I got a ticket looking for some advice

[JLieb]

I got a ticket in Mass on I-90 going 75 in a 55 mph zone via a state trooper and radar driving my mom’s new E-class with her in it! My hearing is this Monday AM. Other than saying that the cop is a liar I was looking for some advice from this brilliant group of fast car drivers on contesting it. The ticket is checked both radar and estimated. There was a bus in the middle lane of a three lane hi-way and I was in the passing lane beside the bus when I saw the Statey.

[XrayMD]

This may help. http://copradar.com/preview/chapt7/ch7d2.html#prepare

Also, do a search for "patrol speed shadowing" as this may apply because of the bus.

Good luck. You may need to file a motion to extend to allow you to file a motion for discovery. Basically, you want to see everything including the calibration recoreds of the tuning fork they used to calibrate the radar as well as maintenence records for the police car and the car's speedometer calibration record (if he was moving at the time).

[phinnbillM5]

If you are going to fight the ticket, you need more time to prepare. And you may/will need an attorney experienced in handling such matters. My recommendation is to visit the website of the National Motorists Association (motorists.org). They have a kit you can rent that will help you prepare your defense. They also have recommendations for lawyers. Also it is worthwhile joining the NMA as they fight for drivers rights in all US states. Well worth the small investment to join. The NMA also has two interesting websites: Speed Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org) which lists speed traps by state and Roadblock Registry (roadblock.org)

[MEnthusiast]

MA is a very difficult place to fight a speeding ticket. But you are a resident so that will help. In your place, I would either pay it or hire a lawyer to help you fight it. I found a great traffic attorney here in NY from the NY BMWCCA chapter newsletter. The attorney had advertised there. If you are a CCA member that might be of help, also asking for a reference here for a MA attorney might help too.

One last thing- don't go in there by yourself with the defense of the officer is a liar. Would you be better off if the speed on the ticket was a few mph lower? You could ask the judge if the officer would agree that your speed really was 3mph lower then you would agree that you were speeding at the corrected speed.

This is what happened in my case as I didnt want the points and the thing that put me over the edge was 2mph. I told my attorney that I didn't want to lie to the judge by saying I wasnt speeding (I was). But I didn't want the points. my attorney told me the radar guns can be +/- 2-3 mph. So he just asked the officer to make a deal right there in front of the judge and the officer said sure.