hi guys, i'm a newbie, bought my car about two months ago and got a speeding ticket about 2 weeks ago.

i live in orange county, california, and i got the ticket going on the 1-5 north in anaheim.
i need some help in legal matters, to see if i can beat it.
here's the story:

i was doing about 100 on the freeway when i came up behind a cop car. at that point i was slowing down to 80 something and switching to the next left lane (he and i were in the second right lane) when i realized it was a cop car. in my stupidity i didn't step on the brakes but just let go of the gas as i passed him. he probably saw me in the rear mirror coming up on him really fast, so he tailed me.

the main point of my arguement is, as he switched lanes to tail me, i had already slowed down to about 70, and was at about 65 by the time he gunned me or whatever.

he must have not gotten a good reading as he tailed me for about 20 seconds before flashing his lights.
he wrote me up doing 80 on a 65 zone.
the explanation he gave me was he saw me coming up really fast on him while he was doing "72 mph."
i know this couldn't be right as he was in the slow lane and was behind 3 cars so they knew not to go over the limit, and i myself remember being at about 65-70 at when he tailed me.

i've heard that here in california most cops patrolling hardly use radar or lasers, but data logs of how fast they are going in comparison to speeders (or at least the good cops who've passed this training).

i want to know if my case that he did not have actual evidence of me speeding (as i had already slowed down when he tailed and gunned me, if he was using a radar/laser gun) is strong enough in court to get off this ticket.

also, i want to know what cops in orange county use mainly to detect speeders so i can buy a detector if it's worth the investment here.

PLEASE HELP!
thanks in advance!

 

www.ticketassassin.com is your friend in this case...

how fast were you written up for? if it was only in the 70's, maybe just pay the ticket and count it as a learning experience.

i got popped doing 97mph on I-80 one night a few years back. the officer wrote me up for doing 79mph because in that county it put me in the lowest fee bracket. he wanted me to get the point but not get raped by the court... i paid that one and went on my merry way.

i also got nailed another time for doing 48 in a 45. to me it seemed unjust, i felt strongly that i was singled out because i was in a wrx with a very loud exhaust. i used ticketassassin.com and their method of "trial by written declaration" and got my case dismissed.

 

russ-

i got written up for doing 80/65.
how much did you have to pay ticketassassin.com?
was that in addition to the ticket fee?

 

Your ticket will probably fall under "basic speed law." Essentially the officer can contest that you were above the maximum limit b/c you passed him... it is that open for interpretation. I was ticketed years ago up in Santa Barbara for the same reason. Pay the ticket, chaulk it up as a lesson, and be thankful you didn't get ticketed at 100.

 

Wow, thats BS. That cop should seriously go to hell. Glad to see you got off though.

Anyway, deffinetly bring up those arguments at court. Good luck!

 

As a veteran of getting pulled over in OC a few things...

#1 If you're one of those people that NEVER get a ticket...just pay it, go to traffic school to get it off your record, and dont get pulled over again for 18 months (Although I've seen a lot of judges still allow traffic school if its been between 12-18 months since your last ticket).

#2 Before you just roll over and pay it, go to ticketassassin.com and see how to at least drag it out. Request the written declaration, once you get necessary forms write up your argument, if still found guilty do the trial de novo, etc. etc. Wait until the last minute to mail the stuff in...the idea is to drag it out is as long as possible. By time you get a court date the cop may not show (its worked before for me...)

#3 to answer your LAST question about speed detection. In my experience:

-On the 5 cops drive with their radar on a lot, especially at night. A radar detector will warn you easily about them. (However they also run with radar off a lot, thus the issue you ran into where you wont even know they're there so dont count a dectector as a guarantee)
-In south OC they hide a lot (in the San Jan Capistrano area especially). Learning the hiding spots is important
-On the toll roads during the day (241 and 133 especially here) they NEVER have their radar on. Maybe 1 out of 50 times. Usually they will Laser you, Instant On radar you (last one I got), or use aircraft. I dont know if the aircraft is just to spot you and let a cop up ahead know you are coming so he can Insant On you, or if they try to pace you are write the ticket that way (go to ticketassassin.com and you will see that is illegal). During the day I just dont go over 75 on the toll roads anymore.
-A lot of cities are using laser now

So bottom line is my radar detector has helped a lot, but common sense has saved me more than the detector (epecially living in RSM where cops have nothing better to do than run speed traps all day and give out BS parking tickets....but thats another rant for another time haha).


Other than the trial by written declaration crap you go through, I dunno what else you can do except get a lawyer.

