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Just got a speeding ticket. Any advice?

X

xalos

Senior member
I took a slow 90 degree right turn on to another residential road. 35mph is the speed limit and I am in a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8). I got a ticket for going 52 in a 35 before I was out of town 1200 feet later.

I wasn't tromping on the accelerator or even trying to speed. The area is a known speed trap area and I'm completely confused. Is it possible I was speeding or is there a calibration or use error on the part of the police officer?

Thanks!
 
was it possible? yes it sure was.

were you? I have no idea. but hell its always worth it to fight it
 
It's very easy to speed on accident if you're not paying attention. If you aren't certain you weren't speeding and the cop says you were speeding, then you were probably speeding. You could still try and fight the ticket though.
 
Always contest a speeding ticket. Sometimes you can get it lowered, and if the cop doesn't even show up to court, you won't have to pay anything. At least that's how we do it here in Maine anyway.
 
Originally posted by: FetusCakeMix
Always contest a speeding ticket. Sometimes you can get it lowered, and if the cop doesn't even show up to court, you won't have to pay anything. At least that's how we do it here in Maine anyway.
Click to expand...

^^^

Best advice
 
Originally posted by: FetusCakeMix
Always contest a speeding ticket. Sometimes you can get it lowered, and if the cop doesn't even show up to court, you won't have to pay anything. At least that's how we do it here in Maine anyway.
Click to expand...

Depends on state, thats how Kentucky did it, you show up to court, if the issuing officer wasn't there you could plead not guilty and it was dismissed. In Alabama, the first time I went to court, I was excited to see my officer was not there, but it was short lived. The first few cases where they plead not guilty, the judge asked his clerk when that officer day was and they rescheduled for when the officer could be in court. I plead guilty and took the traffic school option:brokenheart:
 
Originally posted by: 2canSAM

In Alabama, the first time I went to court, I was excited to see my officer was not there, but it was short lived. The first few cases where they plead not guilty, the judge asked his clerk when that officer day was and they rescheduled for when the officer could be in court. I plead guilty and took the traffic school option:brokenheart:
Click to expand...

You should have plead not guilty, got your new court date, then had that postponed to another time. With luck, the confusion would have prevented the cop from showing. Worst case is they find you guilty, and you're where you were when you started.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
I took a slow 90 degree right turn on to another residential road. 35mph is the speed limit and I am in a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8). I got a ticket for going 52 in a 35 before I was out of town 1200 feet later.

I wasn't tromping on the accelerator or even trying to speed. The area is a known speed trap area and I'm completely confused. Is it possible I was speeding or is there a calibration or use error on the part of the police officer?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

what state are you in? You can always subpoena the calibration records for the device.
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: 2canSAM

In Alabama, the first time I went to court, I was excited to see my officer was not there, but it was short lived. The first few cases where they plead not guilty, the judge asked his clerk when that officer day was and they rescheduled for when the officer could be in court. I plead guilty and took the traffic school option:brokenheart:
Click to expand...

You should have plead not guilty, got your new court date, then had that postponed to another time. With luck, the confusion would have prevented the cop from showing. Worst case is they find you guilty, and you're where you were when you started.
Click to expand...

Many of the cops I know absolutely LOVE getting called into court for speeding tickets. Many of them get OT for showing up and they really don't have to do much of anything. Odds are good the OP was speeding, he's not going to get the ticket thrown out / downgraded because of the calibration/error argument. Honestly, it depends how much his time is worth. If you've got nothing better to do, and it's not much of a drive then sure, go down to the court house and argue the ticket. Maybe you'll talk it down a bit.
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: 2canSAM

In Alabama, the first time I went to court, I was excited to see my officer was not there, but it was short lived. The first few cases where they plead not guilty, the judge asked his clerk when that officer day was and they rescheduled for when the officer could be in court. I plead guilty and took the traffic school option:brokenheart:
Click to expand...

You should have plead not guilty, got your new court date, then had that postponed to another time. With luck, the confusion would have prevented the cop from showing. Worst case is they find you guilty, and you're where you were when you started.
Click to expand...

Too much time
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: 2canSAM

In Alabama, the first time I went to court, I was excited to see my officer was not there, but it was short lived. The first few cases where they plead not guilty, the judge asked his clerk when that officer day was and they rescheduled for when the officer could be in court. I plead guilty and took the traffic school option:brokenheart:
Click to expand...

You should have plead not guilty, got your new court date, then had that postponed to another time. With luck, the confusion would have prevented the cop from showing. Worst case is they find you guilty, and you're where you were when you started.
Click to expand...

It's best to transfer it to another courthouse. Very often, the change in venue doesn't get communicated to the agency or officer and he will not show. Faster and more likely to work.
 
Fight it. No matter what. If the judge drops it a bit it is a win for you, if not, you were stuck anyway.

