Just got pulled over for speeding and really want to fight it...any advice?

[Melissa]

OK so I just went to Kmart to buy my 3 year old the Lion King DVD and as I am driving home on our 2 lane state highway that goes right to my house my 20 year old daughter sees a cop coming our way and says hey mom a cop is coming are you speeding..I look down and see that I am doing 60 and tell her no she looks over and says ok...well the cop jumps behind me and pulls me over...Very rude from the beginning..he walks to my window and barks license and registration..i turn to him and say officer what did you pull me over for and he barks again license and registration...I ask again what he is pulling me over for and he barks a third time license and registration so I reach to get them and give them to him...He then takes them to his car and when he comes back after a few minutes tells me he could give me a 125 dollar ticket for my registration not being signed..I say really and sign it...he then asks me the ages of the people in the car..which were my 20 year old daughter her 21 year old friend and my 3 year old daughter in the back seat. I ask him what he needs this info for and he barks at me..He asks where I am going and I say home and he asks where I am coming from and I bark from Kmart grab the bag with the movie in it and say just bought Lion King for my 3 year old..he then asks why I am so mad and I tell him the story how we saw him and looked at our speedometer and realized we were not speeding...He then hands me a ticket for 141 dollars clocking me at 68...now I was doing 60 when me and my daughter looked at my speed and I guess the speed limit on his ticket says the limit was 55 so i was speeding 5 miles but NOT 68

any advice?

[Anti Federalist]

Did you ever admit how fast you were going or that you were speeding?

Request a hearing first thing in the morning.

If you have a new enough vehicle, get the OBD2 data, it may have max speed recorded for the last 24 hours. Do nut run the car until you check on that, if you want to use that, as new start stop cycles will clear the memory.

Demand calibration reports and a receipt if possible from the radar device.




OK so I just went to Kmart to buy my 3 year old the Lion King DVD and as I am driving home on our 2 lane state highway that goes right to my house my 20 year old daughter sees a cop coming our way and says hey mom a cop is coming are you speeding..I look down and see that I am doing 60 and tell her no she looks over and says ok...well the cop jumps behind me and pulls me over...Very rude from the beginning..he walks to my window and barks license and registration..i turn to him and say officer what did you pull me over for and he barks again license and registration...I ask again what he is pulling me over for and he barks a third time license and registration so I reach to get them and give them to him...He then takes them to his car and when he comes back after a few minutes tells me he could give me a 125 dollar ticket for my registration not being signed..I say really and sign it...he then asks me the ages of the people in the car..which were my 20 year old daughter her 21 year old friend and my 3 year old daughter in the back seat. I ask him what he needs this info for and he barks at me..He asks where I am going and I say home and he asks where I am coming from and I bark from Kmart grab the bag with the movie in it and say just bought Lion King for my 3 year old..he then asks why I am so mad and I tell him the story how we saw him and looked at our speedometer and realized we were not speeding...He then hands me a ticket for 141 dollars clocking me at 68...now I was doing 60 when me and my daughter looked at my speed and I guess the speed limit on his ticket says the limit was 55 so i was speeding 5 miles but NOT 68

any advice?

[sailingaway]

Show up. They often don't.

[Melissa]

Did you ever admit how fast you were going or that you were speeding? no all I said was I was not doing 68

Request a hearing first thing in the morning. Can You explain this more?

If you have a new enough vehicle, get the OBD2 data, it may have max speed recorded for the last 24 hours. Do nut run the car until you check on that, if you want to use that, as new start stop cycles will clear the memory. I do not have a new vehicle it is a 2001 Kia nothing fancy just good on gas

Demand calibration reports and a receipt if possible from the radar device. Do You know who I would call to ask for this

Please see my answers above and thank you thank you I am so mad and really want to have my say in court

[pcosmar]

any advice?

Not really,,you could attempt to fight it, hope he doesn't show in court..Your word against a cop doesn't count for shit.

It would likely be easier to pay.. but that sucks..

No advice,, other than avoid them.. too late for that,,

[phill4paul]

He then takes them to his car and when he comes back after a few minutes tells me he could give me a 125 dollar ticket for my registration not being signed..

