When was your last Performance Award?

[BradfordBenn]

So I was thinking today, it has been a nice long time, 16 years to the day, since I have received a Performance Award from any agency. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, Performance Award is a euphanism for speeding ticket or other moving violation. Parking tickets do not count.

So how long has it been for you?

I know that I do ride more conservative than others, which probably contributes to the time. Everyone should ride at the speed and style that they feel comfortable.

[DarrylRi]

My last one was not quite 2 years ago. Was riding in AZ with a friend, on the swoopy roads north of Globe. Good thing we didn't get caught out there! ;-) Coming down into Globe, there were signs up for road construction: 55mph, 45mph, 35mph. There was a bit of a rise after that, so we coasted down. On the other side of the rise the progression continued: 25mph, Prepare to Stop, and then, a ways further, a road worker with a stop sign.

Oh yeah, and a Gila county sheriff parked on the side of the road. Apparently my coasting had only gotten me down to 47 in the 35 mph section.

I think a much more interesting topic is when did you chat with an officer but didn't get an award...

I was on a ride with a group of friends from Seattle. We were riding down towards Yakima. Yakima Canyon, WA-821, follows the river and is a real hoot to ride. However, it's also used by the tubing crowd, and the WaSPs patrol it heavily to keep the drunken driving down. The speed limit is 45 all the way through and there are few legal passing zones.

I mentioned this to "Squeaky", our ride leader, and he seemed to take it under advisement. For about the first 30 seconds we were in the canyon. Then it was WFO. I, being the mature adult that I am, held myself back to about 4th or 5th position, with a nice gap that I figured would save me when Squeaky got pulled over. But we roared all the way down and I never saw a cop...

...until I made the last hard left, coming out of the canyon onto a long straight, and there was Squeaky beside the road, chatting with an officer.

Seems the officer had his radar gun aimed right at that corner, and clocked Squeaky at 104mph. Squeaky's excuse was that he was going a bit fast because he had just passed a camper and hadn't yet slowed back to the limit. I guess that was true, but it left unsaid the uncomfortable fact that there were no legal passing places along the previous stretch.

If I had been the officer, I would have laughed in his face, but the officer let him off. Hard to believe, but there were about 10 of us who witnessed it.

[Braddog]

.....during Spring Break this year. On I-4 between Orlando and Tampa, people were passing me like crazy.

Highway patrolman in the median chose me.

My car was a red rental with out-of-state plates.

I was going to ask him about the cars that were passing me, and accelerating away from me, but he looked like a veteran that was very close to retirement, he was very serious, so, I was very polite.

So far, no Performance Awards on the motorcycle. Came close leaving the Hiawatha Rally this summer (thanks fellow riders, for the hands down warning!), and a motocop in Minneapolis pointed at me and gave me the same signal one day on my way home from work.

[Cliffy777]

earlier this year I was riding around on a Sunday and went to Lansing. Saw a buddy, then was just driving around. (used to live around there).
Nice curvy road in East Lansing got my throttle hand happy - then an unmarked cop car tapped his siren a couple of times and gave me the "slow down" hand signal. He coulda nailed me for 10 or more over, but was nice enough just to chirp. I got the message and gave him a big wave.....

[cgarr]

This last weekend....:D

Don't know if it really counts as a moving violation, I was driving the GFs truck, and the month sticker on her plate was AWOL. We got stopped, she had all the registration paperwork, and it was all in order. So they wrote me a warning.:dunno

Frankly I think the guy that stopped us was pissed that they couldn't make any $$$$ on the stop. The DMV later told us that the 15th was a big day for them, lots of beauracratic crap expired that day so they were out in force taking advantage of it......

I thought they were there for public safety, not to maximize revenue collected:confused:

[YB in IN]

Originally posted by BradfordBenn
So I was thinking today, it has been a nice long time, 16 years to the day, since I have received a Performance Award from any agency. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, Performance Award is a euphanism for speeding ticket or other moving violation. Parking tickets do not count.

So how long has it been for you?

I know that I do ride more conservative than others, which probably contributes to the time. Everyone should ride at the speed and style that they feel comfortable.

