here's a couple more that i have in my e-mail from work. for the same guy. he doesn't seem to understand how to not get tickets..
i think this one was something like 55 in a 40?
INDEX
1. CITATION BACKGROUND
2. NARRATIVE OF EVENT
3. DEFENSE
4. PICTURES/DIAGRAMS
5. SUMMATION
CITATION BACKGROUND
DATE: 04-30-07
TIME: 09:50 AM
LOCATION: SB on Rockfield Rd, at Dune Mear Rd.
California Vehicle Code cited: 22350 - Basic Speed Law
22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.
Amended Ch. 252, Stats. 1963. Effective September 20, 1963.
NARRATIVE OF EVENTS
The following narrative was written around noon of 04-30-07, shortly after getting settled into work.
I was on my way to work on the morning of April 30th, 2007, when I was pulled over for speeding at the crossing of Rockfield Rd and Dune Mear Rd.
I was driving south bound on Rockfield Rd. The traffic was light, being mid morning on a weekday.
I was traveling south bound on the left lane (2 lanes each direction), and was going approximately 50 MPH. I had a late model Nissan sedan slightly ahead of me, also traveling approximately 50 mph, but slowing down and signaling to turn right onto Dune Mear.
On approach to the intersection where I was cited, I saw a minivan approaching Rockfield from Dune Mear. He crept slightly into the intersection, intending to make a left onto Northbound Rockfield. He saw that I was approaching, and came to a stop. He waved to me, and I nodded acknowledgement, and eased on the throttle to quickly clear the intersection (which does not have directing traffic lights).
I had not seen the officer parked on Dune Mear due to the minivan partially blocking the view of Dune Mear.
The officer pulled me over shortly thereafter, and cited me for a speeding ticket. I felt that I was operating my motorcycle at a safe speed, but signed the ticket and proceeded to work.
DEFENSE
22350 specifies that a vehicle shall travel at a speed reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic .
As the officer noted on the ticket, the sky was clear, road surface dry, and the traffic medium (though I would suggest that traffic was actually light, considering I had considerable gap [at least 5 second gap] between myself and the vehicles in front and behind me).
To these conditions, I'd like to also add that this particular section of the road has little to no intersecting streets for potential cross traffic. Also, the street does NOT have small or mid size trees that would otherwise hinder clear view of traffic, both oncoming, and cross traffic. In fact, I had a clear view of every vehicle in operation at the area, EXCEPT for the officer's vehicle, which was blocked by the minivan.
In motorcycle driving school, we're taught SIPDE - Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute. In this case, I scanned the road way, and identified the moving minivan as a potential hazard (if it came across the road, I'd have to slow my speed accordingly), after making eye contact with the driver of the minivan, and acknowledging him giving me the right-of-way, I Decided to quickly get through the intersection, both as courtesy, as well as for my own safety. I Executed by gently accelerating through the intersection.
I believe the officer only had a short window to acquire my traveling speed, as his vantage point would have been partially blocked by the minivan. At the time of his reading, I was most certainly at the top of my acceleration to get through the intersection (and immediately rolled off the throttle to slow down). As we're told in MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) classes, motorcycles' greatest advantage for avoiding incidents is its ability to quickly speed up, and decelerate around obstacles. A motorcycle can easily gain 20 MPH, and immediately drop the 20 MPH by simply letting go of the throttle. This is exactly the case here, where I accelerated to get myself out of a potentially hazardous situation, and immediately slowed down once the situation is averted.
I believe I was operating my motorcycle in the best interest of my own safety, as well as other vehicles sharing the road with me. I had plenty of room in front of my motorcycle, and felt that getting across the intersection as quickly as possible was a safer decision than to expose myself to potential cross traffic if I had been indecisive which might have lead the minivan to believe I was yielding my right of way to it.
PICTURES/DIAGRAMS
1. Diagram 1 - Overhead map <-- you gotta throw something together for these on your own.
2. Diagram 2 - Street picture <-- you gotta throw something together for these on your own.
SUMMATION
I believe that I was in full compliance with the spirit of the California Vehicle Code. I was operating my vehicle to the Safest of my motorcycle safety training. My fault lies in that I exceeded the posted suggested safe speed when I was clearing the intersection. I believe, based upon the above testimony, and the enclosed picture / map, I have shown that in this particular situation, the "reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic" action was precisely the actions I took, and I sincerely request that the case be dismissed.
Thank you,
and i think this one was 85 on the freeway..
INDEX
1. CITATION BACKGROUND
2. NARRATIVE OF EVENT
3. DEFENSE
4. PICTURES/DIAGRAMS
5. SUMMATION
CITATION BACKGROUND
DATE: 07-20-06
TIME: 4:30 PM
LOCATION: SB on Interstate 5, near Highway 73, Carpool Lane
California Vehicle Code cited: 22349 (a) - Maximum speed limit
22349. (a) Except as provided in Section 22356, no person may drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than 65 miles per hour.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person may drive a vehicle upon a two-lane, undivided highway at a speed greater than 55 miles per hour unless that highway, or portion thereof, has been posted for a higher speed by the Department of Transportation or appropriate local agency upon the basis of an engineering and traffic survey. For purposes of this subdivision, the following apply:
(1) A two-lane, undivided highway is a highway with not more than one through lane of travel in each direction.