There is a reason for the fine and the law. You just signed away your rights. Which is why he didn't issue you a ticket. He got his desired result.

[Melissa]

There is a reason for the fine and the law. You just signed away your rights. Which is why he didn't issue you a ticket. He got his desired result. Well thanks for depressing me more I guess

[RickyJ]

It has happened to me too when I know I wasn't going the speed they said I was going. I could have fought it, but didn't want to waste the time so I paid it. I was speeding, just not by the amount over the speed limit they said I was. It is best to avoid cops and do not give them a hard time even when they are wrong. Some are just looking for any reason to go nuts and taze the crap out of you.

[phill4paul]

It is best to avoid cops and do not give them a hard time even when they are wrong. Some are just looking for any reason to go nuts and taze the crap out of you.

Disagree.

[ZanZibar]

Chances are the judge will laugh at the signed registration ticket if you just show up with it signed.

Regarding speeding, how did he determine you were speeding? RADAR or LIDAR (laser)?


If it's laser, you're screwed and can't fight it. If it's RADAR then you have a chance if the Judge is fair. Just google for hwo to get out of a radar ticket.

Also, when they assign you a court date, be sure to write them back and say you can't make it, request a continuence, or another date. Keep doing that as much as you can. When you finally go to court the officer will likely have lost his notes, moved, transferred, retired, etc.

ALWAYS record every interaction with the police on your phone.

AND, never tell the cops anything. The only thing you should ever say is "am I being detained, or am I free to go". You do have to hand them the license and registration if you are operating a motor vehicle.

[Titus]

As I have said before, recording depends on the state. Each state has its own recording laws. If your state has one party consents recording laws, you should almost always record. In a two (or all) party state, this may be a crime.

Getting a continuance must be for good cause, not delay for delay's sake. Good cause generally exists for many reasons that vary by state. Using medical care qualifies. That being said, delays are more likely to cause the cop to fail to appear.

Cops failing to appear is the most common ticket defense. This is referred to as the cop no-show defense in my part of California.

[Anti Federalist]

Please see my answers above and thank you thank you I am so mad and really want to have my say in court

1 - OK, good, you never admitted to speeding of any kind.

2 - Call the courthouse, cop shop, wherever, and make sure you make it clear that you want a court date, that you are going to contest this. Get this in writing, so that they can't claim you never responded or paid the ticket and slap a bench warrant on you.

3 - OK, no matter, some newer cars that spy on you while driving will have max speed recorded in the vehicle's computer system. I'm pretty sure an 01 Kia won't.

4 - Best guess for a first call, the local DA. Tell him you are contesting a speeding ticket, that you want the calibration records for that unit.

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

This is just free internet advice from somebody you have never met before.

That said, hope it helps and hope you beat the bastards.

[TheCaliforniaLife]

Look up local Indiana trial by declaration laws. A trial by declaration is the process of writing down the events that occurred rather than go to court. The process that I took to win my case was that I filed one extension a month before the trial date. Then I filed another extension. Then I filed a trial by declaration. By the time all the extensions and trial by declaration are completed, it will be half a year since you have gotten the ticket. If you lose, check and see if Indiana traffic law allows you to still contest to have a in-trial hearing. Most states do. When you go through the process of extending the court date, find out what documents you need to make sure the officer had his speed radar calibrated when he checked it out in the morning. If he didn't... you are in luck. You can win based upon this. If he doesn't respond to your inquiry about the radar on time, you win. There are a lot of opportunities to win.

This is the website I used to get my information: http://www.helpigotaticket.com/ It is all free.

[RiseAgainst]

Unfortunately, you probably were doing 68. Your speedometer is an approximation based on mathematical characteristics that often shift and change with the life of your car as well as any modifications from the exact original. Speedometers are all off at least some, and they are off by a percentage, not a speed. The best way to test this is when they have a radar sign up telling you you are going "XX" this fast. Peg your speedo at a 10 mph increment (i.e. 30, 40, etc) and see what the radar feedback gives you. Try it over and over throughout your travels, and remember this is percentage, not speed. If it registers say 33 when you were at 30, this means you are 10% positive, IOW if you though you were doing 60, you were really doing 66. Mine is currently 10% negative, which gets me in trouble because I rationalize I can drive faster, lol!

