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This just in: 15mph over the speed limit is "slightly over"

Gisele Bundchen not nailed for doing 15mph over the limit with kids in the car.

Not only does the Globe not have as an amusing a title as the Herald, but leaves out that the trooper's son (who has now locked down his twitter account) tweeted about the incident, claiming she autographed (and then did the whole lipstick-autograph routine) to the citation. The Globe quotes a spokestroop saying that just isn't so:

Procopio said he was not aware Bundchen had provided an autograph to the trooper. “No, not that I am aware of,’’ he said. “There was no citation to be autographed. It was a verbal warning.’’

There's supposedly no such thing as a verbal warning - the officer instead checks the "warning" box on the citation, and the registry tracks them, both for if you're stopped later, and if you receive too many warnings.

“He reminded her that the speed limit on the Cape is 55, not 65 as it is in other parts of the state.”

Right. Even if the limit was 65, she was still speeding. Also: raise your hand if you've ever tried out that argument on Route 3, Route 2, or parts of the Mass Turnpike, and been reminded that the speed limit is thoroughly denoted.

Related: the Globe's spotlight on race and gender statistics in traffic stops. Not surprisingly, women get out of tickets more than men.

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Comments

she's hot!

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for the plebs.

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"the officer may issue a written warning or may cite the violator for a civil motor vehicle infraction in accordance with this subsection.
---
There's a big difference between may and shall. Is there something new in the law that expressly prohibits a verbal warning, a tenet of police work for centuries?

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The word 'may' is clear.

The Newton Police also won a big case against the City of Newton about citation type stuff.

I have a good idea why someone like Brett might get tickets though and not warnings.......

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My experience is that most times, you can get away with 70 and under in a 55 and 74 and under in a 65 (sometimes, if you are on a rural interstate with light traffic and non-adverse weather conditions, you might even get way with 79).

Of course, this is all at the discretion of the police, and they will take all conditions into account (traffic, weather, whether you are making other aggressive movements (weaving) or not signalling, etc.).

This strikes me as a nonevent unless there is evidence to indicate that she was driving aggressively, weaving in heavy traffic, not signalling, etc.

None of you is going to tell me, honestly, that you have never driven at or near 70 on I-95/128 (where the speed limit 55), right? In my near daily experience on that roadway, while I am trying to keep it at 69 or under (when it is even possible to go that fast, which is usually only after 7:30 p.m. these days), I have people absolutely flying past me at 80 and beyond.

It must be a slow news day.

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for speeding on any highway (ok once when I was younger on the VFW). I drive 70-80 depending on the traffic on the Pike, and I have been pulled over 3 times out of state for doing the same things (twice in Ohio, once in New York).

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I think that is probably easily explained - out of state tags. Some states even have names for this phenomenon: I believe Vermonters refer to it as the "white license plate tax" or something to that effect (of course, that was before NY went back to that nasty burnt orange, so the local name has probably been expanded to something like "non-green plate tax")

In my experience, you are given only 9 over the limit if you have out of state tags - as soon as you tip 10, you will be subject to being stopped, and will almost always be issued a citation.

In decades of driving around NY and NE, I have never been stopped on an interstate with a posted speed limit of 65 for doing anything under 75 - and hence, that is where the cruise is always set.

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I'm being honest (at least for MA cops). Most cops aren't going to no stop you just because you have home state plates, especially for speeding offenses where you have a split second to pull someone over anyway.

I always gave out of staters more of a break because the roads can be so confusing here.

Speeding on the highways is a different story though. You will also notice that many of our highways are unsafe for troopers and motorists to be in the breakdown lane. This is possibly one reason for the lack of speed enforcement on major highways.

