I got a speeding ticket today for doing 73mph in a 55mph zone. if this were my fault i would own up to it but my cruise control was set to 65mph while going uphill and the cop said he clocked me doing 73mph. I know how fast i was going because i always do 10mph over the limit on our new freeway its only 9mins long (plus i looked at my speed as he pulled up behind me). My question to you all is, has anyone ever experienced a mis calculated speedo, my car has 2300mi on it and is bone stock. I do plan on going to the dealer in the morning to see if they can evaluate this claim.

What are your thoughts and or experiences?

 

You know theres a chance that the cop's radar could be mis calibrated?

 

doing 10 over still isn't the best idea. Go to the dealer and have them check it ONLY. if it is correct, have them sign or print somthing saying that it is and was correct. If it was not correct and showing lower speed than acutal, than you have to pay and get it recalibrated. If indeed your speedo is right, then take that letter to your court date where you can fight out the ticket and show them that you were not speeding.

 

I doubt it as they have to calibrate their guns every day, but you never know.

 

Actually I forgot about that but I will be sure to bring it up in court next month, I want to spend this time wisely getting my ammunition together before I go to court and fight it. If all else fails they have this neat little law in North Carolina called prayer for judgment where they give you an indefinite continuance unless you get another violation in a certain time period.

Blessed

 

Isn't your first court appearance to just plead guilty/no contest/not guilty? You don't actually get to make your case until later, so you will probably have more time to get everything organized.

 

If he's being arrained for a major charge then ya, however for a speeding ticket, based on what he sends in on his ticket ( Contested hearing, Guilty and here's my money plea, Mitigation hearing, etc ) the judge will read the officer's affidavid on what he saw, and anything the driver said or admitted to, etc and will more or less ask for your side of the story. ( This is if you are contesting the ticket saying you didn't do it. Make them prove you did it. ) This is a all or nothing case basically saying if you don't prove that you are innocent, the judge will most likely slap you with what the officer wrote you up for and not reduce the price of the ticket and it will go on your record.

Mitigation hearing is saying, ya I did it, but here's why I did it. Usually with this, the judge has the option to reduce the price of the ticket, and most likely will maybe saving you $40 or $50 bucks depending on the severity of the ticket. HOWEVER, ( In WA This is true, you will need to look this up in your state ) this is where you can use the defference option. You need to tell the judge you want to exercise this option because they won't just hand it to you. Here, you are allowed to use 2 different options every I think 5 or 7 years. They are:

Option 1: 6 month Deffered-If you are good and get no more tickets in 6 months, they will drop the ticket from your record. If you get another one in that 6 months, they both will go on your record

Option 2: A Saturday Driving School Course-You will have to sign up for a Driving School Class, usually only lasts a few hours. The main difference with this option is as soon as you finish the class and get your certificate and turn it into the courthouse, it is dropped from your record whereas the first option you have to wait 6 months which could be dangerous.

If all else fails, and you need more time for something, ask the judge for a continueance ( more time ) to either get a lawyer or to gather more information to make your case. Usually if the judge is not a hardass, you should get the extra time if needed.

Like I said though, check it out in your state, because I know it could be very different than here in WA. I've been to court a few too many times in my day so I have a fairly good idea how it works. I wish you the best of luck. Make them work for their money, don't just confess.

 

From what i understand, there is always a percent error associated with the reading off any digital readout equipment . And in the case of cop radar guns, that percent errors lies within a band of plus/minus 5 mph (or so Ive been told by ME professors), so that is why you usually dont get pulled over for doing 5 over. But regardless, anything digital has percent errors associated with it, calibrated or not, and it may be that his gun was out of whack. But doesnt hurt to have your dealer check it out (if you can find a trustworthy dealer lol j/k). Anyways, good luck dude!

 

Where in NC are you? If it's Mecklenburg County, there's no need to waste your PJC on a 73 in a 55. Just for showing up to court (real court...the second time, not the preliminary hearing...like subinf was talking about), the DA will reduce that to 14 over. If you have a clean record, wear a suit, act sorry, etc., you should be able to swing 9 over. You might even be able to offer up driving school (green light school - 1 weeknight for four hours; or yellow light school - 2 nights) to get 5 over, which is meaningless.

 

Ok its different in CA then.

 

He's in WA...and that's nothing like it is here...you were more on target...preliminary hearing (guilty/not guilty), followed by real court to plead your case if not guilty.

