Jim Nowak

Mark, sounds like the last ticket I got in Quincy, Florida. I was speediing on a very desolate section of I-10 with no traffic in front of me. The trooper ticketed me for 117 in a 70 mph zone. My radar detector never even blinked but that was with a Passport 8500 and it was around 10 years ago . I didn't bother to fight the ticket for fear the court date would go worse than the fine if I had just paid the ticket.

Been there done that fighting a ticket with an overzealous judge in Louisiana. I received court costs, active supervised probation for a year(no I was not on drugs/drinking, possesion of drugs, or posession of anything illegal - just speeding), 172 hours of community service and a $200 fine. Your ticket is not so extreme so I'd get the information by discovery and fight it if you are compelled to do so.

SharkSkin

Yes, they are constantly updating. I've had mine for a year and I've already sent it back to the factory for one free update, to add POP detection.

IMHO the differences in detection range between the higher-end radar detectors is insignificant, whether you detect the radar 1 mile or 1.1 miles away it's plenty. IMHO there is no substitute for the arrows and bogey counter, but others may disagree... as they have done here in the past.

T_MaX

Although rare, there have been scams place apron the public by unscrupulous law enforcement officers were they would have a buddy run past them at above legal limits (let’s say 89MPH). They lock it in and use this reading to write several tickets a day/night.

Good Luck!


Ron, good one!



I wish I had the time to research how the State of Texas and the Department of Pubic Saftey handles these issuses now.

Many years ago here in Texas, you had the right to have the officer show you that he was state certified to use the unit he/she was using to clock you. you could also review his/her calibration sheet on the unit, which at the time; should have been done at the beginning of every shift (cert. tunning forks). You could also ask him/her to prove the unit was in calibration at the time he/she used it to clock you.

If there was any discrepancies, you had a right to have the unit impounded at the time of the ticket (for use in court), but you had to know your rights and the proper procedure for calibrating a unit, how a unit should be impounded and keep a cool head about you while the ***-hate is writing you a bogus ticket.

P.S. I have a freind in Houstion that got out of a ticket in the late 80's because the Certified Tunning Forks used to calibrate the radar unit was out of date! Remember, even the tool used to calibrate a unit needs to be recalibrated at some point

Ron_H

User 41221

As a experienced ticket fighter, I would strongly suggest you hire a professional to fight this battle for you if you have to take it to court. I have seen *way* too many folks buy the various "how to beat your speeding ticket" books and try to play Perry Mason Jr in court only to royally pi$$ off the Judge and wind up with a much worse situation than if they had just plead guilt and paid the fine in the first place. The courtroom can be a very fickle place, many judges have zero tolerance for the "do you know what Chapter 3, Paragraph A, sentence 2 says about Radar model XXX ver 3.1 with the optional gold plated tuning fork option" defense.

Don't be afraid to fight the ticket if you aren't guilty, but please consider using a professional.

Regards,

T_MaX

Scott, I don't think there are many who would go in front of a Judge without proper council, but for those who may, heed Scott’s advice. My point was, know your rights and know what needs to be done in the case you should have a need to contest a radar reading. Lawyers in general don’t like getting into cases if they are jumping in front of a fast rolling 8 ball.

FWIW, my Houstonian buddy mentioned above is a lawyer.

Fogey1

Jim Nowak Wrote:
"Been there done that fighting a ticket with an overzealous judge in Louisiana. I received court costs, active supervised probation for a year(no I was not on drugs/drinking, possesion of drugs, or posession of anything illegal - just speeding), 172 hours of community service and a $200 fine. Your ticket is not so extreme so I'd get the information by discovery and fight it if you are compelled to do so."

Can you say official oppression?

These forums have interesting tales to tell.

Traffic Enforcement Forum
http://forums.officer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=202

The Squad Room Forum
http://forums.officer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

EW posted this link a while back -
http://forums.officer.com/forums/sho...6&page=1&pp=25
After all, somebody has to be above the law.

Here's a thread that'll remind you that police are people:
http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35119
"What irks you the MOST......speeders or left lane hogs???"

Ron_H

There are traffic commisioners (isn't that a kick: they are called traffic commissioners in CA.) who will kick you around in court if you are not represented by an attorney. If one walks into the courtroom, the commisioner's demeanor goes from schoolyard punk to respectfully polite in one quick step. I have had a commissioner claim certain sections of the California penal code didn't apply in "his" courtroom, only to abandon that stance when an attorney questioned him about the same issue.
Another tactic you should always, always, always use is to have a record made of the proceedings, either by tape recording or a court reporter. Bear the cost, it is minimal compared to the benefits. The judge will be on notice that inaccuracies in his comments will be reveiwed possibly by an appeals court.
Best money you can spend.

