jl03CLS

So i got clocked doing 88 in a 60 merging on an onramp. He tagged me at a distance of 532.7 ft. I dont think i was even going that fast. The cop was hiding on an overpass above the onramp. There was moderate to heavy traffic but the flow of traffic was about 60-70 mph. Think there is anything I can do besides request for discovery and subpoena the officer? The only thing on the ticket that I found was inaccurate was the color of my car but i dont think that would be a big deal. I dont think he could have singled me out considering the amount of cars on the 4 lane freeway and the speed of traffic. Any ideas? please dont say i should have been going 60 because the guy next to me wasnt letting me in and he had a car on his ass and there was a car on my ass. so i just sped up a little bit to pass him to avoid an accident. so any other input would be nice.

TzarChasm

You are bumming. Trying to say he got the color of your car wrong is not going to fly. You can go to court and say, "i didn't think I was going that fast" and they will reduce the ticket most of the time. As for getting out of it alltogether..you are SOL.

jl03CLS

yeah i know but its a $250 ticket and im sure my insurance company wont be happy. yeah maybe the the city wont send me the request for discovery. the one time i got my other ticket, not one person who hired a lawyer had to pay for a ticket because the city never sent them out. but im dont want to rely on that. damn. maybe i can use a deferral? how long does it usually take after you use a deferral before you can get another one? ive heard 3 years, 5 years, and 7 years before so i dunno which one to believe.

Q1911

Plead not guilty. go to your court date. meet with the prosecutor. he'll more then likely reduce it.



and stop speeding

Bearcat94

Deferrals or Plea's for Judgements (so-called here) vary by state.

Best advice is above. Not Guilty, Court Date, Talk to DA/Asst DA about a reduction. If they won't reduce ask for a continuance so you can retain counsel.

Depending on local laws 28 over could be more than "speeding" - reckless endangerment, reckless operation, etc. It that is the case the reduction will be significantly better insurance-wise, than the original charge. It'll still hurt, just not quite so much.

GL. Be Careful.

jl03CLS

yeah the ticket just said speed over legal limit so i dont know if that is reckless or not. it would have been nice to see how the officers car was positioned before hand so i can see if the radar was used improperly. i know on my first ticket it was improperly used for sure but i didnt read up on that stuff till later. i havent had any traffic violations since summer of 03 so hopefully there i have a defferal in the works for me :\

JJ4Short

$250?! I got that for going 18 over, and you got the same for going 28 over...BULLSHIT ASS GA!

TzarChasm

More info on improperly used radar?

TzarChasm

Georgia LOVES to give out tickets.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Decide what's more important. Spending more money now and having a clean record, or pay the fine now and then potentially have issues with your insurance company.

I got clocked doing 80 in a 65 a couple years ago. I got a lawyer to fight it for me. It cost me close to $500 to get it all done, but it never showed up on my driving record. If I just paid the fine it probably would have cost about the same since I would have had to pay the ticket and the hit on my insurance.

jl03CLS

well its been a while since my last ticket so i dont remember the exact details but there is a bunch of ways a radar can be improperly used. Most radars can cover a width of 4 lanes and anywhere from 50 to about 700 ft, most of them anyways. Some things to note is that radar can have something called the doppler effect. Thats where if the radar is pointed close to perpendicular to the direction of traffic, the you will get an inaccurate reading. This i know is a legit defense right off the bart. Another thing to note is that most standard radar cannot determine the direction of traffic. So he could have been gunning in the right direction, but he might have picked up some guy speeding in the opposite direction in the fast lane. Supposedly he "heard" me coming Radar doesnt really distinguish between size either. A radar will be more likely to pick up a semi truck than a small car. The larger the object the more like it is to be picked up. Also some things that dont really apply is that trees, microwaves, and power lines can have an effect on the reading of a radar. Other minor things are if the radar was properly tuned and calibrated, or maybe checking the latest maintainence on the radar. Oh forgot to mention that the officer has to see the vehicle speeding. So that means if he is reading a newspaper while his radar is gunning and hears the radar go off and then decides to choose and pick then that is obviously bad.

I think that the most important thing is to request discovery. If you request it and dont recieve it and tell the judge that, then the ticket is automatically thrown out. Ive seen it happen before. Request for discovery is getting the states evidence against you, which you have a legal right to see.

here is a link for the state of california request for discovery.

man this ticket is more of a hassle than anything. yes i know i shouldnt be speeding

mrproul

go to court plead not guilty get a court date, cop doesn't show on that date your ticket will be dissmissed. i think it will cost 10$.

or at least that is how it is done in cali. i have had 3 tickets dissmissed only because the cop was too busy eating donuts.

TzarChasm

Thanks for the response.

While I don't really have a problem with anything you said, it would seem to me that any of those things would be very difficult to prove, unless you get an extremely honest cop who is willing to admit he was screwing around instead of paying attention.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

If you were speeding and go into court and claim that the radar was used incorrectly or illegally, then I have no sympathy for what happens. If you go in and argue that your record is clean and they reduce it, then good for you.

jl03CLS

yeah i hear you guys. i talked to a lawyer and she said that it can probably be reduced to a non moving violation. but thats if i fork out $300 in lawyer fees which ill probably end up doing. live and learn

mrmako

Well, $300 plus the non-moving violation and no insurance bump, or $250 and get raped by your insurance company for the next 3 years? Not a difficult choice.

BENDER08

if you get a lawyer i'm sure the wrong color of the car can get you off.

BigLizard

I'll give you my lawyer. You'll get off for the wrong color of your car. GUARANTEED!

paliknight

hey since you seem to know about radars, i have a question.

i heard from people that a radar cannot be operated if the cop is traveling. meaning, if the cop is driving behind you, then that cop cannot use the radar to determine your speed. that radars only work when they are sessile.

i was always curious to know if that was true.

jl03CLS

i dont remeber exactly but im thinking that you CAN determine speed while in motion as long as the radar is calibrated to a certain speed that has to be maintained. kind of like a pace car. but i am not a hundred percent sure :\

as for the lawyer i am open to it haha. whos the lawyer?

1killercls

Pay the fine, slow the fuck down.

Street Spirit

But it wasn't used improperly. You said you were speeding (to merge onto the highway). The radar proved you right.

jl03CLS

true but the RCW 46.61.400 that he ticketed me under states that "In every event speed shall be so controlled as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway" Im not trying to pick a fight or anything but im sure anyone else would speed up to avoid an accident or before the merge lane ran out right? i dunno. In the end yeah it was stupid to try to pass the car next to me. I probably should have braked a little and let the two cars pass.

Zippee

Go to court and explain to the Judge that you were not tearing down the highway, but in trying to merge you got up to that speed and were going to slow down once you got into the traffic flow. If you do this in a respectful way he may dismiss or reduce the fine.

Trying to play Perry Mason with discovery, car color and that kind of petty stuff will only piss him off.