(2) Passing lanes may not be considered when determining the number of through lanes.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that there be reasonable signing on affected two-lane, undivided highways described in subdivision (b) in continuing the 55 miles-per-hour speed limit, including placing signs at county boundaries to the extent possible, and at other appropriate locations.
NARRATIVE OF EVENTS
The following narrative was written on the night of 07/20/06, shortly after arriving at home.
I was making my daily commute home this afternoon, when I was pulled over and cited with a speeding ticket. I understood what the officer was citing me for, though I felt I had a valid reason for what I did. I don't fault the officer for the ticket, though I wish he was able to see it from my point of view.
I was riding home on my motorcycle, just cruising along with the traffic in the carpool lane. It had been a pretty busy day at work, and I just wanted a non-eventful ride home. I remember looking over while passing by Hwy 73, seeing a CHP cruiser merging onto the freeway.
I was weary of the CHP, but continued to follow the car in front of me. I remember seeing briefly in the side mirrors the CHP pulling into the #2 lane about 5 car lengths behind me. He seemed to be content in that location, so I got back into my comfortable riding position to follow the car in front of me.
Shortly thereafter, the car in front of me was visibly uncomfortable with me following him. I was at a respectable distance, but I could see him constantly checking his mirror, and veering to the left edge of the carpool lane. He was also speaking on his cell phone.
About an 1/8 mile later, the car pulled to the extreme left side of the carpool lane, and kept waving me by. I was hesitant at first, but after a few seconds of urging, I decided to pass him, as he was slowing down slightly, leaving a bigger and bigger gap in front of him, and I was feeling less safe because the car behind me started creeping up on me.
I dropped down 1 gear, and quickly passed him on the right, and then slowed back down to ~65mph.
Approximately 10 seconds after that, I noticed the CHP officer who was behind me is working his way through traffic w/ his lights on. I was surprised when he pulled directly behind me, and instructed me to pull over. I followed his instructions as he shielded me from the traffic and pulled off to the side of the freeway.
The officer informed me that he had me exceeding 80mph, and also crossing over the double yellow line in my pass. I tried to explain to him what had happened, but he seemed un-responsive.
Given that I was not looking at my speedometer when I made the pass (on a motorcycle, the speedometer is located fairly low, and to look at the speed would require me to look down, and take my eye off the road ahead of me, which is rather dangerous thing to do while passing someone), I asked the officer how he determined my speed. He informed me that he had me on radar. I asked about the radar reading, but he did not bring me to his cruiser to show me the speed.
In retrospect, I should have insisted on seeing the radar readout, because I don't believe I was going that speed. Regardless of the speed though, I believe what I did was the right thing
DEFENSE
CVC 22349 (a) is very specific re: maximum speed as far as the word of the law, but I believe what I did was prudent to the spirit of the law. I offer the following as factual evidence of my innocence.
Double yellow
Even though I was not cited with crossing the double yellow during my pass, I believe the officer had intended to cite me on it, but realized that he lacked evidence to back him up.
He was located 2 lanes over, several car lengths back, with moderate traffic in his Line of Sight between his car and my bike. There was literally no way he could see where my tires were on the pavement. His only point of reference would be my proximity to the car I was passing.
As I stated in my narrative in the previous section, the car ahead of me had moved to the extreme left of the lane, and waved me by him. I believed at the time that it was the safest course of action for both of us (myself, and the driver in front of me) for me to pass him because it was obviously making him uncomfortable.
Speeding
I am contesting this on 2 main points:
1. The speed, whatever it was, was performed in the interest of safety, both for myself, and those sharing the road around me.
2. I was not provided with proof of speed.
I made my pass only after determining, to the best of my judgement, that it was much safer for me to quickly pass the car in front of me, than to remain behind him. The result of which would have been a very uncomfortable driver in front of me, and a very anxious driver behind me.
During my MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) course, I was taught specifically to avoid situations like this where the motorcycle is essentially being boxed in, where I would be the most vulnerable party.
I executed the pass as instructed in my MSF course, lower gear, make eye contact with the person you're passing, quickly and safely pass the car, and return to your normal speed. I performed exactly that, in order to increase my own safety as well as those around me.
PICTURES/DIAGRAMS
I suggest 3-4 pictures, taking up 2 pages.
1. overall map of the area you got the ticket at, google it, 2 sq mi would be good.
2. blowup map of the area of the ticket, 1/4 mi square
3. picture 1 - taken from carpool lane, as wide of an area as you can find (doesn't have to be the area you were ticketed, just make sure there's no street signs or landmarks to identify it to the contrary) with a SMALL car in it.
4. picture 2 - photoshop picture w/ the car to the left, and your bike to the right (I can help with this, if you send me pic 1).
SUMMATION
I believe that the officer was performing his duty to the best of his perspective, but I do feel that in the context of what happened, the spirit of the law should be paramount.
What I did, was for the greater safety of myself, as well as those I share the road with. I was always in control of my vehicle, and aware of my surrounding. I executed manuvers toward safety to the best of my ability as instructed to me by the safety experts (MSF).
Given the information provided in this defense, I request that my momentary offense of the posted speed limit be dismissed.
Thank you,
I'll bring a book this weekend that has a sample motion that you can file to the court. I have a friend who is a cop and he said they usually grant the request if the court is too far from where you live or if you have a belief that the judge that will be presiding your case is prejudiced.
