There’s one more hoop that you can make the prosecution jump through, at least in California. The speed limit must be established by a current engineering and traffic survey in order to be enforceable by radar. So you can ask for a copy of that. If it’s out of date, it’s not an enforceable speed limit.
Sounds like one of the few Gracie Allen jokes that I can remember. She got thrown out of the zoo for feeding the elephant ten dollars.
Just shy of 38 years on the job between 2 careers. I have never lost a speeding case or had one tossed out. And when I was on the highway unit we used to use Kustom KR-11 aimed backwards. We would use our rear view mirrors to watch what vehicle was cresting a hill or coming around a curve. That should have been easy to beat in court but none of mine ever were.
You have no idea how useless they are. Any officer that uses a radar unit is using the hold button feature (AKA 'instant on") that all units now have. Your detector will scream bloody murder for a moment but your speed is already locked in. If you’re lucky you might get a warning while cars ahead of you are being zapped. But a seasoned officer is typically only activating his radar after observing a vehicle that is exceeding the speed limit past the officers determined tolerance (13-15 over around here).
All Lidar units use hold buttons. Detectors rarely detect laser while it’s being used on cars ahead. Laser detectors are more useless than radar detectors. Most officers point the beam at a vehicles license plate. Even while your own car is being clocked there is a good chance your detector sitting on the dash or visor will remain silent as it can’t see the beam from it’s position.
Other devices, like VASCAR, are completely undetectable.
Uh huh. And what are you using to do this? If you mention Rocky Mountain Radar I’m going to laugh myself to death.
The only thing I’ve ever seen consistently block traffic radar was a linear amplifier rigged to a CB radio. This caused the radar units Radio Frequency Interference Indicator to the block the unit from taking readings. RFI Indicators are OEM on all units so defendants can’t claim other sources caused a reading.
YMMV depending on location, but having the RFI Indicator on a radar unit prevent me from getting a reading on a particular car is not reasonable suspicion for me to stop that car. The same goes for laser jammers that reportedly only have limited success.
I was lased at 58 MPH in a 45-MPH zone in Madison, WI (the city proper) about two years ago. I was sincerely surprised to learn that the lidar unit showed that speed for me. I was speeding for sure, but maybe not quite that much.
I did my homework and went to court, where I met an assistant district attorney. (In Madison, if you plead not guilty, you then negotiate with an ADA). I asked when the lidar unit was last calibrated, and The ADA said that lidar units were calibrated daily by driving at a known speed and lasing stationary objects.
Now, I could have asked, “how do we know that the officer executed that procedure flawlessly on the day in question?” But I didn’t.
Instead, I explained that, given my surprise at the lidar speed readout, I thought I should at least ask about calibration. But I made it clear that I’m no Atticus Finch and that I wouldn’t be surprised if the lidar gun was squared away.
The ADA reduced the charge substantially, almost to the minimum. She was nicer and more reasonable than I had a right to expect.
I can see how this could get distorted in a telephone/friend-of-a-friend way to the point where it becomes, “my cousin’s friend totally got out of a lidar ticket by asking when the gun was last calibrated.”
OP: ask the question and then, regardless of the answer, pay the ticket. And be a good sport about it.
Except that’s not calibration. It’s field testing. In the case of Radar field testing is done first with an internal check that the unit itself does, then with an external tuning fork.
Calibration is done by sending the Laser or radar unit in to the factory or authorized service supplier every 1-3 years and having the internal components calibrated. The laser unit or in the case of radar the Gunn oscillator is reset and tested.
Calibration and field testing are terms that people mistakenly use interchangibly.
I haven’t been stopped for speeding in a long time. My tricks:
[ul]
[li]I naturally seem to drive just a shade over the speed limit on most roads.[/li][li]I know where the “speed traps” tend to be and slow down as I approach those spots.[/li][li]I flash my lights to warn oncoming drivers of speed traps.[/li][li]I respond to oncoming cars flashing me by slowing down a bit.[/li][li]WAZE.[/li][/ul]
The only way you would know if the lawyer was advantageous is if you were able to take a large enough sampling of the outcomes with and without a lawyer. In my 22 years I’ve seen a pretty large sampling. The main advantage to having s lawyer is their cases are heard first. Other than that the deals they get are pretty much equal to what you get when you talk to the prosecutor directly. Although we do not have jury trials for traffic infractions the threat of going to trial would get the response of “Great more overtime” and not a dismissal. I would never tell someone to not get a lawyer. In particular with minor traffic cases if you genuinely feel you are not guilty, if you are extremely apprehensive about the court system or if you do plan to go to trial. In my opinion if you are doing it to save money it will probably not work out for you.
You can afford your first DUI because you have no other choice. But it’s going to be really painful. As your neighbor to the east I’ve heard how painful. At least in NJ the courts act as agents for the Director of the DMV (NJMVC) and the fines and suspensions you get in court are all you get. In PA you have to deal with the court and then you get a PENNDOT hearing for even worse penalties. It’s definitely very painful to get a DUI in PA.
I’ve never had a DUI, and likely never will (although I’ve recently read about breathalyzer units unreliable results). My point is, I don’t think taunting motorists with “you can’t afford it” is an appropriate message.
