Lawyer up.

I know of a friend of a friend's cousin ;) who knew someone driving in a group of Porsches that got stopped by a corrupt deputy in TN.

Wrote them for Reckless Driving (spirited driving OK, but nowhere near Reckless or Racing) .... then after the good 'ol boys got to thinking about it they moved it up to Drag Racing :eek:

Really? .... in Porsches? On a two lane twisty river road in the mountains? :rolleyes:

It turns out the county was intent on confiscating all vehicles involved (thus the drag racing charge) and may have even wanted a little jail time. The deputy had a grudge against these 'rich Porch' guys. Additionally, the particular county magistrate handling the case had a documented history of corruption.

Long story short, they lawyered up. End result after much good lawyering .... settled for 5 over.

Oh yeah .... forgot to mention .... the Porsches were running in car video that proved the Deputy was lying about the serious charges.

It was easier to take the 5 over than spend all the travel and time in court going for a complete dismissal.

Moral of the story .... LEO will lie.

This.

If you can't take the heat, slow down, or get your need for speed at a DE/AX/Track day/Club race.

-Z

I can take the heat and will pay for what I was ACTUALLY doing, and that is not driving 96mph.

Just realized this will go to Stockton's (which is where I grew up) court. Wonder if they are doing this because Stockton filed for bankruptcy, laid off most of their LEO's and are cash strapped to highest degree?

I see people weaving and speeding through morning commuter traffic... then pull up behind them on the ramp when getting off the freeway.

I am old... but to be brutally honest some days I get agro and find myself weaving through traffic... not smart.

Should be too difficult to get one mile an hour taken off that ticket. But it will go smooth with a lawyer. Arguing over a mile an hour could get lengthy. The judge won't even see you in court. Courts are strapped for time and personnel. It will likely all be done outside through a plea. Just consider the lawyer as speed tax.

Make sure you pick the right lawyer. I'd get one with offices right nearby.

Maybe you were going 96. Your ODO (especially at higher speeds) and GPS aren't that accurate... At what speed did you compare your ODO with GPS? Your speedometer is the same as my 944S2, and they are known to be off by 5-10mph, especially at higher speeds.

What was the speed limit? 70mph?

On the other hand, Laser radar, when correclty calibrated, can be quite accurate.

You aren't going to win any court cases by stating, "My ODO read 90 - as verified by my GPS units as well..."

I'll admit - I drive fast - typically 10-15mph over the limit, in my Ford pickup truck. In the Porsche, on the street, I actually drive slower, since I know it can get the attention of the authorities quickly. Then again, in New Jersey, there aren't too many long stretches of roads like you have in CA.

Just sayin'
-Z-man.

If you think you were going 90 mph, it is hard to see why it is such an outrage to get a ticket for 96 mph. 6 mph is a variance but not a huge one. Sum up the error in your speedo, the variation in your speed (you weren't staring at the speedo at the exact moment when he clocked you), in his equipment.

Get a lawyer, try to get it bargained down to something eligible for traffic school, and either stop driving so fast on public roads, or deploy all available electronic countermeasures in future. If I liked to drive at 90 mph on the highway, I'd sure be running full V-1, police scanners, and more.

I once brought a photo of my ODO to court and showed it to the judge.

I wil NEVER, EVER do that again!!!

It read 186,282.39 and the judge found me guilty of driving at the speed of light.

What's interesting here is the choice or lack of choice shown by the officer. I don't know if the gun measure in tenths, but if the OP was going 95.5 what would the gun show? So, then the officer has to do what the gun tells him to do. To purposely lower the speed so that it is for 25 over is to breech his duty. Not very forgiving to the driver, that's for sure.

The question is, where is the line or wiggle room? At 27 over the speed limit I can see there might not be a choice. If at 95.5 can he round it off to a higher or lower number?

If memory serves me, several members here were proceeding up the coast to a meet doing well north of 100 MPH a few years back. I think in all 15 drivers were ticketed most receiving tickets for 99 MPH. Some discretion was used there because some of the drivers reported that they were in fact right at about 130 MPH.

So, a CHP reduced the speed cited by 31 MPH, or so, for each. How is it that 1 MPH is irrefutable here? Or is it?

Give this guy a call and see what he thinks, he should be able to give you an opinion...
Stockton Traffic Ticket Lawyer

I think there is - as a practical matter - some discretion to write a lower speed. Which the officer can choose to use, or not. Can't expect, demand, or get upset if he doesn't use it.

