hey trip, since you hate cyclegear

[NeonspeedRT]

Originally Posted by RACER X

hang out w/ diff friends.......i did and my LEO envolvement dropped alot......

Great words of advice right there. Alot of people call Nee and I snobs because we won't just ride with anybody. We are very, very picky about who we ride with.

[RACER X]

Snob!

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by tommymac

You havent met NYC hwy or the NYC court system. Judges take a highway cops word as gospel so theres no point in fighting it.

Tom

Yup...

Even if you have witnesses, photographic proof and proof that the cop was sitting at home watching Friends re-runs during the time of the alleged offense the Judge will ignore you or AT BEST change it to a lesser offense (in other words if you are proven innocent of a crime they will charge you with another crime you are innocent of).

[NeonspeedRT]

Originally Posted by shmike

One was for no seat belt.

I was wearing my belt until after the vehicle was in park and engine off, I then unbuckled it to reach into the glove box.

I explained that to the officer. I offered to let him drive the truck to hear the annoying chime that WILL NOT go away until the belt is buckled. His answer was that "It wasn't on when I walked up to your window."

I'm not blaming fault here, but that ticket could have easily been avoided. If you have your seat belt on, keep it on till the officer gets to your window. Simple and easy. If the officer doesn't see you take it off, then should he just "believe you" when you say you had it on????

I have a few friends who are in law enforcement. If you only knew how many times a day someone said " I just had my seatbelt on and took it off once I stopped". They hear the same lies day in and day out. It's not fair to those that are telling the truth, but how does a cop decide?

Originally Posted by shmike

Number two was for no proof of insurance.

I had my insurance card, I noticed that is was expired as I handed it to the officer. Showing respect, I mentioned it to him. I also mentioned that I was in the middle of a move and hadn't gotten the new card yet.

As he was running my info, I went through the mail I had just picked up from the old house. My new insurance card was in it!!! I gave it to the officer as proof that I was current. His response: "I've already started the ticket, just pay it, it's not a big deal."

Tell me where I was wrong...

I would have told him I mean no disrespect, but I refuse to sign the ticket and asked for his name and badge number right there. I would have filed a complaint with his supervisor as well. They can always void out a ticket after it's written. So yes, you got screwed on that one. The officer was definatly out of line on that ticket.

[NeonspeedRT]

Originally Posted by RACER X

Snob!

If the shoe fits....... LMAO

[RACER X]

Originally Posted by neonspeedrt

if the shoe fits....... Lmao

fail. i see what you did there......lol

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by shmike

I do the same.

When all of the above fails and you drive away with 3 tickets instead of the 1 you deserved, you feel disrespected.

I'll trade you 3 tickets for getting arrested after some clown rear ended me on the Palmetto. Good ol' Miami cops.

[NeonspeedRT]

Originally Posted by RACER X

fail. i see what you did there......lol

Speaking of a prime example of picking and choosing who we ride with, here is alittle story Nee posted about a group ride we went on....

Originally Posted by neebelung

Here's a nifty little story with a moral:

So we had a nice group ride planned today. Posted it (as usual) on the local board. Went to the appointed meet spot, where a few people were already waiting. Noticed a new face/bike in the crowd... asked around, no one knew him. Seemed... .well... a bit sketchy, but (I think it was the Italian Pimp Shoes, and the ticky-tacky paint job, but I digress).

I asked him how he learned about the ride. He said he was at Cycle Gear, and someone mentioned to him there was a group of people meeting for a ride, and told him when/where to go. Hmm, okay... well, we'll give him a chance. We're cautious, but not total snobs.

We have a pre-ride meeting, go over hand signals, staggered riding formation, etc... (we had a couple other new faces with us today, some friends of friends kinda thing). We capped off the pre-ride meeting with "In short, just don't ride like an asshole, ok?"

We head out, on a big 4 lane divided parkway, and just in the first couple of miles, Mr. Pimp Shoes is... well.. riding like an asshole. A MAJOR asshole. Just completely unsafe, and no regard for anyone else around him. I'm way back in the herd (near PhiSig) and we're both shaking our heads goin' "Uh uh...." I've already got it in my head I'm going to tell this guy to head out, that he can't ride with us (something we've never, ever done before on a group ride). But then lo and behold, we come to an intersection, and he darts out of the group, cuts off some traffic and leaves. YAYYYYYYYYY!!! (we literally clapped in excitement).

We head up the highway a bit, then stop to meet up with another group of friends for the ride. As we're standing there, telling our friends about this asshat that we 'lost,' here he comes, zipping into the gas station. Oh no, no fucking way. We discuss it briefly, and decide we're just going to tell him I'm sorry, you can't ride with us.

I volunteer to be the asshole (it's a role I play quite well), and I go tell him just that -- Hey, we've decided as a group that you can't ride with us, you're unsafe, and you're a danger to the whole group. He starts to say something about his two other friends (both in Italian Pimp Shoes as well) that have come to meet him, but I stopped him and just said "There's no buts... you're not riding with us. Thank you." And I walked away.

I kinda felt like a major bitch, for about 2 minutes, until he and his friends SCREAMED outta the gas station (Asshat #1 literally coming within inches of hitting a car head on), revving up their bikes, and making a scene as they left. It was almost like a little temper tantrum on two wheels.

About 10 minutes later, we head out and get on the road. We're on a 2 lane road, surrounded largely by water, with some gentle sweeping curves, but nothing super sharp or technical. We're in a straightaway, and we see two bikes parked in the grass on the right hand side... and the shoulder is littered with pieces of red plastic. Hmm.. .then on the left we see the three guys walking along the opposite shoulder, and Asshat #1's bike parked (front end completely a mess) in the grass. No other vehicles were around, but the rider was up and walking around, seemingly unhurt.

Around the next bend, we get stopped for a drawbridge, so we all park. Everyone was kinda shaking their heads, laughing at the irony of it (thinking this guy probably went spouting off to his friends "These guys say I'm unsafe... they won't let me ride with them. Dude, I'm not unsafe!!"... and then this happens).

All I can say is, I'm glad we made the decision to not allow him to ride with us, because with the size of group we had today, the end result could have been much worse if he continued to ride like an asshole, and caused other riders to go down as well.

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by NeonspeedRT

I'm not blaming fault here, but that ticket could have easily been avoided. If you have your seat belt on, keep it on till the officer gets to your window. Simple and easy. If the officer doesn't see you take it off, then should he just "believe you" when you say you had it on????

I have a few friends who are in law enforcement. If you only knew how many times a day someone said " I just had my seatbelt on and took it off once I stopped". They hear the same lies day in and day out. It's not fair to those that are telling the truth, but how does a cop decide?

How about they only write tickets when they see the violation? Cop didn't see him driving without his seat belt, no ticket.

Crazy idea, I know.

[shmike]

Originally Posted by NeonspeedRT

I'm not blaming fault here, but that ticket could have easily been avoided. If you have your seat belt on, keep it on till the officer gets to your window. Simple and easy. If the officer doesn't see you take it off, then should he just "believe you" when you say you had it on????

I have a few friends who are in law enforcement. If you only knew how many times a day someone said " I just had my seatbelt on and took it off once I stopped". They hear the same lies day in and day out. It's not fair to those that are telling the truth, but how does a cop decide?

Yeah or he could have looked.

It was on when I passed him. It was on when I pulled into the alley. It was on when he looked at me via my driver-side mirror.

I probably should have left it on while reaching for my glove box too just to make sure he saw.

Maybe I should have asked him to unbuckle it for me?