CS speeding ticket. any ideas?

A similar thing happened to me and I just settled it a couple of weeks ago. I was going much faster than you but the cop couldn't have "clocked" me. I took pictures of the site from his vantage point as well as from mine; had 8x10s of them with me the day I was to appear at the pretrial hearing. The first thing the prosecutor did was offer a plea bargain down to "failure to yield right of way" and a fine - this without me saying anything! When I told her I appreciated the offer but was really concerned about the way the whole thing happened, she paused and noticed the pictures which I had prominently displayed outside the folder I had been carrying. She asked me what happened and I told her. In my case I had admitted I had been speeding but not as fast as the cop had recorded. She brought the charge down to "failure to signal" and I paid the fine and took a couple of points.

You should prepare yourself accordingly and plead not guilty. Of course a lawyer will raise your chances of getting off, but if you go it alone, you could be very successful in reducing the charge to nill or beating it.

Best wishes on beating this unfair charge

 

Fight this one all the way...In court, it may be useful for you to pull some numbers on the cop...measure the length of the intersection, and try to figure out exactly where he was looking from, and how long he would have been able to see you for...then find out how long it would have taken for you to cover that ground going 50 mph, and how long at 30 mph...bring up those numbers in court, to show how unlikely it would be for the cop to see you, identify YOUR car from the pack, estimate how fast you were going, and chase you...also, try to throw in a demonstration in court, I've never done it personally, but I've heard that doing this has helped people in court...use an RC car if you have one, or a ball, or anything, and (first ask the judge's permission) drive the RC car/throw the ball in the courtroom, and ask the officer to determine its speed...hopefully that will add some ammo to your case, although this IS complete, and utter bull****.

 

Go to court. Dress well. Chose a speed, say 30 mph. Tell the judge why you were going 30 (Example “The engine is happy at 30 mph in third gear. Anything lower and it chugs, anything higher and it’s just too loud to be comfortable around town.”). If you say you were going 30 to 35 the judge will hear that you don’t actually know how fast you were going and find you guilty.
If you have no previous tickets (!) say you always drive at 30 in town and thus have a clean license. It's better to look like a wet weakling with too much car than a professional racing driver at this point in time. Point out that the difference between your speed and an illegal one over the length of an intersection is a fraction of a second and thus very difficult - if not impossible - for an officer to appreciate when he is already fully engaged in writing a ticket.
At the end of the day it will all be down to a judge. If his goal is to increase the municipality’s revenue it wouldn’t matter if you were driving a three wheeled bus filled with nuns. If, on the other hand, he actually behaves like a judge you’re in with a shot. Good luck.
Kram

 

Show up in court with the red CS - they'll think the cop was seeing things!

"Why no judge, my Ferrari is red as you can see, not yellow. I don't know what this policeman is talking about"

 

My attorney once told me that legal advise is usually worth what you pay for it.

 

I got to be a quasi-expert on tickets about 4 years ago. In NC you can take one Mulligan called a "Prayer for Judgement" every 4 years.

Even if you have used your PFJ, I found that a local lawyer can work wonders at reducing the charge and preventing points which are the real cost (thru higher insurance premiums).

I have found $90 tickets cost $420 including the lawyer fee, but after 3 tickets my insurance still did not go up (I don't think).

So fight it with a local lawyer who knows the system.

BTW, I signed a paper with the lawyer and did not even have to step foot in court saving a day's employment that more than paid for all costs in the incident.

 

Same situation in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Once you've used your PFJ, a lawyer can be a big help. Also, we have a distinction between insurance points and DMV points -- not sure of your situation in California.

I think the PFJ is some relic of the Bible Belt. Doesn't it mean "This earthly court will let everything slide, but you should say a prayer to ask for God's forgivness in his final judgement". ??

(I'm on year two of my PFJ clearance. 83 mph in a 55 on US-220 near South Carolina)


-Daniel

 

That has got to be the strangest thing I have ever heard of. Believe me, nothing like that is available in CA. Good grief.

Gary

 

Amen.

 

Hi Rick,

Fight it as Kevin says hear in the UK there must be clear evidence that you were spedding .

Im sure you can ask the Trafic cop in court how he come to the conclusion on yr ESTIMATED speed thats all he did ESTIMATE it. Sounds a very weak case indeed.

All the best

Joe

 

I would suggest sending a lawyer. You don't have to go then and let him handle it. A good traffic lawyer knows all the angles. Many local lawyers have the system in place so everything is arranged before they even walk into the courtroom. Well worth the money.

 

Your are getting great advice. It does seem you will win. One little piece of advice. When you go to court dress nicely but not like a MILLION BUCKS. You do not need the judge thinking you are very well off. You already stand out as you got a ticket in a Ferrari. Dress understated but nice. Just my experience.

I believe you will win this considering all the facts. Just be prepared.

Cheers,

 

This reminds me of three tickets I received.

