First C7 Ticket??
 

Learn from my mistake. I went to a place where I thought I would have some isolation and did a little road testing with my headers and tune combo....lets just say it gets up to "speed" a lot quicker now. However, be warned, the ticket for doing so is pretty hefty (rightfully so) . Over $1k by quite a bit and I'll leave it at that. Not trying to brag, I'm honestly just saying to be careful and admitting to how dumb of a move it was. I am sure that I'm not the only one who is beyond excited to see what the stingray can do, so this should be a lesson to all, there are much better/safer places to do things like this. I'll be searching for a legitimate closed course to do any additional testing. Be careful everyone!

EDIT: Getting lots of PM's regarding what mods I have. So far it is mostly stock, but I have added Pfadt Longtube headers with the Pfadt performance tune. I'll be adding a camshaft and heads as soon as some vendors get back to me on prices/specs.


http://i1328.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2708a1c5.jpg

Tell us more about the SUV's motor, since he caught up with you.

WTF, who took that picture?

Also, highway speeding laws in America are so damn stupid. I bet what you were doing was perfectly safe, but you were caught in a revenue-generating speed trap.

EDIT: JoesC5 caught me here. I wasn't thinking straight. "Speed trap" was probably not the right term to use here... But you know what I mean. If not, I explained later.

Did he talk to you about the car? Seem to be a car guy at all?

Caught him when the posted speed limit dropped from 150 MPH down to 100 MPH at that deer crossing zone. Sneaky revenue-generating speed traps will get you every time.

What state are you in and how fast were you going?

I got a big one in my ZR1 back in 1992.

Stupid deer. :D

-T

My wife took the picture....wanted to capture this moment in all of its glory. By the time I saw him I knew it was too late. I slowed down, and he came right for me. He wasn't much of a car guy at all.....

Figures. Jealous :yesnod: On the other hand, a car guy would have given you a (possibly) stern warning and taken some time looking at and talking to you about your beautiful Vette :flag:

On one hand, that is a real bummer. On the other, it really looks good in white.

Let me take a wild guess. You've had a lot of speeding tickets.

If my family were nailed by some jackazz testing out his new ride. It would never happen again.

No sympathy, no mercy.

Sounds like the OP had plenty of slack, should have been locked up.

Attorney...fight it...the end. I hope you didn't admit guilt to the officer...classic passive Americans do it. Never hand a cop his case on a platter. Put the burden on the state, get an attorney...fight it. I fight all tickets regardless of guilt or not....and I've certainly had both.

:D:rofl: my bet is that this MOMENT and all its glory will never die

ever ... ever:cheers:

congrats on not going to jail:flag:

So what are your mods? Who tuned it and what's it like?

If you own a corvette and always do the speed limit exactly....that's a boring life. Is there anyone on this forum who does the speed limit exactly? OP could have just been doing 70 in a 55. Lol, probably not.

Reasonable and prudent depends upon all prevailing conditions, most of which none of us know (other than the OP.) I say "most" because we do see it was in daylight on a highway in a car designed to go well over 150 mph.

Reminds me of when I first got my supercharger on. I finished the tune and was doing the first street rip. I went to an opened four lane road...it was like 1am...not a headlight or soul in sight. I go from about a 40mph roll to up over 130 and I see blue lights in the distance. I'm like...DAMN IT...

I pull over and wait for him...figure why not. He comes up and says...you know how fast you were going back there (I'm thinkin...I do...but do you?). I know I was going 130 when I let off, but I said...nahh...how fast did you get me going. He said...64mph...it's 40 back here. He said, I suspect you went a little faster, but I couldn't keep my radar on you. Off with a warning....haha!

VALENTINE 1....Nuff said.

Reasonable and prudent does depend on all prevailing conditions. On a race track those conditions are somewhat controlled by the officials.

On public roads, those conditions may vary to include the unforeseen broken down car with people in it, sitting in your lane with ONCOMING traffic in the other lane. Going "at speed" suggests at least 100 mph maybe even 150 mph as designed. Now where is your reasonable and prudent?

