I know this is a long post, but it is about the speedtrap and the sleazy court tactics, employed here.

My first time driving thru The Village of Montgomery, I was stopped while heading out of town on 211, just as I put on my turn signal, after spotting the sign for 416.

The officer told me I was going 45 (which I knew I was) in a 30 mph zone. I was confused– I was sure I’d seen a sign for a higher limit, but was distracted because I was looking for a road I’d never seen, in a place I’d never been, in the dark… Had I missed the 30mph sign???

I went back the following week to take a look and found that I had been stopped well into the area where the posted speed limit was 55!

I lost income, taking the night off from work, and drove up from NYC to my court date, to keep my insurance from going up.

At the hearing (standing room only, BTW) I spoke w/ a man who had been pulled over a little closer to town, right at the 55mph sign. he says he was going 50.

I have no idea if he was speeding, but credence is lent to his story by the fact that he was issued 2 tkts, by 2 different officers, for the same offense. The times on the tickets were 12:40 and 12:41. Even the judge was confused!

Now before I tell you how stupid I was, let me just say that I’ve been driving for 35 years and have NEVER been issued a speeding tkt, so I don’t know anything about fighting one. Any interactions I’ve had with police have been pleasant and reasonable….. so I was thinking this was some weird mistake and that the nice, smiling officer I spoke with at the courthouse had my best interest at heart.

He took me aside and told me that the officer who’d issued my tkt was not there and that they knew I’d driven up from NYC to be in court. If I wanted a hearing to prove I was not guilty, I would have to come back, again, when he was present…..But to make it easier for me, I could take a plea, for driving with a broken headlight— a combined local/state fine of $125 and no points. So I took it.

I’m going to ignore all who are laughing at me, now, and speak to the one person who’s saying, "What?": While all that he said was true, the officer neglected to mention that the tkt could be dismissed, because the issuing officer was not present!

So I guess there are 2 lessons: 1) if you don’t know about speeding tickets, take someone with you who does and 2) Don’t drive anywhere near the Village of Montgomery, NY!