I hope that you knocked on a big old piece of wood after you wrote this post Brad!!!:bliss

[BradfordBenn]

Originally posted by YB in IN
I hope that you knocked on a big old piece of wood after you wrote this post Brad!!!:bliss

Oh yea.

Plus I figured I can no longer ride with anyone else:eek

[MCMXCIVRS]

I have been fortunate for the last 8 years. That was about the last ticket i got, and it was in the car too. They nicked me for 118 in a 110 km/h zone. Seemed kinda nitpicky to me, but I couldn't be bothered to fight it at the time.

The last one I had on a bike was over 11 years ago, and its not that I've been that good all this time, just lucky. That one though was a big one. 180Km/h in an 80 zone. Had to talk to the judge for that one.

I did get of lucky last year on my way home from work one morning. I had just installed the driving lights on my RS, so I assumed all the people flashing their lights at me were complaining that they were too bright. Doh! It was the speed trap up ahead that they were trying to warn me about. Anyway the city cop let me off with not even a written warning even though I was 20 over. It did help that he happened to notice I was a firefighter. Most of the cops are pretty good that way.

[DarrylRi]

Ooops, I lied. Ed from Calgary reminded me with his speeds in kilometers. I got a ticket this past May while riding a friend's K12LT:
http://darryl.crafty-fox.com/mcpics/2004/europe1/netherlands/ticket1_med.jpg

http://darryl.crafty-fox.com/mcpics/2004/europe1/netherlands/ticket2_med.jpg

My friend lives in Karlsruhe, Germany, and I got photographed in the Netherlands doing 56 kmh in a 50 kmh zone (thats 33.5 in a 30 mph zone). The fine was €30 (about $36). Fortunately, no points on my California license for that one!

[Cliffy777]

Darryl wins two awards:

1. Coolest ticket
2. Most high tech ticket. (just edging out the eye in the sky one from Colorado).

Congratulations.

[kbasa]

53 in a 35 on a road near my house.

1 year and one week ago. 1 year and one month ago, I got one in Nevada. Got clocked at 92 in a 55 and the cop wrote me for 80 in a 70, which was a $75 ticket.

[MarkF]

...during a poker run in Canada on my Suzuki 600 Bandit.

I deserved it!

MarkF

[The_Veg]

Braddog, your experience is much like one I got year before last. I was in my car though, a silver VW Golf, and in the state in which it was registered. I was being passed rather obviously but I got picked. Here in TEXSUX there is no talking your way out of it. If you are pulled over YOU ARE GETTING THE TICKET. The one saving grace is that up to one ticket a year may be dismissed by completing a state-approved defensive driving course which will be at least six hours in length and will cost at leat $25. The ones taught at comedy clubs are very popular. So are the online ones. I just did one for my most recent one, which was on the bike. 76 In a 60. Very light traffic, broad daylight, beautiful Sunday afternoon out by the lake. Riding in an otherwise responsible, relaxed style. But that highway is popular with squids sometimes.
Of all the places I've ever been, TexSux has th most ridiculous speed enforcement. You'll get nailed here for speeds that won't even wake them up in the southeast where I grew up. You'd think that in such a huge state they'd figure out that it helps to able to cross it in less than a day, but I guess it's the still-pervasive agricultural mindset that seems to run the place: (imagine a cowboy drawl) "Damn son, at'tere tractor's gonna lose a wheel if ya don't slow it down!"

[BradfordBenn]

Originally posted by KBasa
1 year and one month ago, I got one in Nevada. Got clocked at 92 in a 55 and the cop wrote me for 80 in a 70, which was a $75 ticket.

If I remember right (http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=739) he refused to smile for the picture. And you were on your way to the rally in Charleston, WV.

[DarrylRi]

Originally posted by flash412
Originally posted by cliffy777
Darryl wins two awards:

1. Coolest ticket
Wait just a dang minute... I once got a ticket in Austria for passing a car in a passing-tractors-only zone. Talk about yer roadside conversation! Had to pay on the spot in Austrian cash, too.

Once I got a ticket for 105 in a 55 that I beat BECAUSE I had a ticket for 42 in a 35 five months before. [I was young(er) and stupid(er) back then. NOW I have a radar detector.] Neener! Neener! Neener!

