I got a ticket coming home from a football game on highway 69. The cop/trooper who pulled me over clocked me at 78 in a 65(allegedly). My problem with this is that I was just passed by a car that had pulled out of W.O.'s, a beer joint outside of county lines, that was driving at a much higher rate of speed than I. There was also a quite a bit of traffic traveling at comparable rates of speed as me. The trooper was in the oncoming lane of traffic and turned around and ran me down. Also, my steering wheel starts to shake/vibrate when i get up to about 74,75 mph and this has served as a warning sign in the past and I usually slow down. I could have subconciously ignored this, but I don't think this was the case. I have read that it takes 3-5 seconds for a radar to "lock in". If I was doing 78, and the officer 65, then the radar must have a long range to be able to clock me for so long. I asked the officer if he was sure it was my car and he said yes b/c of the color and shape, I then asked him if he was 100% sure and he said it was your car. I have decided to challenge the ticket in court in hopes that maybe the cop won't show up or I can get a dismissal on some other ground. I hoping that maybe somebody can give me some advice as to what type of defense I should pursue or some insight about radar. Also anyone who has challenged a ticket in the past can probably help me with courtroom procedures. I don't want to look like an idiot when I do get a chance to plead my case.
If you had asked him to show you the reading on his radar gun it might have helped. There are (apparently...not sure on this but a guy whose father is or was a cop told me this) certain things you can ask of the police officer so that you can ensure that it was you he was reading on his radar gun. They have to show you the reading on the gun, and apparently if you ask they have to show you on a camera or something that it was your car they he/she was aiming at. It is apparently very difficult or annoying to show these things to people, but if the cop doesn't do it then they can't legally write you a ticket. I know this doesn't help you in your situation right now, WhiteMagic, but can anyone here confirm any of this?
Tell the judge that you were rushing home to save your friend from committing suicide. He was going to kill himself because he had never become a banker.
What is your ultimate goal? Is it not to pay the ticket or to keep the ticket off of your driving record? Depending upon your current record, you may be able to simply go to court, talk to the appropriate DA prior to actually appearing in fron of the judge and make arrangements to keep it off of your record. Some states allow you to take defensive driving and the ticket will not be on your record. My son has received 2 speeding tickets which are murder to insurance. Neither ticket is on his record, thus insurance has not gone up. The first was changed to a 5th degree misdemeanor of being a "public nuisance". The second ticket was not reported because he went 6 months without receiving a ticket in the same county. In both instances, an attorney was not needed. Both, however, did involve a fine which was a little more than the ticket itself.
