[drallen]

I got popped for a ticket speeding in front of my local PD yesterday.

I came to complete stop next to the PD and turned left. I was accelerating in front of the PD parking lot with only one cruiser in the lot with it's nose pointing about 225 degrees to my line of travel. There was one person in street clothes on the sidewalk in front of the PD. I have no idea what speed I was going...

I am a mile and a half from the PD, when I see a police vehicle with his lights on heading towards me from my rear. It is a straight road, after a 90 degree turn from the PD. You can see for over 2 miles on this road...just farmland. At 2.1 miles from the PD, I pull over. The policeman makes some comment about the noise of my pipes. He claims that he hit me with radar. My V1 was on...and not a peep from it...ever...

He wrote me up for 10 mph over in a 35 which is one point in NV. He claimed the gun got me at 53-54 mph (written on ticket)... since when does a radar gun give variable readings?. We get 12 points a year and cannot even go to traffic school unless we have 3 points. I have not gotten a ticket in over 10 years...the fine is $130.

My question is...should I fight it or pay it. There is no way that the cop hit me with radar. I do not even know how he could of got me even if he was in his car. I would pay the fine if my V1 went off...

One more thing...I asked to see his radar gun...and it did say 53mph. Can they just not delete the speed from some other car? The radar gun looked like some kind of portable unit. It looked like a Makita rechargeable power drill with a half of a tan tennis ball where the drill chuck should be...

 

[Brooklyn M]

i always fight tickets...no matter what...every now and then ive had them dismissed..my greatest victory was having a 30+ ticket dismissed because the cop didnt show up...

 

[JohnAnthony]

...

as far as i know the guns speed doesn't reset, it has to be done manually or get erased by another reading...fight it, i never heard of a cop setting up a speed trap from the entrance to the pd parking lot{the 53-54 is just the cop trying to state the radars inaccuracy/rounded off the speed, but a single mile is far too little, radar guns can be off by much more than a single mile...i dunno if its the same in your state but here in new york if its not a highway trooper then you can simply fight the ticket on the basis that a regular city cop doesn't take the speeding course the highway troopers do, so he's basically giving you a ticket for something they didn't train for}

 

[TorqueDog]

Fight it.

If I know I got caught using RADAR, the first question I'd be asking the ticketing officer would be if he's familiar with ghost readings. And he's screwed.

 

[doug]

Always, always fight it.

 

[finbmw]

I suggest to fight. They think they really can rule the whole world with their ego! ouich

I just fought back for my own license cause they blamed me on drifting public roads. I wonder why they don't understand that it can be slippery:M5launch: with the beast

 

[Stack]

Fight it.

If I know I got caught using RADAR, the first question I'd be asking the ticketing officer would be if he's familiar with ghost readings. And he's screwed.

Care to elaborate on this topic?

 

[MarkQC]

ghost readings - - they are the ektoplasma nuetrons remaing from ghosts laughing at characters that speed in front of police stations...

 

[tstaples]

The short answer is fight it. To learn how to best do that, join the NMA. I joined back in the days of the 55mph speed limit, and the NMA did most of the lobbying to get that insane law repealed. Check out:

http://www.motorists.org/

BTW, one of the best tricks I learned through NMA got me out of the points from my last ticket, in 1999. I got popped for going 58 in a 45, cresting a hill while approaching a rural Georgia community, instant-on beat my V1. The ticket was for $85. I lived in South Carolina at the time. I mailed in a check for $90 several weeks later. The local municipality in GA sent me a check for $5, to cover the overage. I never cashed the check. To their computer, the fine had been paid, so they were happy, but the computer system in GA never reported the violation to SC, since the computer needed to see the transaction settled before it would finish processing it. Not cashing the check kept that from occuring. My points went off to the great bit bucket in the sky! The key to a good defense is always "know thine enemy."

 

[drallen]

It would be nice to stand up in front of the judge and say..."my radar detector was never triggered... so how did he get a radar reading on me?"...but I have heard that is not a very good idea.

The only thing I can think of, is that he pulled his radar gun out of his car...shot me across the top of his cruiser and then took after me. He still should of lit up my V1...but why did it take him several minutes and 1.75 miles before I saw him in the review....

And then he made some comment about seeing me hit my brakes after he rounded the corner with all his lights ablaze...sheez...

