I did it again. The same morning commute up the same stretch of highway. Yep, I got another ticket. While I won’t fight this ticket because I was actually speeding, I learned something very interesting this morning…

Again, I am not being charged with nor was I fined for speeding. I was ticketed this morning for “Failure to obey a traffic control device or posted sign”. This essentially means that the trooper believed I was speeding, but didn’t have the proof, although he said he did. He told me verbatim, “I had you on radar doing 80mph; that’s  why I pulled you over.” While I’ll agree I could have been going that fast (maybe faster, maybe not…) It only seems logical to me that had he REALLY had my speed recored accurately, he would have ticketed me for speeding, checked off the ‘Radar’ and calculated my ticket total the speeding infraction. He did none of that. Instead I got the failure to obey a traffic control device or posted sign garbage again.

Like I said, I’ll pay this without protest, but I learned that the police have a catch-all loophole. Essentially this loophole allows officers to ticket you based on their assumptions rather than  facts. I know and the officer knows that there is no radar gun with my speed on it this morning. All he has to do is say he got the radar reading and “cut me a break” by not citing me for the speed infraction, but for this other cockamamy infringement. Proof is apparently not required, he just writes the ticket. Is that legit? Anyhow, I’ve got another $107.50 to pay Pennsylvania… Help me out and visit my sponsors!