Speeding ticket technicality question

[MacDaddy]

Define "big". Taxes, not fines, account for the great majority of revenue in most cities.

I meant among traffic/speeding/etc. violations. I was agreeing with you, even though it might not have been obvious.

Ahh, gotcha.

Actually, I bet HOV-lane violations -- which carry an automatic minimum $300 fine in California, at least -- make up a nice portion of that, too.

Yeah, that's pretty hard to fight, too.

The beauty of the red light cameras (from the municipality's perspective) is they don't really have to do anything except cash the checks -- get the camera set up, change the timing of the light (often they'll make the yellow shorter to maximize revenue, even though this causes more rear-end collisions), **** all over the concept of due process and wait for the money to start rolling in.

 

[Angola!]

My father used the laws of physics one time to get out of a ticket. He proved to the judge that it was impossible for him to have gone from a complete stop at a stop sign to the speed the police officer said he was going in the distance between the stop sign and where he was pulled over.

I got a warning once for something similar. I'm pretty sure his radar was picking up the guy in front of me who ran the stop sign, where as I had just turned onto the road. I tried to point that out to him and he told me to stop arguing and I should thank my lucky stars I wasn't getting a ticket.
Sometimes I really dislike cops.

 

[BYH]

Contest it. The cop may not show up.

I've never been so pissed as the day I was found guilty for doing more than 10 mph over the limit in a 25 (honestly can't remember the speed). I was on my way to the hospital to see my sick girlfriend and wasn't concentrating. I was so out of it I didn't even bother tryign to talk my way out of it, but when I contested it, I got a doctor's note. Dressed in my Sunday best and went to court one weekday afternoon months later.

While I'm sitting there, Cletus the Slack-Jawed With Blonde Hair Dyed Black Yokel Wearing A Wife-Beater gets called up to the stand.

"Cletus, you were accused of doing 110 in a 55. How do you plead?"
"Darrrr not guilty yer honer."
"Well your cop isn't here today. Since this is the second time he has not shown up, I'm throwing the case out."

Judge then puts his head down and starts writing out the paperwork. Cletus turns, flashes a barely toothy grin and gives the rest of us law-abiding ****s the thumbs up. Asshole.

A few minutes later I get called up. My cop walks up with me. I get a sinking feeling. I tell the judge my story, present the evidence. Judge asks the cop if I told him of this when I was pulled over. cop says no, but that I was very polite and he wishes I had said something.

Judge tells me I'm a fine young man and that he understands why I was racing down the street, but he has no choice but to find me guilty. He knocks my fine down to the minimum and shakes my hand. It wasn't his fault, but I was so, so pissed.

A few minutes later, I'm in the snack bar stewing and a woman comes up to me. "I can't believe you had to pay and that white trash idiot walked free for driving double the limit in a 55," she says.

I agreed. And then we had sex. OK I made the first part up.

 

[zebracoy]

Thanks for the input, guys.

I don't have a problem paying it. I was always planning on paying it, but just started to over-think things because it seemed odd that the officer would have written that address down instead of the one that's on my license, registration and insurance card. I should ask my sister - she went through a two-year span where she was pulled over at least four or five times for speeding and walked away from all without a ticket. Actually, check that - knowing her, I don't want to know her methods.

buckweaver, your "providing false information" idea is a good one, and I wouldn't want to see what would happen if that comes out. I can't imagine it would be a pretty sight.

As for the 51 in a 25, it's a long, straight, slightly-inclined four-mile-long connector road between two state roads. I've never been able to understand why in the world the speed limit is 25 on that road, given that there are all of four houses on it, but it's probably just a throwback to the days of long ago and they never changed it. (If I didn't care about outing myself, I'd show you the road on Google Earth. You'd scratch your head, too.)

And again, as I said, it is entirely possible I was going 51, for I was running late for the event. But I've never broken 45 on that road in the past, and cars do occasionally use it to race down.

Anyways, it's all a moot point. It happened and the thing's right here in front of me. I'll give it a day of thought to head to court just for the hell of it or to just pay it. I've got until next Wednesday.

