So a couple of hours ago a cop pulls me over going southbound on 59 between Westpark and Hillcroft. I take the next exit and pull over. He asked me how fast I was going and what the speed limit was on that strip of the highway. I told him I thought I was going "70 something" and I thought the limit was 65 but I also said I didn't know for sure because I wasn't looking at my speedometer. He informs me that I was going 80 and the speed limit was 60 but doesn't mention clocking me on his radar. I felt like I was going with the flow of traffic and I wasn't speeding by much if I was at all. Anyway, after about 10 minutes of him sitting in his car he comes back to me with the ticket. He tells me that I am in jeopardy of losing my licence because of all my tickets which completely shocked me because I've gotten no more than 10 tickets in my 11 years of driving and those were mostly wiped out with defensive driving. I then began to suspect that he's full of **** so I ask him to see the reading on his radar gun but he tells me he was "pacing" me. I asked him to note that on the ticket but he was being a complete ass and told me "I am not going to let you dictate what to write on the ticket". Well whatever, but I was curious to know if and how a pacing ticket can hold up in court. If it had actually been clocked isn't the radar reading used as evidence at trial? I would imagine that a pacing ticket would be a much weaker case to convict then one measured by a radar gun. Can the officer's word be enough to convict me of speeding? I tried google searching this but couldn't find anything concrete related to Texas law. Also on a sidenote, he also made a couple of clerical errors on the ticket. He marked the weather as "Hot" and its 75 degrees right now. Don't know if that fact has any bearing but might go to show that he had no idea of his surroundings much less my speed at the time. Thanks in advance
I don't think its 10...was just giving a conservative number. Also, 1 ticket per year for the age demo of 16-26 isn't that many in my opinion. Point is they were all wiped out with defensive driving or deferred adjudication. I've also never been in an accident that was my fault so my insurance has never increased as a result of my tickets. I have no idea how the cop thought I was going to lose my license.
<s>dude. To put it bluntly, quit speeding, or quit whining about getting caught. Preferably the former. Clerical error? Hot? come on now.</s> nevermind what I said. Go to court and argue based on his description of how temperate it was that night, citing his obvious error in his ways. Be sure to let them know that you are a pro at this, and that you have many many tickets over the past few years to prove it. Explain then how you aren't even sure he was right, as you weren't looking at your speedometer at all, and that you question his method of "pacing" you, a surely antiquated and unreliable measure of a driver's speed that doesn't even sound real to someone born after radar guns were in place. I'm sure they will see their transgressions, and grant you the go ahead to not only ditch this ticket and waste everyone's precious time with this chicanery, but also give you the green light, if you will, to go on speeding to your heart's content.... or not... I mean, who's really looking at their speed anyway, right?
You are joking right? A cop can look at his spedometer when following you (should also be able to get it from the camera in the car) and testify to this at trial. That is more than enough evidence. Your best hope is that the cop doesn't show up if you choose to contest the ticket. Since you admitted that you don't know how fast you were going, any testimony offered against you is going to be enough for the ticket to stand up.
I haven't seen a dashcam that shows the officers speedometer...do you know for a fact that a dashcam captures the officers speed? I just thought it was wierd how the officer conveniently left out the fact that he captured my speed by pacing me until I asked him right before I signed my ticket. I've also never met someone in Houston that got a ticket that way.
I think there is a law against videotaping or recording policeman now. Felony charge I believe. I may be wrong. Just read an article about a man doing significant time for taping police.
Your first mistake (other than speeding, not looking at your speedometer, not knowing the speed limit) was admitting you were speeding. When a cop asks you if you know how fast you were going, you don't give him a numerical answer. You play dumb and say "no officer, was I speeding?" When you tell him you were going "70 something", you're admitting guilt. Even if he wasn't using radar or pacing you, you just told him you that were speeding. If you want to try to get out of it, let him accuse you, don't admit to anything.
I don't know the systems they have in Texas, but I have a friend who works for the CA highway patrol. I'm pretty sure they have telemetry in their cars now, so their speed is recorded, but not 100% positive. It doesn't really matter. If the cop testifies that he paced you speeding and then testifies that you admitted to speeding, you are not going to win.
Yeah in retrospect it was dumb for me to give a number of "70 something" but I told him I wasn't sure of my exact speed. This cop was not one to argue with...when he asked me my speed I was under the presumption that I was speeding so I gave him a number above the speed limit. I know that's not a good defense but that's the truth. Like I said, I was going with the flow of traffic. I wasn't flying down the highway and passing up cars.
I am not a lawyer but: 1. I suspect his 'pacing' will be ample support of the speed you were going provided a judge or jury finds him believable (unless there is hard evidence via his patrol car). 2. Your defense of 'going with the flow' is not a defense. It was just your bad luck that he chose you to pull over out of all the others. 3. You admitted you were going at least 10 MPH over the posted speed and did not know the actual posted speed. You say 'most' of your tickets were wiped out with defensive driving. How many weren't and when were they received? In my opinion 1 ticket per year is "a lot" of tickets, regardless of the demographic.
Hey thanks for the input. Seems like my case doesn't stand a chance. Anyway, I believe all but one of my tickets were wiped out with defensive and I had one that I receieved deferred adjudication on in college at least 5 years ago. I didn't get another ticket during my probationary period for that ticket so that didn't go on my driving record either. Does that have any bearing on me fighting this ticket? I just mentioned these tickets because of what the cop said about me losing my licence. As for 10 tickets being a lot that's a conservative number. I would say that number is 8-10 but I haven't kept track over the last 11 years. Is that enough to get my licence suspended even if none of them went on my record?
How can they tell if you've taken defensive driving within a year, especially if the tickets were given in different counties? Also, when do you start counting the 12 month period? Previous ticket date to current ticket date? Previous defensive driving completion date to current ticket date? Previous defensive driving completion to new defensive drive completion due date (usually 90 days after ticket was given).
