About two years ago, I was sitting at the light on Highland Ave in the Town of Tonawanda, waiting to make a left on Delaware Rd.
Just as the light turned green, I began to make my turn and a Town of Tonawanda police officer, driving south on Delaware Rd pulled me over. I turned onto Princeton Blvd., to avoid the traffic, which is the immediate right hand turn off of Delaware Rd., across from Kenmore West High School. The officer told me I was doing 42 in a 30MPH speed zone. At court, I talked to 12 people that had the same infraction, on the same date, in the same place, by the same officer.
That incident cost me two days of work, a sacrificed Saturday at driving school and $138.00, even though it was dropped to a parking ticket.
At the end of 2002, I had picked up a friend of mine from the airport, and we stopped at Caputi’s on Sheridan Dr for a drink. On a Saturday night, at 11:30PM, after having one drink, I pulled out of the parking lot, making a right on Sheridan, before I reached Loretta, I was pulled over and accused of driving 52 in a 40MPH speed zone. Loretta is less than a block from Caputi’s.
This time, because it was within eighteen months of my first infraction, I had to take a speeding ticket, which put 3 points on my Commercial Drivers License. It also cost me 3 days of work and $112.00.
Almost a year ago, I was driving my girlfriend home to her house in the City of Tonawanda, from my house in North Buffalo at approximately 2:30 in the morning.
Because I’m so terrified of driving in Kenmore/Tonawanda at night, I had my cruise control set to the 30MPH speed limit.
As I approached Sheridan Dr., traveling north on Colvin, my radar detector started to go off. We maneuvered through the curves at Belmont, which I have to slow down to about 25MPH to handle safely, and proceeded to Brighton, where the light was red.
I was in the left lane. As we sat there, waiting for the green light, a car came up behind me in the right lane. I saw in my mirror, it was a Town of Tonawanda police officer. He stopped just behind me and sat there until the light turned green. He immediately pulled me over and accused me of driving 42 MPH in a 30 MPH speed zone. Specifically, he said he clocked me going that fast through the curves.
I drive an SUV, and it will not handle those curves at that speed.
When I went to court, the town prosecuter was not interested in hearing my side of the story and basically gave me no other choice than to go to driving school, again. I explained that I already had been within the last 18 months, making me not eligible for Driving school, and he basically told me I have to take the ticket, then. Also in that time period, of 18 months, I got a legitimate ticket in Eden, which gives me 3 speeding tickets in 18 months, automatic revocation of my license for 6 months.
I’m an owner/operator of a trucking business, and a soon to be father for the first time. In 15 years of driving tractor-trailer, I have over 1.5 million safe miles. Accident free. I am a good, conscientious driver, yet, I’m now looking at losing my business. Since this happened, I cannot drive and have fallen almost 10,000.00 behind on my bills and monthly payments. I’m looking at losing my business, and having to file bankruptcy. Why?? Why do I have to lose everything I’ve worked for?
There are three words that describe what happened to me: Extortion, harassment, and illegal revenue collection. Unfortunately, there is no way that the court is going to take the word of a citizen, accused of speeding over that of the officer. My lawyers are working fervently on getting this over-turned, but the Town of Tonawanda is not co-operating. This unfair practice must be stopped immediately. Innocent people are being coerced into spending their hard earned money to pay for unfair and undeserved speeding tickets. While I know that the Town’s police department has a vital responsibility to patrol the roads to prevent blatant law breakers, their well known habits of targeting innocent motorists must come to an end immediately.