Heh, fair point. "Speed trap" may not be the right term to use here. But it is such a waste of resources to have cops camped out, and hidden while they wait for people to speed by on a perfectly smooth, wide, straight, low-traffic road with high visibility (which appears to be the case here based on the picture in the OP). That is a fine time to have a pinch of fun and open up your car a little bit. There are far better things cops could be doing with their time.

I've had one speeding ticket in my 12+ years of driving (in fact that was my only moving violation of any kind). And no, I don't have a radar detector. I would say that I've just formed a reasonable sense for how fast I can go before I start risking a ticket.

Still, I know that speeding laws (again, primarily on freeways) are mostly nonsense in my experience.

Road was pretty clean/clear, no rain, tires designed to 186mph+, brand new Corvette....sounds reasonable to me.

A lot more reasonable than the 120mph that cop does regularly in that overloaded SUV.

Speeding tickets are nothing more than a revenue resource. My brothers are both PD and while not written, quotas are very real. As more and more municipalities lose tax revenue from residents who don't contribute tax dollars ( i.e. don't work ) they will use speed laws to generate revenue. It has nothing to do with safety.

^Exactly....and anyone who believes otherwise is a fool...

I worked for PD for three years...I know what goes on. We had officers making more than the Chief because of how much traffic they did. I know a guy that is a cop in my town where my shop is...his base salary is 78k/yr and he is on track to make 138k this year from traffic. The township will buy him any vehicle he asks for...he wanted a motorcycle...he got it....he wanted an unmarked to hide...he got it....it's about money, not safety. If it were about safety, they'd sit on the side of the road with their roof lights on...everyone would slow down...that's proactive....

This why I to to the track for my fun. Too many innocent folks out on the road that can be harmed by this type of adventure.

As someone else said...... glad you did not go to jail and glad they did not impound your ride.

Disclaimer: I don't know the OP, but...

...from his description of the offense and fine, I'm guessing GA. Super speeder law down there starts to get REAL pricey after 20+ over. I head down to the NC/GA area several times a year with a group of riding buds (MCs) and we're very careful when get into GA....at least, we've never been caught. :D (Knock on wood!)

NONSENSE !:rofl:
I've worked over 30 years as a LEO in three different geographic areas . While quotas definitely exist in some areas throughout the United States...... I have NEVER EVER heard of any revenue sharing of ticket revenue or fines with the police officer :eek::eek:
Hopefully, I misunderstood what you were trying to say :yesnod:

Nope that pic isn't from don here in Ga I don't think. Super speeder is no joke down here.

At least it was in an Arctic White!! Congrats on the beautiful ride...and ticket.

Man, over $1k. I got a $500 fine for 135 in Navada out in the middle of nowhere. You had to
Smokin.

You didn't misunderstand, you misinterpreted where the money comes from. It's not a "cut" from the ticket, it's the way that the officer is paid when a hearing is requested....4 hours pay per request! If it's your day off or it puts you over 40 for the week...double time.

So, they stop you, tell you to request a hearing, then they give you the standard plea deal....you pay them, no points (in basic cases of 15 over, etc) and everyone is happy (because people are fools).

What this has led to is gross abuse of the system. In addition, Western, PA is structured much different than many other areas of the country. Here, we have a concentration of small towns, all with their own PD's, versus one large county dept (oh yeah...we have that too...:crazy2:). All these towns need income, and traffic does it for them. In some towns, it consists of over 30% of their annual budget. When a council projects a budget for the year ahead, if tickets don't bring in the projections, then you have a deficit...that's how you have quotas.

Here they don't have "quotas", but they have requirements. You must put x amount of miles on your car per shift, unless you're running traffic (static)...if you're static, then there must be cause (i.e. a number of reasonable inquiries for oln/plate/tag info in a given timeframe). If you run the inquiries and there is no citation (no written warnings here...just verbal) beyond maybe one or two here and there, then the Chief comes down on you (speaking about one town I know of personally). So...due to the requirements, you either drive exhaustively, or do traffic.

You said you worked a bunch of geographic areas...well, we know Pittsburgh area isn't one of them...corruption is rampant here. Magistrates are elected and don't even know the law, nor have a requirement to know it. They rule with the police...period. Police pulled me over with no probable cause whatseover....looked at me...pulled me over...then wrote me a street racing citation because I told him he was violating my civil rights. Guilty as charged at the magistrate...so I have to file appeal...cost me two days and 215.00, then go to trial before a real judge and it gets thrown out. The system is garbage here...

