What's your worst ticket?

[ZLTFUL]

Hi. My name is Ryan...and I am stupid.

*Hello Ryan*

It has been 2 days since my last stupid. I sort of fell off the stupid wagon...in a big way.
96mph in a 45mph zone. A stretch of pretty much perpetually vacant road I always open it up a bit on...
New Camaro heading towards me...don't think anything of it as I am rolling on the throttle hard in third gear.
BAM! Radar detector lights up like a 4th of July fireworks display.
Not the Camaro...a shiny new Dodge Charger tucked no more than 5 feet behind the Camaro's bumper. So close I couldn't even see him from the Multi's high perch.

I pull over as soon as the lights come on. I know I done did wrong...no trying to avoid it.
I could have run...by the time he turned around and would have caught up to me, I had at least 4 or 5 outs.
But I fess up to my stupid. Stupid hurts but not nearly as much as evasion, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, etc etc. 1 big ass slap down is much less painful than several big ass slap downs.

So he comes up to the bike as I am pulling off my helmet. I am shaking my head at myself.
He asks how I am doing tonight...
I reply, "Stupid."
He just chuckles and agrees with me.
Asks me if I knew how fast I was going and I readily admit that I don't but at this point I am pretty sure it was more than the posted 45mph.
He takes my paperwork.
He says he has clocked me at 96 in a 45.
Apparently he could smell the bricks I just shit because he backs away slightly.
He tells me to go ahead and wait there and heads back to his car. I set my helmet down and have a seat.
Quite literally, this normally abandoned stretch of road suddenly has become a parade ground. There is a literal flotilla of gawkers and rubberneckers driving by.

Several minutes pass during which I can see him feeding what seems like reams of thermal paper through his printer.
He gathers up the paperwork and exits the car heading back to me. I stand up and wait for the inevitable pregnant dogslap Johnny Law is about to give me.
He clears his throat as I brace myself for the notice that he will be taking my license, impounding my bike and if there is anyone nearby that can come pick me up.
This would be typical in this instance...30+mph over the speed limit in Iowa is a loss of license for a year with a year probation following that.
I am running through the scenarios on how to get to work for the next year without a license.

So he hands me my paperwork back...all of it. License included.
He starts explaining to me what he should be doing right now.
How he should be waiting for the tow truck while I wait for a ride.
But, he say, he isn't going to do that. Instead, he is going to give me a ticket for speeding.
He is going to mark it for >20 in a 55mph.
A hefty fine to be sure as the ticket totals $373 and change.
But SUBSTANTIALLY better than the alternative.
He explains his reasons behind it.
He knows that I have ridden for a long time.
He knows that I could have run and I could have gotten away. (He appreciates that I didn't)
He knows that all riders are prone to lapses in judgement as he is one himself and doesn't have enough fingers or toes to count the ones he made just last month while riding.
He knows that I am no the typical squid because he had to wait for me to get my gloves then helmet off and that I pulled my vital info out of the actual emergency info pocket in my jacket.

So he explains to me that he has written the ticket the way he has with the understanding that my head was momentarily caught in my ass and that it is not how I normally ride.
He doesn't want me to lose my license.
He has my sign the ticket (apparently, his thermal printer was acting up and wasn't printing the first 4 or 5 times he tried it hence the reason it looked like a novel was being printed).
He tells me to have a good night and to ride safe.

All in all, about as pleasant a negative situation like that can be.
He was very professional. Wasn't a d-bag about anything.
I was very up front with my denunciation of my self stupidity.

Needless to say, my wife wasn't very happy and was scolding me right up to the point where I pointed out that she had no more than a year and a half ago gotten a ticket for the exact same thing. After that, she was sort of sullen the rest of the night.
So the next day, I treated her to a manicure and all seems mostly right with the world again.

[Ducatamount]

$373-ticket,$25(?) manicure,Insurance rate going up...oh well,better than the alternative.
To All,do not let a cop sit on your ass when driving a car because they are using you as cover. 
Pull over and let him by.

[Monsterlover]

$373-ticket,$25(?) manicure,Insurance rate going up...oh well,better than the alternative.
To All,do not let a cop sit on your ass when driving a car because they are using you as cover. 
Pull over and let him by.

That is, if you live in a state where they're permitted to use radar or laser while they're moving.

They have to hide in PA.

