Sure you can beat a speeding ticket via radar!

All those traffic cops that are out there to make money for the city could be out busting drug dealers, hunting down rapists or doing something else worth while. Speed traps are a waste of good man power. It's not the cops fault, he has do what he is told; but I think the city should be using ALL of it's police to do something that actually benefits society. I'm lucky my step dad is a deputy in the county I have gotten some tickets in, but I feel bad for others.

 

I think this should some it all up:

If a man can get off for double murder with dna evidence against him, you can get out of a speeding ticket with radar against you.

 

You're correct Art, with the exception of small claims, "court" is an arena designed for the lawyers to play, not people vs the powers that be.

Inside the court of law, it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, it only matters what you can prove.

 

Exactly, hence OJ.

 

Damn right, hire art. Nuff said.

 

Unless they just don't bother to calibrate at all and knowingly issue illegal tickets. (See SF red light cams)

 

well here we are are again with the only advice you need onthe net..RETAIN AN ATTORNEY WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH YOUR SYSTEM. Ignore all other "advice".Always ignore the advice of a litigator who "never loses".They do not try enough cases!

 

Blaneyge,
interesting. By your own logic, your advice should be ignored.

Unless you are a litigator who has lost a few cases?

 

I'm going to traffic court next week... I'll be pleading not guilty and will file a motion for discovery if the prosecutor doesn't want to work with me... This will be my first time filing for discovery; if that's the direction I need to go, I'll let you folks know how it goes... Wish me luck...

 

Do NOT waive your right to a speedy trial. Otherwise they will keep rescheduling every time you make a motion to dismiss for failing to comply with your discovery request. If you don't waive your right, they can't do that.

 

Great to know...! Thanks, Art...!

 

Christs Sakes---Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't type if YOU don't know !!! Never assume you know how this works. Your statement is a assumption on your part. Unless you are a police officer or city council member or county commisioner and if you are then I retract my statement.
Trying to keep speeding aggressive drivers under control does not benefit society??? Tell that to the famalies of the 40 fatals we had this year just in my county. 90% invovled speeding and or reckless driving....

 

I am a prosecutor in a mid sized office with 20 attorneys and 30 support staff.I have a budget of several million dollars,etc etc so what? One had better damn well hire a lawyer who knows what the score is.You sure don't need a "I never lost a case"mentality to have to deal with.It never ceases to amaze me when i see the bad legal advice folks get.Remember,it is your license and ass that are on the line,not your internet friend's.............hire an attorney...............

 

You need a guy like Mike Valentine as an expert witness!

 

Yes, but if you look at the incidence of speeding, then you realize that preventing speeding does not prevent accidents. Everybody speeds on a daily basis. Does it always result in accidents? Perhaps the emphasis should be on reasonable speed rather than blanket limits? Perhaps the punishment should be enforced delays or community service rather than monetary fines. Then how aggressively would you enforce it? It's still benefitting society, is it not? No money in it for the officials, though. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? I don't think it's a waste of time, but I do think the focus is on the wrong things. Let's put it back on safety. That's the ultimate goal, right?

 

I agree with some aspects of what your saying. Safety is paramount in my opinion. Let me say speeding w/o the experience to go along with it, is probably better put. But when investigating a crash I can't put a % on experience as to what caused it, I can with speed. I personally don't think community service or enforced delays will work for anything other than a first offense. Around here just about everyone with a minor traffic infraction will get a PBJ and a day of community service, which is fine for a first offense--- totally agree with it. But what gets drivers attention after the thrid or forth citation---money(fines) or incarceration. Here incarceration is out of the question unless it is a serious traffic offense(DWI,Driving suspended, etc). In MD NO money from the citation goes to the county. It all goes the the MD general fund, where the Md State Police get whatever they want from it. NOT US. Maybe a better solution is after the thrid ticket--no fine---you lose your license for a set amount of time. Who knows what will work or not, I am not a politician or judge. I agree everyone speeds from time to time, I guess I am referring to the one's exceeding the limit by 15-20+ mph over all the time. I just see what happens to Moms, Dads, Brothers, babies, etc. from improper driving behaviors. The leading one of them all-SPEEDING!! Not fun going to Mom at 2am and telling her Little Johnny is spalattered all over the highway because he took at 30mph turn at 75 and didn't make it. One of the worst things I have to do. So for now I will continue to run radar/laser and write citations.

 

I have a question before I go to court tommorow. What about the 'reasonable speed' defense? I want to plead 'not guilty' and say that I was going with traffic and that if I went any slower I could possibly be a hazard to others. Any chance it could work?

BTW, it was 1am and, truthfully, people were driving fast. I was going 85 at a 60.

