too. Good ol diesels. Good ol Hilux's. Bugger.

[beyond]

Also in your letter to the PIB (?) point out that this speed guessing prick admitted to doing 140 Kays (thats more than double of what he reckons you are doing and 90 kays over the limit) in a 50 kay area to catch you up. Who was the real Speeder/Hazard here..?

Exactly. We all know who the real crim is, don't we?

[madboy]

You wanted my advice? Well I was set to give you a relentless ribbing until I realised you were in a ute. Guess that kinda cancels out what I woulda done

So assuming I did get busted for 65 in a 50, I'd pay it. Small price to pay for the countless times you, me and probably every other sportsbike rider on this site should have been busted and didn't.

I might, maybe if I was really pissed at the cops attitude, write a letter. Might. I definitely wouldn't take it to court. For one, you seem to be making an assumption here that the cop would fess up to 140k in court - that's a big assumption for you to make. Just cos he said it doesn't mean to say he'll "remember" saying that. Chances of success arguing he said she said is pretty slim in my view. If you look at the economics of it - I don't know what you earn, but half a days annual leave for me would make it uneconomic to fight the ticket. And that's before we even get to the court costs of $130 or so if you don't win. And a lawyer? At least $200/hr for any one worth having. Barrister's we use at work are $400+.

If you want to fight it, you can't go too far wrong with the advice the cops have posted. My advice, suck it up and pay it. Then chop the tray outta the hilux and stick airbags in it... at least you can shower the next cop with sparks while you tootle down the road.

[Lou Girardin]

Yeah, screw being honest.

Was the cop honest?
Besides, I didn't tell him to lie, just don't do their job for them.
I lost count of the number of idiots who talk themselves into tickets.

[Smorg]

Cop: How fast were you going?

You: How fast did you clock me?

Never admit to anything, but you already have so I'd follow up BC's advice.\

Failing that bust a cap in his ass

[MWVT]

Never ever, ever, ever, say you were speeding. The difficult thing about this is that in an ideal world you would also not admit to not knowing how fast you were going. Coz then you look 'careless'.

Phrases i find helpful:
I'm pretty sure i was riding legally.

Not that fast

I wasn't watching it, I was watching the road, which was lucky when you pulled out in front of me. (not recommended, but fun)

I wouldn't like to guess based on a bike speedo, those dodgy guys at VTNZ barely look at my bike when they give it a warrant, and i'm not a speedo expert.

Instead of arguing why dont we look at your radar?? If answer lets you know he doesn't have one, insist you were doing exactly the speed limit.
If answer says he does have one, ask if it's calibrated.

[VasalineWarrior]

Ok, heres an update guys-been almost a month and so far and, touch wood as i write this, no ticket has arrived in the mail, so it looks as if this particular cop has decided to show mercy on my sorry ass and let me off.
As such, I have decided in my eternal wisdom of 21 accumulated years that some cops are decent and take back any previous derrogoratory coments/thoughts that I may have expressed towards the police in the past, provided a ticket doesnt show up on my doorstep the next morning.

[kevie]

My only advice is leaving the letter to the last possible moment.

I don't know if cunstables are consulted when letters arrive arguing a ticket, but if you leave it the maximum (2 months?) he won't remember the details in anywhere the same detail as you do. I guess it's more likely to be dropped, especially for a 15k over.

NNNOOOOOOO write in ASAP .... I left mine a bit late and they had already sent it to court without advising me of the hearing..... had the hearing then told me later it had been to court and found me guilty cos I hadnt appeared or presented a defence (heard of our court system ?? its spelt K A N G AR O O )

my $80 fine grew to $130.... they said I had a right to appeal but if I do ... and the rehearing is over a month later then I would be up for a further $100 for failing to pay the fine in allotted time....... thats all crap ... what happened to our fair legal system (it left when the "lets make money" system was introduced)

So my advice .... write in immediately, I think you have 28 days for them to recieve the appeal (says on the TIN)... so get into it..... sounds like you have a case... you dont know what you were doing, he obviously didnt know either; you were tired and vulnerable to his 'intimidation', him doing 140km/h has no bearing on your estimated speed, takes time to slow down and turn (aspecially if it hased to be a 3 point turn) and the speed would determine how fast he caught you up therefore his 'catching up speed has no real indicator ofyour speed (unless you were doing close to his 140KM/H).
Its dam near impossible at night to judge the actual speed of a vehicle comming toward you.

1/ note down all the facts (no matterhow seemingly unimportant)
2/ assess if they are incriminating (if so cross them out)
sort out relevance of these facts and then write the letter.

get friends you know are good to proof read the letter and make adjustments as required.

If the letter looks like you have an ounce of nouse it helps you look like you know what youre talking about.

but strike ASAP and no harm in trying ..... they can only say "nah pay up"

Mums motto always was "If youre silly enuf to try it .... its silly enough to work "