In Sept I traveled to Albuquerque, NM to visit my dying father. My father has since passed away on Dec 14th. On my way back home to Alabama I was pulled over on I-40 near Santa Rosa by officer J. Campos.
Just before being pulled over I was climbing a hill with my cruise control set on 70 which is 5 mph under the speed limit.in my rearview I could see a small car gaining on me pretty fast. When I topped the hill I saw the Nm Trooper slow down coming from the opposite direction. I said to my wife at that time that cop just got that car behind us. Shortly after that I looked in my rearview and observed the trooper behind my vehicle pulling me over. After pulling over the trooper approached my vehicle on the passanger and without telling me why he stopped me, ordered me out of my minivan and told me to step back to his vehicle. At this time the trooper wrote me a ticket for going 82 mph in a 75. I told the trooper that I had my cruise set at 70 and asked him if he saw the car behind me. He said NO that I was the only vehice he saw. At this time he gave me the option of pleading guilty and agreeing to pay the fine or return to court 1300 miles from my home in a few weeks. Since I was on the side of the hwy 1300 miles from home with my wife and kids I just signed the penalty assessment and thought I could fight it later. I was Wrong!!! Once you sign that part of the ticket you pretty much give up all your rights.
After arriving back home I just had to pay the $75 fine no other option. Through my research I found that the trooper that gave me the ticket was a rookie hadnt even been on the job for a year. All I can say is poor training and a lack of common sense with result in mistakes like this.
Up to that day It never even crossed my mind that I could get a speeding ticket if I was not speeding.
I now realize that in these bad economic times states are hurting for money and traffic citations are a great revenue generator.
My suggestion to anyone traveling to another state is get a recording device with a date and time stamp, record your speedometer and run a gps tracking application like my speed. If you dont have proof you were not speeding, trust me you will PAY.
I currently have both and if it happens again the officer that pulls me over will have alot to explain in court.
Dont be a victim of shady practices like this and Shame on the NMSP. Serve and protect is now serve and collect...
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