 

[mottati]

i used to always fight tickets, but eh, i've generally got more important things to do, as you do too Mark! I'd just pay it and move on, or hire a ticket attorney type of guy to do this for me, if i wanted to be a bastard. :M5launch:

 

[drallen]

ghost readings - - they are the ektoplasma nuetrons remaing from ghosts laughing at characters that speed in front of police stations...

I do have to agree...it was not one of my brighter moments...ouich

 

[iconoclast]

What would you do with this ticket...

'innocent until proven guilty...' that being said, get a liar, i mean lawyer and have him fight it.

 

[MarkQC]

I do have to agree...it was not one of my brighter moments...ouich

keep smiling, we all have our moments - - trust me, I've done worse

 

[Dash]

Bottom line fight it. On what grounds... not sure if you have any. The radar not lighting up obviously won't work. Even IF you could try and argue that, you'd have to prove just as much that your detector works as good as his gun. He'll have an easier time proving his works.

I'm surprised he showed you the gun, it probably was not standard radar, and probably a LIDAR. They are portable, easy to use and very easy to calibrate. The troopers here calibrate them at the beginning of each shift. Takes 1-2 minutes. The troopers also write their report on the ticket when they turn it in, so they don't have to show up. The ticket counts as affidavit.

Also, he could have waited to pull you for any number of reasons, most obviously to see if you'd do anything else, or if you were swerving at all.

You basically have to prove beyond a 50% doubt that you did not commit the infraction. If you think you can do that, fight it.

 

[drallen]

i used to always fight tickets, but eh, i've generally got more important things to do, as you do too Mark! I'd just pay it and move on, or hire a ticket attorney type of guy to do this for me, if i wanted to be a bastard. :M5launch:

But Mike!...she was a virgin....:hihi:

 

[tstaples]

From reading your post, it would appear that he lost sight of you from the time he made the initial speed reading, until he finally caught back up with you 2 miles down the road. In many states, I don't know about Nevada, the officer must keep you within visual range from the measurement, until pulling you over. If he loses sight of you, then how does he know he's ticketing the right car? If he memorized the plate as you were passing the PD, then his report should have noted that. There are so many ways to pick through this. I'm not an expert, but this should be easy fodder. Get the NMA's materials and fight this. You don't need a lawyer, just handle it yourself.

 

[TorqueDog]

Care to elaborate on this topic?

Read up!

A retired Calgary cop who is a friend of mine gave me the advice of quizzing the officer on 'ghost readings'. Essentially, you can get a ghost reading and a) have no idea why, and b) not know it's a ghost reading. All you have to do is ask the officer if, beyond a reasonable doubt, he can say it was your signal and not a ghost reading that he was receiving. He can't, because his radar training says he can't.

Got a mutual friend of mine off a ticket by using that once.\

 

[COMA]

I got popped for a ticket speeding in front of my local PD yesterday.

I came to complete stop next to the PD and turned left. I was accelerating in front of the PD parking lot with only one cruiser in the lot with it's nose pointing about 225 degrees to my line of travel. There was one person in street clothes on the sidewalk in front of the PD. I have no idea what speed I was going...

I am a mile and a half from the PD, when I see a police vehicle with his lights on heading towards me from my rear. It is a straight road, after a 90 degree turn from the PD. You can see for over 2 miles on this road...just farmland. At 2.1 miles from the PD, I pull over. The policeman makes some comment about the noise of my pipes. He claims that he hit me with radar. My V1 was on...and not a peep from it...ever...

He wrote me up for 10 mph over in a 35 which is one point in NV. He claimed the gun got me at 53-54 mph (written on ticket)... since when does a radar gun give variable readings?. We get 12 points a year and cannot even go to traffic school unless we have 3 points. I have not gotten a ticket in over 10 years...the fine is $130.

My question is...should I fight it or pay it. There is no way that the cop hit me with radar. I do not even know how he could of got me even if he was in his car. I would pay the fine if my V1 went off...

One more thing...I asked to see his radar gun...and it did say 53mph. Can they just not delete the speed from some other car? The radar gun looked like some kind of portable unit. It looked like a Makita rechargeable power drill with a half of a tan tennis ball where the drill chuck should be...

A good number of cops are as crooked as crooks, I would fight it. They are also not very cerebral. Chances are he was probably high on coke at the time, like many officers and fire fighters usually are.

 

[COMA]

Read up!
He can't, because his radar training says he can't.
\

And you think cops go by the book and/or their training why???