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Honestly at the end of the day this whole business of courts and tickets and judges and prostitutors is all such a useless illegal immoral waste. We are all subject to the shakedown. Even if you do no wrong.
No, they need to yank some cops out of the smaller quiet towns and throw them into Camden. They keep slashing the cops where the need them. Although I don't have run ins with the police I have to say they are a bunch of #@$#@$.
If this was about upholding the law they wouldn't be offering you deals in court. This about money...
A lot of people like to say that you curse cops until you need them. No, that is why you keep firearms in your home because when the **** really hits the fan the cops will be busy. I had an experience during Sandy that taught me this and now I know better than to rely on the police.
And mind you I know a lot of cops on the force personally.
this whole business of courts and tickets ... is all such a useless illegal immoral waste.
Considering your comments in the other thread, perhaps we should just let everybody shoot it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by captne76
We are all subject to the shakedown. Even if you do no wrong.
What alternate universe do you live in, where there are no speeders or drunk drivers, no one runs red lights or drives while suspended, or without insurance?
Everyone else lives in the real world, which is full of aggressive, semi-skilled drivers making the crowded roads and highways unenjoyable places to navigate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hooplaman
If this was about upholding the law they wouldn't be offering you deals in court. This about money...
Imagine the wailing & gnashing of teeth, if the municipal prosecutor chose not to offer any pleas to a lesser-point speed, or the judge refused to accept any downgrades! Your 40 in a 25 would now bring 4 points, and the other tickets you received would bring additional fines, instead of being dismissed. Surcharges and suspensions, instead of a fine.
BTW, nobody makes you plead guilty. If you think it's about money, then plead NG & enjoy the use of vacation days for court appearances, until the judge eventually hears your case, after everyone else is long gone.
It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. I like it better the way they do it out west. If you don't make the cop chase you he takes 10 mph off the speed on the spot, then once a year they let you take an online safety course about $20 extra and the ticket never gets recorded. A lot better than the payoff mess we have here.
Considering your comments in the other thread, perhaps we should just let everybody shoot it out.
What alternate universe do you live in, where there are no speeders or drunk drivers, no one runs red lights or drives while suspended, or without insurance?
Everyone else lives in the real world, which is full of aggressive, semi-skilled drivers making the crowded roads and highways unenjoyable places to navigate.
Imagine the wailing & gnashing of teeth, if the municipal prosecutor chose not to offer any pleas to a lesser-point speed, or the judge refused to accept any downgrades! Your 40 in a 25 would now bring 4 points, and the other tickets you received would bring additional fines, instead of being dismissed. Surcharges and suspensions, instead of a fine.
BTW, nobody makes you plead guilty. If you think it's about money, then plead NG & enjoy the use of vacation days for court appearances, until the judge eventually hears your case, after everyone else is long gone.
I think the real world cuts both ways. Not everyone who is pulled over has done something wrong and the issue with traffic tickets and municipal court is that the mentality has become "guilty until proven innocent". That's one reason why there is such pressure to plead guilty. Yes, no one can force you to plead not guilty, but they can make it so darn unpleasant to do so (such as the judge not seeing your case for a long time), that people decide to plead guilty just to get it over with. The person loses and the municipality wins, not only in terms of fines collected, but in costs not incurred for a trial.
Honestly, I don't think there should be deals for people unless there is some excuse like speeding due to emotional distress (loved on in the hospital, etc) or forgetting to put the new insurance card in the car. If you can prove the rush to the hospital or show your insurance card, you should be given a break. But if you can't prove you weren't speeding, then you shouldn't get a deal.
The problem for the municipality is if there were no deals, then most people, faced with a 4 point ticket and the resulting rise in insurance premiums, would choose to fight the ticket. That would make the municipalities spend more money, take cops off the street, and decrease the chance they will recoup any money from the person if they are found not guilty. So instead, the municipality offers "deals", offering people the convenience of getting out of the situation faster with no fight. People take that so they can move on and the municipality makes money.
I think municipalities offer deals to guarantee the municipality makes money. I don't think it's out of the kindness of their hearts. So let there be no deals (except with a darn good excuse) and let's see how many people fight the ticket and what the profit margin is for the municipality. I don't know for sure, but I bet mass pleas of not guilty would quickly bankrupt the system and cops would be forced to stop ticketing unless they have good cause.
