So last night I was driving back from Socal to AZ and I stopped in Quartzsite, AZ for some gas. If you have never heard of Quartzsite, it is a small town just off the AZ border off the I-10. Its basically a trucker stop, but for some reason, people live there. Anyway, I was going 45 mph and was passed up by an F-150 going about 55 mph. As the F-150 is passing, I get a burst of Ka radar on my detector and say, "that guy is screwed". Right as I'm about to pull into the gas station, sure enough, I get passed by a cop with his lights on and pulls over the F-150 in the gas station.
I proceed to pull up next to a pump and start pumping gas into the rental Corolla I was driving. So as I am standing there, another cop pulls up behind me with no lights on and just sits there. As I am putting the nozzle back onto the pump, the officer gets out of her car and asks me for my license and registration. Puzzled, I get my information and give it to her. She asks me what the speed limit is and I say 45. She asks me how fast I was going and I say 45. She says the speed limit is 35 and tells me she is going to write me for 10 over. I reply I did not see a speed limit sign (I really didn't, the road was pitch dark, but looking at Google Street View, there is only 1 sign on the 1.5 mile stretch from the freeway exit to the gas station) and she says, "They're out there".
As she is writing up the ticket in her car, one of the locals comes up to me and asks what I'm pulled over for and I say 10 over. He says, "Oh she is new here, she looks scared." The local guy walks to the convenience store and before walking in says hello to the cop who pulled over the F-150 and the cop replies, "Hey Steve, how ya doin?". I lol and then am immediately pissed when I am handed my ticket. She said the other cop (who pulled the F-150) clocked me on radar doing 45 and called it into her.
Now, is it worth my time to drive 2.5 hours to fight this? She "pulled me over" while I was out of my car pumping gas, I never saw the radar, and she wasn't the officer who clocked me. So can you even cite someone for speeding if they are stopped at a gas station and have the nozzle in their car? Plus, a ticket for 10 over is so bitch. Thanks alot!
I proceed to pull up next to a pump and start pumping gas into the rental Corolla I was driving. So as I am standing there, another cop pulls up behind me with no lights on and just sits there. As I am putting the nozzle back onto the pump, the officer gets out of her car and asks me for my license and registration. Puzzled, I get my information and give it to her. She asks me what the speed limit is and I say 45. She asks me how fast I was going and I say 45. She says the speed limit is 35 and tells me she is going to write me for 10 over. I reply I did not see a speed limit sign (I really didn't, the road was pitch dark, but looking at Google Street View, there is only 1 sign on the 1.5 mile stretch from the freeway exit to the gas station) and she says, "They're out there".
As she is writing up the ticket in her car, one of the locals comes up to me and asks what I'm pulled over for and I say 10 over. He says, "Oh she is new here, she looks scared." The local guy walks to the convenience store and before walking in says hello to the cop who pulled over the F-150 and the cop replies, "Hey Steve, how ya doin?". I lol and then am immediately pissed when I am handed my ticket. She said the other cop (who pulled the F-150) clocked me on radar doing 45 and called it into her.
Now, is it worth my time to drive 2.5 hours to fight this? She "pulled me over" while I was out of my car pumping gas, I never saw the radar, and she wasn't the officer who clocked me. So can you even cite someone for speeding if they are stopped at a gas station and have the nozzle in their car? Plus, a ticket for 10 over is so bitch. Thanks alot!
