What is the name of your state? South Carolina.
I was traveling westbound on a 2 lane single direction highway separated from the other direction by about 100 feet and trees. The leftmost lane has no paved shoulder and drops into a ditch after about 8 feet. The rightmost lane on the other hand has a 5 foot shoulder and 15 more feet of level grass before the guardrail and a steep drop off.
It was about 7:30 PM and it had been dark for about 15 minutes. There are no lights on the highway. Traffic was relatively heavy, not rush hour or enough to slow it down, but there was a good number of cars on the road.
I drive a Black Subaru WRX STi (a very aggressive looking sports car with a hood scoop and a wing that gets attention, some of which I like and some i obviously don't)
I was in the left lane traveling at about 85 (in a 60) in a pack of about 7 cars, some in front of me and some behind me, all at a safe distance. The right lane was full of cars doing about 80. I had been feeling fine when i got into the car and for the first 15 minutes of driving. I suddenly and urgently had to use the bathroom (#2). I looked ahead and saw a gap in the right lane where i could safely merge and then pull over. At the same time, I see headlights turn on facing my direction from the left side of the highway approximately 150 feet in front of me. I didn't know it was a police officer at the time so i continued with my plan to pull over to the right to relive myself. After pulling over into the right lane I put my hazard lights on and pulled into the grass. I put my handle on the door and popped it but did not open it when I saw a spotlight turn on behind me. The officer had pulled up behind me, without his blues flashing, and turned on his spotlight at my car. At this point I urgently needed to relieve myself and i was becoming quite ill. The officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle and asked for my license, registration and proof of insurance. I gave these to him quickly and stated that I urgently needed to relive myself. He took them and asked me if that was why I was speeding. I knew that I had to avoid answering that question and I simply stated that I "really had to go". He stood there looking at my license. I then said "I'm sorry officer but I really have to go. I am going to use the woods. OK?". He said "Whatever" and walked back to his car with my license. I grabbed some napkins and bolted out the door, over the guard rail, and about 15 feet down a slope till I saw a tree I could use.
A few minutes later I came back up the hill, feeling a lot better, but sweating now and I was thinking about what I was going to say to the officer. He walked up to me as I was approching my car and handed me a ticket. He said my court date was on the 19th of the following month, that I was being ticketed for going 90 and I should have puled over at the gas station behind me when i Had the chance (it was more than 10 miles back) and then walked back to his cruiser. I was stunned when I looked at my ticket for $385.
I got into the passenger seat and let my room-mate drive the rest of the way.
The following day i was very sick and Went to the doctors on base (I'm military). They put me on quarters for 48 hours and told me to go buy some Gatorade and go straight home. They apparently thought I was OK to drive but that I needed to keep hydrated due to the diarrhea.
I don't exactly know how to go about defending myself. I was not really even pulled over. He just kind of followed me (I saw as I pulled over that when people saw his lights go on everyone for a mile back or so hit their brakes and he just drove through the gap) and then turned his spotlight on. He did turn on his blue flashers just before he got out, probably to avoid getting hit by motorists. There was no way he could have gotten an accurate speed reading at his angle with the number of cars in front of me and the fact that the gun was about 8 feet from traffic, pointed back against its flow if he was in the drivers seat of his cruiser.
It has been about 2 weeks since then.
It's Friday night And I have to appear in court Monday morning at 9am to contest this. Its a bit short notice but I work nights and I had to wait till my days off to do any real research.
From what I read I have to plead Not Guilty in person on Monday and then wait for a trial date to be established.
Any help would be appreciated. I will have to sell my car if my insurance goes up because of this. I am 24 and have a perfect driving record and have even been to a defensive (and an offensive anti-terrorist) driving class. I found out that my record affords me an $800 discount. Even with those I still pay $1800 every 6 months for Full coverage. I just can't afford car payments AND the insurance penalty.
Ian
(FYI this car has saved my life 2 times since I bought it 6 months ago. Once when I had to stomp the gas to accelerate past some slower moving cars and jump into the slow lane to avoid getting hit by a steel truck who could not brake at the bottom of a hill in time. And once when I had to swerve suddenly to avoid hitting someone who drifted into on coming traffic. Its a very safe car and neither time did I even lose traction, where a normal car would have gone out of control or just not moved fast enough.)
