Got a ticket... damnit

[SloNLo_350]

Ok, so I was comin back from Fort Walton headed down highway 20. I just passed 2 cars, a little gay thing and a minivan. Well the minivan passed the neon or whatever it was too. As I flick off the brights for the car approaching over the hill, lred and blue lights errupt from that car coming over the hill. So i watch him bust a u turn on down the road behind me and then he commences to chase me back down, and I stop and await a hopefull warning like all the other times.

I asked him how fast i was going actually cause my speedo is still of a little and i wanted to make sure i was in a reasonable speed bracket (i didnt tell HIM that tho). He informs me in that I was doing 74 in a 60. Well i was pretty sure i was getting a ticket at this point cause 14 over just dont slide by. He gives me a $133 ticket!! Ive seen someone get pulled over for 110 in a 35 and get a $90 ticket, but anyway, that doesn't help me. I have been researching about moving radar and it seems that the fog, the hill, and the larger minivan behind me may have cuased a false reading (even tho i was speeding, there is no guarantee that i was the one the radar locked on too.) Furthermore, two way radios, trees, powerlines, old spark plug wires, even the cop having his A/C on can cause false readings on Moving radar.

I am definitely fighting it, because i think i have sufficient evidence to indicate that the radar might have been inaccurate, also the cop didnt put his badge number on the ticket, and i cant really read his name too well. But his unit number is on there, so I am not sure if i can call the technicality there. And suggestions?

[Tally TransAm]

133 is cheap as hell

still sucks though

[slmdLS1]

I asked him how fast i was going actually cause my speedo is still off a little

dont know how many times ive used that one, 10+ for sure, yet only 3 tickets i can remember. it helps to have a reciept for the part on order to fix your speedo :mrgreen:

[SloNLo_350]

dont know how many times ive used that one, 10+ for sure, yet only 3 tickets i can remember. it helps to have a reciept for the part on order to fix your speedo :mrgreen:
actually what i was going for was the fact that the moving radar has problems as a backup. What I am really interested in is the fact that he didn't put his Badge number on there. But I don't know if I can use that since he has his unit number on there and his name (sort of illegibly) it wouldn't hinder me from preparing a defense.

[Greg Kulbick]

Him coming over a hill changes the radar's angle of attack and since he's coming towards you, going down hill, you get radar refraction. The signal isn't coming back to the exact same place it was emitted from, there's no way to get an accurate reading.

[96s10]

simple physics my man. fight it. i really think you can get off.

[SloNLo_350]

Thats what I'm going for. I am gonna go back to the spot where he stopped me and take some notes and stuff. Also there were all the trees that could have disrupted the signal. And then the tuning that they have to do is crazy. There was one case in New York where the cop didn't tune the radar properly (resonably short time before the officer first shoots you and immediately after he stops you). He is supposed to check it with the tuning fork both times. I just need to find out how to write a supoena for a copy of the radar's repair records, tuning records, the officers training (if he doesn't have 24 hours in class training and 16 hours of field training he isnt qualified to use the radar), and the cars repair record, mainly any speedometer calibrations. I read a hell of alot of stuff about this last night. I think i got it!

[SloNLo_350]

well it turne dout harder to find the spot than i thought, but i narrowed it down to two locations, but the one nearest tallahassee seems to be it. There are also the reflectors on the gaurdrails of a bridge that would reflect the radar MUCH better than the road and my truck, so that could have thrown off the reading as well. Just need to get the model number of the radar to see how it determines the speed of the partol car. If it reads from the car's speed sensor that might be a little more difficult cause then I'd have to raise suspicion about the accuracy of the speedometer by getting the speedo calibration info from the Sheriff's Office. I am gonna look for examples of supoena's tho so I can get this in motion.

[96s10]

how long do you have?

[SloNLo_350]

I have 30 days (29 now) to "take care of it" as the super trooper said (he was actually a sheriff deputy). Anyway thats 29 days to plea. I can plead guilty, guilty with an explaination, plead guilty and take the class (which is still $119) or plead not guilty and take my chances. The circumstances are such that my insurance won't go up, to I'm good if I do lose, but if I can get the information I really think I can win!

[96s10]

what happens if you plead not guilty and lose?

[17TH SVT]

too bad almost every single cop these days uses laser which is an individual unit, accurate even when the cop car is moving.

[Gt]

too bad almost every single cop these days uses laser which is an individual unit, accurate even when the cop car is moving.

to bad laser can't be used from a moving vehicle.

[SloNLo_350]

that was exactly what i was about to say, and he pointed out that he used moving radar and wrote it on the ticket!

[SloNLo_350]

oh and if i lose, the ticket says I may be responsible for paying extra penalties, however everything i have read indicates that unless you were doing like 110 in a 35 that you wont have to pay more than the original fine.

[Gt]

if u loose, u pay court costs.

Tony

[96s10]

how much would court costs be?

[Gt]

I don't know for sure, but I think I had heard ~$250 or so.

[SloNLo_350]

im thinking about just doing the guilty with explaination thing. Save a little on the fine, and like i said before, its not going to increase my insurance. I could take the class and not have it on my record at all, but that is a good long way to drive for that, and I don't know when I'd have the time to do it. I'll save it for a more serious ticket, that will increse my insurance.