Originally Posted by Charlie

Why does one even has a radar detector for? I always found this VERY weird.

The only people who would need one are the people who make a habit out of speeding. Their only concern is not being caught. It's a shame that there's no concern about putting others lives in danger.

Originally Posted by missme411

... He takes my DL and returns with a ticket. He says he is only giving me one ticket so I don't have to pay as much. Turns out it is for careless driving! Nothing about speeding...seriously a $200 ticket for texting? When I wasn't even doing it? Can I fight this in court? (It is the only offense on my record currently.)

I think "careless driving" can mean many things - in your case I think you got the ticket because you were speeding AND texting and to me they can both be considered as careless driving (so I think you didn't just got the ticket because you were texting but because you were doing many careless things while driving). If I were you I would be happy that I only got one ticket.

Originally Posted by dallas

The only people who would need one are the people who make a habit out of speeding. Their only concern is not being caught. It's a shame that there's no concern about putting others lives in danger.

I thought so.

Quote:

Why does one even have a radar detector for?

Oh my, too late to edit my question. I sound like Lolz cat... I am glad you understood what I was trying to say.

You're not supposed to operate your cell phone at ANY TIME while you're driving. Not to answer a call, not to ignore a call, not to send texts. If you must use your cell phone, you're supposed to pull over to the side, put your car in Park, turn it off and then you may use your phone.

You were wrong. Pay the ticket, learn your lesson and be done with it.

Originally Posted by dallas

The only people who would need one are the people who make a habit out of speeding. Their only concern is not being caught. It's a shame that there's no concern about putting others lives in danger.

Absolutely, they are illegal here in Germany

Originally Posted by Charles

This^^ Get your detailed phone record and show that no texts were sent nor received at the time of the ticket. And slow down. :)

Yep- ITA! I also doubt he would show up for court, so for $200, it is more than worth a shot.

Oh, I'll bet the cop will show up. It's worth a shot to try and fight it, but there's a possibility that if you lose, not only will you have to pay the original fine, but you'll have to pay court costs as well. Just a thought.

I don't think you can fight it. Actually, that is so lenient.

Texting/Driving is very illegal here so it's kind of weird to see/hear people doing it and trying to get away with it.

It's like drinking/driving...

Originally Posted by Sternchen

You're not supposed to operate your cell phone at ANY TIME while you're driving. Not to answer a call, not to ignore a call, not to send texts. If you must use your cell phone, you're supposed to pull over to the side, put your car in Park, turn it off and then you may use your phone. You were wrong. Pay the ticket, learn your lesson and be done with it.

it's not illegal in the majority of the states here. so just because you SHOULD doesn't mean you're SUPPOSED to.

Originally Posted by chunkymonkey

Yeah, I don't think that would hold up. She could've started writing a text, scrapping it at the end (when she saw a cop). It's still texting, even though no text msg was actually sent.

Good point!

Maybe it's just me, but I don't know how you in good conscience go and fight it when you know you were speeding, and hitting the ignore button (why not just let it ring?) on your phone. Hitting that button for a split second means that you took your eyes off the road for a split second. How many times do we read about someone who took their eyes off the road for a second and bam.....disaster.

So for me, I don't think I could go to court when I know I am in the wrong.

I would pay the ticket and consider it a hard earned lesson.

I understand your frustration. But the fact of the matter is that you were still speeding, can't fight that. Just chalk it up as a lesson learned.

Originally Posted by chunkymonkey

Yeah, I don't think that would hold up. She could've started writing a text, scrapping it at the end (when she saw a cop). It's still texting, even though no text msg was actually sent. Not that this is what she was doing, but it's easy to make that argument.

The law she broke was no texting (supposedly), and the idea is to show that she was not texting and the cop could be wrong. By bringing in her records, she's attempting to prove her innocence by trying to create a case, as opposed to just saying "Nuh uh...I wasn't texting". In this case, the officer has to prove she was in fact texting. He cannot prove that. Remember, innocent until proven guilty?
Now, whether the judge cares...that's another story.

Originally Posted by kristie

BTW........ Radar detectors DO NOT WORK on most police radar devices FYI contrary to popular belief and sales pitches. Also, the newest thing in law enforcement is LIDAR......it is laser beam speed.....virtually 100% undetectable......sorry folks

This is completely false. LIDAR is 100% detectable (and it's been around for some time..at least 15 years for speed detection, that is), as are the other radar bands. The issue, with LIDAR, is that since it's aimed specifically at your car, by the time your detector warns you, it's too late. It's already determined your speed. However, the better detectors can pick up signals from the cars that were targeted in front of you, giving you a bit of time to slow down.

technically, you could... but you were doing 2 things that were illegal, using your phone (even if you weren't actually texting) and speeding. pay the ticket and lesson learned.

Originally Posted by Milton

technically, you could... but you were doing 2 things that were illegal, using your phone (even if you weren't actually texting) and speeding. pay the ticket and lesson learned.

BUT there's no hands free law in her state, so she wasn't breaking the law if she was making and/or ignoring a call.

She wasn't written up for speeding, she was written up for texting (or "careless driving"). If it was a speeding ticket, then yeah I'd say suck it up and pay the fine. But the bottom line is she got a ticket for doing something she wasn't doing

I still vote for fighting it in court. What does she have to lose other than a few hours out of her day?