I was driving from Cripple Creek to Colorado Springs a few years ago. Along the way, I saw three different cars pulled over for speeding, so I was watching my speedometer like a hawk.

As I descended a hill into Manitou Springs, I downshifted into second and applied the brakes, slowing down from 50 mph to 35 well before I got the the 35 mph speed limit sign.

As soon as I got past the sign, a patrol car pulled out and hit his flashing lights. I thought to myself, "Wow - I'm glad I was being careful and watching my speed."

Then the cop pulled right behind me and blipped his siren, so I pulled over.

When he got to my car, he told me that he clocked me going 50 in a 35 and asked for my license and registration.

I told the officer that I had seen multiple cars pulled over, that I was carefully watching my speed, and that there was no way I could have been going that fast - especially because I was in second gear.

The cop said, "Your speedometer is probably off." But I explained that I drive on military installations every day and they have smart carts that check your speed - and my speedometer is absolutely accurate at 35 mph. I also have GPS and it matches my speedometer precisely.

Then the cop said, "I can show you the reading on the gun if you want."

And I said, "If it's a Falcon radar gun, it doesn't use a time stamp. You could have clocked someone at 50 three hours ago and wrote 20 tickets on that same reading since then."

Then he said, "Well, you can tell that to the judge. See you in court."

When I went to court the prosecutor said, "If you fight your ticket and lose, it will be $100 higher because of added court costs. If you agree to pay the $150 ticket, I will change the charge from speeding to defective equipment which is a non-moving violation, so it doesn't deduct points from your license or get reported to your insurance."

I paid the $150, and so did about 80 other people who had shown up at the courthouse that morning.

If I had been speeding, I would have gritted my teeth and paid the fine with no hard feelings. But I was 100% innocent.

Manitou Springs is the worst.