Unsafe driving and speeding violation from unmarked cop baiting speeding

[Sickinger_Immor]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina


Driving down the highway, as i know it, it is illegal to ride the left lane unless passing, i am in the left lane passing semis, came upon an unmarked white dodge charger. cruise control was set to 70 and i was gaining on them, so i moved over to the right lane to pass them as they were not moving and i was going at a safe speed. As soon as i got a hair passed, not far enough to safely move back over to pass the next semi, he sped up to my back quarter panel, stopping me from merging back over. I sped up a little more to try and get over before the semi thinking it was just another a** driver not wanting to be passed even though they are moving slowly in the fast lane. He again sped up to not let me in, this happened a few times until i was almost to the semi and was going almost 80 at this point. so i let off the gas to get back in behind him. all the sudden lights inside of his car come on and he pulls me over. He cited me for going 87 in a 65, i was not, and cited me for tail gating him at unsafe speeds and distances for the road and weather conditions. the road was almost empty and it was a bright 88 degree day and i came nowhere near him before moving to the right lane. So not only did he try and bait me into speeding in an unmarked car, he was driving recklessly and impeding me from changing lanes to avoid a slow moving semi. I was otw to another state and about 4-4.5 hours from my house. so now i have a 4-4.5 hour drive to go to court god knows how many times to play a he said she said game. he did say he caught it all on dashcam, so i am hoping i can get that and show he was driving recklessly and impeding me all because he did not want passed, which cop or not, breaking the law is breaking the law. if you are not passing in the left and someone is trying to pass you, you move. Any advice?

 

[HighwayMan]

How many lanes was the roadway in your direction of travel?

It was an empty road, except for all of these trucks you were trying to pass?

 

[HighwayMan]

cruise control was set to 70 and i was gaining on them...

So you were initially speeding. That's what probably got the police attention.

I highly doubt any dashcam will come into play here - they show very little and usually only get activated at the time of the stop.

 

[LdiJ]

So you were initially speeding. That's what probably got the police attention.

I highly doubt any dashcam will come into play here - they show very little and usually only get activated at the time of the stop.

The interstate speed limit in NC is 70, so he was not initially speeding.

 

[not2cleverRed]

The interstate speed limit in NC is 70, so he was not initially speeding.

Actually, per the original post, he was driving in a 65 mph zone.

 

[FlyingRon]

Actually, per the original post, he was driving in a 65 mph zone.

And NC has a campaign where the police have been pursuing the 5 over crowd of late. There's no provision to speed even temporarily, even to pass, even to make way for truckers. It's not baiting, the answer is simple if you want to change lanes, slow down and get behind people rather than trying to beat them out.

You've got no defense here. Pay the ticket, or if you haven't used it recently, try a PJC (if it's worth it to you to appear in court).

 

[Sickinger_Immor]

And NC has a campaign where the police have been pursuing the 5 over crowd of late. There's no provision to speed even temporarily, even to pass, even to make way for truckers. It's not baiting, the answer is simple if you want to change lanes, slow down and get behind people rather than trying to beat them out.

You've got no defense here. Pay the ticket, or if you haven't used it recently, try a PJC (if it's worth it to you to appear in court).

He has 0 proof of me speeding or tailing him, and as i said he was in an unmarked evoc and not in code 3 so he himself was breaking the law. and the first thing he said when he pulled me over was why did you try and pass a cop. he was basically mad he was being passed even though he was illegally sitting in the passing lane not passing anyone and impeding the flow of traffic.

 

[Sickinger_Immor]

How many lanes was the roadway in your direction of travel?

It was an empty road, except for all of these trucks you were trying to pass?

2 lanes both ways and yes the road was very empty except for the trucks randomly in the right lane.

 

[CdwJava]

He has 0 proof of me speeding or tailing him,

Except this: "Cruise control was set to 70 and i was gaining on them, so i moved over to the right lane to pass them as they were not moving and i was going at a safe speed."

So, by your own admission you were exceeding the 65 MPH speed limit.

and as i said he was in an unmarked evoc and not in code 3 so he himself was breaking the law.

Yeah, they tend to be allowed to do that when enforcing the law. Otherwise they'd never be able to catch speeders or a hoist of other people. Besides, his violation is not a defense to yours. You are free to complain to his agency, however.

 

[HighwayMan]

He has 0 proof of me speeding or tailing him...

What do you mean by "proof"? He has as much on you as any officer has on any violator.

...he was in an unmarked evoc and not in code 3 so he himself was breaking the law...

Irrelevant to your offense. Oh, and "evoc" is "emergency vehicle operator's course", so to that I say "huh?"

 

[FlyingRon]

He looked at his speedometer and observed his speed and you passed him. That's all the proof he needs.

 

[Sickinger_Immor]

What do you mean by "proof"? He has as much on you as any officer has on any violator.




Irrelevant to your offense. Oh, and "evoc" is "emergency vehicle operator's course", so to that I say "huh?"

....as a previous military police, EVOC is emergency vehicle on CALL.... and burden of proof still applies, how is trying to bait me into speeding, no laser, no proof of speeding, no proof of tailing him which i wasn't, fulfilling his burden of proof to find me guilty.

 

[Zigner]

....as a previous military police, EVOC is emergency vehicle on CALL.... and burden of proof still applies, how is trying to bait me into speeding, no laser, no proof of speeding, no proof of tailing him which i wasn't, fulfilling his burden of proof to find me guilty.

The state has all the proof they need, namely, the testimony of the officer.

 

[tranquility]

....as a previous military police, EVOC is emergency vehicle on CALL.... and burden of proof still applies, how is trying to bait me into speeding, no laser, no proof of speeding, no proof of tailing him which i wasn't, fulfilling his burden of proof to find me guilty.

He will give testimony that you were speeding. He might use speedometer comparison or he might just use visual estimate. But, he will testify that you were speeding. Millions and millions have been convicted of speeding on that alone. If you add things like following too closely, failing to use directional or any of a number of traffic violations that only gets down to a he said/she said situation; millions and millions and millions and millions and millions...and millions have been convicted on an officer's testimony alone. I suspect the vast majority of the many, many traffic citations issued in America have the motorist found guilty solely on the basis of an officer's testimony.

As to being "bait"ed into speeding, I think you are trying to make a legal argument called "entrapment". You might look up the elements of that online and see if the officer entrapped you into speeding.

 

[CdwJava]

....as a previous military police, EVOC is emergency vehicle on CALL....

In law enforcement parlance, it tends to stand for Emergency Vehicle Operations Center where we do training for emergency vehicle operations and response.

and burden of proof still applies,

Which includes the officer's testimony.

how is trying to bait me into speeding, no laser, no proof of speeding, no proof of tailing him which i wasn't, fulfilling his burden of proof to find me guilty.

You will have your say, the officer will have his say, and the court will decide whether the state has met its burden or not.