Police Officers & Speedguns

[Tyr]

I just got pulled over last night by a police officer en route to school, and she said she caught me going 73 in a 55. I know I was going 65 on cruise, and even if I was going a little higher, there's a big difference between 73 and 65. So, I asked her to show me her speed gun, and she said:

1) The speedgun doesn't save the speeds it registers (so there's no way of showing my speed)
2) She is not required by law nor am I entitled to seeing the speedgun

Is this true? I've been told countless times by friends/co-workers that if you get pulled over for speeding, always ask to see the speedgun, and if they don't show it to you, then you can use that to try and dismiss your case.

Now I have to figure out which is more worthwhile:

Paying 61$ ticket and not going to court, but taking the "hit" to my driving record
OR
Paying a minimum 50$ (max $111) for a damn court-cost and trying to get my case dismissed so it doesn't show on my record.

It's double-or-nothing if I choose to go to court.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

You can plead not guilty and hope the cop never shows up. (After 3 times I think the case is tossed out.)

Use a PJC if they have them. (If you've already used one it doesn't matter, I've had 7 speeding tickets in 6 years and used mine 5 times.)

Just get it reduced to 9 over the limit and pay the fine. It won't affect your insurance.

Or if it's your first ticket just suck it up. I don't think insurance goes up on your first ticket.

[Matt]

Depending on what state you live in different rules apply. For example in my state (AZ) the officer does not have to show u any evidence of what the speed was you were traveling at.

Sometimes speedometers are off and you think your going slower than you really are. Oversized tires cause this problem aslo.

If you havent attended traffic school recently you may be able to do something like that and it wipes your ticket off your record.

[Tyche]

Whether it was 65 or 73, you were speeding and she could have pulled you over. I doubt she just fudged the figure to get more money out of you. You should get your speedometer calibrated and make sure it's correct. If it's off, you can turn in the maintenance records and get the charge dropped to "Improper Equipment".

[Quixon]

After 3 times I think the case is tossed out.

In my area in NY if the cop doesn't show up to the first date your case is thrown out.

Also, if you choose to go to court ask the officer to provide you with the "Tuning Pick" to the Radar Gun. The officers are required to Tune the Radar guns every day before use. If the Officer can't show you this piece of equipment you can also use this to get out of the ticket as well.

I learned the "Tuning Pick" trick from a Criminal Justice teacher who was also a cop back in college.


Where you ticketed on a Highway or a local road? Was the Cop a State Trooper or a Local Cop?
If you were ticketed by a Trooper on the Highway then just plead not guilty, then adjourn the case a day or 2 before the last possible day to do so.

When you get your court date it should tell you on the letter "Should you need to adjourn this date please do so by <insert date here"

When they schedule your original court date they give the cop a bunch of cases at once so he isn't there for just one case. When you adjourn, they basically throw you into the first available slot. 90% of the time the cop won't have any cases on that night, and thusly will not show up. Since typically the Trooper doesn't near where he would patrol, as opposed to a local town cop who would live in the area.

This has worked 7/7 times for me. Every single one got thrown out when the cop didn't show up.

[Duvelamilla]

They do not have to show you the gun but theer are a few trick you can look into for your state as they all very:

One: Ask to see the calabration (sp) record for the radar gun.

Two: If the ticket has you showing up in court on a certain day say monday, see if you can get the date changed to a different day. Most officers have thier court dates one day a week, and can't show up for court on a different day.

You can even try calling the station to find out what day that officer is off and try to avoid reseduling for that day.

three: go get yoru speedometer calabrated, if it off and you take a slip to court showing it was off and now fixed, they may toss ticket.

[SephYuyX]

Two: If the ticket has you showing up in court on a certain day say monday, see if you can get the date changed to a different day. Most officers have thier court dates one day a week, and can't show up for court on a different day.

This is a common misconception (atleast for here it is). Officers get paid to go to court, and get paid overtime if they have to go court on an off day.

[ircgeek]

This has worked 7/7 times for me. Every single one got thrown out when the cop didn't show up.

Jesus Christ slow down.

