This past weekend I had to drive from North Carolina to Florida. It happened to be Thanksgiving weekend, so traffic was terrible. There were more cops out than I had ever seen in my life. I was going over a hill in Georgia, when I notice a cop at the bottom of the hill. I was only doing 65 at the time and had already started on the brakes as soon as I cleared the hill. The cop was facing the opposite direction, so I did not think I had anything to worry about. There were also tons of cars on the road going much faster than me. I was wrong! The cop pulled out as soon as I passed him. My cruise control was already locked on 55 at that point (it was a "construction zone" .... the entire I-95 from Georgia to Florida is a "construction zone"!)

The cop said I was clocked at 79 in a 55. I may have done 79 at other points in the trip, but this was a construction zone on Thanksgiving weekend. I was lucky to reach 65. I asked the cop to show me the radar and to show me the video, since I was sure he was recording it. The conversation went like this:

Cop - "In the state of Georgia I am not required to lock the speed into the radar"
Me - "So, how can you say I was going 79?"
Cop- "That's what the radar said when I clocked you."
Me - "What about the video? I'm sure I was not going 79, and I feel that a video tape would support that."
Cop- "You saw me and had already slowed down by the time I pulled out."

The cop offered to show me how he "calibrated his radar", but after he filled out the citation and I asked for the demo, he said that if I wanted to fight it, I would have my day in court. I think the cop is just full of hooky. I got pulled over for one reason and that was that I was a younger driver passing this particular cop driving a black Corvette.

I want to go to court and fight this, but it is going to be a waste of time. I will take a day off work and drive for 6 hrs to the courthouse only to hear some judge support the officer. It is my word against his, and mine is not going to count. I am being accused of a crime without any proof at all. If this is not a violation of my Constitutional rights, I don't know what is.

I called today to find out the amount of the fine. It turns out I actually have options in Georgia. I can pay the fine of $230 now and Georgia will forward this to the state of NC to have points assessed OR I can pay $360 and Georgia will "hold" the points unless the state of NC happens to ask for them. This is the biggest scam I have ever heard. I will just pay the $360 and get on with it.