So I was on my way back to work from lunch yesterday and got pulled over... It was on I-240 (Memphis beltway) in a construction zone and the officer verbally stated he got me "doing 61mph in a 45mph". Strange thing, he was the second officer on my break to tail me very close (way closer than any other driver would tail you) and he seemed mostly concerned with if I owned my car or not??? He asked for proof of insurance and as I reached for it he started saying "never mind, never mind, I believe you".
When he got back to my car he said he didn't cite me for the construction zone (which is crucial because I believe it doubles the fine if workers are present) and for only "5mph over". He then said because he only wrote it for 5mph over I could likely get it dropped in court. I know for a fact I was going 56 (not 61) and that he didn't actually radar (LIDAR rather, according to the citation) me because he was on the other side of a concrete barrier (fairly tall) and his car did not have the roof-mounted radar/lidar (I took a picture of his car as proof). He was rolling when I drove by so there is no chance that he had his radar gun out the window and at high enough of a vantage point for it to "see" my car.
So my question is this, what rationale have forum goers used successfully to get a moving violation dropped in court? Also, if it's only 5mph over is it even worth fighting (aka is it going to be reported to insurance)? If it wont be reported I suspect it will be a similar amount of $$$ to pay the ticket as it would be to pay the court costs and a lot less of a hassle. On the other hand I really want the experience of pleading innocent to a citation just to see how the system works. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. Why are traffic officers so damn strange? Why would they obviously lie to you and then contradict their previous statement in writing? Who in their right mind would actually want to be a traffic officer? Why do we need them if this is what they do all day while they waist gas and our $$$ to keep their pos "hemi's" idling and cranking out a/c for hours on end?
