The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Pulled over for speeding...what now?
Sci-Fi Wasabi
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I live in Gresham, OR and I was just pulled over for speeding at about 7pm tonight. I pulled around two slower cars traveling down a four lane highway and did 55-60 in a 40 zone. Saw the cop sitting at the top of the hill and pulled into the far lane, parking in a supermarket parking lot.
I gave him my Drivers License and insurance (its my girlfriends car) and dug around until I found my registration.
I answered honestly that I was speeding 15 to 20 miles over the limit and remained polite, and he told me how dangerous it was etc., and noted that my license was about to expire and that it was my responsibility to take care of it. The weird thing is my license says "expires 12.10.09". Anyway, the officer went back to his patrol car for a few minutes. When he came back he gave me my shit back and went over how much it WOULD be for the kind of violation I just committed. I apologized and he let me on my way.
Then it hit me. Did I get a ticket? He certainly didn't give me anything, nor did he write anything on any pad. When he talked about fines, he certainly didn't say under certain terms if I would be paying any. So how can I tell? I'm worried that I've just cost myself 400 dollars 13 days before Christmas over something dumb.
Amusingly when I picked my girlfriend up and headed in the opposite direction, the cop was at the top of the hill, this time with a few teenagers with their hands on top of their vehicle. :P
Long story short I need to know if i have any fines to pay or not.
I gave him my Drivers License and insurance (its my girlfriends car) and dug around until I found my registration.
I answered honestly that I was speeding 15 to 20 miles over the limit and remained polite, and he told me how dangerous it was etc., and noted that my license was about to expire and that it was my responsibility to take care of it. The weird thing is my license says "expires 12.10.09". Anyway, the officer went back to his patrol car for a few minutes. When he came back he gave me my shit back and went over how much it WOULD be for the kind of violation I just committed. I apologized and he let me on my way.
Then it hit me. Did I get a ticket? He certainly didn't give me anything, nor did he write anything on any pad. When he talked about fines, he certainly didn't say under certain terms if I would be paying any. So how can I tell? I'm worried that I've just cost myself 400 dollars 13 days before Christmas over something dumb.
Amusingly when I picked my girlfriend up and headed in the opposite direction, the cop was at the top of the hill, this time with a few teenagers with their hands on top of their vehicle. :P
Long story short I need to know if i have any fines to pay or not.
Sci-Fi Wasabi on
0
Posts
Good move not correcting him on the driver's license thing, though. That might have gotten you written up.
It sounds like you got a warning, but normally you have to sign that you received a ticket.
So if I was physically pulled over and received no ticket, I'm good? Nothing in the mail or any shit like that?
Nope. You didn't get a ticket, you didn't sign a ticket, thus there is no ticket.
The big tip-off is that he told you how much it would cost, that was your warning. So don't speed anymore. :P
Another case for being honest. On the few times I've been pulled over, I never lied; in my mind, I'd rather have the driver know they were speeding than someone who doesn't even know how fast they were going.
If you did not sign/receive anything from said cop, if they *DO* happen to send you something in the mail you can take that ass to court and win faster than you can say "Miranda rights"
They MUST give you a copy
you MUST have SIGNED it
Not necessarily.
He can always get it in the mail.
This is very incorrect. You don't have to so much as touch a ticket to have one filed on you.
One they give you a ticket. (you know you got it they explain how much you pay and give you options to go to court on X date and dispute. You have a piece of paper)
They give you a written warning. There is no fine but there is a paper trail of you being pulled over for a minor violation and not cited for it.
They give you a verbal warning. It sounds like this is the case. If the cop was waiting under a tree and you saw him pull other people over he was there to write tickets. If he had given you one I am sure he would have actually handed it to you.
Just make sure you are not pulled over again by the same cop I can tell you from experience IT DOES NOT GO WELL!! especially if while digging for your registration you happen upon the prior warning note. Man that sucked.
Edit: sorry, this doesn't ave anything to do with the topic.
Saying crap like this, without qualification, is a terrific way to screw people up.
It's going to vary from state to state, and it'll even vary within a single state. In my state, cops have both regular tickets (where you write one copy and it transfers through carbon paper to several copies underneath) and E-tickets (where a machine in the car prints the ticket out). You have to sign the regular tickets, but just being handed the E-ticket is presumed to be signing your bond, so no signature is required.
And even if you don't get served a summons at the scene, state law might allow for them to serve you a summons in the mail.
From the facts in this case (his subsequent stop of the kids), it does sound like the cop gave the OP a warning. My guess is that he was looking for somebody to arrest, and he was using traffic violations as probable cause to make a stop and get up close to the vehicle.
YMMV depending on the state though.