 

[spup1122]

For those of you who think the radar was picking up someone other than you, it's impossible. When I was on the cop beat I went along with some speeding enforcement days and the radars they use, in their car and by hand have a laser on them. You can't see it when they're monitoring you, but they know exactly which cars they are seeing speed. The laser is fairly precise and picks up a feature on your car.

They also told me a list of the things that people do to try to keep themselves from being detected. They said some will put a cd on the dash because they think it reflects the radar gun and it doesn't. There was a long list of ****, but I can't think of all of them right now. Pretty fun stuff and if any of you end up on a cop beat and have a chance, go to one of these speed enforcement days or DUI checkpoints. People will get pissed off and ask the cop to tell you to leave, but since it's a public street the cop can only say "he/she has the right to be here. It's a public street and I can't stop them from listening to this conversation or taking pictures of you."

 

[John]

For those of you who think the radar was picking up someone other than you, it's impossible. When I was on the cop beat I went along with some speeding enforcement days and the radars they use, in their car and by hand have a laser on them. You can't see it when they're monitoring you, but they know exactly which cars they are seeing speed. The laser is fairly precise and picks up a feature on your car.

They also told me a list of the things that people do to try to keep themselves from being detected. They said some will put a cd on the dash because they think it reflects the radar gun and it doesn't. There was a long list of ****, but I can't think of all of them right now. Pretty fun stuff and if any of you end up on a cop beat and have a chance, go to one of these speed enforcement days or DUI checkpoints. People will get pissed off and ask the cop to tell you to leave, but since it's a public street the cop can only say "he/she has the right to be here. It's a public street and I can't stop them from listening to this conversation or taking pictures of you."

Mythbusters did an episode on trying to beat the radar. Nothing worked.

 

[deskslave]

For those of you who think the radar was picking up someone other than you, it's impossible. When I was on the cop beat I went along with some speeding enforcement days and the radars they use, in their car and by hand have a laser on them. You can't see it when they're monitoring you, but they know exactly which cars they are seeing speed. The laser is fairly precise and picks up a feature on your car.

They also told me a list of the things that people do to try to keep themselves from being detected. They said some will put a cd on the dash because they think it reflects the radar gun and it doesn't. There was a long list of ****, but I can't think of all of them right now. Pretty fun stuff and if any of you end up on a cop beat and have a chance, go to one of these speed enforcement days or DUI checkpoints. People will get pissed off and ask the cop to tell you to leave, but since it's a public street the cop can only say "he/she has the right to be here. It's a public street and I can't stop them from listening to this conversation or taking pictures of you."

Yeah, but you can be damn sure if I later get the ticket thrown out, I'm gonna be beating down that newspaper's door. Not arguing the right to be there. Just saying.

 

[ifilus]

For those of you who think the radar was picking up someone other than you, it's impossible. When I was on the cop beat I went along with some speeding enforcement days and the radars they use, in their car and by hand have a laser on them. You can't see it when they're monitoring you, but they know exactly which cars they are seeing speed. The laser is fairly precise and picks up a feature on your car.

They also told me a list of the things that people do to try to keep themselves from being detected. They said some will put a cd on the dash because they think it reflects the radar gun and it doesn't. There was a long list of ****, but I can't think of all of them right now. Pretty fun stuff and if any of you end up on a cop beat and have a chance, go to one of these speed enforcement days or DUI checkpoints. People will get pissed off and ask the cop to tell you to leave, but since it's a public street the cop can only say "he/she has the right to be here. It's a public street and I can't stop them from listening to this conversation or taking pictures of you."

Mythbusters did an episode on trying to beat the radar. Nothing worked.

Power lines interfere with radar guns. My attorney successfully used that defense for me in court, and then I wrote an article about it. Received many thank-you letters.

 

[John]

For those of you who think the radar was picking up someone other than you, it's impossible. When I was on the cop beat I went along with some speeding enforcement days and the radars they use, in their car and by hand have a laser on them. You can't see it when they're monitoring you, but they know exactly which cars they are seeing speed. The laser is fairly precise and picks up a feature on your car.