DG84S

Jim Nowak....DAMN!!! They might as well beat you with a hose and dump you in a creek! Sounds like you got a judge whose wife had run off with a shark owner!

Mike B

I probably out of line here but if you don't want a ticket then don't speed in excess. The policeman himself stated a certain excess was allowed. These guys, most of them, are pretty reasonable.

I'm no poster child for following the speed limits but if you push it you may get caught.

Jim Nowak

There were a couple of interesting twists to this story. When I showed for the first meeting from my probation officer, she asked if I was drunk, doing drugs, had drugs, had an illegal firearm, ETC. I told her that I had done none of those things and was only fined for speeding. She then asked, "Who was your judge....no, no, don't tell me. I know. It was judge Drew." I said, "Yep you are correct." She made me pay for the first months payment for my active supervised probation and said that she would take care of the rest of the year and not to worry about coming back. The probation officer said the judge was a real ******* and he often did crazy things like this to people in his courtroom.

The really interesting part of the story is that I ended-up with the judge as my Business Law professor. I made an A with very little work in that class. I think he felt bad that he was so tough on me. The judge was actually a really cool guy in class and I learned a lot from him but most of all that I should never go to court without a good attorney present.

Tony

I had a chance to talk to a Virginia state tropper on one of my flights last week, besides asking him about there radar detector rules i asked him about the latest and greatest in radar gun stuff.
In a nutshell he says the new "guns" are extremely well shielded and dont bleed any signal over when they are just sitting there. They have your speed the second the trigger is pulled and probably 3 secs before you hit your brakes.

If your driving along an open stretch of road, by yourself, your busted, a radar will not help you. He said the only chance you have is if the officer using the gun is aiming it at a car ahead of you. He said you may pick up some of the signal but he added the new guns have a very focused signal cone.

I think Kieths V-1 was pretty quiet as he passed the CHP officer today on the fun drive, i thik he said it chirped as he drove by him. The officer had the unit pointing behind him getting the traffic traveling in the opposite direction we were going...THANKFULLY


I drove 600+ mile this weekend with out one.. never missed it.
I am due for a ticket though, its been a while.
remember, the detector manufactors are not the only ones updateing there equipment and technolgy...

inactiveuser92616

as a note to those that say that you only get tickets if you break the law, not true. I have once been presented with an 8 pt misdemeanor (criminal) level ticket when I had not broken any law. Do a search on it, I got lucky and had it dismissed in court. Will I ever be rumenerated for the hours upon hours of legal research I did in preparation? No.

Kaz

I find that my V1 works best with all my other radar avoidance tricks. You can not just rely on it alone.

Ron_H

I have told this story before, but in response to Patrat's post here it is again.

I once was stopped by a bear that said he never clocked me, just heard me go by and saw it was a Porsche (911E), came after me and stopped me, and gave his reason as " You're driving a Porsche and they all speed". That is only one instance. I can give maybe 30 or 50 more plus or minus. That particular ticket was dismissed when the officer failed to identify me in court; he asked me to go to court because he had already written the citation and he said he would not identify me, (we made friends during the time we spoke on the side of the road and he realized the absurdity of the bust, and he also realized I was a local haole in Hawaii instead of a mainland one.) The latest instance was this past week in Sunnyvale, when some goofball saw me pass by him as he was going the other direction, he turned around and came after me claiming I had been 'speeding", "cutting in and out of traffic" and he wanted to know why. I told him he was mistaken, because I had been following the same car in front of me in the same lane for the past 3 miles, and he knew it, and the only time I changed lanes was to prepare to enter the freeway and I signaled for that change and he knew that because he was behind me, and the car in front of me had been traveling at the speed limit the whole way. He probably realized he had been the one who had sped to catch up with us and had cut in and out of lanes in the process and realized that too. Hey, we were in a quiet suburb the whole way. One thing you never never do is fool around close to home, and I live in Sunnyvale. After a check for warrants, he handed back my license and walked away.

So don't ever tell me if you don't want to be ticketed drive the speed limit. Never say that to me. It is a crock of ****. And never tell me the speed limit is an assurance of safety, which is another crock of ****. Keep your **** to yourself. Nothing personal. Just been around the block and don't need a chaperone, especially knowing the facts.