Driving back from a meeting late last night (actually early this morning...2am)..
Was tooling along I-10 west of Tallahassee...had the cruise locked in at 79. The V1 had been quiet for a while. VERY light traffic. As I crested a small hill, I see a Sherriff Deputy sitting under a bridge in the middle. V1 was quiet so I just hit the cancel on the cruise. As I pass - the V1 remains quiet. After I pass him - the V1 chirps once for K-band...showing a signal strength of only "1". As I check my rear view - I see him swing out and put on the blue lights and haul *** to catch me. Of course, I pull over. THE V1 is STILL quiet!

He says he clocked me at 86! Of course I deny speeding.(and, while telling me how much he loves old Porsches - hands me the ticket). He also comments on the V1..his buddy has one and loves it. I asked him how he clocked me "was it one of those new 'instant-on' radars?", as the V1 gave no indication of radar. He replies "Yes, but ALL radars are really instant-on". He indicated that he waited for the last car to pass (I saw NO traffic ahead of me for quite some distance), and that I was the only one in his sights when he turned it on to clock me.

NORMALLY - I would have asked to see the radar unit - but - I had a pistol (for which I DO have a permit) sitting between the seat and door - and just wasn't up for any type of additional hassles or giving the guy any reason for concern.

Why did the V1 not scream? (It was working fine - and in fact - 15 minutes later, alerted me (for at least 30 seconds) to a Hwy Patrol rolling towards me.)
Do I have any defense? The Deputy's angle to the on-coming traffic was NOT head-on, but rather at about a 45 degree angle.
Ron-H and others - ANY suggestions?

I CAN take a course to erase the ticket - but I was NOT speeding as the officer indicated, and do NOT want to just roll-over and play dead on this. I am willing to go to court, but it is about 250 miles from here.

I recall recently seeing a link to a webpage about fighting tickets - but can't seem to find it.

ANY help is appreciated.

 

That sucks! Sounds like you may have a plausable defense, but I'll defer to Ron as he is the local expert on these matters.

 

I am suspitious about the discrepency between the your speedo and the cop's claim.

1. I'd get a an identical radar gun to the one he used to see if it sets of the V1 under similar circumstances.

2. I'd check the speedo. If it is off by that much you have a defense as well.

Good luck.

 

One other 'interesting comment' the Deputy made. Of course, he told me to 'slow down' and then added that I was ok at 80-81...but at 82+ the "troopers would look at you" He then added "I never pull anyone for under 82". Don't know if this makes any difference - just tought it was kinda strange.

 

Check your serial number on the V1 site. You may not have POP detection, and if that's what he got you with, it is NOT evidentiary. It even says so in the user manual for such devices. Too bad you were not in a favorable position to get out and look at the unit, maybe get a cellphone snap of the control panel. Also, a 45 degree angle is not a valid position from which to get a reading, though it will tend to show a slower than actual speed. Additionally, in Ca. at least, radar from behind is counter to procedure.

 

He may have indeed recorded 86 on the gun. The question is was it your car that he recorded? He may have thought it was your car because it's a Porsche. Then again it could be crap. Were there any cars beside, in front or behind you? What were the weather conditions? What lane were you traveling in? Do you remember teh RPMs of the engine? If you do we can approximate your speed with your tire size. I'm sure Ron will have many more questions for you.

 

SharkSkin-
I'm curious about your evidentiary comment. Are you saying that POP is not admissible as evidence? If so, why?

 

I have the LATEST V1. And - I spoke to V1 on the phone. The deputy had indicated that he had my speed 'locked' on the unit. The folks at V1 told me that the POP will NOT hold/lock the speed.

Also - it was NOT from behind. He was facing me when he supposedly clocked me. In fact, the ticket has a comment of "Stat. radar - front antenna"

 

My car was the only one around. Weather was clear. I was in the right lane.

I know exactly where my RPM's were - but I was in the 951. I will take my GPS out and duplicte the RPM's.

As to your next post - the POP is NOT admissable. If you go to the V1 site - click on 'more info' and then 'POP'. they have a quote from the manufacturer indicating that it is not accurate enough for evidence.

With POP, they are supposed to then take a full reading.

 

Thanks Mark. Now I understand. I haven't been to the V1 site in a while. Looks like I have some catching up to do on POP.

 

The Trooper could have pulled you over because your Porsche looked lik it was going faster.. Porsche = Fast... Or, he could have just lied to you and gave you the ticked knowing that you are 250 miles away from the court, and will most likely not contest the ticket....

V1 is not failsafe.. you need good eyes as well... If he had gotten you with POP, he could have just written it down as a regular ticket after looking at your License etc... He probably figured you'll not contest etc.....

Cops lie too..... Hey they get graded on how many tickets they give out as well....

HTH,

 

From the V1 website,

 

I guess one of my next steps is to determine the make/model of the radar unit used. ANY FL LAWYERS HERE know if I can just request the info from the Sherriff's dept - or will I have to go thru the hassle of subpeonaing that info?

I am also going to send the V1 back to be tested...but AFTER my trip to Frenzy next week - can't afford to be without it for 2000 miles.

 

You can request details on the radar during discovery process of the trial...

 

Because it's no damn good! http://www.valentine1.com/pop/whatispop.asp