"Street Racing"

tannerc91gt

This last 25% is foreign territory at this point
Founding Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Indiana
Ok I know stangnet doesn't approve of street racing but here's my story.
About 10pm tonight I was cruising the strip with one of my friends and another friend in an SRT-4. We all hang out at the dollar store parking lot so I slowed down to get beside my friend in the srt4(its a 4 lane road) and told him to pull into the parking lot. We drove beside each other for a couple more seconds and then he pulled ahead to let me behind him so we could go right into the lot .this is where the trouble starts. As soon as he pulled ahead of me a cop pulls a U turn and lights em up. We turn into the parking lot and he pulls in behind us and goes through all the liscense and registration deal and then says "hell of a drag race back there right?" That's when I knew we were screwed. The speed limit is 35 and I was going maybe 38mph. I asked how fast he clocked us at and he said that he didn't clock us he just saw us "racing". We both got "speed contest on road" tickets and had to agree to go to court in 2 days or go to jail. Around here that carries an 8 point ticket and a ridiculous fine as well as liscense suspension. To me that is beyond insane when ZERO street racing occured. I'm a firm believer that if you wanna race do it at the track, I plan to go to court monday and contest this. Do I have a fighting chance?
 
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No you really dont have a chance. It is your word against his. And a cop doesnt have to clock you to say you were speeding or in this case racing. You can hire an attorney but it will cost you a crap load of money and still may not win it. The story you told us is going to be the only story you can tell the judge, and his story is going to be just A LITTLE bit different and say you were both heavily accelerating which lead him to believe you were racing. Again his word against yours, who do you think the judge will believe....

By no means am I saying plead guilty or no contest, try to fight it, but dont expect to win. Unfortunately I have A LOT of experience with traffic violations and a couple arrests for them and I know how it works, it never really works out for you. Good luck though, hope your state/county is a little more lenient than mine. At least your not going to jail, that's the worst.
 
"Okay, I know street racing threads are against the TOS, but here's my story, anyway..."

:rolleyes:

I tried to start a thread like this called War Stories, but was shot down immediately- I didn't have cops in mine, though:rolleyes:! Get a nice haircut, nice clothes for court, act humble and surprised, tell the man your story in the nicest way possible, and see if you can burn a copy of your driving record fast enough to bring with- if its good enough to show anyone in authority. Cops are always looking for some way to jack kids with fast cars, and, being cops, will fabricate and twist whatever necessary. He went back to the station, laughed about this, his buddies laughed about it, too. Here in Chicago, the cops then went to the bar, beat on the waitress when she cut them off, as they were blind drunk, all filmed on security camera(on the news recently), or slammed into a broke down car on the highway on the way home, killing the guys in that car in a burning death, then ran from the scene, were caught, and released on $20,000 bond-still blind drunk(also on the news, a crime we would all still be doing hard time for). There is, unfortunately little you can do but drive like you're in a funeral, keep your head and music down, and watch for them as though they were criminals:notnice:. Makes one rethink the "Officer Friendly" program they sell us in school, don't it?
 
I was pulled up next to my buddy, both in stangs, on the little access road that leads to the back of the K Mart that trucks use to go to the back to make deliveries and w/e, just asking him what he felt like doing next. We had maybe 250 feet of road ahead of us before the main parking lot, and we were not even moving. As I started to pull away totally normally, a cop came screaming around the front of the building cutting me off and forcing me to slam on my brakes. He accused us of racing (even though we had no room to race if we wanted to, and were barely rolling from a stop) and since we were from NJ and this was in PA, he told us to keep it in jersey and let us go. Total jerk off too.

You might have a chance to fight it, if you do what Strippt88 said...maybe explain the situation and say something to the judge like "Your Honor, when I recall the events of that evening, I can understand how the officer could have come to the conclusion that my friend and I were racing, but I ASSURE you that we were simply utilizing the multi-lane road to be able to speak to each other through our open windows in order to decide where we would like to go next and NOT racing on the street. Street racing is something that I have never done nor will ever do, because there is far too much danger involved....yadda yadda yadda...

If you look, act and speak like a very respectful kid with a good head on your shoulders, you might get somewhere.
 
