I hate people like you. Just because you're already going above the speed limit doesn't mean you shouldn't yield to faster traffic. Even if someone is riding your tail, either get out of his way or give yourself more spacing from the car in front of you. You think you're showing him up by not letting him pass you? Oooooh, look at the cool guy on the road. Guess what. You're increasing the risk of an accident by "sending him a message". And on a highway, where people are going 60 mph+ of all places! What happens if you or the driver behind you makes a wrong move? Huge car pile up, people die, one of which could be you. And for what? Just to say "haha loser, I bet you learned your lesson that you're not cooler than me" to the guy behind you? Ugh. Is your self-esteem really that low to take that risk? Think about this: the less people around you, the less at risk you are of being in a car accident. So let that guy get around you and you are that much safer with a reckless driver out of you way. Why can't people in America just be responsible drivers? Yes, I drive fast like you. I drive +10 mph on the highway and +5 mph on street roads. But I still drive responsibly. America gives out drivers licenses way too easily.
A couple months ago, I got a ticket for hovering above 75 (78). The cop was following me for a couple minutes trying to make me go faster, so I sped up to change lanes, only for it to follow me again. Then they switched on the lights. I felt it was a bit dirty, but the law is the law is a state that needs more funds...
That right there. I agree 100% If im already going really fast on the left lane and there are still people behind me really close, i usually find room to change lanes, then let them pass, then go back on...i mean if im already going 10+ and they want to go faster, im not going to speed up to get myself a bigger chance of getting a ticket
Same thing happened to me last year! i was going down 1960 and this cop comes up behind me, driving real close to me. I speed up about 5 mph to pass the car next to me and switch in front of him to let the cop go. Next thing I know, he switches too and is right behind me again. He then turns on his lights and motions me to pull over. he gave me a ticket for going 48 in a 40. I was pissed off.
I got pulled over at like 1am for speeding, and didn't even realize I was because I was so tired. But I got off with a warning. YESSSSS!!!!!!!!! :grin: But your situation is just one of those bad circumstances. Should you have gotten the ticket...probably not based on the circumstances. But breaking the law most of the time gets you the ticket.
In a court of law it's not what happen but what you can prove. You can claim that the reason you made the illegal turn was because you felt that the car behind you seem to be in an emergency because of the excessive honking but I'm not sure that will consense of you getting out of the ticket because as the rule stat you still broke the traffic law. I would suggest you take deffensive drivng and get it over with.
If the judge is listening to the emergency lie at all, they will ask what factors made you think it was an emergency. Because you can't control your anger at someone honking at you, doesn't make it legal to not obey the traffic laws. If you really have such anger management issues that your only choices were, assault an impatient driver with physical violence, or turn right on red, then you made the right choice. But because you made that choice you still have to live with the consequences.
You guys seemed to have stumbled upon the legal loophole of the century. This "imminent emergency" defense seems like it could be applicable under any and every traffic ticket ever issued. The last speeding ticket I got was because I had to take a ****. Really bad. It was an emergency. If I had only known...
I suppose you could always make the argument that the guy behind you was honking and gesturing so violently, you were afraid it was going to escalate into some sort of road rage incident....i.e. you feared for your own safety. No idea how well an argument like that would hold up in court though.
that is my guess. there are two signs there saying no right on red. i once had a guy honking at me to turn on red. i didnt respond and he honked again so i stuck my arm out the window and pointed to the two signs saying no right on red than i gave him a single finger salute. that shut him up. to the op - you have no case - dont waste your time fighting it.
And you know what? In Austin, in most cases where there is a "No Right on Red" sign, it's for a very good reason: because traffic at those intersections (both pedestrian and automotive) can reach levels where it's unsafe to turn right. But the idiotic drivers in this town (some of the worst I've seen, bar none) can't be counted on to make safe, rational decisions, so they have to put up those signs. Agreed. It's not the ticket that is "r****ded". You did the crime, you do the time (or "pay the dime", I guess).
Seriously, I would have either flipped the guy off behind me or exited my car to yell at him to tell him what's up with turning right on red when it's illegal. If he doesn't like it, then he can either shoot me on the spot or kiss my ass. Either way...I'm not making that turn to appease his dumb ass.
that's what i thought. How uptight/high strung is this guy? Sad that people can't just admit they did something stupid and deal with consequenses rather than just pass the blame alone to someone else
The cops have been bad lately. I understand that the economy is getting bad and they need a way to make money, but i think some of their methods are pretty shady. I read an article on Yahoo not to long ago about how police are being told to no longer issue warnings, and no longer allow the 5mi over leeway that alot of cops allow. tTeir ticket numbers in alot of places have gone up 300%. I work between downtown and the medical center, drive thru the wheeler/main intersection daily ALL DAY, there are 2 motorcycle cops that sit in the sears parking lot at least 4x a week pulling people over for who knows what. That intersection is considered to be one of the worst in Houston due to the light rail crossing and the amount of traffic in that area. Traffic goes considerably slower due to these cops. Also the motorcycle cops have been hanging out in the 59 HOV lane alot lately, I usually don't mind it on my drive home if they setup in a non traffic impeding spot and don't stop each car regardless of them seeing 2+ ppl in it from a distance. Last week 3 of them setup right before 610 and had a line of cars over 2 mi long waiting in the HOV lane at 7:30AM. I could have taken the freeway and made it work 20 minutes faster. I havent gotten a ticket for anything in over 3 years, i drive a few miles faster than the posted signs but with the flow of traffic, yet i get to deal with lazy cops that like to camp out and take advantage of the people they are supposed to be serving on a daily basis.
How are they taking advantage of people that break the law? You, yourself, admit speeding yet you don't get stopped (at least not recently) so they aren't taking advantage of you.
