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Arguing Speeding Ticket?
Kivutar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I got pulled over the other day in heavy traffic outside my goddamn driveway for supposedly doing 31 in a 25. I've taken speeding tickets to court before, but as the officer didn't show, they were simply dismissed. Frankly I think this ticket was B.S. and am nearly positive that he mistook my reading for another vehicle, so I'm wondering what my options are, and what I should know before setting foot in the court room a week from today.
Backstory: single lane going each direction, heavy traffic in both directions at the time - my educated guess is 30+ vehicles between me and the officer in question at the time I was supposedly tagged. We were approaching a red light, and everyone was slowing to a stop accordingly. The officer was on foot, a block before the red light, and simply appeared to be diverting traffic. He waved me over, I pulled off on to the side street just past him, and was informed that I had been tagged doing 31mph from a distance of 662 feet, through aforementioned vehicles. I didn't even think he was pulling me over at that point, so I didn't physically check my speedometer at the time. However, given the traffic situation, I simply don't think it was possible for me to even be approaching 31 mph - I took some basic measurements, and I had begun braking ~1500 feet before the red light, or approximately 500 feet before the cop measured my speed. I drive that section of road nearly every day, as it's literally in front of my house - under similar conditions, I pretty much top out at 20mph due to traffic.
So uh, what are my options, anything I should know or specifically prepare for? Shitty MSPaint illustration attached for reference (I misread the measurement, the distance was actually 662 feet). For whatever it's worth, the speed limit north of the illustrated segment is 35mph, and south is 30mph. There's about 6 block stretch that drops to 25mph, and from what I've seen, all of the side streets there are either 30 or 35 as well. It's uh, interesting planning. Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice!
Backstory: single lane going each direction, heavy traffic in both directions at the time - my educated guess is 30+ vehicles between me and the officer in question at the time I was supposedly tagged. We were approaching a red light, and everyone was slowing to a stop accordingly. The officer was on foot, a block before the red light, and simply appeared to be diverting traffic. He waved me over, I pulled off on to the side street just past him, and was informed that I had been tagged doing 31mph from a distance of 662 feet, through aforementioned vehicles. I didn't even think he was pulling me over at that point, so I didn't physically check my speedometer at the time. However, given the traffic situation, I simply don't think it was possible for me to even be approaching 31 mph - I took some basic measurements, and I had begun braking ~1500 feet before the red light, or approximately 500 feet before the cop measured my speed. I drive that section of road nearly every day, as it's literally in front of my house - under similar conditions, I pretty much top out at 20mph due to traffic.
So uh, what are my options, anything I should know or specifically prepare for? Shitty MSPaint illustration attached for reference (I misread the measurement, the distance was actually 662 feet). For whatever it's worth, the speed limit north of the illustrated segment is 35mph, and south is 30mph. There's about 6 block stretch that drops to 25mph, and from what I've seen, all of the side streets there are either 30 or 35 as well. It's uh, interesting planning. Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice!
Kivutar on
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Yeah, this is a pretty open and shut court case. The cop knows the situation was completely retarded and probably won't even show.
I've never seen anyone anywhere successfully argue a speeding fine. Indisputable evidence and logic have no place in a speeding fine appeal.
your case is pretty good, might be good practice beforehand also if you're not good at speaking to authority
Also, the local command apparently posts their officer's schedules (what the christ?) and looking by badge number, the guy who stopped me is working on my arraignment date. Good sign or not?
I'm aware he was being an asshat, given that I was literally pulled out of a line of 40+ cars in total, all doing pretty much the same speed. That said, I wasn't the only one, and I'm used to being fucked by cops for apparently just being lucky in similar situations, so whatever. I read a fair bit about local traffic law and apparently I'm still able to take a deferral/attend traffic school, etc. if nothing else. Also, the point system law reads very oddly but as far as I can tell there are no points for doing 6 over in a 25 zone, so it shouldn't have any impact on my insurance(?) which is heartening. Thanks for the responses!
incorrect
they get argued away every day
hell even the red light cameras get argued away with some frequency
it's just the VAST majority of people trying to argue them away had shoddy arguments and are simply trying to get away with speeding
yeah 6 mph is shitty but hey, it's still speeding, there needs to be some threshold. Really the threshold SHOULD be the limit itself but people forget what "limit" means
if your measurements and the info and everything are correct there's just SO many cars between you and him, plus all the circumstances make it very likely that he didn't clock you right
You can argue it or you can employ a lawyer to argue on your behalf.
You could try to argue that you were singled out, but that rarely works. Dressing up and not act like an asshat will probably net you better results. Going to the judge and arguing with the ticket, while noble and is more of the principle of the thing rather than the fines, will probably net you the full weight of the fine/ticket/points.
But who knows, you could win. Or you could be a real asshat and keep appealing it over and over again until someone goes "this is so retarded" and throws it out.
That being said, it was an officer on foot, during heavy traffic, who "waved" you to the side, and you pulled over.
He could have been waving at any other vehicle if the traffic was as congested as you describe.
Did anyone else pull over?
The argument could be made that you pulling over was an admission of guilt.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
That'd be horribly stupid.
I agree, but I would imagine things that are exponentially more stupid have been admissable in court.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Ticket is for $80.
I'm not horribly strapped, but I am a relatively poor college student and $80 is either a lot of groceries or half of a textbook! I already have to miss a good portion of work for the arraignment, so at some point I'll probably have to cut my losses and move on before I lose too many more days of income.
The officer walked in front of my vehicle while traffic was more or less stopped, pointed at me, and waved me to the side. I don't think that could be really interpreted any other way. I wasn't by any means the only one pulled out of the line of traffic, I just happened to be one of a few in those 15 minutes I was sitting there. I'm sure they had a field day for the few hours they were setup at the intersection.
Listen, let's not be stupid. All the internet lawyers need to calm down. Stopping because the police tell you to is not an admission of anything.
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Also, could the argument not be made that he was following the flow of traffic? I'm not sure if that's a great argument but it seems to me it'd be a valid one.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
If it *does* go to trial, make sure you find out how you were tagged. If it was by Radar/LIDAR, then ask when the device was last calibrated. If it wasn't calibrated properly on schedule, it might swing your way.
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Seriously. Should he have ignored the cop and sped off to avoid "pleading guilty?"
Also, I think it might be better that he is working the time of your appointment. I've been told that cops get overtime pay for attending these cases on their time off, so he may not feel like sitting in a courtroom all day for regular pay instead of just going about his regular police business. (which appears to be pulling people over for going 6 miles over the speed limit).
Could you have been going 31 at an earlier point when the traffic was less?