Weird "middle ground" offered to me for traffic ticket on freeway

[Dan Druff]

This happened to me in California.

A cop pulled me over for speeding. I was actually speeding. Somehow my radar detector didn't catch it in time (I think he just turned the gun on when I passed, even though it was a semi-busy freeway).

I was sure he was writing me a ticket, and then he asked if my driving record was clean. It is, and I told him so. He then said that he is offering to write me a $20 "fix it" ticket for essentially a bogus violation (he didn't use those words, but that's what he meant), and I said yes. He wrote me a violation for a LOL license plate thing (which honestly doesn't look like an actual violation), and instead of an expensive speeding ticket which will also end up on my record, I pay a $20 fee and show up to a vehicle inspection (at my leisure) and the thing completely goes away.

So obviously this was a big favor he did for me.

But the weird thing is that he needed to write SOME ticket, rather than just letting me off. Obviously must have been a quota thing, so he satisfied the quota and cost me the minimum.

I'm not going to try to contest the bogus fix it ticket. I don't want to fuck him over for doing me the favor here.

Has anyone had something like this before?

[TUFFTURF]

I was pulled over for a middle brake light being out. He wrote me a non-moving violation ticket. All I had to do was fix the issue and go to court with a receipt for a bulb replacement. I had to call off work and go to traffic court. I walked up to the line and a judge looked at my ticket and receipt and removed it from the system. Took about 10 minutes and a day of pay.

Side story:
The county cop who pulled me over had a front head light out. As he handed me my ticket I asked if I could write him a citizen ticket. He asked, "what for?" I said look at you car and you tell me. He still didn't get it. I said your front headlight is out! I then told him a middle brake light being out is not a big safety issue. Some cars don't even have middle brake lights. But a front headlight being out is definitely a safety issue. He said "Go ahead write me a ticket!" and walked back to his car and took off. Basically, they will use any excuse to pull you over for quotas or try to do an illegal search or seizure they will.

[TheXFactor]

You are lucky.

In Las Vegas, Nevada, I see the cops on motorbikes lying in wait at intersections to ambush innocent people and give them a $375 traffic ticket.

It doesn't matter if your innocent or guilty, you have to pay.

If you go though a company that "fixes" traffic tickets and pay $100 extra a ticket they will convert it to a parking ticket so it won't affect your record.

[herbertstemple]

Gotten a couple of warning tickets for speeding. One I got from the Highway Patrol was actually called a courtesy ticket. I was happy it wasn't going to cost me any money but when the cop called it a courtesy ticket, it was all I could do to keep from laughing.

[vegas1369]

You are lucky.

In Las Vegas, Nevada, I see the cops on motorbikes lying in wait at intersections to ambush innocent people and give them a $375 traffic ticket.

It doesn't matter if your innocent or guilty, you have to pay.

If you go though a company that "fixes" traffic tickets and pay $100 extra a ticket they will convert it to a parking ticket so it won't affect your record.

I have lived in Vegas for 14 years now and am admittedly an aggressive driver. In all that time I have been pulled over a total of 1 time by a motorcycle cop, and it wasn't at an intersection, it was on 95. I was pulled over for doing 80 in a 65, and I was in fact doing 80. I see very few motorcycle cops setting up speed traps, in fact I can't remember seeing a singe one in all my time here. It's only ever cruisers, and usually only on the highways, at least that's been my experience and I am averaging 15k miles a year here.

I have had my fair share of speeding tickets in Clark County (each time I was definitely speeding) and have used the traffic lawyer each and every time and have always had it knocked down to a parking ticket. One time I had to do online traffic school, but that was the worst of it. Traffic lawyers here are usually $50 for speeding tickets, so if you or someone you know is paying $100 they are getting ripped off.

http://www.702traffic.com/

https://ticketbusters.com/traffic-tickets/

[TheXFactor]

I have lived in Vegas for 14 years now and am admittedly an aggressive driver. In all that time I have been pulled over a total of 1 time by a motorcycle cop, and it wasn't at an intersection, it was on 95. I was pulled over for doing 80 in a 65, and I was in fact doing 80. I see very few motorcycle cops setting up speed traps, in fact I can't remember seeing a singe one in all my time here. It's only ever cruisers, and usually only on the highways, at least that's been my experience and I am averaging 15k miles a year here.

I have had my fair share of speeding tickets in Clark County (each time I was definitely speeding) and have used the traffic lawyer each and every time and have always had it knocked down to a parking ticket. One time I had to do online traffic school, but that was the worst of it. Traffic lawyers here are usually $50 for speeding tickets, so if you or someone you know is paying $100 they are getting ripped off.

I'm not talking about speeding tickets.

A lot has changed in the past few years, cops are now targeting drivers for improper lane changes, driving in construction and/or school zones.
The fines for these tickets start at $375 and yes the traffic lawyer can knock it down from a moving violation to a parking ticket but the court will not reduce the fine.

The Las Vegas Metro Police have to pay for their new $100 million building somehow.

Whatever you do don't drive without insurance, the penalty for that is just as bad as having a DUI. Triple your insurance for 3 years.

[ToasterOven]

I was hoping for a Druff story that went "something....something... so I blew the cop".

[BCR]

Pretty standard. Rare that they're that forthcoming, but the seat belt violation is pretty much the gold standard of instant plea bargains if you're simply polite and weren't going 90 in a 25. At least in the cities I've lived. I've got at least 3 speeding tickets i can recall instantly turned into seat belt violations in the last 15 years. I didn't like the seat belt law when it went into effect, but I haven't had a speeding ticket on my record despite being a fast driver in that timeframe and the seatbelt violations as opposed to speeding tickets keep the insurance rates down. They drive a little revenue, you get off easier. Mostly win/win as long as they don't abuse it, and I've never been pulled over for simply not wearing a seatbelt.

Here, even pre-dash board cams, tickets legally had to be forwarded immediately to the state to prevent corruption. If you knew the cop he could not even begin to write the ticket and let you go, but after written if you had money/connections, it made it much trickier and more expensive to get fixed after it had been written. You needed to pay a shady lawyer with connections with both local judges and someone on the state level to pull it for serious stuff like DUIs.

I would guess in your case the cop still has the discretion to write a lesser ticket when he catches a speeder, but to let you off completely would make it look like possible corruption. I doubt it was about quota, but more about the appearance of calling in/dashcam footage of pulling over a speeder in a $100k car and letting him go scot-free.