They also told me a list of the things that people do to try to keep themselves from being detected. They said some will put a cd on the dash because they think it reflects the radar gun and it doesn't. There was a long list of ****, but I can't think of all of them right now. Pretty fun stuff and if any of you end up on a cop beat and have a chance, go to one of these speed enforcement days or DUI checkpoints. People will get pissed off and ask the cop to tell you to leave, but since it's a public street the cop can only say "he/she has the right to be here. It's a public street and I can't stop them from listening to this conversation or taking pictures of you."

Mythbusters did an episode on trying to beat the radar. Nothing worked.

Power lines interfere with radar guns. My attorney successfully used that defense for me in court, and then I wrote an article about it. Received many thank-you letters.

I don't recall the show trying that.

 

[spup1122]

That's not one they talked about with me, but I can't imagine how it would actually work because there are power lines everywhere. Why would they use a radar gun that won't work in the city limits because every street is lined with power lines?

Nevertheless, congrats on getting out of that ticket, I guess.

 

[MacDaddy]

Only high-voltage power lines affect radar guns.

 

[Bruce Leroy]

Surprised at all of the "you deserve it for going 51 in a 25" responses on here. The only 25 mph zones I've ever seen that merited that low of a limit were in neighborhoods. Most of the time, 25 is ridiculously low. Other than neighborhoods and school/hospital zones, nothing needs to be lower than 35. And any limit lower than 65 on a highway is bull****.

 

[ArnoldBabar]

You're guilty and you owe the fine. But like BYH pointed out, if you have the time to go to court, it's always worth a shot to see if the cop doesn't show.

But your address trick defense will get you nowhere.

 

[lono]

Get a lawyer to plead it down for you.

Yeah, it might cost you $500 or $1,000 today.

But for 51 in a 25, it might well save you double that in insurance premium increases over the next three to five years.

And besides, in many states, 25 mph over the limit carries a license suspension with it.

Let a pro handle it.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Get a lawyer to plead it down for you.

Yeah, it might cost you $500 or $1,000 today.

But for 51 in a 25, it might well save you double that in insurance premium increases over the next three to five years.

And besides, in many states, 25 mph over the limit carries a license suspension with it.

Let a pro handle it.

You don't need a lawyer. Just arrive early and ask to speak to the municipal prosecutor. Tell him/her you'd like to plead it down to a zero point offense. He or she will offer you one. Take it. Then when your case gets called before the judge, he'll see that it's been pled down, listen to the prosecutor, ask if you agree to abide by it, be polite, say yes and you're done.
Wearing a suit to court works well, since most people just show up in jeans and whatever shirt they happen to be wearing that day. The suit shows some respect for the court.

 

[Write-brained]

Only high-voltage power lines affect radar guns.

Wrong. Lots of things can.

I had a former cop-turned-attorney tell me recently that if he wanted to make a lot of money he would specialize in radar cases because it's so easy to get out of if you know what you're talking about.

First, you ask for a jury trial (which costs you extra) and then you ask a series of questions about the science of the device that will reveal that most cops don't know what they're doing when it comes to radar other than pointing and clicking.

Cops have to know how to set up the equipment, and many outside of the highway patrol don't have the full training and certification they need. Many do but there are so many things you can use to trip off the officer and raise reasonable doubt - certain buildings, layout of the land, other cars. Many juries, especially if they understand that the cops and judges all receive their paycheck from the same place, just need a little evidence to find you not guilty.

This is all according to the former cop turned attorney. I just took my last ticket and pleaded it down with the officer. It's all a gamut set up to make money.

 

[imjustagirl]

I've gotten two speeding tickets in the past six months. However, none have been within 500 miles of my house. Makes it hard to go to court.

So I just have to pay them and take the hit, right?

 

[spup1122]

If you haven't paid them yet, you might have a pretty warrant out for your arrest, ijag.

I'm going to assume you're smarter than that and either the court date was longer than it's been of you've bad them.

 

[imjustagirl]

I paid the first one. Just got the second one last week, and haven't been home or called for the total yet.

 

[Moderator1]

If you haven't paid them yet, you might have a pretty warrant out for your arrest, ijag.

I'm going to assume you're smarter than that and either the court date was longer than it's been of you've bad them.

I had an ugly warrant out for my arrest once. Scared the **** out of me!