Friggin Cops

[Debt Vigilante]

So apparently down here in sunny FL the police are now allowed to judge your speed by simply looking at your vehicle and determining how fast you are going.

I got a ticket for 40 in a 25. $254.00 for 15 over. When I saw the cop walk into the raid to flag me over, I looked at my speedometer and I was going 36 - admittedly speeding. The price difference for a ticket going 5-14mph over is 162, the ticket for going 15-20 over is 254. That is a huge price difference when the cop is going to judge speed by eye sight.

Douche needs to get his eye re-calibrated.

[swanson719]

Don't pay the ticket. When you go into challenge the ticket, the officer will have to provide calibration records for his radar. He should also have to show logs from the radar gun that are associated with his logs for tickets. Meaning if the log on the radar and the log on the ticket don't match precisely, the ticket ought to be thrown out. If it's not, tell the judge you're fine with the $162 ticket and that you were admittedly speeding, but the officer eyeballed it and didn't use the radar. Maybe you'll get a by the books judge, maybe not. Either way, it forces the cop to come in on his off time to testify about the ticket. Maybe you get lucky and he has a family obligation and won't be able to attend and the ticket gets thrown out automatically.

[TheStreetCeo]

I did that in Sarasota county last year. I was speeding but know that the cop didn't get it on radar. I went to court and he didn't. The judge threw it out in less than a minute.

[wincrasher]

If you can't pay the fine, then stop speeding.

Or better yet, slow down so you don't kill somebody's child or pet.

It's marked 25 mph for a reason - that's somebody's neighborhood you're blasting thru.

[project15]

Yeah, I really hate it when people catch me doing illegal things too! They're so dumb, they should realize that it's ok and let me do it.

[Broken Arrow]

I don't condone knowingly breaking the law, and then rationalizing and blaming the system for being unfair and unjust. Be a man. If you screw up, own up to it, clean it up, and move on with your life.

That said, if you truly believe that you are innocent, then feel free to go to to court and contest it. Your actions are one thing, but it is the responsibility of the police officer to be able to articulate, in court, what he is charging you with and why.

Just know that, as a defendant, your responsibility then is also to be able to articulate why the charges rendered against you is somehow incorrect and invalid. And for a speeding ticket, you typically have about 10 seconds to make your case. So keep it short, keep it simple, and make sure it actually makes sense.

Also realize that, if you do decide to fight the ticket, you are also effectively throwing out any chances of a plea bargain. Yeah, I know this is only a speeding ticket, but these legal nuances still apply.

Anyway, it's up to you. Good luck.

[asmom]

If you can't pay the fine, then stop speeding.

Or better yet, slow down so you don't kill somebody's child or pet.

It's marked 25 mph for a reason - that's somebody's neighborhood you're blasting thru.

While there is no question that debtvigilante should pay the fine if speeding, he should only pay the fine for the actual crime he committed. Why should he pay an arbitrary amount as determined by the cop's eyesight only? That's ridiculous. What if you were driving 26 and the cop judged you to be driving 30? Would you really be okay with that?

[disneysteve]

the police are now allowed to judge your speed by simply looking at your vehicle and determining how fast you are going.

That's ridiculous. How can that possibly stand up in court? Where is the proof? Where is the evidence? "It looked like he was going 50mph to me." I don't think the radar guns are all that accurate, but at least some type of measuring device is being used.

I would certainly contest a ticket issued based on the officer's visual determination of my speed.

[Debt Vigilante]

If you can't pay the fine, then stop speeding.

Or better yet, slow down so you don't kill somebody's child or pet.

It's marked 25 mph for a reason - that's somebody's neighborhood you're blasting thru.

You dont know the road my friend... it drops from 35 to 25 for no apparent reason. It is not residential...its a speed trap and I know that now.
I was not driving recklessly. BTW if someones child or pet ran in the road and got hit at 15 mph they're the same dead as if they get hit at 35. A 4 year old kid got hit on Daytona Beach (they are allowed to drive on the beach) last weekend at 10 mph...guess what. Yep...he's dead.

[Debt Vigilante]

That's ridiculous. How can that possibly stand up in court? Where is the proof? Where is the evidence? "It looked like he was going 50mph to me." I don't think the radar guns are all that accurate, but at least some type of measuring device is being used.

I would certainly contest a ticket issued based on the officer's visual determination of my speed.