Ever since I got a bogus speeding ticket, that I mathematically proved to be impossible in court, yet STILL was found guilty, I fight all traffic tickets until they are off my record. By the way the ticket was much like yours where it was just my word against the cops (except in my case...I really WASNT speeding) so good luck in just winning it outright. Cops never lie. Ever. About anything. And they are never mistaken about anything. Ever. And they are ALWAYS right even if you prove them wrong. At least thats what court has taught me.

 

i believe ticketassassin.com has a $15 fee to sign up and access their documents database. i didn't pay a cent to anybody. i showed up at the courthouse at the place and time listed on my ticket, requested trial by written declaration. my bail was waived since i showed up to court. i wrote my letter and the rest is history.

 

awesome, thanks guys!

russ and mrcynical- i have been reading that site, and it sounds really good, i think i'll try that out.

to those who want a great detector, i've found this on my quick research:
http://www.jjielectronics.com/index....OD&ProdID=1044

that's a great price (although we locals would have to pay taxes).

 

Officers can radar you from the rear of their car, you know.

Bottom line: You were speeding and got popped for it. Don't fight it. You're just wasting the money of other tax-payers. Just be appreciative of the luck you did have... ...which was avoiding flying by him, oblivious, at over 100MPH.

If you're going to speed, at least pay the ticket when you do get busted. Otherwise, that's like eating your friend's B-day cake and then denying it... ...with blue icing all over your teeth and mouth. It's cute for a 3-yr. old, but unflattering when you're an adult (or aspiring adult).

For those who have been ticketed for 3mph over, etc... ...I used to complain about this, citing that speedometers come from the manufacturer with that much degree of variation, until my brother made a simple, but effective point. "It's the speed limit, not the requirement". So yes, while a cop might be targeting you and giving you that 3MPH over ticket just to be an a-hole, it's still your fault for exceeding the limit and opening the door for him. I know; rational thinking sucks.

 

I use the ticketclinic when ever I get a ticket. I used them 3 times for speeding and never any points or traffic school. It cost like $89 plus court costs which are less than $50 usually. Don't know how they work in CA but here is the website so you can look up your county.


http://www.ticketclinic.com/search.cfm

 

i'll check that out too, thanks gman

gt-ron:
sorry dude, it's my nature to rebel against authority
conforming was never one of my strong points
besides, i hate cops
when was the last time any cop has done you a favor?
when was the last time you got a ticket?

exactly.

 

Plead Not Guilty

 

I've had my share of tickets over the years... ...which is why I now take the stand that I do. But to be specific, the last time I got a ticket was when I was speeding. I'm not saying not to speed. I have a bit of a habit of it myself. And it's not an issue of conformity, it's an issue of avoiding accountability.

Do yourself a favor, if nothing else. You get that ticket dismissed and this cop is really going to be looking to bust you on anything and everything. Think of it as carma ( )

 

You are breaking the law when you are exceeding the speed limit. The cop only needs to prove that. Think of it this way. It would be a reasonable assumption to belive you are exceeding the speed limit, if the officer is going at or above the speed limit and you are coming up from behind and/or passing him. Most judges and juries would find that to be reasonable. Pacing a car can be done both from behind and in front of the car. So long as the vehicle's speed calibration appears to be correct, it would be hard to dispute that. Probably, the only realistic options will be (1)to hope the cop doesn't show, (2)question the credibility of the evidence(though this is typically difficult), (3)question the law, (4) find a loophole and/or make it difficult or expensive for the courts to try the case. From my own experience, 1 is rare.

2 and 3 has to be either or. You need to choose which argument you will go with and then pursue it aggressively. Trying to fight 2 and 3 in the same case will only soften your credibilty and possibly cause you to contradict yourself. Say if you arguing the officer's credibility as far as what speed you were going and then you argue that the speed you were going was safe for conditions. Which argument you make needs to be decided on each case's merits. If you can obtain calibration records of the officer's vehicle and speed measuring equipment used and speed surveys done on the road, that will give you a better of idea of which case might be strongest. And don't expect officers to show up unprepared. The last few times I've argued a case, they showed up with this information.

4 can be effective if the conditions are right, and generally has a low risk in most cases of screwing up any other arguments you might bring up. You're likely not arguing any fact of the case so you can pretty much still proceed with making the argument under 2 and 3. This of course will depend on what you are pursuing and perhaps the judge himself. If the judge gets the impression that you are just trying to get out of a ticket with no real merit, then he may judge your credibility negatively, which is never a good thing in court.

As far as your last question, cops use what is appropriate at the time and available to them. There is no one method that cops are limited to use. I can say, they are not allowed to use a timed measurement to cross a certain distance(referred to as a speed trap in CA). Aside from that, radar, laser and pacing are all common and accepted methods of measuring speed.

 

Was it a CHP or city pig?