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My experience is that officers on traffic enforcement want to get the most egregious violator, not only because they're the most dangerous but also the most likely to have a revoked/suspended license, arrest warrants, etc. What state the car is registered in is of little or no factor. As for MSP, with no troopers hired by Governor Patrick and 100+ retirements a year, I'm told that most barracks are running a dangerous "2 and 1" which is two troopers on the road and one on the desk. With Bundchen, I haven't heard of much (if any) criminal or traffic violation history, car was apparently registered, insured and inspected and kids strapped in. Not worth writing her up while worse violators/criminals are passing by.

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One could take long road trips through vast swaths of the country, rack up tickets left and right, and never have to pay or answer for them. This was because states did not compare computer files or share information.

My friend's dad had a cork board in the den that was decorated with out of state tickets that he never bothered to pay. This stopped in the mid 1980s, when the state he lived in finally shared information with a state where he had a couple of tickets, and he couldn't renew his license until they were cleared out.

In other words, there was a time where cops could ticket out of state drivers to their heart's content - and never see a dime of the fines.

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If they do catch an out-of-state plate, then they know the ticket will be paid because the poor schlub is probably just passing through and won't have the time/ability to come back and argue it in court later.

I agree with what I'm reading from Officers Friendly and Krupke, I don't think cops choose whom to pull over based on the license plate...but I'd need to be convinced they don't choose whether to go with a warning or a ticket based on which state it's from when they're running the vehicle through their system.

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Police are usually on the outs with the pols, why risk a career altering citizen complaint or a reputation as an over-aggressive enforcer just to generate more money for the pols to play with? The ticket revenue isn't earmarked for the police budget. Sure, if you're on a specialized traffic unit, tickets are expected but the courts have been clear that officers have full disrection on fines vs. warnings.

As for out-of-staters not returning to contest the ticket, yes, there's probably a better chance that the cop's employer will collect, but no court overtime for the cop to tell his side of the story.

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That's why some states make you pay the fine *on the spot*. If you don't have the money, or a AAA or similar card guaranteeing the money, you get arrested.

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Got a $300 ticket for 80 in a 65 outside of Hartford, and the cop purposefully pulled me out of a pack of CT cars. As in I was keeping pace with cars both in front, behind and around me. While he was doing so a white minivan blew past both of us around 90.

Apparently, he really didn't like us commonwealthers. Was screaming at me about taking me in for endangerment. Yeah, he probably didn't appreciate me pointing out the above, but after being that much of a dick, hell.

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Ok, I guess I'll just file this under "reasonable minds can differ".

I approached it from a different angle - that it actually made more sense to be stricter with out of staters, not because of the obvious additional revenue that you might not have otherwise had issue (along with the far less likely to contest issue), but for exactly the reasons you cited - namely, that out of state drivers are less likely to understand how our (remarkably differently designed) roads work, and therefore, ought to be driving even more cautiously. Same thing in, say, Vermont, where flatlanders have considerably less experience driving on the many winding mountain roads there.

Rotaries, and unsigned lane drops, anyone?

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It's also a well known fact that LEO's, especially troopers, melt in rain storms. You can speed to your hearts content in light raid, but be careful of hydroplaning.

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I'd like to link to this litany of "how much speeding will get you trouble and how much you can get away with" the next time someone spouts off about "ZOMG! Cyclists are Dangerous Scofflaws!"

This makes it clear that they all come from the same population, and share attitudes about "laws that do/don't apply to me".

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Who cares? Cops sometimes show discretion, deal with it. It's not just supermodel wives of virile local quarterbacks.

In my callow, devil-may-care youth, I got a couple of warnings for things that really deserved a ticket (this one time, for running a red light on Comm. Ave. in Newton at 3 a.m. because I had stupidly bought a Fiat and it had become a shark - if it stopped, the transmission would die - and the nice officer believed me and let me go, even after she did stop me and the car actually started up). I'm kind of doubting it was because she mistook me for a supermodel.

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I haven't gotten a ticket in almost 15 years (knock wood) - but have been stopped since and been let off each time (only once for speeding and that's the one I really deserved)

I find the cops are pretty fair - if they realize you are generally just trying to obey the law and you made a mistake (like not seeing that no turn on red sign posted on the far side of 4 lanes of traffic on route 9!) they'll cut you some slack - whether you are supermodel GiGi or plain ol' Stevil.