Is that right? Don't know, don't care. If you want machines enforcing speed laws, then various companies will be happy to install hidden speed traps all over Highway 5 and you'll be forced to drive 65 mph the whole way. The technology exists to clamp down on speeding far, far more than the current, very porous system.

most speedo's indicate hi'r than you are going. especially 911 speedos. my BMW reads 4-5 mph faster than i am going.

i got stopped for 84 in a 70 just 3hrs after buying my 930. no cruise, 220mph speedo with the "slashes" very close together, hard to judge. i would creep up, then slow down. he actually got me going slower. i tried to give him " i just bought it, can you give me a break and send some good luck my way". i should have told him i was doing 140 earlier.
i got another ticket 2 weeks later in the honda.
ihave not had a tricket in nearly 20 yrs, then 2 in month.

Its a long shot but most GPS's record your highest speed, so if 91 was the fastest youve gone in that car its still in your GPS with date and time that you can use as proof. (That is if 91 was the highest speed you've gone.) ;)

Its funny you mention that because about 30 minutes before I got pulled over, a new M5 and a Ford Edge were blazing down I-5 to the point of almost crashing several times. Not sure if they were racing or friends trying to one up each other. I even told my dad to get his phone camera ready for youtube.

do a trial by declaration via mail.
then go to court if he responds.
try to drag it out as long as possible so the officer will make a mistake.
If he doesn't respond or show up you are off the hook.
If he does show up ask the judge to reduce the sentence/fine.

Except the 90% of I-5 in California where its actually 70mph, and almost everyone goes 80+.

I'd like to say from now on 15 mph over the limit is the max I'll risk but being I wasn't going 96mph in this case even though the cop said so, I guess it's really whatever pissy mood they are in will decide what they write on the ticket.

On the way to work this morning, I set the cruise at 60mph and the GPS was showing 61mph. I suppose its possible that much error occurs between 60 and 90 but I doubt it.

I'd like to test it at 90 but of course, that will have to wait until I can get to a track ;)

Thanks for the suggestions. I am honestly not trying to get off scott free here, I just want the ticket to be for what I was actually doing wrong. I was speeding and will have to pay for that, but not speeding at the speed claimed.

Roads and vehicles may be safer but many/most modern drivers are not capable of handling much higher speeds -- lack of skill; inexperience; inattention; ADHD; screaming kids in the back seat; phone in one hand/mascara brush in the other, steering with a knee -- all take their toll and make otherwise safe roadways a game of pinhead roulette. Not a matter of if, but when one or more of these doofuses will screw up in front of you and ruin your day, then sue your @ss for their stupidity. Sooner or later the house always wins.

Apologies for OT rant. Carry on.

pay the lawyer tax

A) Because he feels the cop lied, and
B) Because at the lower speed he can go to traffic school and keep this off his insurance.

This is another thing that eludes most of us, the fact that you can approach the prosecutor and cut a deal.

I can't imagine how this logic would work in the court of law.

Biosurfer: the title of this thread suggests that you were not too pleased with getting pulled over, and displayed a bad attitude. Many animals can smell fear -- and cops can smell a bad attitude a mile away, even at 96 mph. That could be a reason why he didn't reduce your speed on the ticket.

-Z-man.

Yes, lower speed means traffic school is possible, but that's needn't be the officer's concern.

Officer lied - maybe - seems equally likely OP's speed drifts around a few mph (as it usually does when we drive and are not staring intently at the speedo or on cruise control), and he got clocked when he'd drifted to a higher speed. His speedo reads a bit low relative to his GPS (seems to, according to post 57). And GPS speed is not "exact" - read up on it, and remember you don't have the military GPS service.

I notice this myself - there is a bridge that I ride my bike over, I was patting myself on the back because my GPS (in cellphone cycling app) said I hit 31 mph up the ramp, then I started using my bike computer and trying to beat that speed - turns out I could never even match it, never have gotten better than 29 mph. The bike computer is set correctly - diameter of tire etc. I keep trying to get a speeding ticket on that bridge but don't have the legs . . .

[QUOTE=Buckterrier;7525737 Oh you could have requested that the gun be quarantined and ask for the calibration records. If it has not been done in the allotted time your off the hook.
Good luck and let us know what you plan to do & results.[/QUOTE]

No ya can't. calibration records only have to be provided at court. Units have to be calibrated every 3 years per the state of California. Most agencies calibrate every year.....

My suggestion, either get a lawyer to negotiate with the officer to lower the speed so you can go to traffic school or try to deal with the officer yourself and see if he will lower it to 24 over. Sometimes if you have a decent record and you haven't posted on a BBS (where plenty of cops read) about another cop being a dickhead because YOU were speeding, maybe he'll cut you a break. Oops, too late. ;)

"oops, too late."

