Since I've made the purchase of Winning Blue 8 two months ago, I've been pulled over 3 times. One time in local street to see if I was drunk, second time on the highway for doing 68 on 55mph and tail gating. Third time today because the officer did not see the passenger because of the tinting.

I commute 20 miles one way in Long Island, NY and always take LIE and exit on 37. Since I provide car pool, I take HOV lane. Out of no where, police vehicle shows up and tells me to pull over. He said he was following me and saw me tail gating and was speeding at 68 mph. So he wrote me a two tickets costing me 8 points and close to $400.00. Other two incidents were not so severe and no tickets were issued. What is the distance for tailgaiting? I was no way near following the car in front of me and no way I could have done 68 because of the daily traffic on that highway. Further more, when I noticed the police vehicle, he was not on the same lane I was in.

I am getting fraustrated because I feel that I am being discriminated against the car I am driving. For 17 years, I've kept a clean record. I've owned Grand AM, Couger XR-7, Acura Legend and Mountaineer. Why all of sudden I am being pulled over, especially 3 times in 2 months which is the time I've had my 8?

ARRGGGGGGGGG!!!!
Nedor

 

i think taht the common wisdom for proper/safe following distance is 2-3 seconds behind, when measured in relation to a fixed object (ie, car 1 goes by a telephone pole, car 2 goes by same pole 2-3 seconds later). i'm not positive, but i think that equates to roughly 1 car length/10 mph (70mph = ~7 carlengths). that's for ideal driving conditions. worse weather conditions means further distance.

that said, the cops just want to get a better look at your car

 

I was ticketed for "Following Too Closely". Took it to court. It was thrown out because there wasn't an accident involved. There is no definicion for "Following Too Closely" in my state. It is a catch-all like "Careless Driving" or "Driving Too Fast for Conditions".

 

I would think you'd be able to get out of the tailgating ticket, I mean how close you follow is really subjective. Never know you could get a tailgating ticket without getting into an accident.

 

plead not guilty, go to trial. you'll come out payin only fines, no points. 17 yr clean record - excellent.

 

nope, you're wrong. Thats not how it works here on Long Island. He's screwed. He can plead not guilty and perhaps plea bargain it down (since the tickets were in Nassau County), but odds are he's still getting points on his license.

Rule of thumb for following a car is 2-3 CARLENGTHS if you have trouble counting seconds between cars.

 

not to cut in but in virginia it is one car lenth per ten miles an hour but this might not apply in ny.this also wil not apply in rush hour.

 

Well that is usually a just reason to pull you over. In the D.C. area 3 car lengths is just an invitation to have the majority of traffic to cut you off. I would take it to court and plead my case.

 

plead that it was necessary to tailgate and do 68 in a 55?

 

what do u have to loose by pleading not guilty and going to trial? Done it 4 times and got out all 4 times. In trial, if cop does not show up case dropped. If he shows up claim u were not tailgating.

 

Just went through the whole window tint deal here in Florida...some BS state trooper said my tint is to dark...well umm hey jackass it is 100 degrees in FL and yesterday on my way to work I counted 27 cars with windows I could not see in. So 75.00 and I am keeping my tint on, first Time I was pulled over in 8 years for tint!!

 

well maybe in Buffalo that works, but it's not so easy here on LI. I have had my share of tickets and pleaded not guity every time....

In Nassau County, you can plea bargain down tickets, but only to a certain degree, depending on the severity of the offense. I have plea bargained a speeder to a passing without signaling, but still yielded points, albeit lesser.

In Suffolk County however, you're guilty or not....there's no in-between, no plea bargaining. Plus, the cop has TWO TIMES to not show up before the case is thrown out. So, you can plead not guilty and show up to court twice with the cop having a no-show and still be guilty.

I just wanted you to know it's not simply cut and dry 'show up and get off'.

 

Recommended reading:
http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/a-10fly.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/p-sptax.html

2nd link includes plenty of tips to get out of tickets.

 

Ya that happened to me recently, too. Tailgating, 6 points, Leaving work in NYC, the cop was a wise *** and made some biased remarks about me because I'm afghan. Went to court, we threatened about a law suit, but instead the points were dropped anyway and paid some small fines. Take it to court and fight it, youll be fine. good luck

 

I just bought my RX-8 a few weeks ago and have noticed that it gets a lot of attention, especially from cops. I get radared about 3 times per day and every time I get close to a cop I get stared down. I had a similiar problem with the tricked out Mustang I used to own and received about a dozen traffic tickets. Invest in a really good radar detector and always watch out for the fuzz, its worked for me so far.

 

I generally do the three-second rule. If someone is tailgaiting me, I go to four or five-seconds since I want to be able to make emergency stops, if necessary, without being plowed into. I don't back off so much that it pisses off the tailgater...but it does allow me more stopping room...and half the time the tailgater will either back off or pass...but at least I have a better margin for quick stops. If it's raining, I even allow another second or two. Following these guidelines has kept me out of trouble many times.