You pays your money and takes your choices!

I'll second that. I spent over 30 years in law enforcement, including three as a Traffic Division supervisor. It was my Traffic squad's job to investigate serious injury and fatal vehicle collisions and, when not so engaged, to enforce traffic laws.

1. I have NEVER heard of ANY law enforcement agency that paid or pays a patrol officer, traffic enforcement officer or parking control officer ANY KIND of commission, bonus or other incentive based on the number of citation they issued. Not only would it be a conflict of interest resulting in dismissal by any state appellate court, it would open up the governmental entity to lawsuits and substantial civil penalties.

2. People used to accuse me of having a quota or requiring a quota of the officers who reported to me. There was no such quota. They could write as many violations as they could find.

3. Studies by the NHTSA have clearly and repeatedly shown a direct correlation between per capita traffic fatalities and per capita traffic enforcement; when enforcement is down, fatalities rise.

4. Additional studies have demonstrated a relationship between regional auto insurance premiums and traffic enforcement. Lower enforcement yields higher premiums. You might think auto theft rate has an impact and it does. But medical and litigation costs from collisions far outweigh the costs to insurance companies of theft losses.

5. I happen to agree that speed, alone, is not necessarily dangerous. But, unfortunately, most high-rate speeders also engage in additional acts that make their speed dangerous to other driver's, such as unsafe lane changes, unsafe passing and/or other reckless acts. It can also be an indicator of an intoxicated driver, though I won't go into all the whys and wherefores of that here.

This is a correct description of how it works in that traffic officers scheduled for Court a lot do make a lot of overtime pay.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Stopping isn't worth the hassle anymore (especially with insurance points B.S.) unless you have no chance of getting away, and that's when the laser jammers come in

I've gunned it plenty of times on my S1000 as soon as I see the lights go on

Turning misdemeanor into felony. Poor, poor idea.

...which will work just fine until you find yourself in jail for evading or worse, in prison for felony evading and/or manslaughter when you maim or kill some innocent.

Stupid decisions lead to unforeseen consequences.

In my younger days on sportbikes we'd run in a heart beat in a car I ran only once. Didn't get caught then either. Eventually I grew up and kept it on the track. Used to be a great rush and very stupid....damn hard to outrun the radio and or helicopter.

radar detector is always my first mod.
(I only use it to remind me not to go too fast)
And on the odd occasion I find my self slipping over the speed limit by accident I try to do it on multi lane in each direction devided hi way, with a long view so I can see cars people or such up ahead, in the day light so I can see cars ahead. And I may still from time to time get caught slipping over the posted speed limit. ( My worse slip was 107 over the posted speed )but that was years ago and I learned a lesson back then.....better detector!!!:hide::auto:

Locally, in the city, the LEO's in cars, will light up on a sport bike to see if he will run. Poor guy on the bike doesn't realize there is a chopper overhead, off to the side, in radio contact with the ground unit. Bike makes a run for it, the ground unit doesn't chase him, but the chopper is watching him the whole time, but never hits him with a spotlight. When the biker thinks he's in the clear, there is a waiting reception for him by the ground units. Biker never knows that he was set up. Of course he shouldn't have made a run for it, but they usually light him up for no reason, just to see if he will run. Bikers know that it's against city policy for the cops to engage in a high speed chase within the city limits. If he does run, he's toast, and he never knows that he was being watched the whole time he was running, by a chopper.

and this is exactly the point i try to make. sure, i'd love to have a z06, but why? i'm not one to track my car so it would be a waste of money due to what happens when we get a little "giddy" with our vette. you don't think 460 hp is enough power without mods? :smash: i know i'm satisfied with the power my stock car puts out.:yesnod:

$1,000 ticket? How fast were your going?

I drive no place without my Escort 9500! it would have saved your bacon. I feel naked with out it and often return to the house to get it!
buying the new MAX escort soon! Save yourself! Actually not smart not to since they are legal!

:iagree: Plus they flat improve your driving because you are constantly AWARE! When your being aware and you know the route
well! It is near impossible to get caught! First beep your off the gas! Plus you know who the plain patrol is too!