In the end though, the overriding problem is that speeding tickets are arbitrarily defined revenue generation tools, NOT actual crimes. When the element of justice has gone out the window, and revenue generation is the only goal, you don't stand a chance.

[tod evans]

Voice of experience..........just pay the damn thing it's not worth the time and headache.

[sparebulb]

Voice of experience..........just pay the damn thing it's not worth the time and headache.

It seems to me that a citizen is letting the State off easy by not forcing them to prove their guilt.

[RiseAgainst]

It seems to me that a citizen is letting the State off easy by not forcing them to prove their guilt.

What guilt? There is no guilt where no crime has been committed.

[Melissa]

1 - OK, good, you never admitted to speeding of any kind.

2 - Call the courthouse, cop shop, wherever, and make sure you make it clear that you want a court date, that you are going to contest this. Get this in writing, so that they can't claim you never responded or paid the ticket and slap a bench warrant on you.

3 - OK, no matter, some newer cars that spy on you while driving will have max speed recorded in the vehicle's computer system. I'm pretty sure an 01 Kia won't.

4 - Best guess for a first call, the local DA. Tell him you are contesting a speeding ticket, that you want the calibration records for that unit.

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

This is just free internet advice from somebody you have never met before.

That said, hope it helps and hope you beat the bastards.

Thanks I understand about not knowing you..I have only had one other ticket in my whole life and it too was a speeding ticket and I was not speeding that time long time ago proved it and won but still lost as the Judge just shuffled papers at the end said he had physical evidence and I didnt and said I have to pay but got my say and that is all I am doing this time as I am innocent and even if I loose willing to try and have a say without just paying

[Pericles]

Thanks I understand about not knowing you..I have only had one other ticket in my whole life and it too was a speeding ticket and I was not speeding that time long time ago proved it and won but still lost as the Judge just shuffled papers at the end said he had physical evidence and I didnt and said I have to pay but got my say and that is all I am doing this time as I am innocent and even if I loose willing to try and have a say without just paying

FWIW, you can end up paying the court, or a good lawyer. A good lawyer will make it go away, a non so good lawyer will get you some kind of defensive driving class.

Last speeding ticket I got was many years ago on my way to visit a friend who is a lawyer, and I got nailed for 25 over (I was running late). My friend said to give him the citation - last I ever heard of the incident.

Somebody gets paid off, at least you get some option as to who gets your $.

[cartemj06]

Listen to the advice of the guy you never met before...;)

[Indy Vidual]

Flip a coin:
A) Fighting it and/or hoping the cop will not show can cost you a lot of money, including higher insurance rates.
B) In many states, you need to arrange "traffic school", then it is not reported to your insurance company.

[Magsec]

Just opt for the defensive driving course; it'll lower your insurance rate for a while which should cancel out the ticket cost.

[LibertyRevolution]

If you fight it, and the cop doesn't show up, then the ticket will be dropped. (this happens a lot)
If he used RADAR then ask for the date the radar was calibrated, if it was more than a year ago demand that the machine be re-tested. (ties them up cost and paperwork)
I have had tickets dropped for both these reasons.

Go Take pictures of where this happened. Get pictures of the speed limit signs.


I have only ever payed 1 speeding ticket in my life.
I was going 115mph in a 55mph zone in a 1989 chevy cavalier wagon (lulz!), that was a fun one with the cop...
cop: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Me: "Nope my speedometer only goes to 85, doesn't your radar gun tell you"
Cop: "I have you clocked at 115mph"
Me: "hmm I didn't think it could go that fast"
Cop: "I could write you a ticket for reckless driving and impound your car, but I don't want to do the paperwork.
So I'm going to write you a ticket for going 85mph in a 55mph, and your not going to fight it, ok"
ME: "Sounds good to me officer"
Cop: "Slow down and have a good night"

Went home and wrote out the check for $285, ouch!

