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I was driving to work and not in any particular hurry since I left in plenty of time. I observed a police car with a speed camera in a parking lot where they occasionally are. As soon as I saw the car I glanced at my speedometer. It read just a tad over 40 (probably 41) in a 40 MPH zone. I breathed a sigh of relef and continued on at the same speed. After I passed, the car turned its lights on and pulled me over. He informed me that he clocked me going 50 MPH in a 40 MPH zone. I told him that I glanced at my speedometer when I saw his vehicle and it only indicated slightly over 40 MPH. He wrote me a ticket. I told him that I knew I wasn't speeding and he told me that I had the right to plead innocence in court. I asked him if I had any chance of prevailing since he clocked me at 50 and I only had my word that I wasn't speeding. He replied that if we go to court that I would have the right to present my side of what happened and he would present his and the judge would decide. Something that occurred to me is that I was at a complete stop several hundred feet before he clocked me at 50. I wondered if my car was even capable of accelerating to 50 by the point where he clocked me. I did some tests with my car and it seems possible to reach 50 by that point but I had to accelerate harder than I normally do and certainly harder than I did that morning. Now the brass tacks. I can just pay the $165 ticket. I can pay $215 and request deferred disposition which basically means that if I don't get another ticket in 6 months this one won't go on my record and my auto insurance won't go up (though law enforcement will still know about it). I can fight it and plead not guilty but if I do so I loose the right to request deferred disposition. If I fight it I'll probably have to take 2 days off of work and I have already missed quite a bit due to health problems. I can represent myself or hire a lawyer who will cost $hundreds but might improve my odds of prevailing but if I loose I'll have to pay my lawyer and the $165 fine. The most pracitcal thing would be to pay $215 and get on with my life. However, this bugs the crap out of me because I know I'm innocent and hate paying for something I didn't do. Also, I haven't had a moving violation in over 20 years which I'm rather proud of so I'm emotionally invested in this as well. What do you think?
I think that you should talk to a lawyer and ask what your chances are and what it will cost you if your complaint fails.
This will also depend on the technique of speed-o-meter the police used and on the laws and previous complaints in your country.
Over here, you would have good chances to complain against a measurement by a hand-held laser pistol speed-o-meter as these are publicly known to be inexact. They often fail when a larger car such as a truck is driving behind you or they are irritated by reflections from the guard rail. You would have as good as no chance to win a complaint against a permanently installed speed-o-meter, unless it has been deficient in the past. You would also not have a chance to complain against a video-equipped car that has been following and taping, you unless the police car has been tailgating you and you can claim you were speeding to create some safety distance.
And you would have a gamble about a semi-stationary speed-o-meter. If the police keeps a full record of correct calibration of their device your complaint would fail. If they keep no calibration record at all or even a record of an unprofessional calibration, you would win.
But you should really find out from someone who knows about traffic laws and previous complaints like yours in your area.
Geez that police man is a real tight ars if you ask me. See my mum had a similar problem a few months back. One day i was ill and she had t pick me up from school. On the way home from school we stopped at the pharmacy round the corner from my house to get something to help me feel better. On the road of the pharmacy you are allowed up to half an hour of free parking but after that you have to pay. My mum got down, got me my meds and we drove off. A week later my mum receives a fine of £40 claiming we had been longer but my mum fought it and as a result won meaning she didn't have to pay. They are just tryna get money out of you and im sure your already very aware of this. It really depends on your personality, see if it was me id fight it because that is the way i am and if im being charged for something i didn't do or blamed for something im going to stick up for myself and do it with pride. If you have enough valid evidence that you think you have a higher then 60% chance of winning the case i reckon you should go and fight it. If your a sorta quiet person adn you just want to put it to rest id say pay 215, but that it a lot so again that isn't the type of thing i would do. I say fight it.
Some courts for traffic offences offer a night court in the evening one or two days a week for people who can't make the regular traffic court. That would save you having to take time off work at least. And from my experience and several friends experience, for tickets like this one that seem to be a bit of a stretch the cop wont even show up 1/2 the time. They wrote the ticket because their commanding officer is on their case about not writing enough tickets:P.
Ask another officer or county deputy to "clock you" sometime to make sure your speedometer is in calibration. See that the right size tires are on your car because that does make a difference. If you decide to fight it in court and "the" officer doesen't show up, it's thrown out. If he does, well then it's 50/50. I'd take my chances and fight it if I where you.
ok here is one fact you need to remember first you can demand to see his radar if stopped for speeding second he will have to have the radar logged during your little episode so if your sure you weren't going over 41 then i would fight it. also realize your speed dial could be broken and not register your actually speed. i had one that always read 10 miles low
"I haven't had a moving violation in over 20 years"....This is evidence that you are a safe driver and not a speeder,use it in court....find evidence of these type of camera systems not being just....Double check the paper work from the polices form of evidence,if they did not follow procedures in calebrating the camera then your ticket should be void.
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Since I missed so much work (ended up having surgery) I decided to plead no contest and take deferred adjudication. If it wasn't for my health problems I probably would have tried fighting it on principal but sometimes you have to choose your battles and do what is expedient.
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If it were me I wud fight it, seeing that u have had no violations in 20 yrs is good evidence, that says a lot. So yeah I wud fight it if I were u
I'm sorry I didn't see this back when you posted it. What did you decide to do, and what was the outcome?
I think probably both
Spam or Scam?
Fight it!!!
