$190 for rolling through a stop sign in Colleyville! (Dallas, Fort Worth: low crime, construction)

[milwaukeegirl]

So angry! It was late at night and raining on a quiet street in Colleyville. Dark street and hard to see anything. $190 for this? If this isn't a revenue generating operation, I don't know what is.
*done with venting*

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by milwaukeegirl

So angry! It was late at night and raining on a quiet street in Colleyville. Dark street and hard to see anything. $190 for this? If this isn't a revenue generating operation, I don't know what is.
*done with venting*

Correction - your ticket was for "failure to stop". Stop. As in not moving. What exactly does it being late at night, raining, dark and hard to see have to do with anything? So you were driving when you couldn't really see?

OK, done venting.

[milwaukeegirl]

I'm angry because I didn't see the sign until too late due to poor visibility...I didn't do it on purpose. I made a mistake, but is it really a $190 offense? It's the amount that is making me so mad. And the fact that I feel like the cop was waiting there because it's a spot where the sign is hard to see.

[jbb303]

$190 is about par for the course for any traffic violation in any city, be it speeding, running a stop sign, etc. If you think that's steep, try getting one in a school zone or a construction area. Don't pay the $190 fine straight up and let it go on your record. There should be plea options for deferred disposition or defensive driving that bring the fine down and keep it off of your record.

Take a ride along with a local officer some time on a night shift and see if they really have time to hunker down and watch particular trouble spots purely for the sport of "revenue generation". I can assure you they don't, especially in a town as spread out as Colleyville. Bottom line: you broke the law and the officer did his/her job. There's one way for you to keep from getting tickets in the future.

[ChristieP]

Colleyville is notorious for speed traps on 26 and stop sign tickets like this. Yes, the PD there really does have time to help generate revenue. Aside from shoplifters at Target, that little town has very low crime!

[jbb303]

Well, nonetheless, they're still just doing their job.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by jbb303

$190 is about par for the course for any traffic violation in any city, be it speeding, running a stop sign, etc. If you think that's steep, try getting one in a school zone or a construction area. Don't pay the $190 fine straight up and let it go on your record. There should be plea options for deferred disposition or defensive driving that bring the fine down and keep it off of your record.

Take a ride along with a local officer some time on a night shift and see if they really have time to hunker down and watch particular trouble spots purely for the sport of "revenue generation". I can assure you they don't, especially in a town as spread out as Colleyville. Bottom line: you broke the law and the officer did his/her job. There's one way for you to keep from getting tickets in the future.

LOL, acting like Colleyville is some major city. The cops in that city don't have time for anything else other than this. It was definitely sport. You do the same thing in Fort Worth or Dallas and the cop wouldn't do anything.

[Eric S]

I don't enjoy giving money away for no good reason myself, either. Getting a speeding ticket or other violation is essentially flushing one's money down a huge public municipal toilet. To the OP: Consider this a great calibration. I'll bet that you'll be more vigilant in the future and this needless waste of your personal resources will never happen again. Here's to being "once bitten," eh? It seems like big game of "Gotcha," doesn't it? Well, it is, really.

-Old Man Simpson

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by milwaukeegirl

I'm angry because I didn't see the sign until too late due to poor visibility...I didn't do it on purpose. I made a mistake, but is it really a $190 offense? It's the amount that is making me so mad. And the fact that I feel like the cop was waiting there because it's a spot where the sign is hard to see.

Wait, did you roll through the stop sign or blow through the stop sign?

Either way, if visibility was that bad, you should have adjusted your speed accordingly. And maybe, just maybe, that cop wasn't lying in wait to earn money for his department. Maybe, just maybe, he knew people ignored the sign and he was keeping other drivers safe.

Just an FYI - everyone that has an "accident" doesn't do it on purpose. That doesn't mean the damage and injury is any less severe.

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Colleyville is notorious for speed traps on 26 and stop sign tickets like this. Yes, the PD there really does have time to help generate revenue. Aside from shoplifters at Target, that little town has very low crime!

Really. I drive that way all the time, and have for years. I've never gotten a ticket. Maybe because I'm not doing anything to warrant it?