Its a new law in my county that police officer have the right to do that as of January 1, 2010. Im a little pissed I got caught, alot pissed he gave me a ticket for going 40 as opposed to 39. If he wasn't such a douche, he could have written me a ticket for 39, or better yet, what I was going - 36mph. It would have saved me about 90 bucks. His crappy speed judgement cost me some extra money.

I was speeding, I am taking responsibility. I am not mad I got caught, I mad that they have the right to judge the mph without proper equipment.

[wincrasher]

With that logic, why not drive 100? Same dead, right?

Even in a business district, there could be unexpected pedestrian traffic, people pulling out, etc. There are rules to setting speed limits. That zone must have some criteria.

Nobody ever thinks something unexpected will happen - mechanical failure, tires blow out, animals dart out. I see this constantly - people go from accelerator to standing on the brakes just at the stop sign. Brakes never fail, right?

Admittedly, it is troubling to have a spped law where you can be cited by eye. But if he tagged you for going 40 when you say 36, I'd say his eye is not bad. Sounds like the community is just sick of the reckless speeding there. If you think about it, you could have a similar arguement for other violations - why not require a camera to see that a tail-light is out - surely you can't trust an officer's word?

Where I travel, there is a stretch of highway about 40 miles (a divided highway) that is 55 mph with zero tolerance (they have signs). They've declared it some kind of safety corridor - so 56 mph will get you a $500 ticket with the possibility of getting locked up to boot. They just got sick of all the accidents and reckless speeding thru there and thru down the gauntlet, so to speak.

BTW, when you get to court, you may come to learn how he "sighted" you. If it's a regular place he monitors, he's probably got two landmarks and times the cars as they pass by them. You can then calculate the vehicle speed. Also, you can account for 3-5 mph difference in accuracy of some speedometers, as their accuracy is not regulated.

[TreadingWater]

Its a new law in my county that police officer have the right to do that as of January 1, 2010. Im a little pissed I got caught, alot pissed he gave me a ticket for going 40 as opposed to 39. If he wasn't such a douche, he could have written me a ticket for 39, or better yet, what I was going - 36mph. It would have saved me about 90 bucks. His crappy speed judgement cost me some extra money.

I was speeding, I am taking responsibility. I am not mad I got caught, I mad that they have the right to judge the mph without proper equipment.

That's the most absurd rule I've ever heard. How can you possibly eyeball the difference between 40 and say, 35. Radar detectors are unreliable enough, now it all hinges on human error? Fight this tooth and nail. Take it to the state supreme court if you have to, that law is absolutely crazy.

[Angio333]

So apparently down here in sunny FL the police are now allowed to judge your speed by simply looking at your vehicle and determining how fast you are going.

I got a ticket for 40 in a 25. $254.00 for 15 over. When I saw the cop walk into the raid to flag me over, I looked at my speedometer and I was going 36 - admittedly speeding. The price difference for a ticket going 5-14mph over is 162, the ticket for going 15-20 over is 254. That is a huge price difference when the cop is going to judge speed by eye sight.

Douche needs to get his eye re-calibrated.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that a cop's visual estimation of spped is as good as a radar gun. It sounds like a "great" way for a city to raise some funds.

[Angio333]

Don't pay the ticket. When you go into challenge the ticket, the officer will have to provide calibration records for his radar. He should also have to show logs from the radar gun that are associated with his logs for tickets. Meaning if the log on the radar and the log on the ticket don't match precisely, the ticket ought to be thrown out. If it's not, tell the judge you're fine with the $162 ticket and that you were admittedly speeding, but the officer eyeballed it and didn't use the radar. Maybe you'll get a by the books judge, maybe not. Either way, it forces the cop to come in on his off time to testify about the ticket. Maybe you get lucky and he has a family obligation and won't be able to attend and the ticket gets thrown out automatically.

If you fight it...its great OT for the cop. In Cleveland they get a minimum of 4 hours at time and a half iff its their day off just for showing up (even if they arte there for 20 minutes).

[disneysteve]

The Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that a cop's visual estimation of spped is as good as a radar gun. It sounds like a "great" way for a city to raise some funds.

If this is going to become the norm, they need to eliminate the tiered charges based on the exact rate of speed. Just make speeding a flat rate ticket whether you are over by 6 or 9 or 15 or 23mph because although I don't doubt that the average cop could spot someone who is speeding, to say that they can pinpoint the speed within 1mph of accuracy is absurd.