These stories right here are about the only thing I enjoy about getting old. I NEVER get hassled about that kind of stuff anymore.

That and cheaper insurance.

I never got hassled TOO much when I was younger but I did get pulled over quite a bit and to be honest everytime I got pulled over I was doing something wrong. If you are going to take it to court, and if how you describe the events is accurate I would do, all you can do is go in looking clean cut and explain your side of the story. Don't accuse the cop of trying to screw you or anything like that. Just tell them what happened. If you have a good driving record hopefully the judge will take that into account. If you do not have a good driving record more than likely you are gonna get the shaft sorry to say.
 
dude get an lawyer. i got a street racing ticked like 3 months after i got my license (stupid i know) and had to go to court for it. long story short the attorney made the cop look like an asshat, and i won. how old are you? if your in high school or college make and u have good grades mention all that ****, mention you have a steady job, everything you can to make you look good. dress up nice, be polite, yes sir no sir, you know the whole shabang. best thing for you is PBJ. yeah it may be $500 bucks for a lawyer but its better than 8 pts on a license.
 
I was a ricer long before it was cool(91-93 when I had a 88 280zx) and I spent way too much time on the side of the road. Now, even on the rare occasion I do something stupid in front of a cop, I get a pass.
There was no 280 in 88 :nono:

+1 on the old thing. I never get hassled anymore and when I do get pulled over its usually just a warning.
 
These stories right here are about the only thing I enjoy about getting old. I NEVER get hassled about that kind of stuff anymore.

x1! Guess I was careful AND lucky, back in the day. Kenny and I were rolling hard from Paxton Ave eastbound, 2 AM, street is vacant, clear summer night in 89. We left the stop on the new 170th Street concrete HARD, he pulled a car out of the hole(as his 350 IROC would always do) and I was working to run him down. Just as I drew even with him, well into 3rd, we scream past the Credit Union, where a Cal City squad is sitting, interior lights on, doing paperwork or something:jaw:. Big time butt pucker, we're easily bout where the traps would be on any track, and we were ROLLING. Don't know why to this day, we got to Torrence, checked our mirrors, that cop never moved:shrug:. He coulda enjoyed the race, and written us up all the next day. Still remember that one in church on Sundays. We got hassled for sitting, never while moving. Cops. Its easy to have a poor attitude. An easier to be an old guy.
 
No you really dont have a chance. It is your word against his. And a cop doesnt have to clock you to say you were speeding or in this case racing. You can hire an attorney but it will cost you a crap load of money and still may not win it. The story you told us is going to be the only story you can tell the judge, and his story is going to be just A LITTLE bit different and say you were both heavily accelerating which lead him to believe you were racing. Again his word against yours, who do you think the judge will believe....
By no means am I saying plead guilty or no contest, try to fight it, but dont expect to win. Unfortunately I have A LOT of experience with traffic violations and a couple arrests for them and I know how it works, it never really works out for you. Good luck though, hope your state/county is a little more lenient than mine. At least your not going to jail, that's the worst.



Well there is a reason you were arrested.................




x1! Guess I was careful AND lucky, back in the day. Kenny and I were rolling hard from Paxton Ave eastbound, 2 AM, street is vacant, clear summer night in 89. We left the stop on the new 170th Street concrete HARD, he pulled a car out of the hole(as his 350 IROC would always do) and I was working to run him down. Just as I drew even with him, well into 3rd, we scream past the Credit Union, where a Cal City squad is sitting, interior lights on, doing paperwork or something:jaw:. Big time butt pucker, we're easily bout where the traps would be on any track, and we were ROLLING. Don't know why to this day, we got to Torrence, checked our mirrors, that cop never moved:shrug:. He coulda enjoyed the race, and written us up all the next day. Still remember that one in church on Sundays. We got hassled for sitting, never while moving. Cops. Its easy to have a poor attitude. An easier to be an old guy.



At least you're honest............an attitude will either make you or break you.
 
There was no 280 in 88 :nono:

You are right. It was an 81. Wasn't thinking. Had this paintjob, but had a ground effect kit, louvers, tint, etc...
280ZXT_01.jpg
 
Ok then cobra912, if your a cop what's your opinion? What I said is absolutely true, do I stand a chance or is it just a bad luck situation?