Well , here goes.
Got a speeding ticket in August, 83 in a 65. I was on my way to the canyons on the VTR with my daughter on the back, who had been wanting to go for a ride in forever.
CHP pulled me over and told me that he had paced me as high as 86 but would write me for 83.
I tried the "can I talk you out of this" routine but he didn't care, just kept writing.
Kept my mouth shut, even after his remark of " be careful out there, these things are ticket machines" as a parting shot.
Due date was October 22nd, went in and scheduled a court date which was for January 22nd.
Showed up, along with 40 other lucky ticket holders.
25 of those were dismissed because their cop didn't show, mine was there for me and two other guys.
Judge, little white haired old lady, told everybody that was left to ask for traffic school before she heard your case since it would be unlikely that she would grant it after she found you guilty of the offense.
I felt pretty self righteous because of the 'ticket machine' comment until I saw everybody before me get nailed, no matter how good their "defense" was. And true to her word, nobody got traffic school that day........
The judge and my cop nail the two guys before me and I walk up to the bench knowing I'm screwed.
The not so nice little old lady, dressed as the judge, looks at me, smiles and says " Today is your lucky day, Officer Logan does not remember the specifics of your case, case dismissed, have a nice day".
For once I'm speechless, and keep it that way, save for saying thank you.

Moral of the story:
Don't give the cop anything to remember you by, take it to court, try to reschedule it as many times as you can and hope that the cop either doesn't show up, or if he does, doesn't remember you.
Don't show up in your riding gear, dress nicely and be polite.
I don't know how many tickets my cop wrote between August and January, but mine apparently wasn't memorable enough....

Kai Ju

 

I think I told this story on another thread some time ago, but here goes:

Took a half day at work, coming home at noon, we lived in Carlsbad. I split to the front of the signal at La Costa and El Camino Real (little did I know a pair of cops in a cruiser pulled up several cars back). They see me gas it away from the signal. Nobody in front of me on La Costa which is 4 lanes for the next couple miles with really nice sweepers and no cars anywhere. It's almost 15 years ago, so I'm on my '83 BMW R100RS. I hit the sweepers hard, then turn left down the street leading to the condo we had at that time.

After making another left and approaching the driveway for the condos semi-underground parking, I see the cruiser scream around the corner 1 block behind me with his lights on. There's no question who he's after. If I'd known he was pursuing me, I could have gassed it into the parking and been out of sight.

So he pulls into the parking behind me as I'm getting off my bike. I'm almost 50 at the time, and both cops are not yet 25. He says "I didn't think I'd catch you. I never got close enough to clock you, but you must have been doing at least 90" (He guessed well, but I didn't tell him that). If I recall, he wrote me for 60 in a 45.

The kicker and punch line is: The 3rd time he asked me why I was riding so fast (I didn't answer the first 2 times), I said "You've never ridden a motorcycle, have you?" and I smiled.

 

Last summer I got the first (and hopefully only) ticket on my bike. I was doing 96 in a 65. Same story, I hate traffic, I got in the far right lane and gunned it. The cop took a few miles to catch me as there was a wad of traffic behind me and she was in the median.

I wasn't speeding when she caught me, she noted that. She noted that I was really courteous, and thanked me for that. Also, I'm 6'7" and I think she was maybe 5'2". She didn't believe me that I was headed to a Magic (the gathering) card game tournament that morning, so I showed her a backpack filled with cards. I told her about traffic, and staying out of it, and I was getting away from everything. Truth be told, she didn't care. 96 IS too fast in a 65. I got the ticket, and she offered me a dropped ticket from 6 to 4 points to mail it in. I didn't take it, and thought my story would matter to a judge. Looking back, being courteous prevented my bike from being towed, and me getting multiple tickets (passing in the right lane, not using signals, wreckless driving, they could have really thrown the book at me)

As the court date approached, I realized I may had given up any hope I had for a dropped ticket. 96 in a 65, 31 over, really no excuse for that. Fortunately, when I went in they were super crowded and under staffed. I was offered a 3 point "too fast for conditions" ticket. I took that in a HEARTBEAT. The lady offered the same deal for her 6 point ticket wouldn't shut up, and she almost lost her deal.

I have a driving record like you, it's 2 pages long and most of it is 5+ years ago. I pick up a ticket every couple years, just ask lots of questions when you get insurance. Like, how does 1 ticket or 2 tickets affect it? I found a pretty good deal in the stuff I have now, and am fairly confident it won't go up after this incident.

Go to court, ask courteously if there's anything you can do, take driving school if it will drop another point or two off, but unless you get that super lucky business that I've never gotten in 2 pages of tickets... plan on having a ticket with points.

Honesty really is the best policy on the side of the road, lying to a cop has far more penalties than lying to your parents, and they're bullshit meter is better than your parents!

 

Pal of mine shows up at the shop with a long face one afternoon about being held on the side of I35 by a County Motorcycle cop for 2 and a half hours. This section of I35 is 3-4 lanes wide - trucks are prohibited from the fast lane.

The situation: 18 wheeler starts to drift into Josh's lane - he is between the tractor and the rear duals. He nails it on his zx10 and is out of harms way in a few seconds. This guy is Marines weapons specialist so I think he knows his ride.

Once he gets there, he finds a county mounty trying to hit his kill switch as they are going down the freeway. He's cited for 110 in a 60. After much whining and crying I convince him that speed can be used as an evasive maneuver. He appears in front of the local judge and the judge agrees. You can escape by speed. Sometimes it's necessary. Every time you get stopped by a cop it was necessary.