Hopefully someone responds to this before tommorow.

 

I have heard of this working. But, it's tough. You have to PROVE that the speed you were driving at was safe. The established speed limit is the court's proof--an engineering survey told them that was the safe limit. You need to provide engineering and traffic data to back up your claim that your speed at that time and place was safe. That's a long shot.

You will probably have better luck asking for the cop's experience and the equipment calibration, and then cross examining the cop as to the procedures used and observations made. Usually, they trip up somewhere. But you have to know what to watch for, what questions to ask, etc. That's why you hire an experienced attorney.

 

I didn't say you or your department was benefitting from the money. But clearly, someone is. If that someone then has a say in the imposition of the fines, obviously they are going to pass more and more laws that allow them to collect more and more money. They will also pass more and more laws that make it difficult for the average person to resist having to pay the fine. That's what has happened. It's a huge money mill that forgot about actual justice years ago. Most medium-sized towns rake in millions. With so much at stake, you can bet the system is stacked against the ordinary citizen. It's a complete abuse of the legal system. Paint someone a criminal, ream them with fines, and make it hard for them to fight back. Nice racket.

You are also wrong in that fines get attention and other forms of punishment don't. Or that loss of driving privileges or incarceration works. All of them make people think about how to beat the system. When the punishment is not seen as fitting the crime, people take matters into their own hands. Hence the huge industry in stealth technologies, radar and laser detectors, jammers, etc., etc. It is wrong to label ordinary, law abiding folk as criminals by setting low speed limits and sneaky radar traps. It is right to enforce safety. They are not directly related, but most law enforcement makes it into a direct link. It is simply not true.

You are also wrong in that you can attribute speed as a cause of a crash, but not inexperience. Half the time, the estimation of speed in a crash is either incorrect or completely impossible to determine from the evidence. Second, the car's safety devices, angle of impact, distance to decelerate to zero, occupant's neck angle and position, seat position and angle, steering wheel position and angle, all play an equally important role. You would be surprised at the serious injuries people suffer in 35mph crashes, and you would also be surprised at the number of people who walk away from 80 or 100 mph crashes. Speed is a raw, single measure. There's a million factors at play in any situation. To focus on speed alone is simply misguided, and serves nobody except the people who want to profit off speeding fines.

I can imagine that it's tough to tell parents that their kids killed themselves through negligent driving. Education and awareness and effective deterrents are some effective remedies, but unfortunately the people who benefit don't write in to city officials every day and say that their education helped them avoid a fatal accident. Also, we will never eliminate all traffic fatalities. People have varying levels of ability and training, and even with high levels of practice, their awareness and skill level varies every day, depending on
- how tired they are,
- how well they are feeling,
- drinking and or medication they have taken,
- recent physical or mental exertion
- how much stress they are under,
- how much sleep they have had,
- distractions around them, etc., etc.
Put a huge mix of people in control of several thousand pounds of metal moving in close proximity to each other, and some are guaranteed to screw up.

I don't believe focusing on speed alone helps at all. I also don't believe imposing monetary fines is a very effective deterrent. How can it be? For most people, a couple of hundred bucks is not a big deal at all. But, multiply it by 200 or 2000 per day, times approximately 250 court days per year, and you can see that it is a very important sum to the city each year. Alternatively, take away any monetary benefit to the city, but cover its costs only, and see how quickly the city officials lose their zeal to enforce speeding fines. They delude themselves that they are enhancing safety but they are thieving crooks, pure and simple.

 

.. sooo you're saying that since you can't measure the actual causes of an accident, you're settling for the accountable figure, relevant or not as to the cause of the accident. Wow.

Art already wrote my opinion on the matter better than I could have ever done it ...

Thanks to the attorneys who are helping us honest average citizens fight this shameless racket.

 

All I know is that I’m hiring Art if I ever get busted in California........



“Art, it’s a simple speeding ticket!”

“Yes, but you were robbing a bank when you got it.”

“Well, I was the wheel man, that’s all. Can’t we use that 3 degree stuff and get it all thrown out?”

“What say I save some time and just throw you out right now??”

“Okay, okay. Hey, you don’t know any place round here that would change some bills with a spot of purple dye on them, do you?”

“OUT! OUT!”

 

if i remember right, when the 55mph speed limit was raised to 65mph, the death toll on the highways went down

 

I wonder how many police are using this radar using its POP mode.
http://www.valentine1.com/pop/whatispop.asp

If you have to put that disclaimer in your operating manual why even put the feature in your product.

This may be something to look into if you are going to court to fight a ticket. The manufacturer says that it is not reliable enough to use as evidence to base a speeding ticket off of. I would try to find out if the police got me with this particular type of radar unit.