So, I was driving home from school last night (in Austin) back to Dallas to see my family. I was in the far left lane behind some slow Camry doing 65 in a 70, so i moved to the next lane and passed him up, going about 77-79. Next thing i see is a cop in my rearview mirror flashing his lights!!

So i pull over and he gets out and gives me at ticket, citing me as FIFTEEN over, as in going 85 in a a 70. This pissed me off because I hate cops as is, and not to mention this is my first ticket EVER.

they want me to pay $175 for this ticket, which i find absolutely stupid, especially since i was using the passing lane for what its FOR!!

So, being the engineering student i am, i began thinking of a way to prove that I wasnt going 85. heres what i have, but i dont know really how the legal system in Texas would respond to this (i got the ticket in Williamson county, where ever that is....)

I figured I would go 85 legitimately and take a picture of the spedometer and tachometer to record how many RPMs the wheels/engine should be making at that velocity. Now, to combat this, I can measure the diameter of our wheels, and use this to calculate the angular velocity our G's SHOULD be doing at 85. Then I could compare the calculated number to the actual number, thus showing that my spedometer's needle is in fact ahead of how fast the car is actually going, resulting in a difference in RPMs.

This would clearly show a difference in RPM as well, which upon I can prove I was not going 85mph. Now, you might say "sure the needle might be mis-calibrated, either way you were still speeding", true I was; but the difference in fee between 10-15 over and 1-10 over is worth it to me.

This would TOTALLY work if i had ONLY taken a video/picture of my gauges as i got pulled over!! arghhh!!

What do you guys think, should I fight it, cough over the money because the "Law is Just", or try and take defensive driving?

 

defensive driving should be able to get it off your record

Thats what i have to do now

Cop said I was doing 45 in a30 but I was doing 36-38 and he pulled over three people at once, I don't know if that part is allowed to pull that many over at once but he did

Defensive driving should be cheaper and faster

 

I don't think the physics would help you... I saw an episode of "Speeders" and there was a physics professor using math and whatnot to calculate a whole bunch of stuff to show he was innocent but they just responded with "yeah..... right....."

 

Woah there mister Bill Nye would the court understand what your saying , my brain cant comprehend all that smart mumbo jumbo

 

Take defensive driving and be done with it. You could try and fight it but if you lost, or got the speed reduced, and had to pay it it also raises your insurance premiums. I don't know if you're under 25 YO, (guessing you are from the school comment) but if you are it's even worse. You can take defensive driving once a year to eliminate tickets. And, you can take it online so it's super easy.

I live in Austin and Williamson County Law Enforcement is full of a bunch of old school rednecks and they're harsh on speeders and DWI's. You're better off not trying to take on "the man" there. You were breaking the law and they'll stick it to you.

 

This is how I got out my speeding ticket- I told the judge my speedometer didnt work and as a proof i brought a COPY of old dealer work-order invoice
( oil change) which i had manipulated using photoshop. I just added "speedometer cable repair" and corrected the total price to reflect the change.
And ,also, change the date on the invoice as well. Good luck.

 

Damn, I thought I was the only one to pull something like that.

Get a lawyer if you want to fight it. For Pete's sake, please don't take a picture of speedo doing 85 and bring it to court because you're likely to get another ticket and show the judge that you do like to speed.

 

Great attitude, "If I fu*k up I'll just lie my way out of it". Come on man grow up. If you screw up, own up to it, learn from it, and take the consequences like a man. Lying your way through life isn't cool, and karma will bite you in the azz when you do. You never know when or how, but mark my words it will. Karma is a bitch I don't fu*k with anymore. Learned my lesson.

Parents instilling values and morals in yangster = FAIL!!! / *****

 

DDC man, just man up and do it. really there is no way to prove it now trust me i just did mine last week.

 

taz, there are lots of ways to either get it reduced or eliminated that don't require committing felonies like fraud. How did he get your speed? Radar? Pacing? If he's got you on Radar, you've got an uphill battle. But if he was pacing you or estimating based on how you passed the Camry, the cop's case isn't very strong. He'll have to prove you were going 85 and he may be basing that on the assumption that the other car was going 70. If he can't prove the 70, he can't prove the 85, even if he knows you were going 15 mph faster than the Camry.

What size tires are you running? If they're larger than stock then you were travelling faster than your speedometer was indicating.

 

Amen brother.

 

that was another thing i was thinking about; if the onboard computers/spedometer were calibrated for the sports packages wheels/tire sizes or if it were the same as the sedans...if NOT, then that explains why my spedometer is off; the car's computer is reading my wheels as it would be reading the sedans wheels

oh and Blue Dream, yeah I am 20, so of course insurance preys on us

Thanks, i think i'll just take DDC and be done with it >:/

 

best of luck man, plus its a very interesting class with the right instructor

 

What are your wheel and tire sizes? And what kind of G? The only thing that matters is overall diameter.

If you don't get points on your license for 1-10 mph over the limit, it might be worth just trying to get it knocked down to that instead of taking the DDC. I say that because in certain states you can only take the DDC one time. It's like using one of your lifelines on a game show, once it's gone, it's gone. Save it for sometime later when you really need it.