I received letters from at least 5 different attorneys wanting me to hire him/her and fight the ticket.......which I did not do. I felt I was lucky in that I was clocked at 88 by the Trooper, but he reduced my speed to 77 which made my ticket around $175.00. The Trooper said at 88, he was supposed to "take me in" due to reckless driving, endangerment, etc., so I was happy to just pay a ticket.
88 in a what, 70?
Not claiming the moral high ground here, but just want to show you how different, different agencies can be.
My S.O. covers roughly 27 miles of I-95. The speed limit is 70. We are not revenue driven. We do write a lot of tickets, but most of us "draw the line" at 85, which is 15 over. Georgia is a Super-Speeder state, but the way the law is written is good intentions gone bad. Here, you're automatically a super-speeder (add $200 to the normal fine) at 85 (or lower, depending on the prima-facie speed limit). None of us like it. So we normally lower the checked speed.
The normal "pace" through here (flat and straight) is around 80, so I rarely look at anything below 85. Up to 90, I generally drop you to 81, which is the most I can do. 90 and above, you get what you get; no way you didn't know you were speeding.
GA troopers generally follow the same unwritten rules, but not all local agencies subscribe.
None of the local attorneys like to face a speeding citation here, as they know our policy. They'll cash the check if they get hired, but what they won't tell you is that they almost never prevail. RADAR / LIDAR certs and equipment records are current and maintained. We do it right here.
This far south, we have heard about Virginia, and especially Virginia troopers. Their world is apparently black and white. In some areas, Florida is the same. Just never sat well with me. Spare me the lecture on "illegal is illegal". You ever been passed by a trooper / deputy / police officer running 10 over, and not running code? Yeah, I thought so. Minus lights and siren, LEO's are not exempt from the MV code. Nationwide.
I've been known to drive 80 on the "I" on my way to work, or the grocery store, or on vacation. Hard for me to make a case against someone doing what I do on a regular basis.
So...if it was 88/70, legit stop. Nice of him/her to drop it to 77. Obviously saved you some money, but before you name your next cat after that cop, the true motivation was probably just to avoid having to appear in court. FWIW, I haven't had a contested speeding citation in almost 2 years. Why? Already told you: below 90 I lower to 81, and who in their right mind will walk into a courtroom with a 94/70 coupon and try to argue it?
Yeah, you were lucky, but the jails are not full of miscreants who got checked at 18 over. There was some gamesmanship there, IMO.
I don't mind telling you the truth, because everything I do is on camera. I have nothing to hide.
Be safe out there.