[Acturus]

Whether it was 65 or 73, you were speeding and she could have pulled you over. I doubt she just fudged the figure to get more money out of you. You should get your speedometer calibrated and make sure it's correct. If it's off, you can turn in the maintenance records and get the charge dropped to "Improper Equipment".

qft

[Matt]

I love getting court on my day off. Just means more money for me!

[Olo401]

2) She is not required by law nor am I entitled to seeing the speedgun

Bullshit. File a motion of discovery on the speedgun - should cost 5-10 bucks.. You'll get its entire history, including the regular calibration service dates. If the calibration is out of date, it's auto-win.

[Norelco]

A friend who's brother is a state trooper says it depends on who you get pulled over by...a local cop or a state trooper. If it was a trooper they aren't required to show you the speed gun because they're supposedly trained to measure speed by marking stationary objects and timing it. Because of this training a judge is more likely to side with them than someone who WAS probably speeding trying to get out of it.

[Acturus]

2) She is not required by law nor am I entitled to seeing the speedgun

Bullshit. File a motion of discovery on the speedgun - should cost 5-10 bucks.. You'll get its entire history, including the regular calibration service dates. If the calibration is out of date, it's auto-win.

A Motion of Discovery doesn't mean that the person can see the speed gun AT THE TIME OF THE VIOLATION.

Having said that, there are companies out there that specialize in getting people off of traffic tickets and the like. One of the biggest ways they do this is by invalidating the radar detection due to upkeep and maintanence history through the aforementioned Motion.

If you wish to pursue this over the discrepancy, I'd also suggest making sure your car's spedometer is properly calibrated as well.

[Khamsin]

2) She is not required by law nor am I entitled to seeing the speedgun

Bullshit. File a motion of discovery on the speedgun - should cost 5-10 bucks.. You'll get its entire history, including the regular calibration service dates. If the calibration is out of date, it's auto-win.

A Motion of Discovery doesn't mean that the person can see the speed gun AT THE TIME OF THE VIOLATION.

Having said that, there are companies out there that specialize in getting people off of traffic tickets and the like. One of the biggest ways they do this is by invalidating the radar detection due to upkeep and maintanence history through the aforementioned Motion.

If you wish to pursue this over the discrepancy, I'd also suggest making sure your car's spedometer is properly calibrated as well.

And also hope that the gun really hadn't been calibrated for a while.

So for you BG cops out there, are cops really that bad about keeping their radar guns calibrated? It's such a common defense, that it makes it sound like you guys have a tough time tuning it on schedule or something. Wouldn't it feel so much better to have some uppity kid take you to court asking for the calibration records only to show them that it's in tiptop shape?

[Keno]

Two: If the ticket has you showing up in court on a certain day say monday, see if you can get the date changed to a different day. Most officers have thier court dates one day a week, and can't show up for court on a different day.

This is a common misconception (atleast for here it is). Officers get paid to go to court, and get paid overtime if they have to go court on an off day.

I think the better idea would be to call his station and see which day he works the MOST and then schedule it for that day. I think as long as you reschedule it to any day other than the assigned day you have a good chance of them dropping it because they batch their court hearings.

[Anyway]

Similar thing happened to me, but it was worse. I was going around 54-55 in a 50 on the highway, brother in the car as well. Get pulled over after driving TWO lights on the highway. Cop is an utter dick to me as usual, instead of just telling me what I did, he goes "You're trying to act like you don't know what you did? I just paced you at 73 mph." Then I started laughing. He said "What's so funny? Speeding is funny to you?" I responded "Well officer, for 1, I was going 55 mph. 2) I heard you say pace, meaning you didn't even use your radar which leads me to 3) There's no way this is holding up in court, I have ALOT of friends. (I've gotten 9 out of 10 tickets dropped usually in 1 phone call.)

He gets pissed off, tells me to watch my mouth, to which I started laughing louder as he walked back to his car. Gave me the ticket and said "Cant wait to see you in court, pal", I said "Do yourself a favor, don't show up, there's no need"

3 months later, he surprisingly showed up. (first time a cop has for me) and I got it dropped down from the 400$ 4 point ticket down to a 60$ obstructing traffic cause I knew HIS Captain on a personal level. He threw a fit, it was so gratifying.