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A question for Adam: Who is allowed to post new stories to uhub? Is it anyone with an account (and if so, how?), or just people you designated?

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Can post.

Once you have an account and you're logged in, click on the Post link at the top right of any page. For the most part, these first go into a queue where I decide whether to put them on the home page; there are some people, who've been involved with UHub for awhile that have the ability to post directly to the home page.

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Given it's been in the top emailed stories all day, and received immediate coverage on half a dozen news outlets, yep.

It's also interesting because of the fact that the "MSM" picked up immediately on the twitter from the son of the trooper (or, alternatively, that's how they were tipped off in the first place.)

Also: I love Herald headlines.

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Then, brings it down on Brett's head.

So, she was doing 70 in a 55 that she could have easily thought was a 65.

I did 43 in a 30 in Newton that I knew damn well was a residential 30...and the cop gave me a warning and told me that the residents really don't want people flying through their neighborhood at that hour. I apologized and was off...at 30...until I got onto 9. Also, I'm not Gisele.

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The Boston Globe's investigation showed that, while local town and city police officers discriminated on the basis of sex and race, State Police Troopers did not.

Brett, there was no reason for you to say that "women get out of tickets more than men" when you are referring to a State Police traffic stop.

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the article was written 8 years ago

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Most of the Globe Stat's I looked at on the Globe link showed they from data from 2001 and 2003...... Yeah, those are current

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Check the actual stats page. Women consistently get fewer tickets across all agencies, and that's only on the *reported* stops. That statistic doesn't include the verbal warnings, of course.

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Did you consider for a second that maybe fewer women violate traffic laws? And that when they do they violations are less egregious then males and that is why they receive warning?

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The Globe's statistics show the number of people (women) who were already pulled over for speeding, but then get either a ticket or a warning. So whether or not women are more likely to speed is not in question here; it's simply whether or not they are more likely to be warned instead of issued a ticket after they are caught.

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I always thought the trooper credo was "9 you're fine, 10 you're mine". Of course I grew up in Ohio, and they are zealous ticketers there.

But I have no problem with the warning, it's the autograph part that is worrisome (if it's true). Pretty amateur, and then to tweet about it? Rank amateur, should be jockeying a desk for awhile.

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Tax break for the rich. If it were you or I we would be surcharged for the next 6 years.

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So its fine for motorists to break the law because its understood they don't have to obey them. Ill remember that next time someone on here starts yelling about maniacal pedestrians or bicyclists breaking the law.

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The law says that the speed limit is subjective.

It's not illegal to go faster than the number on the sign. Going faster than that number can be used as evidence that you were driving at an unsafe speed.

For that reason, tickets for going just a few mph above the limit are routinely tossed out on appeal.

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travelling at a speed greater than a posted speed limit is automatically considered to be evidence of driving at an unsafe speed, and is not just "can be used as evidence" against a driver.

From MGL Chapter 90, Section 17:

If a speed limit has been duly established upon any way, in accordance with the provisions of said section (referring to MGL Chapter 90 Section 18 - which governs posted speed limits), operation of a motor vehicle at a rate of speed in excess of such limit shall be (emphasis added) prima facie evidence that such speed is greater than is reasonable and proper;

Therefore, under Massachusetts law, it is indeed illegal to drive faster than the speed limit posted on a regulatory sign. Nothing subjective about the law at all.

As I've always understood it, the reason most magistrates make allowances for violations that are only a few MPH above the posted limit is to account for minor inaccuracies in vehicle speedometers.

And no, I am not a lawyer - nor have I ever played one on TV. Nor have I ever gotten a speeding ticket (knock wood) in my 32+ years of driving

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Looking at her face, I suppose the officer was just taken aback that a horse had learned to drive a car.

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Said the lonely troll.

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