[timrfo]

I'm on the road everyday (lots) I 94 and I 69 in Mi. I think all the ticket writers gave up ! average speed for cars must be around 80 plus! I tried to keep up with 4 different cars last week on my GT just see how fast and 95 wouldn't get the job done !!

[R80RTJohnny]

Greetings,

Over ten years ago, on a beer run, I was caught speeding through a yellow / red light. The officer asked me if I was in a hurry and I explained to him that I was, while taking an empty case of beer from the tank bag. He then gave me the choice of wich ticket that I would prefer speeding or going through a yellow/red light. I asked him wich one was more expensive and asked for the cheaper one. As he was leaving for another call he sent me the cheaper one.

For our Canadian members you will understand that this happened in the province of Quebec where beer is a necessity of life...

And No I was not drinking and riding at the time.

Drinking and riding is a conflict of interest. If I do one then I do not do the other.

Jean

[YB in IN]

Originally posted by The Veg
Braddog, your experience is much like one I got year before last. I was in my car though, a silver VW Golf, and in the state in which it was registered. I was being passed rather obviously but I got picked. Here in TEXSUX there is no talking your way out of it. If you are pulled over YOU ARE GETTING THE TICKET. The one saving grace is that up to one ticket a year may be dismissed by completing a state-approved defensive driving course which will be at least six hours in length and will cost at leat $25. The ones taught at comedy clubs are very popular. So are the online ones. I just did one for my most recent one, which was on the bike. 76 In a 60. Very light traffic, broad daylight, beautiful Sunday afternoon out by the lake. Riding in an otherwise responsible, relaxed style. But that highway is popular with squids sometimes.
Of all the places I've ever been, TexSux has th most ridiculous speed enforcement. You'll get nailed here for speeds that won't even wake them up in the southeast where I grew up. You'd think that in such a huge state they'd figure out that it helps to able to cross it in less than a day, but I guess it's the still-pervasive agricultural mindset that seems to run the place: (imagine a cowboy drawl) "Damn son, at'tere tractor's gonna lose a wheel if ya don't slow it down!"

My buddy and I got pulled over outside of Amarillo in his car with Arkansas plates over Christmas break and only got a written warning. I think the trooper (who was female and rather cute) thought we were funny and partly crazy because we hadn't stopped at all from leaving San Francisco the day before. Ahh San Francisco, home of Zeitgeist, my favorite bar in the world. Also, the lunch we had with Mr. and Mrs. KBasa wasn't half-bad either. :thumb

[ScottM]

Still pissed off by it. I think the leos are just looking for low hanging fruit. You know, the stuff that is easy to pick and makes you look good without too much effort!

I slowed, signaled and turned left into a gas station. As I'm gasing up the man pulls up with lights flashing and says I crossed the island illegally. I asked what 'island'? He pointed out in front of the gas station. (of course there's not an island there, just their interpretation of one) I said OK, you got me how about a break?

What pissed me off is he then asks if I've been to traffic school lately. I said yes (don't want to lie to the man) and he says that if I had said no he would have let me off, but now he's going to right me a ticket.

Gee, thanks Officer. Now I'll have a point on my license. A@@hole!

[YB in IN]

Originally posted by ScottM
Still pissed off by it. I think the leos are just looking for low hanging fruit. You know, the stuff that is easy to pick and makes you look good without too much effort!

I slowed, signaled and turned left into a gas station. As I'm gasing up the man pulls up with lights flashing and says I crossed the island illegally. I asked what 'island'? He pointed out in front of the gas station. (of course there's not an island there, just their interpretation of one) I said OK, you got me how about a break?

What pissed me off is he then asks if I've been to traffic school lately. I said yes (don't want to lie to the man) and he says that if I had said no he would have let me off, but now he's going to right me a ticket.

Gee, thanks Officer. Now I'll have a point on my license. A@@hole!

I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say "What a c@#@sucker!!"

[BradfordBenn]

Originally posted by ScottM
I asked what 'island'? He pointed out in front of the gas station. (of course there's not an island there, just their interpretation of one)

Perhaps a picture is worth a thousand words and a trip to the Judge.... what do you have to lose?

