NATIONAL MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION
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Massachusetts Page |  |
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Massachusetts Page | |
This afternoon I was taking my daughter and her cousin to gymnastics. I was heading into the sun and distracted by the kids changing into their Halloween costumes in the back. I didn't notice the parked car on the other side of road was a local cop. He stopped me for "51 on the radar" and gave me a hard time about their seat belts. (The kids had them under their witches costumes.) I asked him for a warning, but after ten minutes he came back with a ticket. "I'm giving you a break on the seat belts," he said, "but I wrote you up for speeding."
He was pretty sloppy on the ticket. For location, he wrote "Charles River St." No number, no town. For speeding he checked 90/17 and "51 - TSA zone." (The speed limit was unposted, so I took this as "Thickly Settled Area.") He didn't check the 'posted/unposted' or the 'estimated' boxes, just 'radar.' Of course he didn't ask me to sign the citation. Bottom line: $160.
So, I'm mailing it in - the first one in nine years! Since he didn't estimate my speed, on this two way road he had no way of knowing if it was me or the cars going the other way that caused his read-out. I'll keep you posted how it all turns out.