[thoughtomator]

The real way to fight them? Get into a position of power over the police department's budget, then turn into Ebenezer Scrooge. I'm working on just that plan with respect to a local police department whose work is 90% lifestyle regulation and writes so many bullshit tickets that they are obviously way overbudgeted and way overstaffed.

[Butchie]

If he clocked you at 68 how were you not going 68? I would guess he will have proof of the speed and that he calibrated his radar at the beginning of his shift. I am not going to judge anyone guilty unless I was there, but I also know I've heard alot of "cop picking on me" stories and they generally turn out to be alot of BS. If you truly were only going 5 over I'd say fight it to get it reduced, but if you're lying the cop will be able to easily prove it and the judge will likely go harder on you.

[Anti Federalist]

If he clocked you at 68 how were you not going 68? I would guess he will have proof of the speed and that he calibrated his radar at the beginning of his shift. I am not going to judge anyone guilty unless I was there, but I also know I've heard alot of "cop picking on me" stories and they generally turn out to be alot of BS. If you truly were only going 5 over I'd say fight it to get it reduced, but if you're lying the cop will be able to easily prove it and the judge will likely go harder on you.

After reading that, I'd be willing to "chip in" just so you could fight it, and at the very least, make the tax collector with a badge miss some time off by having to show up in court.

[RiseAgainst]

Why do I get the feeling no one even read my post :(

Your speedo is off, and that is to everyone. Do not trust what it says, it is only an approximation.

[Southron]

FWIW, you can end up paying the court, or a good lawyer. A good lawyer will make it go away, a non so good lawyer will get you some kind of defensive driving class.

Last speeding ticket I got was many years ago on my way to visit a friend who is a lawyer, and I got nailed for 25 over (I was running late). My friend said to give him the citation - last I ever heard of the incident.

Somebody gets paid off, at least you get some option as to who gets your $.

In NC I got a ticket going 58 in a 35 over 5 years ago running late for work after my alarm failed to go off. I walked into a lawyers office and talked to him and he said he doesn't do many speeding tickets but he would take care of it for a bit higher price than the other guys. I got a fine for equipment malfunction with no record of it on my license and never spent a day in court. Picking the right lawyer is everything.

[Carson]

Get your speedometer calibrated.?

For your own piece of mind. I'm not sure what it cost nowadays. If you have the time and some long stretches of highway you travel you can use the Google map measuring tool an measure pretty accurately between to easy points to catch as you pass them. Like two bridges.


Distance Measurement Tool (http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1628031)

I don't remember it being so hard. In the instructions above you have to look for a tiny little, "Maps Labs' link at the bottom. Then after you click it you have to enable the measuring tool. After you do that you end up with a little ruler on the bottom left of your map. After you click the ruler and set it to English you can measure stuff.

Maybe I used Google Earth before.

Measuring distances and areas (http://support.google.com/earth/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=148134)

Anyway you can click along a route and use it to calibrate your speedometer.


This method works fine on the old speedometers that are mechanical;

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3014

Joel Koontz Joel Koontz is offline
Tech Team

Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Bedford, PA
Posts: 234
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If my odometer reads exactly correct mileage, does that mean that my speedometer is also reading the correct MPH? I want to determine how accurate my speedometer is. I know you can do this several ways inc. timing the car ove a measured mile while running 60MPH etc. but I think the easiest way may be to drive the car on an interstate with mileage markers for 10 miles or further and see how many miles the odometer reads. If you go 10 miles and the odometer says exactly 10 miles it would mean that the odometer is very accurate, but does that mean the speedometer will also read accurate MPH? What if you go 10 miles and the odometer says you went 11. That would indicate that the odometer reads 10% fast. Does it also mean that the speedometer is reading 10% fast? How closely is the accuracy of odometer correlated to the accuracy of the speedometer?

Thanks, Joel
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#2
Old Nov 21st, 99, 5:05 PM
sam sam is offline
Tech Team

Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Mercer, PA
Posts: 128
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Your assumptions are 100% correct.