[jmc]

Two: If the ticket has you showing up in court on a certain day say monday, see if you can get the date changed to a different day. Most officers have thier court dates one day a week, and can't show up for court on a different day.

This is a common misconception (atleast for here it is). Officers get paid to go to court, and get paid overtime if they have to go court on an off day.

Yup. Overtime pay her in MA........ I hop all over every court case I get lol

[jmc]

2) She is not required by law nor am I entitled to seeing the speedgun

Bullshit. File a motion of discovery on the speedgun - should cost 5-10 bucks.. You'll get its entire history, including the regular calibration service dates. If the calibration is out of date, it's auto-win.

A Motion of Discovery doesn't mean that the person can see the speed gun AT THE TIME OF THE VIOLATION.

Having said that, there are companies out there that specialize in getting people off of traffic tickets and the like. One of the biggest ways they do this is by invalidating the radar detection due to upkeep and maintanence history through the aforementioned Motion.

If you wish to pursue this over the discrepancy, I'd also suggest making sure your car's spedometer is properly calibrated as well.

And also hope that the gun really hadn't been calibrated for a while.

So for you BG cops out there, are cops really that bad about keeping their radar guns calibrated? It's such a common defense, that it makes it sound like you guys have a tough time tuning it on schedule or something. Wouldn't it feel so much better to have some uppity kid take you to court asking for the calibration records only to show them that it's in tiptop shape?

It takes a few minutes to calibrate them now. With advanced "lasar" speed detectors, they are fine and usually dont need to be calibrated for a week at a time (We still do log/check them before every use). The idea, of them becoming "faulty/off" due to mis-calibration is slowly fading out as new devices hit the field.

[Tyche]

@Anyway
Do you ever get out of tickets at the stop? How in the hell can you have any knowledge of the system and not be able to weasle out of a ticket. 10 citations is absurd. You need to go talk to that Captain and learn how to completely avoid getting the citation in the first place. Unless you just use him as an excuse to be a dick to every cop that pulls you over because you know you are getting out of it. I've been pulled over for speeding probably 20 times. About 10 more random stops for following too close, not stopping, etc. Out of about 30 stops, I've been issued 3 citations. That means I got out of getting cited 27 times, all 27 times were because I was polite, honest, and respectful. Yessir, nossir, hands on the wheel, all paperwork nicely folded in an easily accessible book. Asked permission to make any moves neccessary to fetch said paperwork. The three tickets I did receive, One was 90/55 (I was 16), the next was 80/55 (I was 17). Both of those I beat in court. The one ticket I've paid for was a 42 in a 35. Not a typo. Cop was a dick. I paid for it out of court, it wasn't worth my time.

Maybe JMC can correct me if I'm wrong, but most of the time a cop doesn't go into a regular stop with the intention of writing a ticket. It's the attitude of the driver that makes it turn out that way. Save cases in which you were being fucking ignorant, like my 90 and 80 in a 55 zone.

[jmc]

Want to know a good way to get out of a ticket? With me, first thing is to know how to properly deal with getting pulled over and what to do.

Once the officer turns on the lights, to commence the traffic stop.

1) Put on your hazards, and pull over to THE RIGHT (ive had people pull over the left, and even stop in the middle of the road before)

2) Once stopped, turn off the car and put the keys up on the dashboard.

3) Leave your hands up on the steering wheel, and roll down your window. (Driver side window if on a local street.....passenger side window if on a major/busy highway) Rolling down your passenger side window on a busy highway, shows the trooper you care for his/her safety.

4) If its dark out, ask after the officer approaches if its alright to slowly proceed to a well light area (if there is one in visible range) for Your safety, and officer safety. (I personally have no problem with this, and actually encourage it)

5) When the officer asks for your license and registration inform him or her "Yes Sir/Ma'am just for your safety, they are located in my wallet and glove box" If you legally own a firearm, and you store it locked in the glove box inform the officer that its there so you don't get a department firearm pointed in your face.

6) Just be nice to the officer/trooper. No need to yell, no need to raise your voice or to even question his/her actions. A traffic stop is NOT the time to question someones actions, thats for the courts.

7) Again...be nice. If your nice to officers, officers are normally nice in return and scratch most things (depends on officer/tropper)