That's exactly what I think. Most highway patrols are cowards, hiding behind a bush with their radar gun. If they really want to protect the public, either park in the open like you said, or just drive the speed limit up and down the freeway. NOBODY will speed or do anything reckless.

I'd like to say that I've never gone over the speed limit, but since I've owned 9 Corvettes, a '65 Cobra 427 side oiler and others I'd be lying. I got one ticket in Nebraska in my sisters '92 Buick that my dad had made for her ( vert in a custom shop ). I was delivering it to her in Great Falls, Montana. Doing 65 in a 55 country. So I have been very lucky, also very smart as I don't speed when I can't see for miles in any direction. But as I have gotten older I have become much safer with my driving, not for my sake but for the safety of others whom I might not see. Drive safe ya'll. And enjoy your cars in a safe and fun way. Drive at a track and take a course at a driving school, you will really learn how to control yourself and your car. Sorry for the big ticket OP, just glad you weren't involved in something worse.

Too funny :D

We collected "bike files". We would run every bike we saw then file it according to make and color. Three to four cops did it all the time. If one ran, about half the time they'd find it in there and go to their house and game over. The way stuff is around here though, its more concentrated, so people tend to stay in and around a couple towns.

I quit because of the corruption there. I could no longer be part of it, and it was turning me into an ugly person...my wife made me leave. The day I left, I felt like a weight was lifted.

Misdemeanor in Pa...:thumbs:

I personally take it much more seriously if someone is doing 40 in a 25 than someone doing 140 in a 70 on a limited access highway. :smash:

Outside of the State Patrol ( they don't use the helicopters for traffic) the only county in the city if Atlanta that uses Air was Dekalb county(they were recently grounded due to budget and a helo crash) but I got lot up by one and got away....the story didn't end well though as I was getting off the highway I was watching the sky looking for it and ran my bike smack dab into the rear of a Ford Excursion. Lol those young and dumb years.

Cool Pic !

Dang Cops !

The other thing is that it's very rare that people get tickets for going too slow on the freeway (especially in the left lane), even though that is objectively, quantifiably, significantly more dangerous than going too fast by the same margin.

Not that I am planning on doing this again, but I definitely am going to be buying one now. Searching the forums today for recommendations:thumbs:

Is this the one I should buy? Any one else have a recommendation to compare against?

haha, she has brought it up 5 times this weekend at least. Apparently, this is indicative of my judgment in general :cheers:

And yes, he said he could take me in for it so I am feeling lucky.

Rdar Detectors
 

HAVE 2014 VETTE USE ESCORT MAX works great am very happy with performance. HAVE SUV USE ESCORT 9500 -have used for approximately three years. The MAX and 9500 are very similiar in performance with MAX having some advantage in picking up distant radar. HAVE PICKUP that I drive primarily in rural areas-have just purchased a ESCORT REDLINE-this unit apparently is the most sensitive to distant radar and is the best overall protection but would pick up a lot of false signals in city driving. Hope this helps in your selection of radar detectors.

:iagree: Either the Valentine, OR - the Escort 9500ci. Nuff said in either case!

I just ordered a valentine one based off of recommendations from other forum members and after comparing pros and cons of both the v1 and the 9500. The thing that sold me on the v1 is the directional indicators that let you know if the signal is coming from the front or the back. I also plan on getting a dashtronics unit once they come out with the c7 model - it allows you to show the detector's signals on the HUD and DIC.

Yep, I've owned the ValentineOne - and it's a great detector. But it's just a detector - when it comes to laser. And when it comes to laser, there is ZERO warning, as there usually is with either K or X band radar. With laser - once they hit you with it, they've got you. "Detection" does you no good.

The Escort 9500ci is a custom installed system - it's very pricey (approx $2K, installed), but it's VERY cool. All sensors are behind the grill, or concealed at the rear. And, when it comes to laser, it detects it - but it also JAMS it - instantly. So, when the sensor is hit by laser, it instantly deflects the signal. And the LEO receives "insufficient data" or "no data" on his screen.

