Hey guys, well got my first ticket today in the GT after 5 years of driving and its not a simple one either. Here's the case.
I was at school. (University of Houston) and pulling out onto the road out off a side street. It was overcast today and had rained ealeir, leaving the road a bit wet but mostly dry and i was stopped in a puddle because it was on the edge of the road if that makes sense. I sat for about 2 minutes and waited for a gap. I finally got one and turned left and had cars coming up at about 35-40mph so i gassed it to speed up. The tires spun so i short shifted into 2nd and they spun a bit more. I let off and went into 3rd at about 35 or so. I keep going, stop at a red light, then it turns green and i proceed. Out of nowhere a beige Impala flys up on me and throws his 2 small lights in his window on and i pull over. The cop was wearing civilian clothes and the car was completely unmarked. He comes up with his gun unholstered and his hand on it. First thing he says is, "Is your head up your ass or what?" i reply politely with "No sir" and notify him that i have to reach across to the glovebox to get my insurance card. He takes it and goes back to the car and calls a marked police unit to show up. He gives me a ticket he gets from the other cop and writes 2 charges.
1.) Exhibition of acceleration
2.) Unsafe Speed
I told him that i was just trying to speed up with traffic and that my tires were wet causing it to spin like that. He just says "Come on, you new what you were doing, don't play games". I just said "Yes, sir, have a nice day" and drove off. Looking at the ticket i noticed a few things:
1.) He put conditions as overcast and DRY, even though i was clearly sitting ina pool of water at the end of the street and there was water on the road as well.
2.) He did not write in the speed limit or how fast i was going, both left blank.
I get along with cops very well especially due to my military background and it helps abit sometimes, but this cop was just a bit too pushy. I respect the hell out of LEO's because they put their lives on the line everyday but is it necessary to walk up with you gun unholstered and your hand on the weapon for a moving violation and ask me if my head is up my ass?
Anyways, i immediately went back to the area where i pulled out and took photos of the water and such for court just in case. I also read online that Exhibition of Acceleration a type of violation in Texas. So how do i go about handling this? Also, is there any way to contest unsafe speed especially if he never wrote the speed limit or the speed i was going? Do you have to pull over for a completely unmarked car and a cop in civilian clothes? I thought only makred vehicles could pull you over in TX?
Thanks in advance for your input and advice and sorry about all of the questions, just lost on the topic after searching online for an hour. Let me know if i left any info out.
Mike,
SEMPER FI
I was at school. (University of Houston) and pulling out onto the road out off a side street. It was overcast today and had rained ealeir, leaving the road a bit wet but mostly dry and i was stopped in a puddle because it was on the edge of the road if that makes sense. I sat for about 2 minutes and waited for a gap. I finally got one and turned left and had cars coming up at about 35-40mph so i gassed it to speed up. The tires spun so i short shifted into 2nd and they spun a bit more. I let off and went into 3rd at about 35 or so. I keep going, stop at a red light, then it turns green and i proceed. Out of nowhere a beige Impala flys up on me and throws his 2 small lights in his window on and i pull over. The cop was wearing civilian clothes and the car was completely unmarked. He comes up with his gun unholstered and his hand on it. First thing he says is, "Is your head up your ass or what?" i reply politely with "No sir" and notify him that i have to reach across to the glovebox to get my insurance card. He takes it and goes back to the car and calls a marked police unit to show up. He gives me a ticket he gets from the other cop and writes 2 charges.
1.) Exhibition of acceleration
2.) Unsafe Speed
I told him that i was just trying to speed up with traffic and that my tires were wet causing it to spin like that. He just says "Come on, you new what you were doing, don't play games". I just said "Yes, sir, have a nice day" and drove off. Looking at the ticket i noticed a few things:
1.) He put conditions as overcast and DRY, even though i was clearly sitting ina pool of water at the end of the street and there was water on the road as well.
2.) He did not write in the speed limit or how fast i was going, both left blank.
I get along with cops very well especially due to my military background and it helps abit sometimes, but this cop was just a bit too pushy. I respect the hell out of LEO's because they put their lives on the line everyday but is it necessary to walk up with you gun unholstered and your hand on the weapon for a moving violation and ask me if my head is up my ass?
Anyways, i immediately went back to the area where i pulled out and took photos of the water and such for court just in case. I also read online that Exhibition of Acceleration a type of violation in Texas. So how do i go about handling this? Also, is there any way to contest unsafe speed especially if he never wrote the speed limit or the speed i was going? Do you have to pull over for a completely unmarked car and a cop in civilian clothes? I thought only makred vehicles could pull you over in TX?
Thanks in advance for your input and advice and sorry about all of the questions, just lost on the topic after searching online for an hour. Let me know if i left any info out.
Mike,
SEMPER FI