 

Yeah, I knew it would vary state to state. I just assumed most states would set a later date for your not-guilty plea to gather evidence, and maybe call the officer in to testify. From how I look at it, it makes a lot more sense for them to set up another court date because if they required every not-guilty plea to give their case then and there, they would have to call all the officers in, etc. Seems wasteful.

In any event, good luck to the OP

 

Same thing happened to me:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153325

The odometer, cruise, all were "according to manufacturer's standard" according to the report given by my service guys at Acura.

I am going on April 11 as "not guilty". Lets see what the judge thinks.....

 

IIRC They are supposed to be checked after every stop per the manual.

I heard of a case (may be urban legend) where the cops stopped a guy. guy goes to court. Asks cop on stand how many stops he makes a day. Cops says X (lots) guy ask cop if he's aware he's supposed to calibrate after every stop. cops says yes. Guy asks cop if he calibrates after every stop. cops says yes. Guy then asks cop what mph the tuning fork used to calibrate the radar gun reads during the calibration. Cop doesnt say anything and judge yells at cop and throws ticket out.

 

Here's a book that may help:

Beat Your Ticket: Go to Court & Win available at www.nolopress.com



Good luck!

 

or ticketassassin.com

 

Over the Christmas holiday i was ticketed north of Greenville for going 76 in a 55 mph zone . contacted a lawyer, sent him $225 plus a $110 fine, completed an on line driver safety course and was convicted of failure to obey traffic control device - no points. FYI

 

Here In CA, you can go the Auto Club and have your speedo checked and see how off it is. An auto maker has to make sure that the speedo is no more than 5 miles off either way. Most vehicles are doing -1 to -2 miles a hour slower than the their indicated speed.

 

I occassionally run into those radar stations that report your speed that the CHP puts up. And out of curiousity check my speedo accuracy. Or just drive thru Berkeley, they put up a ton of those on power poles.

 

Use a handheld GPS device to see where your car is at. It's very rare for a stock car to be over the indicated speedo MPH.

 

Well gents I took my TLS to the dealership and they found that the Speedo is within specs per there test equipment. Afterward I stopped by the local best buy and purchased a Tom Tom GPS device to check the calibration myself. The results are: the Speedo is dead accurate (sucks for me). I guess I'll see how court goes, thanks for all the advice and comments...

 

Thats good your is accurate though. When I track my speed with the gps I'm always about 4-5mph faster on the speedometer than actual speed.

 

I think automakers tend to build their speedometers to err on the high-side (in other words to report the speed as higher than it really is) for a few reasons:

-- The driver could think he was speeding even if he wasn't, and won't get a ticket (and who doesn't mind NOT getting a ticket)?

-- Instead of having to do real engine work to make the car actually go faster, they can just futz with the speedo and trick the driver into thinking the car is faster

Having said all that 'conspiracy-theory' stuff about speedos, I still think the automakers are pretty honest with the speedometers. I think they stay within a close margin (5mph or maybe 5%), so most of the time the difference is imperceptible. It's not like your speedo says you're going 80 but you're really doing 55. (It IS a lot of fun to press the US/Metric button on a GM car and see the analog speedo blip up from 50 to 80 as the mph light goes off and the km/h light goes on! )

Since cops generally don't give tickets within that 5mph margin of error, it may be hard to argue that it's a matter of speedo under-reporting. But you never know -- your car might have a defect, the cop's radar could have been mis-calibrated, or simply pointed at the wrong car.

With all the software in cars these days, it's only a matter of time before there's a bug where the gauges mis-report things like speed. Then again, hopefully Acura does a better job of QC'ing than other companies.

 

where i live we usually go around 10 over thats just the flow of traffic and they don't bother you for that, thats why i was doing around 63-65mph. so this cop has to either have a broken radar gun or it has never been calibrated. i checked my trucks speedo with the GPS and it reports 3mph faster than its actually traveling so i think I'll drive the truck for awhile.

 

I have a hard time believing that the speedo would be off as much as I am hearing. +/- 1 or 2MPH, ya, 5 or so, I highly doubt it...that is more of a truth around the upper end of the speedo spectrum when you start hitting the "I am going way too fast" area than the common crusing speed. Officers are required to test their gun AT LEAST every shift, so at the very least, it is getting tested for accuracy before they hit the road. ( Sadly the guns are more accurate then we would like to admit )

I Think there might be a possibility that this could be a mistake on the officer's part, if you happened to be in heavy traffic, it could have picked up someone next to you, and he may have mistakenly thought he hit you depending on how far out he tagged you.

It's up in the air, and the only fact we know, is that you said you were only doing 65 with CC on, so stick to you guns man, you can figure out a way to beat it.