The speeding laws in this country are merely money making skims for the towns and state.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
Is it possible I was speeding?
Click to expand...

No, the 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8) has a built in regulator that detects the current speed limit and prevents you from going over it. So no, it is not possible you were speeding.

 
I was more thinking along the lines that it would be difficult to get up to 52 mph in 1200 feet which would be less than a quarter mile in my vehicle. I'm also concerned about the radar accuracy on a downhill slope and any possible electrical devices that may have interfered with the radar.
 
Show a Google street view of the street. It's easy to get to 52mph, but it depends on the street. Wide, straight, empty streets are more conducive to inadvertently speeding that narrow, twisted, congested roads are.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
I was more thinking along the lines that it would be difficult to get up to 52 mph in 1200 feet which would be less than a quarter mile in my vehicle. I'm also concerned about the radar accuracy on a downhill slope and any possible electrical devices that may have interfered with the radar.
Click to expand...

It could be the radar malfunctioning. On the other hand, it's about 10,000,000 times more likely that you were speeding. You obviously weren't paying any attention to your speed, which kind of supports this view.

Also, going downhill doesn't affect the radar. I'm pretty sure electromagnetic waves don't speed up on a downward slope.
 
The police officer was running radar underneath of a power transformer. I think its very possible that the radar was malfunctioning. I don't think that I was speeding because I don't usually speed and especially not when I am driving the Jeep.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
The police officer was running radar underneath of a power transformer. I think its very possible that the radar was malfunctioning. I don't think that I was speeding because I don't usually speed and especially not when I am driving the Jeep.
Click to expand...

Please explain how running the radar underneath a power transformer makes it inaccurate.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
The police officer was running radar underneath of a power transformer. I think its very possible that the radar was malfunctioning. I don't think that I was speeding because I don't usually speed and especially not when I am driving the Jeep.
Click to expand...

:laugh:

You can't even say for sure what your speed was, but yet you can second guess proven technology..


OK buddy.
 
Originally posted by: Kalvin00
Originally posted by: xalos
The police officer was running radar underneath of a power transformer. I think its very possible that the radar was malfunctioning. I don't think that I was speeding because I don't usually speed and especially not when I am driving the Jeep.
Click to expand...

:laugh:

You can't even say for sure what your speed was, but yet you can second guess proven technology..


OK buddy.
Click to expand...

It depends on how old the radar guns they are using are. I found this......Electrical lines, fluorescent lighting, even the patrol car's own heater blower motor can cause interference. These problems are addressed in training and a good radar operator will immediately know when these problems are present. On some older radars these sources can cause fake readings on the radar while the newer radars are designed to eliminate most of these. Nonetheless, the trained radar operator is taught to watch for these problems and isn't likely to misinterpret them.

So, the question I would ask is ... Was the officer aware of any devices in the car or around the car that could cause interference? If he wasn't aware of the power transformer that could cause reasonable doubt.

I honestly can't believe I was going that fast due to the nature of that vehicle.
 
Originally posted by: xalos
I took a slow 90 degree right turn on to another residential road. 35mph is the speed limit and I am in a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (V8). I got a ticket for going 52 in a 35 before I was out of town 1200 feet later.

I wasn't tromping on the accelerator or even trying to speed. The area is a known speed trap area and I'm completely confused. Is it possible I was speeding or is there a calibration or use error on the part of the police officer?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

How can you not answer that question yourself? 😕 I mean, you have a general idea of how fast you're going when you're driving, right? How fast were you going?
 
Originally posted by: xalos
Originally posted by: Kalvin00
Originally posted by: xalos
The police officer was running radar underneath of a power transformer. I think its very possible that the radar was malfunctioning. I don't think that I was speeding because I don't usually speed and especially not when I am driving the Jeep.
Click to expand...

:laugh:

You can't even say for sure what your speed was, but yet you can second guess proven technology..


OK buddy.
Click to expand...

It depends on how old the radar guns they are using are. I found this......Electrical lines, fluorescent lighting, even the patrol car's own heater blower motor can cause interference. These problems are addressed in training and a good radar operator will immediately know when these problems are present. On some older radars these sources can cause fake readings on the radar while the newer radars are designed to eliminate most of these. Nonetheless, the trained radar operator is taught to watch for these problems and isn't likely to misinterpret them.

So, the question I would ask is ... Was the officer aware of any devices in the car or around the car that could cause interference? If he wasn't aware of the power transformer that could cause reasonable doubt.

I honestly can't believe I was going that fast due to the nature of that vehicle.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for you backward American justice system, but where I'm from the burden of proof for traffic and civil offences is much lower than criminal offences. Reasonable doubt has nothing to do with it, and the court (should you chose to waste their time) will determine the "balance of probabilities". In this case, you will get pwnd.
 
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