"Speeding" ticket...

[Fast 96 Asp]

Coming home from work the other day and I get pulled over. Officer comes up, leave my hands on steering wheel and he asks for my license and registration. Now, in NH, you don't have to tell them you are carrying, but I had removed my pistol from its holster and put it in the center console so I told him "My reg is in the center console with a pistol I am legally carrying and didn't want to be fishing for it when you walked up". He said fine, get it slowly...seemed to be a real nice guy. Now I have ZERO tickets and ZERO accidents since getting my license when I was 16. He asked if I knew the speed limit...this is where it gets tricky, because I thought I did know. Where I pulled over I had just entered a school zone, so limit was 25. I knew I was going 35mph (+/- 3mph) so I told a white lie and said "35" (thinking it might have been 25mph)...well he said "yes speed limit is 35". So now I am completely confused. He says how fast were you going and I told him 35 maybe 40 at the VERY maximum. He said he "saw me come around the corner (very sharp) at 50mph". Well first of all I'm not a fast driver at all, never even been pulled over for speeding, secondly I drive a 1996 Ford Explorer and if I were going 50 around THAT corner, I certainly would have flipped or lost control. I told him this and he says alright. Comes back with a ticket! I politely said "Officer, I don't want to argue with you on the side of the road, but surely I wasn't going 50 around that corner. I have no tickets/accidents blah blah blah" and he just said "Have a nice day".

Now I know most people are going to say "Its one ticket, let it go" but hell no. I was not speeding, and if I was it was NOT that fast. Around a corner?! So even if I was going the speed limit, 35mph around a sharp corner, could that not be portrayed as if I were going "50".

 

[FordSVTFan]

A ticket is an allegation made by the police officer after a traffic stop and brief investigation. If you agree with the charge, you sign the ticket and pay the fine. If you dont agree, you mark the ticket accordingly and go to court. A judge will adjudicate the case based on both parties evidence.

If you go to court make sure you have a cogent and articulate argument with physical evidence, such as pics of the curve, the signage, your vehicle, roll over reports from Fed. testing, etc.

 

[jshen]

If your "question" is what should you do....My response would be go to court and contest the charge if you feel you were not speeding. Did the officer use radar? We don't just look at a car and guess a speed- although officers ARE allowed to do so in court- [long explanation of expert witness stuff]

Let's face it- you admitted here that you told the officer a lie..and then you said the max you were going was 40...and I "think" you are upset that you got a ticket for 50...in an area where you were not paying attention to the posted speed..

 

[Fast 96 Asp]

Sorry for not being clear. If I'm coming around a sharp corner at 35, isn't there some type of inertia or other type law that may make the vehicle seem to be going faster?
And I said I thought I lied about the speed limit, not how fast I was going and it turned out that I wasn't lying after all...

 

[jshen]

Time for someone with recent background in Physics to chime in...I just breezed through article on "centrifugal force is equal in magnitude to the centripetal force" and it just gave me a headache..I think the answer is "no"...you do not speed up as you go through a corner..unless you give it more gas...

 

[Fast 96 Asp]

Alright. Thats what I gathered. Definitely going to take pictures. Thanks for help and opinions.

 

[cj3113]

Time for someone with recent background in Physics to chime in...I just breezed through article on "centrifugal force is equal in magnitude to the centripetal force" and it just gave me a headache..I think the answer is "no"...you do not speed up as you go through a corner..unless you give it more gas...

You do observe an acceleration, but it is not linear so your MPH should not detect it.

 

[iamsteven87]

it kinda sounds to me like ****edited by moderator**** I should have read the rules before posting...

 

[DaleM]

it kinda sounds to me like the cop just felt like writing a ticket.

You ought to see when the mods "just feel" like banning dumbasses. I'd bet the cop would have rather seen a safe driver on a dangerous curve. Maybe he felt he was saving lives and property?

 

[mysticalsnake]

the only thing that can really make a vehicle appear to possibly be coming faster around a corner than they really are (especially those as large as a truck/suv) would be the fact they are MUCH more prone to body roll through any type of corner at any given speed due to the higher center of gravity. Do what Adam advised you to and just appear infront of the judge and make a case. Regardless, having no record of priors what so ever in many cases will really help you out as the judge will have all this before him. In many cases with that i've had a few friends get out from under it completely or get a reduced speed or no points violation.

 

[rwboring]

you should ALWAYS ask to see the reading... i always do after they give me the ticket so it doesnt look like your bring an jerk when they first come up

 

[Silver2003Cobra]

I know that I don't slow down for most corners when I'm driving my Cobra (why, the car can handle it, and I don't have to burn up fuel to get back up to speed) I'd guess that seeing someone doing the speed limit (say 35 mph) on a 90 degree corner, it could look like you were speeding.. now doing that in a SUV, IF it could hold the road, would definitely look like you were speeding..

do like what others have said, get all the appropriate measurements, photos etc and take it to court..

 

[About2bite]

taking a 90* corner at 35 would not appear to be safe, and I would probably wonder what somone who was going that quick around a corner was up to, and yes someone going that speed around a corner would appear to be going quicker since is a faster speed than anyone ever sees someone taking corners.

Please don't tell me you take corners at 35 in your Cobra?

 

[NinoAvila]

The bottom line:

Pay the ticket or contest it.

If you contest: it's the officer's word against yours.

Judges/Jury's tend to side with the law for the most part. Remember, "everyone is innocent" and "everyone has a story" to back the ticket. You're just another number to the court. Be prepared and don't go in with "weak-sauce".

The things that will help you in your particular case are these:

1. Did he use a radar or "judge" the speed?
Judging speed is easier to refute in court in the cases I've been a part of or helped people out in. It's hard enough to judge speed in a straight line, but around a curve? That should be pretty easy to refute. Remember, it's his job as an officer to prove that you were in fact going at whatever rate of speed he noted on your ticket. How did he come to that conclusion?

2. What were the conditions when the alleged offense took place?
Was there any traffic around you? Where was the officer when he saw you allegedly commit the offense? Where did he first take note of your vehicle? Go and take pictures from the officer's point of view. You can request all of this information before court. Most of the time, it requires a written request. If it's important and you think they'll give you the run-around until your court-date (and they can most of the time), send the request certified mail. This will give you some proof that you did your part in a timely fashion.

3. Last but not least, you have a squeaky-clean record. Use this to your advantage, request a copy of your driving record and present it at the court. This is a BIG plus.

Most of the time, if you have all your ducks in a row, the prosecutor will drop the case. In the rare occasion that they have the red-ass for your (like in my particular case), no amount of common-sense, diagrams, & talking will sway them. They will take it to the end to see who's gonna flinch first. They count on people tossing in the towel and just paying the fine. They don't count on people like me. If I feel I was wronged, I'll take you to the mat to make you prove I was wrong.

Example 1:
I was given a ticket for speeding when I was not.

Example 2:
I took my vehicle in for work and got jacked around by the dealership, so I made them pay.

Hang in there. If you were wrongly accused, it will all come out in the wash, just do your homework

-N