Almost Got a Ticket Yesterday

[Oiluj]

Was showing-off the car to a friend yesterday. We zipped around a corner a bit fast, and I didin't see the police car sitting at the intersection about 100 yards away. I immediately told my passenger, "I think I'm about to get a ticket".

The police car followed me, (right on my bumper), for about a block before letting me off-the-hook and turning off at the next corner.

Have had a clean driving record for years, but this is only the second time in 40 years driving that I've "deserved" a ticket and not gotten one...

Serves as a good reminder to drive "mellow" when not in the proper venue! :classic:

[Zs-ondabrain]

Horse shoes and Hand Grenades Julio.

Close don't count.

But I will tell you that when I owned my 78' 510 (A10) 2-door hatchback, I decided to open her up on 405, at 3am in the morning. Passed a Stater doing 140mph. He was taking a wizz on the side of the road so it took him a while to finally catch up to me. I was already pulled over, smoked half a cigarette and had all needed papers in hand by the time he caught up to me.

Turns out, he wanted to know 1) WHAT THE HELL FLEW PAST HIM AT 140+mph!!!, 2) What the heck did I do to the car to make it do that!! 3) Why didn't I just keep going, "You probably would have lost me" He told me that he clocked me at 140 but I was still accelerating after he clocked me and guessed my final speed before deceleration at about 145.

He had a neighbor with the identical car and said "Write down everything you did to the car for my buddy, ignore the fact that I was pissing on the side of the road, and I'll let you go with a warning"!!!! Lucky me, I had already written everything down for another friend, handed him the paper and said "Can I go home and have my nervous breakdown there?" He promissed to throw my butt in jail so fast it would make my head spin, If he ever caught me speeding on "My Freeway" again.

Shook hands with an Awesome cop and rove home. Ticketless and freaking out.

Dave

[geezer]

Funny Dave! He clocked you with his tallywackertracker system huh?

I think more of us are guilty of these infractions than are willing to admit. I bet we all have a really good story to tell, if we didn't care about making it public. In my case responsibility came with age, and today, I police myself the best I can, not to say I don't occasionally get above the speed limit. Heck, just to move along with the traffic, at times I find I'm easily 15-20kms or more over at times. I don't want to pay unneccesary tickets and don't want to endanger anyone either, so drive lawfully for the most part.

[psdenno]

Maturity is an amazing thing. At this point in my life, I take comfort in knowing that my Z, Porsche, and Avanti could probably all come close to "pegging" the speedometer without actually having to prove it on the highway.

However, the last time I went 148 mph in a Porsche was a heck of a lot more fun than just knowing it could probably go that fast.

It's unlikely to happen again.

Dennis

[kenz240z]

I drive a company vehicle, so I tend to follow the speedlimit to the number when I'm working. In my own vehicles, I sometimes tend to put my foot into it a bit more...

I was driving my '95 Camaro Z28 in the mountains a few weeks ago with my wife. Traffic wasn't too bad, but when I caught up with the cars ahead of me, I'd back off and let them get out of sight. Then I'd tear through the gears and put the car through the turns a bit over the posted speed limit. I saw one State Trooper go by, but the next State Trooper hit the brakes. I new I was done, so I pulled over and had my paperwork in hand when the Trooper pulled up.

She asked me if I knew how fast I was going and I responded that I didn't know for sure. She then asked me if I knew what the speed limit was, and I said I didn't notice. She told me she clocked me at 62 in a 50 mph zone. She went back to run me through the system, came back and said I could keep my clean record for awhile longer. I got off lucky with a warning.

If she had caught me one turn earlier, I probably wouldn't have been so lucky...I had the car up to 90.

[lbpdz]

From the standpoint of being one of "writers" - more people talk or lie their way into a ticket. Attitude when stopped is about half of the consideration process. Where, when and what make up the rest..

[Oiluj]

Here's mine.

In 1980 I was less than one year out of college. I had borrowed my parents 1973 Dodge Charger about 11 PM on highway 580. The car had a lot of play in the steering, resulting in my not keeping the car tracking very straight.

Got pulled over for a DUI check. One of the two officers questioned me for a few minutes and asked me to step out of the car to do the physical tests.

I was sober, tired and just wanted to go home. So when I got out I told the offcier in front of me: "How about I just do something to prove to you I'm sober?" He said OK. Having done some gymnastics in college, I performed a standing back-flip and said: "Now if I were drunk could I do that?"

His gruff response was: "Just keep your car straight" and walked bact to his car. (The other officer busted-up laughing).

Upon returning the car I told my Dad to get the car checked, and they ended up replacing a good portion of the steering parts. The Charger tracked great after that...

My best friend, (in his 50's), while signing a rolling-stop citation, asked the officer if they were giving away free pens with each ticket. The cop joked back that with down economy, they had ended that program. Everybody chuckeled and drove off smiling, even my buddy!

[GunnerRob]

Turns out, he wanted to know 1) WHAT THE HELL FLEW PAST HIM AT 140+mph!!!, 2) What the heck did I do to the car to make it do that!!

What did you do to the 510?

[MikeW]

Just remember: you can never talk yourself out of a ticket but you can always talk yourself into one.

[ncolz]

Kenny - you are living the dream there!! I fear a trooper 'finding' us in one our spirited Z mountain cruises. I think it would be tough talking my way out of a ticket if I were observed drifting around a turn.

Then again, I am older and a bit wiser. I'm not running 90+ everywhere in my Z like I used to in college. I will say that black ice in the middle of Wyoming on a Sunday night can make for an interesting adventure.

[Oiluj]

However, the last time I went 148 mph in a Porsche was a heck of a lot more fun than just knowing it could probably go that fast.

It's unlikely to happen again.

Dennis

Yep. unless it's on the track, I doubt I'll ever really know my car's top speed. These days, a quick blip to 90 and quickly back down to 70 on an empty freeway is about as much as I care to do.