I was stopped for speeding and I was only going eight miles over the limit. Three other cars had passed me and they were all going faster than I was. The police officer said it didn’t matter and wrote me up anyway. Can she do that?

Yes, she can.

If you are charged with speeding, it is no defense that someone else was also speeding, or that other cars were going faster than you were.

The police may stop anyone who is speeding. Or they may not stop anyone. Or they may stop just some vehicles. It wouldn’t be possible for them to stop everyone who speeds, because there simply aren’t enough police officers and there isn’t enough time.

What a police officer may not do is to stop you, as opposed to other speeders, just because of your race, your gender or some other protected characteristic. An officer cannot choose to stop only young dark complected individuals traveling alone, for instance. A police officer cannot use your speed as a pretext to stop you because you are a minority.

Although many police departments have a policy of not summonsing people for speeding if they were not going more than ten miles over the limit, this policy is not written in law. You can be cited for speeding, even if you are only four or five miles over the limit.

And it is simply no defense to speeding, or to any other offense, that other people may have been doing the same thing but they were not charged. Enforcement of the laws does not demand complete equality.

So, remember, if you are pulled over, don’t waste your breath complaining to the police officer that somebody else was going faster than you were. It won’t prevent you from being charged, and it won’t get you anywhere later in court.

It’s the law!