Was he in his rights?

I was sitting at a red light in the left straight lane. There was a right lane next to me with no one in it, and it ended in maybe 50 feet after the light. The light turned green, and I went, and a cop flew by me on the right and got in front of me. If I had slammed on my brakes, the person behind me would have plowed into me, so I just kind of eased on my brakes so I didn't hit the cop. He then pulled me over 10 seconds later for being too close to him. He asked me if he knew the following distance, and I said yes, and explained to him about the braking and the person behind me and made the mistake of saying that he came out of nowhere and I made the best judgement in my opinion. So he gave me a ticket for following too closely and in-attentive driving. I have to go to court!
WHAT?
Additional Details
yeah... orjdax or whatever.... we were both going straight. two lanes.

and i forget the name of the person who asked this - but his lights weren't on, and he cut me off pretty hard core.

lil.lupe

Well, cops live by their own rights sometimes. But your options are to fight it or pay. Maybe he was having a bad day or just meeting his quota for the month. ;D Either way you have a 50/50 chance that he won't show and you can fight it. I think when we just roll over, we let the cop just get away with it. But that is just me. So do what you think is right. But a jury of your peers may side with you, Because whether or not the guy behind me hits me and is at fault, I am the one with my car smashed! And who knows if he even has insurance... You know? So even though the cop is in his rights... HE IS TOTALLY WRONG FOR TICKETING YOU FOR BEING TOO CLOSE TO HIM. Maybe he should have thought of that before speeding up and passing you by. the right thing to do would be to slow down and merge into the lane properly... but since no one is giving him a ticket.... oh well. Best of luck with your grumpy cop! Hope your ticket gets dismissed! :D

9 lives

Well if you had slammed on your brakes and the person behind you hit you they would have been following to closely not you but you would have vehicle damage.

BOYD H

Hes just an *** like a lot of them are. You have two options fight it or pay it. I would probably fight it.

Angelah

THat is BULL. It sounds like he was having a bad day and taking it out on you. I might consider fighting this one instead of giving in and paying the ticket. ANd if he doesn't show up for court...you automatically win

â™¥ Embracing Optical Freedom â™¥

Even if you did slam on the brakes and the person behind you hit you, it would be their fault for following too closely not yours. The cop was right (even though he was a douche about it)

Jen

i would fight it in court that sounds iffy

coolio02

shoulda punched him

Happy

Need more info- did he have his lights on? Did he get infront of you at a good distance or did he cut you off?

If the person behind you couldn't stop if you had slammed on your breaks, they were following you at an unsafe following distance and they should have been pulled over and would have been at fault for a wreak if you had slammed on your breaks. Of course, I'm sure that it wouldn't make you feel better about getting hit.

Heisenberg

Police oppression. Explain it to the judge. This is going to get thrown out if you explain things calmly.

Aaron M

no u were right

devdell

well to be honest you can fight it in court and it might "might" be dropped. however some police can be pritty stuborn about this issue.they usualy fallow the "objects may seem closer then they appear mantality"

Michi

dont let the cop to do that to you. talk u down. u have ur rights and u did nothing wrong. he is just taking advantage of what he is which is a cop. and they think they can get away with anything. Fight for ur rights cuz u did nothing wrong.

Go to court and tell the judge exactly what happened. I wouldn't use the terminology "flew by me" because the judge may ask how you caught up to him so fast.

babyG

Cops are always pulling stuff like that you should go to court on it and let them know what happened if your ticket is high is if not pay it cause you wont win on that

geoffrey_0007

Have you got a witness? The cop was in the wrong! Write out your own statement and file a counter-claim, do this at once, your own car insurance will help you fight this legal battle, but if you are strong enough, you can do it alone! Good luck!

Bill

If he has a good-faith reason to charge you with a violation (a ticket is a charge), then he is within his rights to do so.

You are within your rights to contest it. I express no opinion as to your likelihood of prevailing, since I only have one side of the story and no idea what this officer 1) honestly thinks happened, or 2) is willing to swear to in court.

For future reference, however, never argue with a citing officer and never try to "explain," you'll only dig yourself in deeper OR make sure he's dead set on showing up in court to help hammer you. Be meek, take the ticket and make your case in court.

steven a

I would fight it in court. Do you have any witnesses? That would help. There is a medium chance the cop won't even show up giving you a dismissed case right there. If he dose show, state your case and I think you have a good chance. The down side; if you lose it will cost you more.

Nenniie

not sure, sounds iffy

ojradx92

if u were gonna turn right u shouldve already had been in that lane so theres ur stupid answer u were in the wrong

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