Ahhh. Thanks for that info. I had compared to the normal escort detector , not the full installed system. No doubt an installed detector and jammer would be the best way to go if you want the best protection. Personally, I can't justify spending that much on something that's meant to prevent me from having to spend money. :-). Even if I get a couple of tickets with the v1 that I wouldn't get with the 9500ci, I still won't have spent $2k (assuming the tickets aren't of the $1k variety). I'll be driving a good 3k miles home from the dealer when I pick up my c7, so we'll put the v1 to the test and I'll report back on the performance.

I agree with this. It's hard to outrun a radio.

Actually, some of the comments in this thread are rather sad. The OP was going fast enough on a public highway to warrant a ticket well in excess of $1,000. That means he was going damned fast, breaking the speed law by a wide margin. :crazy:

Then the 'knowing' post speed laws suck, yada, yada. Like them or not laws exist. When broken, you pay the price. That's how it goes. :thumbs:

looks like OR's finest

This is the poorest excuse for a comment that I've read outside of OT! :U

I will refrain from saying anything else to you as it would not meet forum guidelines, but you calling any LEO a coward shows little class. I'm sure you can't qualify for their job for many reasons, so you revert to calling those brave souls 'cowards' instead. :crazy2:

great idea on the dashtronixs unit, I've got it in my C6 vert, and now that my c7 vert order is 3100, once i make the switch over, I will miss it until they update it.
did they give you any idea when the update will be out?
by the way, I also have blinder jammers on as well. Worth it- once had an Illinois state leo on a bike targeting me. It was priceless to see his face as I cruised by (by that time exactly 54 mph) and he just looked at his lidar gun as if wtf?

No, I didn't ask directly. Someone on this forum said they will be working on it once they can get a c7. I'd be interested to hear if your c6 unit works with your new c7. I doubt it will, but there's always a chance. If you get the chance to try it out, let us know your results.

That's what I was thinking. Saw my old man in that uniform for about 30 years.

Hire a lawyer ASAP. Join the National Motorists Association.

:crazy2: It's just a matter of time for you bub. You will either die or kill a whole family in their car , or both.

I always do the speed limit (30 mph) "exactly" when I'm in our local neighborhoods. Or even a little less. On the main local arteries (typically 40-45 mph limit 4 lanes) I might push it maybe 5 mph, but never more.

On the interstate, well, that's a different story: moving back to KS from CA, our average speed (over the ground) in the 'vette was about 79 mph for the 1500 miles. I have no problem at 90-95, as long as Mr. Valentine is with me. On the 101 in central California in my wife's 2001 Z06 a few years ago, I have been up to... well never mind -- in the interest of not incriminating myself, or getting kicked off the Forum, I'll let it ride, but it was up there. Fun car!

My own study of NHTSA data on our local freeway showed there was not one fatality caused by a sober driver speeding. Not one. Believe me, there is speeding going on every day, and yet that is all they enforce around here with their laser guns. I've seen drunks, people swerving into other lanes, texting, no signaling lanes changes, tailgating literally one foot off of bumpers, yet no tickets for that.

We have a really warped system of enforcement these days, and the insurance companies and governments keep spewing out the propaganda that speeders are the source of accidents.

Michael

This is the one I use also. Not free but when ya see how it works it sure is cheep:iagree:

LOL:iagree:

Should have kept the hammer down:smash:

I like the white, but not sure I like the blue and red lighting in it. It takes away from the car IMHO. :ack:
That's too bad, that one will be points on insurance too. Do you have to go to court?

Ok so how does this ticket cost over $1,000? What were the charges if you don't mind sharing? Carless op? Wreck less op? How fast did he clock you?

I just got a ticket myself Thursday for doing 82 in a 70. Small town cop was hiding behind a Bridge support and I was just cruising, and with no one around me around 4pm he decided to walk out onto the interstate waving his hands and pointing at me to pull over. I did and when he pulled up behind me he got out with his ticket book so I new I wasn't getting out of that one.

I wouldn't exactly call someone in hiding with a radar gun a brave soul.

Don't own a C7 yet, but I'll jump in this discussion. I had my 1998 Z28 out with a couple pretty girls once riding with me (one of the few benefits of a 2+2 coupe) about 10 years ago. Was out on the highway in the middle of the night showing them what 560rwhp can do and got nabbed. I received 4 tickets, and I was lucky he let me go without towing my car. We were talking about cars for a good half hour. I thought I was gonna get lucky, but nope. He nailed me good.

