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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    1

    Question Ticketed for Speeding After Getting Cut Off by a Police Officer

    My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Florida
    Police officer pulled in front of me (cut me off) while traveling 80 mph on a highway where 80 mph is the speed limit.
    At first I thought it was a drunk driver crossing the dirt median, i slammed my brakes and pulled the ebrake and fishtailed into the right lane
    avoiding rear ending a police officer (with no lights on) and avoiding what would have been a fatal car accident for myself, two passengers and possibly the officer.
    The officer now clear in the left lane having recklessly forced me to the right lane to avoid a fatal car accident (if anyone else less skilled than myself had been driving they would have been killed tonight) he then turned on his headlamps and then his police lights, pulled behind me and pulled me over. Absolutely stunned and traumatized I rolled down my window. The officer asked no questions and states "i pulled you over for traveling 101 mph" he then ask for my license and registration, went back to his car handed me a court date slip and told me to enter the highway safely (ironic right). #1 I was traveling at 80 mph #2 the officer pulled directly in front of me (cut me off) that means he would have to have gone from 0 to over 101 mph in less than 2 seconds for me to use the ebrake and drift into the right lane. The only possible way he could do this would have been by traveling on the opposite side of the highway and pulling his ebrake and making a power slide through a dirt median at speeds of 80mph or higher. I did not admit I was speeding because he didn't ask, in fact he ask no questions at all because the method he used to pull me over was completely reckless and put 4 lives in danger including his own. My passengers and myself are terrified to drive now. What can I do to see this rogue officer be punished and have the false charge thrown out. The cameras in his car must clearly show how close to death all of us were.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Police Officer Pulled in Front of Me (Cut Me Off) While Traveling 80mph on Highwa

    Why on earth would you pull the emergency brake? That's not what it's for and certainly contributed strongly to your losing control. You may want to take a safe driving course or at least read your owner's manual.

    Second, I don't buy your story. There are NO highways in Florida with speed limits over 70. The attempt to pass a bill to allow the state DOT to raise the speedlimits to 75 never became law.

    The police are allowed to speed to apprehend speeders and other violators.

    If you feel he operated unsafely, you can certainly make a complaint to his department. It will however had no impact on your speeding ticket, nor are you going to get anything out if it.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Tacoma, WA
    Posts
    1,534

    Default Re: Police Officer Pulled in Front of Me (Cut Me Off) While Traveling 80mph on Highwa

    Quote Quoting dtimothy01
    View Post
    i slammed my brakes and pulled the ebrake and fishtailed into the right lane… (if anyone else less skilled than myself had been driving they would have been killed tonight)
    All I can say is that I believe that your judgment of your driving “skill” is less than accurate. Even in the dramatic scenario you describe, a actual skilled driver would use controlled braking and used the steering wheel to veer into the right lane under control. Your panicked overreaction likely put you in more danger of the horrendous death you so melodramatically predicted than did the actions you attribute to the cop.

    Quote Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    You may want to take a safe driving course or at least read your owner's manual.
    +1

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: Police Officer Pulled in Front of Me (Cut Me Off) While Traveling 80mph on Highwa

    If you were doing 80 mph on a Florida highway you were speeding. As flyingron correctly notes, the highest speed limit allowed in Florida is 70 mph. You will see that on the Florida DOT speedlimit page. You may get whatever discovery Florida law allows in traffic cases to see if you can come up with a good defense to the speeding charge. I’d suggest a good traffic lawyer for that if you want your best chance to win. Note that a speeding offense in Florida is a non criminal infraction with the penalty being a fine. The fine for doing 10 mph over the limit is $100, so if you were doing 80 mph as you say then that is the minimum fine you’d have out of this. The maximum fine is $250 for going 30+ mph over the speed limit, which is what you would get if you were doing 101 mph as the officer says. There are additional fees and taxes that get added to those amounts. Whether saving the extra $150 is worth it to try to convince the court you were only doing 80 instead of 101 is up to you. Note that the driving of the officer is irrevelent to your speeding charge except to the extent you can argue that it would have affected his measurement of your speed.

    You may, of course, file a complaint about his driving with his department.

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