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advice for fighting a false speeding ticket.
DarkSymphony
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
ok so I'm going on this road close to home. Limit is 35, I'm going 37. This cop goes past me on the other side of the road (as in, he was driving oposite to me). I see him whip around super fast and lights get thrown on. I'm still driving normal speed and keep going. Not assuming it was me. He catches up and pulls me over telling me I'm doing 52 (WTF?) in a 35. This was largely incorrect and seemed very odd he clocked me while going past and against me on the other side of the road.
I'm going to fight this stupid bullshit, but is there anything I should know going into it?
I'm going to fight this stupid bullshit, but is there anything I should know going into it?
DarkSymphony on
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In fact, I've received two tickets that way.
Edit: Actually, I might have some advice for you, albeit anecdotal.
How many other cars were there on the road? Was it crowded? Or were you pretty much driving alone? I ask because, if I recall correctly, old lasers worked on mass and speed. Faster, heavier objects would be picked up before smaller ones (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong). But the newer lasers are pretty darn accurate. I should know, my step-father is a police officer and I have gone on a few ride-a-longs with him (I think it's pretty interesting).
Is it possible you weren't paying as much attention as you thought you were to your speed? I only ask because if you do bring this up in court to fight it, it's pretty much the cop's word against yours. If he has a reading on you, there's little you can do. You might be able to get the fee and points lowered in court, but I'd say your odds of completely getting the ticket thrown out are pretty slim.
Again, this is just anecdotal, so someone more experienced might be able to be of further help.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
For 1, it delays how long you have to pay the ticket (if you end up having to pay anyways)
For 2, if you come off as genuine and contrite, the judge will almost always give you a reprieve of some sort (reduced fine or no loss of demerits)
For 3, the issuing officer may not even show up or flub up his story, getting you a free pass.
Both myself and my father have done this multiple times and never regretted it. Instructions for fighting the ticket in your area should be printed on the back.
then bam, $144 ticket. BULLSHIT.
I ask because I was recently pulled over for doing something pretty stupid, and in addition to that stupid thing, the cop mentioned speeding. Fortunately, I assume because I was polite as humanly possible during the stop, he gave me a warning on the speed. When I took a look at the ticket, the speed warning was written as something like "75 in 55 / overtaking."
Anyway, good luck with it. I'll drop by again if I think of anything more constructive.
You shouldn't have to ask, this info should be readily available as per standard procedure. Never back-talk the judge or cop though, assuming you know how to do their job better than them, that will get you absolutely nowhere.
On older versions of the equipment this was true, but the new guns they have work just fine when moving, when going in the opposite direction, and from a really really really long range.
t OP:
-Was it a crowded road? Possibly he picked the wrong car. (Doubtful)
If you are going to take it to court, make sure you get the maintenance log for the radar gun, and make sure you get the dash cam. If you were really going under 40, you should be able to demonstrate purely on the dash cam that you were not going 25% faster than you really were.
From what I hear if you set up a court date you have to pay court fees, which some times could be more than the ticket itself or almost not worth it.
He should have given you a court date, though. In that case, show up and talk to a DA or someone. Be polite, dress nice, and it should be reduced or some such.
Court fees are built into the ticket, if the ticket gets overturned they eat the court fees. If you plead guilty to get it reduced those fees will not be reduced, and they probably total about 70$ out of the ticket.
If anyone was with you and they corroborate your story your chances are better. See if you can get the tape reviewed too.
but they're listening to every word I say
You'll be in a muni or county court; the judge may even be in plain clothes. The proceeding will be about as informal as court proceedings get. Just go in, tell them the truth (assuming you going 37 MPH the entire time is the truth) and the ticket should get substantially reduced (or even waived.)
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Ah yes, this is a possibility to consider. In a trap, a hidden cop will pin you speeding and radio over to his partner down the road who moves in for the ticket.
Is it possible this might have happened?
thats illegal in many jurisdictions
What, speed traps? It isn't up here in Canadialand, to my knowledge, and I thought it was pretty common for cops to watch for speeders from concealed areas.
It's not like it's entrapement or anything, there's so sign saying "MAX 60" and then 2 meters behind it saying "JUST KIDDING"
You're going to have to provide proof of this. This is another one of those urban legends by people who don't know the law just enough to put 2 and 2 together and end up with a 5.
This is the along the same vein as "if you're a cop you have to tell me" (no, they don't) or "you need a warrant for that" (Probable Cause is good enough in many cases, according to the law). It's BS and it'll just end up making you look foolish if you use the argument in court.
buy drugs, or sex, isn't entrapment, and neither is selling, try again.
Yes, we get it, but there's a difference between Entrapment and a Sting Operation. But that's off topic.
I am not a cop.
Entrapment has nothing to do with this thread, but if a cop comes up to you and offers to sell you weed and then arrests you when you pull out some cash, that is entrapment, because the crime would not have occurred without police action to incite the crime. Stings are an exception but those pretty much only get set up when pursuing people on the business-end of drug trafficking, not so much random pot-heads, and in order to set up a sting you need sufficient probable cause to get court approval, and even in the case of a sting the police generally have to be careful not to incite the criminal activity they're trying to arrest for. Also not everything that the police will claim constitutes probable cause will actually hold up in court, if you have a decent defense attorney.
A speed-trap, however, is never going to be entrapment unless a cop tells you to race them and then pulls you over. If you speed of your own volition, without any encouragement from the police, no means of ticketing you is going to constitute entrapment. Nor is a speed-trap really a sting-operation.
And thus there is no more discussion of entrapment here, because it's entirely irrelevant.
Its a huge pain and takes a lot of effort on your part to be a slacker, but it DOES work.
Also, if you were seriously going 37 in a 35 and he said you were doing 52 you can probably figure out some sort of math that would back you up. Like, I passed this sign at 3:50 p.m. and he pulled me over at this location at 3:52. So if my calculations are correct -- we're in 1955. Or some such. Judges hate math. Anyway I've heard of people using math to back up their case.
-Terry Pratchett
Do you know if it generally goes one way or the other, as in incorrect-faster or incorrect-slower? I ask because the car I just bought has aftermarket 20" wheels (up from 18" stock, I think), and it would be something to keep in mind.
Thanks.
I remember a similar thread a few weeks ago in which somebody claimed it was illegal for a speedometer to read under the actual speed (i.e. reading 50mph when you're actually going 60), but it is perfectly legal for the opposite to hold true (seeing 60 but moving 50).
The speedometer takes the number of rotations of your wheel and multiplies it by the circumference to get distance traveled. So increase the size, you get a larger distance traveled for the same number of rotations. So increase the size of your wheels without telling your speedometer and it'll underestimate the speed you're traveling.
Edit::Rough calculation your speedometer underestimates by about 10% so when you think you're doing 50 your doing 55. Test it out next time you see one of those radar things that announce your speed.
-Terry Pratchett
Actually the opposite tends to hold true. IE think you're going 55 and really going 50.
Traffic laws and procedures vary greatly from state to state. In some states, they are minor criminal offenses and in some states they are purely civil. Things are REALLY different from place to place. In some states, you can take a ticket to a jury trial. In some states, the state can get multiple continuences until the cop shows. I've even heard of judicial notice being taken over radar guns being accurate to within 1 mph.
So... find someone in your state. Then go from there.
No 18" tires have a circumference of 113 inches give or take or roughly 9.5 ft traveled per rotation, a 20" tire has a circumference of 125 inches or 10.5 ft. The speedometer takes RPM(well rph i guess) and multiplies by this distance to produce MPH so if it's reading 1000 RPH it thinks your traveling at 9500 ft/hr when in reality your traveling at 10500 ft/hr. Increasing your tire size causes the speedometer to underestimate.
-Terry Pratchett
You're making it sound like a speedometer always underestimates your speed out of the factory in your original post. I was just stating for legal reasons the opposite tends to be true.