Total cost was around $2500 not including the lawyer to keep me from losing my license for at least a year. Not worth it unless you're in really good with the cops and have permission. They're really cracking down on this stuff these days. Impounding cars and jail time right off the bat. Keep the other stuff on a course or racetrack.

If they keep pushing the penalty for simply "getting on it" out in the boonies with nobody around into such obscene levels, you WILL start to see more people run. If a guy sees an officer hit the lights, and knows the penalty will be $300, that still really hurts (along with the points!), but he is going to do the smart thing and pull over. But, damn. If you start hitting people with $1,000 and throwing them in jail and impounding their car $$$, you make the risk/reward part of the equation start to tilt toward just taking the chance on running. Yes, I know if you do that then you are looking at even higher penalties, but you are missing my point. You are making the punishment SO harsh, that it makes people consider gambling on getting away. With this being his first offense, and considering he was in the BOONIES, daylight, clear day, no other traffic, etc, the punishment does not fit the crime.

Drag racing and triple digit speeds on a public road deserves a harsh penalty. I learned my lesson (eventually), even though I also became very savvy at not getting caught as well.

You got the part right about me being a working, productive citizen. I dont think hiding and pointing radar guns at people is being productive.

:lol: Pic was probably on Facebook before the ticket was finished being written....

Keith Cornett's, The Corvette Blogger, take on the shenanigans... https://www.corvetteforum.com/articl...w-enforcement/

Here in Virginia it is illegal to run a radar detector. As for quota several local speed trap towns do not have true quotas but they do give officers take home cars and they can basically work overtime when they want as long as they are running radar on US 58, 460 or I 95. The towns rake in a large amount of its budget each year this way. One city has what they call the " million dollar mile " because the interstate is only one mile long thru the city and thats how much revenue they collect yearly there.

Again in Virginia speed over 20 mph over the posted limit is generally a class 1 misdemeanor. However there is also a law that states any speed over 80 mph is also a class 1. So you could only be doing 11 over in a 70 mph zone and end up with possible jail time.

Be careful out there.

that is a new for me...family in LE

Anyone actually post what the speed was? I got written up for double a 55 once, in CT of all places, ticket was only like $550. I can't imagine how fast this ticket was. I just assumed for that amount it is instant impound!

Several people have said the officer looks to be from Oregon. Oregon state has a specially classed ticket for driving 100 mph or over where you are charged $1103. See page 4 here. If i were to guess, I'd bet that was the case.

Everyone reading a forum like this should be National Motorists Association member.

ok,what does the MNA do for us?

The NMA:

http://www.motorists.org/

A legal network for ticket defense (self defense or via affiliated lawyers), lobbying efforts to try and stop red light cameras and speed cameras, etc. Check out their website above. Right now, traffic laws are a one way street - every year penalties increases, more restrictive laws, bigger fines, etc. A road near me had a 45 mph speed limit for years, it just went down to 20 mph in one section - same road, same traffic pattern. Its all about the money.

Expensive lesson, but for those few moments at speed it must have been fun.

:iagree:

I think I will join. The traffic laws just keep getting stricter and stricter for no reason, other than to make more money. There doesn't seem to be any end to this or pushback. The California Highway Patrol never used radar or laser on the freeway, but now do. They paced people who weren't paying attention. They also rarely wrote people up for less than 15 or even 20 over. Then the state went bankrupt, and the CHP is not much more than a piggy bank now. They only focus on speeding tickets, and forget about them enforcing a hit and run (personal experience).

Montana and Nevada use to have "Reasonable and Prudent" daytime speed laws (see my avatar). Those are now gone.

Michael

:iagree:

:iagree: You can only push people so far.

As far as the OP is concerned, sorry Leo ruined your day.

I've since slowed down. I've also purchased some "assistance" which has seemed to help. It was fun though :hide:

I've seen plenty of vette doing 10 to 20 miles under the speed limit on 2 lane roads with a trail of people stuck behind them. All models new and old. It adds to the stigma of the vette being an old man's car.

I understand that it's an enjoyable car to drive at any speed, but to not care about the 30 card stuck behind you is inconsiderate.

:lolg: