Ever wonder where some stats come from?

[cheezz]

So, somehow, accepting your speeding ticket when you actually were speeding is being taken advantage of because you feel guilty about having been speeding?

You suggested that people who paid their speeding fines instead of fighting them on the grounds that the police didn't really have admissible evidence were 'being scammed'. You tried to clarify that it was only because the speeders had not taken any oaths to uphold the law but the police had.

I am replying despite the fact that I now think that you are starting to twist my words in order to prove to me that I am somehow wrong or misguided.

You know if you are speeding and as you pointed out, you will have a measure of guilt about it. The officer thinks you are speeding but has no legal proof and therefore no probable cause. If he pulls you over with no probable cause then it is an illegal stop. Most officers do it anyway because they know that you know that you were speeding and that you will feel guilty about it. They know that most people will self incriminate to a lesser charge because they feel guilty. In essence, they just used your guilt to get you to self incriminate to legitimize their own misconduct. That is using your guilt to take advantage of you.

If an officer has proof of speeding, it will be specifically listed on the ticket. In that case, you are caught, feel free to mail in the fine. I myself still prefer to go to court, if only to beg for mercy.

The comment about oaths was not to clarify anything. It was made to explain why I held the opinion that police misconduct was worse than traffic violations. I should have split that paragraph into two separate ones. My apologies over any confusion about that.

On to the 'scammed' issue. I never stated that all stops for speeding were scams. I offered a specific example from Pennsylvania of how police can scam you. As I stated before, the laws in PA are specific- the police must have legal proof to initiate a stop for speeding. A rose by any other name is still a rose. Failure to obey a speed limit sign is the literal definition of speeding. I've seen this particular ticket several times, (none were mine, by the way) and the section that lists proof of speed is always left blank. The officers always omit the fact that they have no proof, (again, no probable cause) and they always downplay the consequences of the ticket. Purposely omitting facts to manipulate people is lying. Paying a fine is a financial loss. Suffering a financial loss due the misrepresentations of someone else is being scammed.

You can call this lawyering all you want, but legally speaking- no proof, no crime. The police are not allowed to break the laws in order to enforce them and giving them permission to break laws just because you did serves no one.