[jgr451]

haha lucky me,no tickies for 20+ years.
There was the time in Wisconsin that my friend and I hit the wick to 80 mph for a straight 2 hours,no LEOs,no tractors....It was beautiful.

There have been other times,when they got the other bikes but not me.

I don't know.Watch the wildebeest cross the crocodile filled river;why some,not others?

[flash412]

Originally posted by ScottM I slowed, signaled and turned left into a gas station. As I'm gasing up the man pulls up with lights flashing and says I crossed the island illegally. I asked what 'island'? He pointed out in front of the gas station. (of course there's not an island there, just their interpretation of one).I once filled up at at gas station (before credit card pumps), paid, got on the bike and, since I was heading in the direction of traffic and nobody was coming except a cop about 200 yards away, pulled into the road. I had gone about a mile AT the speed limit, VERY aware that there was an LEO behind me when he suddenly lit me up. He issued a ticket for "Entering a public thoroughfare from a private drive without coming to a complete stop."

That is a bull**** ticket. So I went to court and pled "Guilty with an explanation." The judge asked to hear the explanation. I said something like, "I know ignorance of the law is no excuse, so I guess I am guilty. I did stop long enough to fill up my gas tank before I pulled onto the road, even though I didn't stop AT the highway, twenty feet from where I filled up. There was nobody coming within a couple hundred yards of unobstructed view when I pulled out. Now that I am aware of this law I never even heard of, you can be sure I will NEVER again pull away from a gas pump or enter a roadway without coming to a complete stop."

The judge looked at the cop and asked, "Was there speeding or anything reckless involved?" Cop said, "No, I followed him and he was going the speed limit." Judge asked, "Was there any sort of accident?" Cop said, "No." Judge said, "Then why are you wasting the court's time? DISMISSED!"

[jdcoffman]

Last year about this time. I was within 2 miles of the end of a little 250 mile trip to my inlaws house. 75 in a 60.
I knew that this might become an issue getting back into cycles the last bike I had a R90S in the late seventies I recieved lots of tickets.
In North Kansas City I got on it a little then notice local officer make a one eighty a couple blocks behind me so I say noway. I turn down a side street and as soon as the officer can't see me I hit it real hard get to next street turn hit it real hard then I pull into an obscure parking lot and hey no more cop. But patience is a virtue I have never had. I don't wait long enough and get back out on the road. and sure enough two blocks down from me the officer renews the chase I keep thinking in my mind do I want to take this to the highway and see who really is faster...I was stupid but not quite that stupid so as I turned another corner I heard the officer get on it and light up his siren...so I quite.. he ticketed me for running two stop signs, I don't know how he could tell if I ran the stops signs or not but I felt lucky he didn't haul me to jail.

[lorazepam]

Guess I can say I have the newest performance award. 69/55 zone. I am sure that when I said armadillos when he asked what I would encounter on the road I was on (US 52) in southern Ohio, clinched the ticket for me.
He started spouting about the fatal accidents they had recently involving motorcycles. I asked if any were wearing gear or helmets. he shut up and when he found I have had my endorsement almost 30 years, he couldnt use the inexperience lines on me. After seeing my lights, he couldnt use that I was out driving my headlight. Oh well, I deserve about 20 for every ticket I get.

[MarkF]

Originally posted by lorazepam
Guess I can say I have the newest performance award. 69/55 zone.

Oh well, I deserve about 20 for every ticket I get.

Very Mature Attitude! How much $ ?

MarkF

[lorazepam]

105.00 with no appearance in court, but points on the license. It crackes me up when a LEO tries to justify a ticket. I was going too fast, just write the dang thing and move on. It is the tickets that they write to pad the stats that tick me off. I never get angry at speeding tickets.

[Ridealot]

My last performance award was about a month and a half ago. I was heading to the Beartooth rally in Montana. I was feeling frisky so I was zipping along at about 125mph. Hey Montana is frigging big and empty. When the radar went off I slammed on the brakes. I got it slowed down to 93mph before he locked me in. I had to pay the officer $40 bucks on the spot. In my home state I would of been hauled off to jail.
So much for my clean driving record. I'm a bad boy.

[Cliffy777]

just $40 for 93 mph? DANG, those Montana people must have been having a sale on awards. It would have cost you a bunch more in Michigan.