I was traveling westbound on a 2 lane single direction highway separated from the other direction by about 100 feet and trees. The leftmost lane has no paved shoulder and drops into a ditch after about 8 feet. The rightmost lane on the other hand has a 5 foot shoulder and 15 more feet of level grass before the guardrail and a steep drop off.
It was about 7:30 PM and it had been dark for about 15 minutes. There are no lights on the highway. Traffic was relatively heavy, not rush hour or enough to slow it down, but there was a good number of cars on the road.
I drive a Black Subaru WRX STi (a very aggressive looking sports car with a hood scoop and a wing that gets attention, some of which I like and some i obviously don't)
I was in the left lane traveling at about 85 (in a 60) in a pack of about 7 cars, some in front of me and some behind me, all at a safe distance. The right lane was full of cars doing about 80. I had been feeling fine when i got into the car and for the first 15 minutes of driving. I suddenly and urgently had to use the bathroom (#2). I looked ahead and saw a gap in the right lane where i could safely merge and then pull over. At the same time, I see headlights turn on facing my direction from the left side of the highway approximately 150 feet in front of me. I didn't know it was a police officer at the time so i continued with my plan to pull over to the right to relive myself. After pulling over into the right lane I put my hazard lights on and pulled into the grass. I put my handle on the door and popped it but did not open it when I saw a spotlight turn on behind me. The officer had pulled up behind me, without his blues flashing, and turned on his spotlight at my car. At this point I urgently needed to relieve myself and i was becoming quite ill. The officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle and asked for my license, registration and proof of insurance. I gave these to him quickly and stated that I urgently needed to relive myself. He took them and asked me if that was why I was speeding. I knew that I had to avoid answering that question and I simply stated that I "really had to go". He stood there looking at my license. I then said "I'm sorry officer but I really have to go. I am going to use the woods. OK?". He said "Whatever" and walked back to his car with my license. I grabbed some napkins and bolted out the door, over the guard rail, and about 15 feet down a slope till I saw a tree I could use.
A few minutes later I came back up the hill, feeling a lot better, but sweating now and I was thinking about what I was going to say to the officer. He walked up to me as I was approching my car and handed me a ticket. He said my court date was on the 19th of the following month, that I was being ticketed for going 90 and I should have puled over at the gas station behind me when i Had the chance (it was more than 10 miles back) and then walked back to his cruiser. I was stunned when I looked at my ticket for $385.
I got into the passenger seat and let my room-mate drive the rest of the way.
The following day i was very sick and Went to the doctors on base (I'm military). They put me on quarters for 48 hours and told me to go buy some Gatorade and go straight home. They apparently thought I was OK to drive but that I needed to keep hydrated due to the diarrhea.
I don't exactly know how to go about defending myself. I was not really even pulled over. He just kind of followed me (I saw as I pulled over that when people saw his lights go on everyone for a mile back or so hit their brakes and he just drove through the gap) and then turned his spotlight on. He did turn on his blue flashers just before he got out, probably to avoid getting hit by motorists. There was no way he could have gotten an accurate speed reading at his angle with the number of cars in front of me and the fact that the gun was about 8 feet from traffic, pointed back against its flow if he was in the drivers seat of his cruiser.
It has been about 2 weeks since then.
It's Friday night And I have to appear in court Monday morning at 9am to contest this. Its a bit short notice but I work nights and I had to wait till my days off to do any real research.
From what I read I have to plead Not Guilty in person on Monday and then wait for a trial date to be established.
Any help would be appreciated. I will have to sell my car if my insurance goes up because of this. I am 24 and have a perfect driving record and have even been to a defensive (and an offensive anti-terrorist) driving class. I found out that my record affords me an $800 discount. Even with those I still pay $1800 every 6 months for Full coverage. I just can't afford car payments AND the insurance penalty.
Ian
(FYI this car has saved my life 2 times since I bought it 6 months ago. Once when I had to stomp the gas to accelerate past some slower moving cars and jump into the slow lane to avoid getting hit by a steel truck who could not brake at the bottom of a hill in time. And once when I had to swerve suddenly to avoid hitting someone who drifted into on coming traffic. Its a very safe car and neither time did I even lose traction, where a normal car would have gone out of control or just not moved fast enough.)