Careful, he might tell you grammar police are also reading this BBS:rolleyes:

Wow, wild ass guess that I had an attitude with him? I didn't have an attitude at all, in fact I was trying to be pleasant in hopes for a warning. The only time he might have sensed an attitude is when he handed me the ticket to sign and I saw the "96" under approx. speed. I said "96?" and he blew up about having it on video and radar if I wanted to subpoena them for court if I wanted to go that way. I just signed it at this point because any further arguing was pointless.

I do have an attitude now, though, but not because I got pulled over, because the infraction did not fit as I have said many times in this thread.

Just FYI, in California, I can't speak for other states, but in California, the officer legally does not have to show you the lidar/radar or provide the calibration on the stop. I can guarantee, if you start demanding to see things on the stop all your going to do is make the officer have a very vivid memory of your encounter, probably ensuring that he goes to court with extremely detailed notes. Your much better off coming off nice and humble, go to court then ensure that he has all the things he's legally required to provide like certificates to use the equipment, current calibrations of the equipment and current traffic surveys if they apply.

People really need to be careful with the advice they give people on this stuff. Every state is different. when people start demanding to see stuff because they think they have a right to see it, things can go bad. Signing a ticket is prefect example. In California, you have to sign the ticket, if not your arrested and immediately taken to the magistrate. maybe ok, if its a weekday before closing time. otherwise its a minimum of an overnight up to a weekend in jail.

Fair enough. But if the cop got you on radar at 96, it is likely you were doing 96, despite what your odo / gps was indicating.

-Z

Dang, I thought I fixed that before I sent it....

Couldn't agree more. It's nice to say "you should have demanded this or that from the cop" It's another when the cop is saying you are in reckless driving range and to start being a dick to him. I really, really, really doubt pulling that BS has ever changed a cop's mind about issuing a ticket.

"approximate speed" Think that I would take the ticket to the library and check out the # of the California State law that you were actually charged with. Whoa! Am I out of date! Probably can check it out on the net.

Good luck.

Diverdan

The "Approx. Speed" text is actually part of the ticket so that must be an out somehow. If he had written it on the ticket himself, that might be suspect.

Another weird thing was after I questioned the 96mph, he started saying things like "well, by the time I turned around you were going 90 so obviously you were way above that when I passed you and you started slowing down"

I would think if he had me on radar, he would just have said "I got you on radar going 96" and that would be the end of his justification.

I'm not sure where you are or who you use, but here in Seattle I pay $275.

What you are describing is simply a deferral, and you don't need a lawyer to do it. You simply request a contested or mitigation hearing, and ask the judge for a deferred finding before you begin.

Years ago Car and Track (or was it Road & Driver) suggested a sliding scale, where more competent drivers could drive faster. Obviously, there will never be any real enthusiasm in government for such a system.

LOL ^^^ I knew of a big chubby guy caught riding his bike over a posted 25 mph limit in a neighborhood. Cop nailed him on radar (I forget the details... speed, etc), ticketed and later went to court. Funny yet, he mentioned of a court full of juvies for bike infractions! Here he was, big dude in front of the judge with an audience of kids and their parents :D

I wouldn't have thought you could even clock a bike on radar.

Speed limit on that bridge is 35 mph. I got a $400 ticket crossing it at 50 mph in the Porsche, second day after I'd moved to Portland. That recalibrated my driving speed pretty quick. Speeds up here are slower.

If I can ever get a speeding ticket on that bridge, on my bike, I'll frame it. A racer could, but I'm too slow.

So a bit of an update:

It's been more than 3 weeks now and I have not heard a peep from the court and the date on my ticket is fast approaching so I called to find out the deal. Clerk asks for my ticket number and cant find it so she asks when I got it and I told her July 1. She then tells me it is taking 3 weeks for the PO's to turn in their tickets (huh?). I then mention that 3 weeks was yesterday and she says well that is just an estimate and they are not under any obligation to have them in by a certain date (good to know, wouldn't want them to rush being only 3 weeks to do their job)
This is where it gets interesting...I said the reason I called is because the date on the ticket is fast approaching and I don't know what to do. She then tells me that date is just an estimate of when they will have the case(?!?). I tell her no, it says in the box right above the date "Without admitting guilt, I promise to appear at the time and place indicated below" She did not have a response other than I should wait 10 days and if I still don't have anything should call back. 10 days will put me past the date on the ticket. Are they trying to get me with a Failure to Appear and tack on more revenue generating BS???

Show up on the date for court. If they can't find the ticket or any record, request that it be thrown out.