2 lane highway....2 cars pulled over.

[Qans]

I was driving down a 2-lane highway. The speed limit was 60. I was following a car that was doing near 80. The cop that passed us turned around and flipped on his lights. I started pulling over to the side. He actually passed me to pull over the first car. Now since he passed me up to follow the other card could I have kept driving? I kind of stayed on the shoulder of the road since I knew I was speeding as well. As I pulled up to the cop, further down, the cop got out of his vehicle he motioned for me to stop. He wrote a ticket for the car ahead of me, and one for me as well. Can I fight this in anyway; I mean how could he have me on radar since I was following the first car pretty close. This is in WA State.

 

[lwpat]

I was driving down a 2-lane highway. The speed limit was 60. I was following a car that was doing near 80. The cop that passed us turned around and flipped on his lights. I started pulling over to the side. He actually passed me to pull over the first car. Now since he passed me up to follow the other card could I have kept driving? I kind of stayed on the shoulder of the road since I knew I was speeding as well. As I pulled up to the cop, further down, the cop got out of his vehicle he motioned for me to stop. He wrote a ticket for the car ahead of me, and one for me as well. Can I fight this in anyway; I mean how could he have me on radar since I was following the first car pretty close. This is in WA State.

You should have kept going and made him choose between the two of you. As it was he got to issue two speeding tickets for the price of one stop.

The officer can issue a speeding ticket based on his visual estimation of your speed. Radar is not required.

In WA the officer is not required to show for the trial. His version is read to the court. This may be to your benefit since you can argue that he only had a radar lock on the first car and you were not going as fast. You will need to explain why you were so close and why you stopped. You may want to subponea all the speeding tickets written by the officer on that date to show that he issued both traffic tickets at the same time.

If you show for court you will probably be offered a deferment or
reduced fine/points in return for a guilty plea. If so take the deal.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

lwpat is on the ball here. If the officer did not signal you to pull over, then you weren't required to pull over. Perhaps he did and it would seem likely -- so don't feel so bad about this decision. It could have been worse if you drove off and the officer intended for you to pull over...

Originally posted by lwpat
You should have kept going and made him choose between the two of you. As it was he got to issue two speeding tickets for the price of one stop.

The officer can issue a speeding ticket based on his visual estimation of your speed. Radar is not required.

In WA the officer is not required to show for the trial. His version is read to the court. This may be to your benefit since you can argue that he only had a radar lock on the first car and you were not going as fast. You will need to explain why you were so close and why you stopped. You may want to subponea all the speeding tickets written by the officer on that date to show that he issued both traffic tickets at the same time.

If you show for court you will probably be offered a deferment or
reduced fine/points in return for a guilty plea. If so take the deal.