My assumption (yeah yeah) the judge will just fine you for the reduced speed you admit to doing and move on to the next case.

Your word against the officers as in how fast you think/really were going. We all know who usually wins that argument.

Good Luck

I..P..

 

You are so right.

 

Thanks to all for the replies.

 

Checked mine the the GPS 1 MPH off.

 

I guess the laws must be different in CA than the other 4 states I have lived in (I mean that seriously, not as sarcasm).
In the other 4 you can write a lettter to the DA and he is forced to give you any evidence they possess about the case. It's called discovery. I would be very suprised if CA is really any different in that regard. I know of no states that require discovery to be performed by a lawyer....hence people can still represent themselves.

Thats what I have done and it works to get the information I need.

The state is the custodian of the records of their own equipment, so they need to produce ti for you upon request.

I have seen a guy get his (huge) ticket thrown out in court becasue he requested all these records in writing and didn't get them in a timely fashion from the state. Game. Set. Match.

If you really feel you need an expert for the radar gun, that is up to you. I can count the number of times I have actually seen that on one hand. Actually, one finger. And I suspect the case was actually revolving around a DUI, where the guy got pulled over for speeding. But I didn't stay for all the fun.

Radar is notoriously innaccurate. Its just a nature of the beast. High performance radar costs big bucks, and it just isn't worth it to HWP to pay for that when cheap, innaccurate untis can write just as many (or more) tickets.

This is all "been there, done that" information. Not speculation. (You may address me as Mr. Mason if you like. )

You can find an awful lot of resources at soem larger libraries and certainly from "fight ticket" specific books I am quite certain.

Remember, if about 3% of people fought their tickets the system would fall apart. They count on you NOT fighting them, and as such things liek this go on unchecked. I'm not like an anarchist or anyhting like that , but that is just what our traffic system has become.

 

Because I tend to be a leadfoot, I have my cars run on a LEO buddies radar unit. My last 2 Vettes have been dead on up to a certain speed (rather high) He refuses to let me drive by him faster, as he says you get cought going that fast a few MPH off will not mean anything.

 

I agree with your assessment. What you described supports my point. You suggest doing all the legwork yourself which unless you are retired and want a second hobby, is cost prohibited from lost work/billing time viewpoint. Like other DIY projects where one has limited knowledge, it takes a heck of a lot more time for a novice to do what a professional can do.

Also, with a DIY approach, one slip up on a legal technical issue and the judge once again sides with LEO.

Although I guess at this point you are not a novice in this area.

Best of both worlds - be retired with a heavy foot and lots of time to beat the tickets!

 

I was in a block of traffic on I75 near Macon Georgia. There were about 15 cars in this block and we were all doing the same speed 72-74 mph. The speed limit suddenly dropped to 60 from 70 for a construction zone. A cop car moved from the side of the road and came up behind me and hit his lights.

When he came up to the car he asked if I knew why he pulled me over. I said yes, I was in a group of vehicles that were over the speed limit. He asked if I knew how fast I was going. I said yes, 72 mph. He said try 86. I said to him that he must have gotten the wrong car. His reply was "How many other Corvettes were in that group, do you know??" Of course the answer was zero. I said sir I'm an honest person and I swear that I was driving 72, which I know was 12 mph over the limit. He asked if I knew I was in a construction zone and I said yes.

The guy took my license and registration and left. When he came back he said he gave me a break and didn't put it in a construction zone. I was upset till I called to find out what the fine was. Turns out he wrote the ticket for 85 in a 60 non-construction. 26 over in a non-construction was a $685 fine. 25 over in a non construction was $212. 12 mph in a construction was $356. So he gave me a decent break all around.

I checked my speedometer after that. My cruise shows a different speed than my analog speedometer. My cruise is right on and the analog is 1 mph high between 40 and 65 and from 65-80, the highest I checked the analog is 2 mph faster than I'm actually going.

 

That's a good idea if something like this result happens to me for some other reason, like I disagree w/ the LEO. Better be prepared to suck up the ticket tho! No warnings given after asking to see his radar gun!

 

Actually asking to see the speed lock can be a valuable tool if you have an attorney and go to court. If they show you that they locked the speed at the highest reading, they weaken their case considerably. Using the radar unit in that mode is poor operation and can result in an excellent defense. You should also ask if he monitored the doppler tone. Some LEO are lazy and do not like to have to listen to the continual tone. As a result, they cannot confirm their target and this is extemely valuable as defense in court. When the unit locks, it discontinues the tone (if it was on as in proper operation in the first place) and the loss of tone ends the LEOs ability to know what his target was. Of course, he can still lie about what he mistakenly admited at the scene, but I have encountered a couple of judges that were pretty damn upset with the officer when caught not following the rules of operation set by his district.

 

Whoa! Things sure have changed since I left in '96. Thanks for the heads up....even though I never go 20 mph over, it's a good deterrent I won't forget.

 

A cop said I was speeding one time. It was years ago when most cops were still similar to ordinary people. I was NOT speeding and protested on the spot. He pretty soon figured out that the rear end in his car had recently been changed thus accounting for the problem. No ticket.

 

All this talk of speedo accuracy got me to thinking that I had never checked mine. I try to check all my vehicles right after I buy them to make sure. Over the years I've found some as much as 5 MPH off at highway speeds. Checked the Vette the other day against the GPS and I was within .2 MPH. Close enough.