 

IIRC by law speedometers must not read lower than the actual vehicle speed. Allowed error is expressed as a % not a absolute number difference. That % varies from country to country. IIRC I dont think the max error allowed is more than about 5% anyways. So at highway speeds you shouldn't be seeing more than a couple miles an hour higher on your speedometer than your true speed. Been a little while since I read this and I cant find the reference for exact numbers.

 

You know, I think youre right about the percentage. Thanks for the clarification!! I had previously stated that the error lies plus/minus 5 mph instead of percent.

 

any luck in court?

 

I was going to go and fight it but I found out that I had a few other options such as an 8 hour traffic school or requesting a prayer for judgment. I saw a woman that attends my church who is an attorney; she quoted me a really good rate. She said that she could get it reduced to improper equipment with no traffic school, I couldn’t pass that up. I also get to keep my once in 3 years chance at 8 hour traffic school. My court date has been continued so I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

In some places, the traffic school only removes existing points. So you might need to wait until they gave you the points to be able to get them removed.

What's a prayer for judgement? It almost sounds like a wish for a lenient traffic judge.

 

^ - "prayer for judgment" is how lawyers ask for a finding in their favor (or for their client)

 

wouldn't the court just say something to the effect of "well, you were still conciously going +10mph?"

 

A judge out here will suspend driver's license for 30 days for speeds over 85 mph.

 

I did a search and this is what i found for (PFJ)

Prayer For Judgement Each household may receive one Prayer for Judgment Continued (PFJ) every three years without it counting as a conviction. If you have a minor North Carolina speeding ticket, you do not need a North Carolina attorney. Call the court and find out how to contact the ADA handling your case. Go by and talk to him about a reduction to a 9mph over ticket or a PFJ. A 9mph speeding ticket will not raise your rates if you have a clean record. This may be a better option and save your PFJ for a more serious North Carolina speeding ticket. A Prayer for Judgment is normally only available if you have a North Carolina drivers license.

If you receive a citation for a traffic offense in connection with a traffic accident, you may be able to avoid conviction on that charge by obtaining a letter from your insurance company stating that they have assumed financial responsibility for the accident. When presented with such a letter, many District Attorneys will dismiss the charge against you.

This is the link to the site: http://www.speedingticketcentral.com...ng-ticket.html

 

buttom line is FUCK COPS. But good write up though.

 

First, good luck with the ticket settlement. Second, when on cruise and you hit an overpass, hill, mountain, the cruise automatically detects a change (this case a decrease in speed) and immediately starts accelerating the car to compensate for the decrease in speed. At that point, going uphill, your cruise is set at 65mph however, the car is starting to pull (increase in speed) to maintain that 65mph you set which may give a false reading to the cop that your doing 75mph when in fact your not. Watch the next time you drive over hills, overpasses the car picks up speed. Thirdly, my speedo is 1-2mph off due to change in tire size (17in to 18in Apsecs) but thats all. My $0.02s.

 

Why would that be the case? The car is still going 65mph.
Unless cops get false readings if cars are accelerating/decelerating...and if that was the case, wouldn't a lot more speeding tickets get thrown out.

 

I have 2 GPS, mi cell and a dedicated handheld which supports WAAS (more accurate). I'm from mexico and at 230 km/h (142 mph) in the speedometer, the GPS shows only 212 km/h (131 mph), that's 18 km/h off, about 11 miles.

I'm very dissapointed of this because I check every car I can and I have tested that on Hondas, Nissans, Fords, WVs, and all of them read very very accurate, less than 1% off. even a new generation Honda Civic with digital speedometer which is much more easy to compare, it was 100% accurate with the GPS. so the speedometer in my Acura TL 2007 is WRONG! and I think all of them are as well.

Went to the Acura dealer and asked if they can recallibrate my speedometer, and they said it wasn't possible, that there is no way to recallibrate the speedometer.

The worst part here is not the error in the speedometer reading, but the total miles that the car REALLY have, my car now have about 45,000 miles but it should have slightly above 40,000, and as this number increases, the error increases also.

Does someone knows if it's is possible to recallibrate the speedometer?????????

 

thread resurrection


something that wasn't mentioned in here is that tire size and wheel size play a big part (the OP did say he was bone stock, so that is probably why it wasn't brought up)

certain tire/wheel combos can set the speedo off several %

 

aspec shouldn't effect the speedo though correct? larger rim, but smaller tire so overall diameter of the wheel and tire together should be the same as stock. or am i mistaken?