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Hi, I an a NY state resident and was up in VT skiing in Killington for the weekend. On the way from the mountain on Sunday, I was stopped by a cop, who said that I was driving over the posted speed limit of 35mph. I was shocked, considering I was driving maybe 40 mph..and in a line of people. Not to mention he was driving in the opposite direction of me, after which he decided to turn around and catch up to me a few blocks down, wait behind me at a red light to make a turn, and then pulled me promptly over. He took my license, didn't even check the registration and came back with a ticket of $172 and 3 points. What surprised me is that he just wrote "SPEEDING" on the ticket and didn't write the anything in the "Actual Speed" or the "Posted Speed" in the boxes on the ticket. Is this normal in VT? What evidence will he have if/when I fight the ticket....I think it'll be dismissed due to being incomplete. Can anybody shed some light on this?
It took an article in the New Yorker to bust Woodstock's policy of giving a ticket to anyone going just 1 mph over the limit. I don't know if this will help you any.
It seems odd to get a ticket for 5 over and I always thought they had to specify how fast otherwise how would they know how much the violation or points would be?
I suspect an attorney could get that tossed. It would cost bucks for the attorney, but you would make it back because your insurance rates wouldn't go up. A hint - for less than $50 you can buy a dashcam and PROVE your points in court. If you were indeed in a line of traffic, there could be other arguments, such as not impeding the flow of traffic.
Definitely NOT normal. I spend 30 hours a week or so driving and I'm normally 5-10 over, encounter several cops a day and have never been or have seen anyone get pulled over for that. I drove without a head light and a tail light for several weeks once and got pulled over maybe 7 different times, 5 of them got warnings, two got nothing(just a verbal "get that taken care of ok?"), no tickets. One of the times I actually had my blinker on before the blue lights cause I saw the cop get behind me. Needless to say as soon as the turn signal came on so did the lights lol. I just explained(which was true) that I have just not had a chance yet and will do it as soon as realistically possible...overall I would say cops here are very lenient. Maybe that cop was bored. I would definitely fight it.
Call the number on the ticket and state your case. There should be speed number on the ticket. Be polite and ask for an explanation. You may be able to resolve it over the phone. Vermont has a number of speed traps and areas that are heavily patrolled. The access road usually gets a good presence due to all the night clubs. Mendon has a guy in the 45mph zone. Bridgewater sherriff is a fixture and Woodstock also.
Most cops will give you 10, but that's not always true.And they really don't target out of staters. I did a ride along with a cop once at night. We ran radar, couldn't see plates and every one was out of state. They just happen to be the speeders.
This is / was my assumption, so it's good that you mentioned it. I did live in Vermont for six years and never got a ticket, nor was I ever stopped (driving with Vermont plates). The summer after I left, I came back for a visit and had NY plates on my rental car, and I got stopped for something rather iffy -- a yellow light turning red well after I'd entered an intersection (with no other cars in sight). It was dusk and I am pretty sure the officer could have seen what state the plates were from. I paid it, but it felt gratuitous.
So, I'd like to believe you, but I am not so sure.
Coming down the hill from Pico towards 100 is a good one. Goes from 50 to 35 I think. Been there done that and won't do it again
thats exactly where that happened.
I talk to several people, in addition to posting it here, and they all confirmed that by not writing the "Speed" into the ticket, he is basically letting me off with a warning. It should get dismissed once it goes for a hearing.
Coming down the hill from Pico towards 100 is a good one. Goes from 50 to 35 I think. Been there done that and won't do it again
I remember when we moved back to New England after several years out west, the frequent changes in speed limits seemed bizarre. Then I learned that out west (at least, in California and Arizona) there are state laws that mandate that speed limits can' t change by more than 10 m.p.h. per zone boundary. And in CA the speed limits all end in "5", e.g., 25 m.p.h., 35 m.p.h., 45 m.p.h., 55 m.p.h.
So for instance they can't go from 50 m.p.h. to 35 m.p.h. at once, it has to step down. Nor do you get the bizarre thing where it's 35 m.p.h., and then suddenly another drop to 30 m.p.h. ... as though there's a material difference between 35 and 30, or 30 and 25....
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There oughta be a law