P.S. Here is a link that goes to a tire size calculator that is pretty simple. You can put in the stock tire size your car came with and it shows how much it will be off with a replacement set of tires of a different size.

http://www.paspeedo.com/calculator.htm

P.S.P.S. Here is another link with a guy explaining how to check your accuracy.

http://www.metrompg.com/posts/odometer-verify-google-earth.htm (http://www.metrompg.com/posts/odometer-verify-google-earth.htm)



Then you can go into traffic court and fight it. I remember a lot of times if someone had a clean record and the court hadn't heard from them in a long time they would let you slide on about anything minor. Right or wrong. Just because.

[Intoxiklown]

Good advice all through here. But, now, let me tell you how to really beat it.

Plead not guilty. You won't know if he's there or not, unless you see him get called for another case before you'rs is. As said f he's not, your case will b disimissed. If he is there, you will be found guilty. No sweat.

Appeal it to Circuit Court.

You now have a VERY slim chance it's ever called up again. No Circuit court judge is going to bump a felony trial (rape, robbery, ect) to hear your speeding ticket. If they do give you a court date (which they won't, this only happened to me ONE time), demand a jury trial. The judge looked at me when I did this like I was a martian. He dismissed the case just to be done with it when he realized I was going to make him use a jury, and eat up his court's time, over a speeding ticket.

I beat more speeding tickets like this when I was younger than you want to know. It's a slight hassle filing the appeal, and I did them myself, as opposed to have a lawyer do it for me so it didn't cost me anything. Circuit Courts do not operate like like others, and usually convene on rotating schedules every 3 to 4 months for only 2 to 3 weeks at a time. In other words, their docket time is precious. Use that against them.

[Barrex]

I remember posting on this forum on a thread with almost same issues. try to find it. There is almost everything....

[KCIndy]

I am not going to judge anyone guilty unless I was there, but I also know I've heard alot of "cop picking on me" stories and they generally turn out to be alot of BS.


Are you a cop, or just related to one?? ;)

[unknown]

Heres what you do.

Schedule a hearing to "fight" the ticket. But what you also want to do is re-schedule it as many times as they will allow pushing it as far out as possible. I once rescheduled a court date a year later.

In some states, the officer has to appear. After multiple scheduling, its likely that he will not bother especially if its months later.

If the officer is not required to appear, you will want to get to the court early. Youll speak to the DA, assistant DA or whoever's speaking on behalf of the state and talk to him about a "one time exception". That you have a great record, that the ticket is months old that it was a misunderstanding, whatever.

Most of the time, they are willing to work with you, reduce the fine or the offense or just do away with it altogether.

You have a 20yo and a 3yo? You go gurl!!!

[carclinic]

Did you ever admit how fast you were going or that you were speeding?

Request a hearing first thing in the morning.

If you have a new enough vehicle, get the OBD2 data, it may have max speed recorded for the last 24 hours. Do nut run the car until you check on that, if you want to use that, as new start stop cycles will clear the memory.

Demand calibration reports and a receipt if possible from the radar device.
OBD2 only stores a history of speed if your vehicle set a Diagnostic Trouble Code. I've never seen a max speed stored in a PCM ever in auto repair.

[Flugel89]

If you vehicle is a 2001 then it is OBDII and may have a top speed clock.

[Melissa]

Thanks for all the great advice and to the guy that asked if I was really doing 68 and crying about it and the cop was picking on me...well unless my speedometer was off the cop was coming at me and my daughter saw him and said hey mom whats your speed a cop is coming I looked down and she looked over and it said 60. Anyway to the people that are giving me advice thanks and can some one tell me the best way to ask for a continuance..do you call them or write them

[AFPVet]

As a former LEO, I can tell you about some ways you can beat it. If the LEO did not test his radar unit using tuning forks and the record sheet, it will be thrown out. If you believe that you were traveling within the speed limit and he clocked you much faster, I would fight it and demand that the officer produces the radar test sheet. The other option would be to enroll in a infraction deferral program where the case gets dismissed after six months to a year of safe driving.