NJ cops are the worst, period. I slept away for my first three semesters of college in NJ. I used to cycle a lot when I was done with schoolwork. One day a cop pulls me over. He claims he clocked me at 45 mph in a 25 mph school zone (actually my speedo was close to 50 but maybe with cosine error and/or a small target the radar only read 45). First off, if there was a 25 mph sign it was so small I didn't even see it. Second, school wasn't in session, so as far as I know the normal speed limit of 45 or 50 (I forgot which) applied. Third, if there had been school buses or heavy traffic no way would I have been doing that kind of speed. I ride fast but not reckless. Fourth, I wasn't aware of bikes getting speeding tickets anywhere, ever. It's not like they can take points off your license or otherwise ban you from riding. Besides that, under most circumstances it's pretty much impossible for cyclists to exceed the speed limit by a large margin, even on NYC's streets posted for 30 mph (although I did manage 65 mph on one occasion long ago with a good hill and tailwind). Anyway, without getting into the particulars, I got out of a ticket, but it was nonetheless stupid and annoying to have been pulled over in the first place. He was also annoyed that I didn't stop immediately when he pulled up behind me. Duh, I was going 45+ mph on a downhill-it took me a good half a mile to be able to stop since only my rear brake was working, nothing I could do about that. BTW, NYC cops don't even pull
cars over on the 30 mph zones unless they're going at least 45 mph AND driving aggressively. I highly doubt they would pull bikes over for speeding, ever, unless it was coupled with running a red light. Just simply speeding but keeping in your lane, and you're probably safe until at least 55 or so on a major thoroughfare. The main priority is to keep the traffic moving and to go only after the most dangerous drivers, not enforce the letter of the law as seems to be the case in NJ. I once saw a Corvette blow by a cop once on Union Turnpike (posted for 30 mph) doing at least 80. There was no traffic the guy could hit so the cop didn't even bother giving chase. If these were NJ cops he would have been pulled over at 35.
I also remember the NJ cops constantly harassing the bus drivers on the bus route I used to take to go home on weekends. Basically, once they got over about 60 mph (limit on the Turnpike was 55 mph), they risked being pulled over. Not that going that fast was unsafe. Quite the contrary. The NJ Turnpike is a wide, straight road where even 100 mph speeds would be safe in good weather. I'm waiting for the day where we have reasonable speed limits and other sane traffic laws so these cops can go after real criminals and/or very aggressive drivers.
My father got burned in a similar situation, when he pulled into a corner gas station to fill up. But discovered it was closed, so he drove to the exit on the intersecting road. A cop stopped him and gave him a moving violation for attempting to avoid a red light by using the gas station!
This is about the most ridiculous premise for a ticket I've ever seen. Even if the station is open, what if you pull in to get gas but can't see the prices until you're at the pumps, decide the price is too high, and pull out on the intersecting road? Or perhaps want to get air but find out they have one of those pay machines instead of a free hose? Lots of reasons why someone might do this which have nothing to do with avoiding a red light.