Knock on wood, I have not received a speeding ticket in over 7 years because I try to go the speed limit, but when there are intentional traps set up just to gather money then its unacceptable.
A lot of people don't realize this but the criminal and civil courts operating budgets are dependent upon the court costs portion of a traffic ticket. These court costs pay for all the administrative things the courts need, without them the system would grind to a halt. So the next time you get a ticket you are really being taxed for the shop lifters trial, or the divorce proceedings or a couple, or the trial of a banking stealing billions.
again - the trap doesn't work unless you're violating the law. I don't care what people want to say about local, state, court, fine structure, etc....they can't make a dime if you don't speed.
Bradykp: I know where the speed limit changes because I contacted the Cranbury police and their police chief confirmed the speed limit changes from 25 to 50 at Wynnewood Drive. There is no sign posted from the 25 mph sign at the start of Cranbury Neck Road in Cranbury until the 40 mph sign at the Plainsboro/West Windsor border. There are about 3 miles between the two speed limit signs, an absolutely ridiculous distance not to provide a speed limit sign. Why Cranbury and Plainsboro leave that entire stretch unposted, I don't know, but it confuses drivers. It is all farmland and the logical speed limit is 50 for a rural road, but Cranbury should clearly mark the change in speed to 50 mph, and they do not do that at all. In addition to the failure to properly post speed limit signs, the other reason I consider it an unfair speed trap is because the officer could easily have parked within the 25 mph zone and still ticketed speeders. Instead, the officer chose to position herself within the 50 mph zone, logging people as they accelerate past Wynnewood Drive into the 50 mph. It was unnecessary and only done to write more tickets in a shorter period of time.
What the police chief confirms really doesn't matter if there is not a sign there posting the speed limit. So you should complain to them about not having a posted sign.
And it doesn't matter if it's unposted for 3 miles, because only drivers who do not know the law would be confused.
See the link, specifically, this:
What is the speed limit in NJ?
New Jersey law sets top speed limits for any given road, street, highway, or freeway. The speed limit, unless otherwise posted, is 25 mph in school zones, business, or residential districts; 35 mph in certain low density business and residential districts; 50 mph on all other roadways; 55 mph on certain state highways (as posted) and all interstates; and 65 mph on certain state highways (as posted).
No, they need to yank some cops out of the smaller quiet towns and throw them into Camden. They keep slashing the cops where the need them. Although I don't have run ins with the police I have to say they are a bunch of #@$#@$.
If this was about upholding the law they wouldn't be offering you deals in court. This about money...
A lot of people like to say that you curse cops until you need them. No, that is why you keep firearms in your home because when the **** really hits the fan the cops will be busy. I had an experience during Sandy that taught me this and now I know better than to rely on the police.
And mind you I know a lot of cops on the force personally.
well, I don't know about you, but those deals where instead of paying a $100 ticket you pay a $300 ticket and get no points are a deterrant to me. I like to hold on to my money. It's amazing to me that people always love making this claim, when to avoid giving the state money, all you have to do is follow the law. really poor way to collect revenue if you ask me.
Imagine the wailing & gnashing of teeth, if the municipal prosecutor chose not to offer any pleas to a lesser-point speed, or the judge refused to accept any downgrades! Your 40 in a 25 would now bring 4 points, and the other tickets you received would bring additional fines, instead of being dismissed. Surcharges and suspensions, instead of a fine.
BTW, nobody makes you plead guilty. If you think it's about money, then plead NG & enjoy the use of vacation days for court appearances, until the judge eventually hears your case, after everyone else is long gone.
I like how it was in PA. if you get a speeding ticket, you can contest it in court. you send it in with "not guilty" checked, and they give you a court date. you show up, the cop who issued the ticket shows up, and you explain you story. if the cop doesn't show up, the ticket is completely dismissed. if the judge likes your story, your ticket may be reduced (points eliminated, fines reduced, etc) or dismissed. none of this...well, if you pay an extra $100, we'll remove the points. I can see why people think it's a money grab here, because that just sniffs of shadiness. But the fact remains, no matter what the process is, if you didn't speed, they can't collect any money from you.
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