1.) I was driving my NSX with another friend of mine who was in his NSX (so 2 NSX's going down highway 70 in Indianapolis) and as we were driving along we saw a police officer in the middle lane about 1/4 to 1/2 mile ahead of us so we took great care to stay within 5 mph of the speed limit which was 55 mph. Then we see the officer slow to BELOW the speed limit until we get up near him when he turns on his lights and pulls us over. He issues us BOTH tickets for 88 mph in a 55 mph zone and, this is the best part, claims to have obtained that speed from a 'top secret speed detection device' (his words) that he has no obligation to show us or give us any proof of. We were speechless.

2.) I was in my NSX again on I-69 south near Indianapolis and as I was driving in the right hand lane I was passed by numerous cars going 75-80 mph in a 65 zone. I was at about 68 mph (3 mph over the limit) and the officer (who was passing me while following a brown Taurus that was going about 80 mph) stopped, turned on his lights, pulled me over and wrote me a ticket for 5 MPH OVER THE LIMIT!! I was livid but fought the ticket because of its obvious bias. The first judge would not throw it out, so I went behind the scenes to the prosecutor. The prosecutor for the county was just as stunned as I was and thought it was a stupid ticket and dismissed it for me. Thank goodness.

3.) Driving my S2000 to a group drive one of the other S2000 drivers was an idiot and passed a sitting police officer at about 80 mph in a 65 mph zone and attracted his attention. By the time the officer caught up with the other S2000 driver they were up to where I was (I was going about 5 mph over at the time) and the officer pulled us both over. The best (or worst) part was that the officer ADMITTED that he never even saw me speeding but figured that since the other S2000 was that I had to be and wrote me a ticket for 79 mph in a 65 mph zone (the other guys speed). Unfreaking believable.

 

720,

I had the exact same thing happen to me in my barely exhaust legal Vette about a year ago. Before you do anything else, check on your ticket to see what his comments are. That will tell you or your attorney how to argue the case. For instance, if he clocked you, he will note that he clocked you and more often than not note the "gun" number. If he paced you, he will note that he "paced" you and that is how he confirmed your speed. In my case, like yours, the officer did neither. He simply heard the car, "guessed" that I was speeding, and decided to give me a hard time.

You stated in your original post that the officer was stopped, giving someone else a ticket when you passed through the intersection, therefore he could not have paced you, or, more than likely, radared you. It sounds to me that your car was simply roaring along in a low gear announcing its presence when this guy thought that it sounded like you were speeding. Subjectively, there is NO WAY that ANYONE can consistently and accurately guess the speed of a vehicle, especially when you think about a 10 or 15 mph difference in speed. Think about it, 50mph looks and feels (from any perspective) a lot different in a CS than a run of the mill Honda...

I think you should fight this one. There are too many holes in his case.

 

thats such a bunch of crap. from what you described it sounds like you were given a ticket because of the stradale. it sounds as if you have a very good chance to beat the ticket, i hope you do so!

ernie

 

http://www.highwayrobbery.net/


this link might help in your ticket fight.

Good luck

 

have a look at this link as well. it details how someone fought (and won) a speeding ticket in san jose.

http://www.aidoann.com/sanjose-ticket/


-T

 

I would definitely fight this one. It sounds like you have a good chance of winning, but like others have said: do your homework and be prepared. If you want to increase your chances of winning then get a lawyer. Good luck.

 

This will easily be thrown out if you contest it by yourself and plead not guilty. Don't even bother asking for a plea bargain nor allowing them to sucker you into one, unless the dollar amount is worth less than your time.

1) ask what the violation was for. i.e. - allow the judge to read the violation/law that was broken. make sure you are ONLY defending this. nothing else. if something is brought up about the sound of the car, that has nothing to do with the charge against you.
2) Allow the officer to be questioned about the speed. inquire with the officer how he pulled you over, where he was and how he clocked you by means of radar/laser/vascar/following you. He will NOT admit that he didn't use any of those items in the field when persuing you.
3) Put yourself up on trial and you'll be interviewing yourself/explaining your situation. Just state what you were doing, where you were going, how you saw the officer before he pulled you over. And don't forget to inform the court/judge that he admitted he didn't use any kind of laser/radar on him.

Be kind, cordial, and make sure you listen to a few quick speeding trials before your own. That way, you will know how to play the judge.

Best of luck.

 

I was pulling out of a shop in an industrial area...there was about 1/8 mile between the shop and the main road. Just as I shift into second gear(348 w/Tubi and test pipes=brilliant sound) I see a cop in my rear view way back down the street. I check my speed and I'm around 35 in a 25 and slowing for the stop sign at the main road. The cop pulls up behind me at the stop sign...does nothing....waits for me to turn on to a busy road and turns the lights on. I get pulled over on a side street. He immediately claims that he 'clocked me' doing 50. All I know is my Valantine was on and I heard nothing. He checks the license/reg/ins....and when he comes back I'm ready to confront him as he hands me the ticket. However...he says that he was just going to warn me as there was not enough time to pace me. Just another 'busy' day for Tempe's finest.

Ciao Dino