I think the last ticket I got was 59 in a 25 (school zone, but it was sunday so it didn't count) on my Monster with no mirrors, no inspection and an open shotgun exhaust I built (that boom tubes later copied )

He didn't say a word about the bike.  He was too happy with himself that he caught me.

[ZLTFUL]

The nice thing about not having a single ticket in over 10 years is that my current insurance company will forgive it. If I go for another year without an issue, then me ticket "forgiveness" resets. The cop even mentioned my impeccable driving record during the stop. Something about either being really good or really lucky. 

I got very lucky. No doubt about it.

Definitely sucked that he was using the Camaro for cover but completely permitted here in Iowa. I have some outs if I really want to be a dick but I was wrong and I really don't feel like paying an attorney $500+ to get me out of a <$400 ticket that will not count against my insurance unless I get another one in the next year.
If it was...I would definitely fight it. "Last radar calibration?" "Deputy's Radar Certification up to date? (They have to be "certified" here which is an annual 4 hour class)" "How could you have clocked the subject when you were physically too close to the car in front of you to get an accurate reading and without having a rearward facing gun?" Stuff like that...

[KnightofNi]

That is, if you live in a state where they're permitted to use radar or laser while they're moving.

They have to hide in PA.

I think the last ticket I got was 59 in a 25 (school zone, but it was sunday so it didn't count) on my Monster with no mirrors, no inspection and an open shotgun exhaust I built (that boom tubes later copied )

He didn't say a word about the bike.  He was too happy with himself that he caught me.

i remember hearing that they had to be in sight and sitting still.
also, local police are not permitted to use radar in PA. Keep an eye out for timing lines and unmarked cars coming up on your 6 to pace you.

[The ModFather]

Ticket $373
Manicure $25
New Underwear $7.00

cool cop..... priceless   

[akmnstr]

The botanist, in the office next to me, has tickets to the KISS concert coming up in Houston.  I can't think of
anything much worse. 

[Triple J]

The botanist, in the office next to me, has tickets to the KISS concert coming up in Houston.  I can't think of
anything much worse. 

[LMT]

My only ticket:

1996 or 97, Driving the neighbors car to the airport in Oakland, CA. I failed to slow to 20 mph for an old folks crossing. Got a ticket for doing 30 mph. The cop said it looked like I was having a nice day, singing along to the radio and that he was really sorry for having to write me up.

All the other speeding - just never got caught!

[extra330]

I drive an old truck with a huge as rear bumber. Any cop who tries to hide behind me sure as shit better be on the ball when I hit the breaks to keep from running over that squirrel. Tailgating to catch a speeder coming the other way is nothing more than a cheap trick. Nothing new about that though is there......

$373-ticket,$25(?) manicure,Insurance rate going up...oh well,better than the alternative.
To All,do not let a cop sit on your ass when driving a car because they are using you as cover. 
Pull over and let him by.

[Blackout]

cheap trick.

I love Cheap Trick. They were my first concert way back when.

Still dealing with this ticket after al this time...Sadly it looks like I'm gonna lose my license for a year. Hell, I am not even guaranteed a license even to go to work. And if I can't drive I can't work in my profession. Sure sucks. Lesson learned.   I hereby renounce hooliganism!  

[chipripper]

I'll join in here.

Year 1996
Location Sunny San Diego

My first street legal bike. A 70's Honda 250 dual sport I bought for $300. I was living in downtown San Diego, woke up early on a Sunday and decided to go ride around the neighborhood. A few minutes later, I am pulling a sweet wheelie and see lights in my mirror as I come down out of it. Motorcycle cop  . I pulled over quick, and hit the kill switch. He got me for no M1, no insurance, no registration, no helmet (no dot sticker on my dirtbike helmet), and dangerous maneuver. Impounded my bike, and gave me a card for the local MSF program. I don't remember the fine, just that it was a lot, and I was pretty poor back then. The judge let me keep my license, but sent me to level 1 and level 2 traffic school. I don't do dangerous maneuver on the street anymore.

[triangleforge]

Best ticket I wish I'd gotten was for 60 in a 45 - on a bicycle.

I was pulled over with a group of road racers who were enjoying the aerodynamic benefits of pack riding on a relatively long, steepish downhill.

The officer realized the citations might not have the desired deterrent effect when he overheard several of my co-conspirators noting that they planned to frame the document proving they'd hit a mile a minute on a push bike, so sent us on our way with a stern talking-to and no proof for the skeptics.