I have to challenge this. Using that logic, every road would have to have signs saying speed checked by police timings and you know damn well those signs don’t exist and millions of tickets have ensued. There is no “illegal” to use radar statute.
That certainly isn’t the case in my state. You can be issued a speeding ticket on any public road. No warning signs needed. The signs are supposed to be a deterrent.
Don’t forget a couple of years of insurance surcharge, too. I’ve heard, all in, between fines, penalties, mandatory alcohol classes, reinstatement fees, lawyer’s fees, & insurance surcharges that it’s $8,000-$10,000 which makes it a very expensive night of drinking…& that’s if you just get pulled over; no accident/injuries/civil lawsuits.
Doing this alone, or on the case of driving in Texas and areas further west*, going actually below the limit and sticking to the right lane except for passing only as permitted by law, seems to be enough for me. Even without knowing where the speed traps are, and even driving cross country many times over many years because I just hate flying and Amtrak sucks, I’ve somehow never been pulled over or e-ticketed (if that’s even a thing) for speeding. And I’ve lived/driven in a wide variety of locales too.
Somehow, it seems that just driving reasonably, sticking with the flow of traffic up to maybe five miles an hour over the limit but no more (subject to local conditions: if everyone is going the speed limit and no more, than maybe that’s a clue five over could get you noticed), not zipping in and out of lanes like an idiot, and not just cruising in the left hand lane 'cuz I’m so special is enough for me. People who are chronically pulled over and cited for speeding, but insist they’re not doing anything out of the ordinary, I really wonder about just how they define “ordinary”.
*I mean, it’s cool to have the option to go 85 for long stretches from Texas to San Diego, but damn does the mpg drop like crazy on my car going that speed. For speed limits anywhere above 70, I’m unlikely to even want to go the limit, much less appreciably beyond the limit.
Or not. If you’re in the military and even sniff a DUI, you’re through. Currently my idiot grandson (who has a wife and two children) is awaiting separation from the Coast Guard because of a DUI while on temporary duty near New Orleans. He’s got a lawyer in the DUI case (maybe get it reduce to driving too fast for conditions); his commander doesn’t care.
Past case overseas. Our best ammunition sergeant was drunk, knew it, crawled into the back seat of his car to sleep it off. MPs investigated the car. He got tossed from the service (12 years in). Drunk, in the car, had the keys, DUI. Didn’t matter that he was in the back seat sleeping.
tldr: If in the armed forces, you can’t afford a DUI.
A long time ago I had a BEL radar/laser detector that was fantastic at detecting laser. In fact, it detected laser just about everywhere. Hell, it even detected laser inside my closed garage. POS would probably detect laser if it was smashed to pieces and dumped in a deep abandoned well. Yeah, I got my money back and haven’t bothered with a detector since then.
I’ve had two tickets in the past ten years. The first one was ten years ago, 65 in a 55 zone. $60 ticket. The second one was two months ago. 44 in a 30 zone. $60 ticket. Pleasantly surprised with the lack of inflation with tickets in my area.
As for the OP, take it to traffic court. You will either be entertained listening to other people using the dumbest arguments and reasoning to fight a ticket, or you’ll be providing entertainment for others.
You, sir, are preaching to the choir. 
I’m an engineer; I’ve done more than my share of scientific instrument design. But telling this ADA that she had no clue about metrology ran counter to my goal of getting the fine and points reduced. She cut them down a lot.
If I had pushed, maybe I would have eventually gotten the ticket dismissed. But I was delighted to have the fine and points reduced so much for 20 minutes of minimal effort. And if I pressed the calibration angle, I risked paying the full fine. A bird in the hand, et cetera.
SPEED CHECKED BY RADAR
(signed) Sam Radar, Chief Constable
I can’t verify this but I’ve been told that seeing a roadside radar unit here in California means that stretch of road is NOT patrolled by speedgun-wielding troopers. But I try to stay within 5 mph of the limit anyway.
This discussion is almost obsolete. Future vehicles will wirelessly communicate with the central traffic control system. Every illegal velocity, turn, or other move will be instantly reported and fined. Illicit brainwave hackers will promise to let us control the signals. Ha. And being nice to our AI overlords will be of no avail - they’ll get us anyway.
Ubiquitous surveillance means we can’t get away with ANYTHING. :eek: :smack: :mad:
We seem to have exhausted the facts of the topic. The topic reminds me of a story, possibly apocryphal, of a woman who, after many complaints about speeding in her neighborhood took matters into her own hands. She dressed in a safety vest, attached a hair dryer to a brief case, and started pointing it at passing vehicles. In the story, it worked.
The town I live near parks one of the town’s 2 police cars, empty, on the road near painted VASCAR lines. People slow down. When people begin ignoring the empty car, they put a cop in the car and catch speeders.
Also, if your livelihood depends upon your CDL, your first DUI means you’ll need to find a new livelihood. Truck drivers, bus drivers, etc.: no CDL = no job.
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I guess BJ didn’t take Col. Blake’s advice.
This is not apocryphal at all since it happened recently and I saw it. Someone put up a sign that said “speed camera ahead.” Speed cameras are not legal in my state. It’s on his property, is not a proper DOT sign and it’s not causing a hazard. Covered by the 1st amendment. I hope it causes people to drive safer by his house.