Evidence for Speeding Ticket

[Loach]

@Saint_Cad

I know when stopped by CHP about 5 years ago, they record the conversation, hence the “Do you know why I stopped you.” Do you know how fast you were going?" etc. to use against you if you fight the ticket.

Yes people have mentioned that in every thread about the subject that I have read here. Funny thing is, I’ve never heard it brought up in court. It just isn’t that important. There is no intent needed in a speeding case. All that is important is the officer’s observations and the proper functioning of the equipment.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@GreasyJack

Basically the laws are holdovers from the days when covert speed enforcement was viewed as a bit unsporting. In the 1920’s, small town speed traps had a bit of a heyday, much to the chagrin of the still mostly urban and wealthy car owners.

Minnesota laq has the Dimmler Amendment, which prohibits the state Department of Transportation from telling insurance companies about speeding tickets that are 10 mi/hr or less over the speed limit.

Named after the State Legislator who introduced it, and fought to keep it each term, He lived about 1-1/2 hours drive from the State Capitol, along a multi-lane major roaf obviously designed for a speed of 65-70 mi/hr, but which was now posted at 50 or 55. I believe he got a ticket or two on that road, which inspired the law. But drivers all over the state, from either political party, demanded that their legislators bote for it.

[cmkeller]

pkbites:

It’s called visual estimation training and it’s been around since at least the 50’s.

Well, color me surprised. I’ve been driving for over 20 years, and have gotten speeding tickets, but never without radar until this one was sprung on me in 2011.

[Wheelz]

I was once in a courtroom (for an unrelated reason) and saw a guy trying to fight a speeding ticket by arguing that a radar gun was not used and there was no physical evidence.
The cop testified simply that he had observed the driver traveling at what he estimated to be above the speed limit based on his experience. The judge essentially said, “That’s good enough for me!” and the ticket was upheld.
Granted, this was about 30 years ago, but if I had to guess I’d say a cop’s word carries similar weight in courtrooms today.

[Max_Torque]

@GreasyJack

Police cruiser dashcams are pretty close to ubiquitous these days, but they aren’t all the kind that interface with the radar gun. So even if they’ve got footage of the stop, there may not be a record of the actual speed reading. They use dashcam footage to establish probable cause for DUI stops all the time, so I imagine there’s usually some footage avaliable, but usually the officer’s testimony/report is plenty.

The digital cameras that are being installed in police cars these days frequently have a two-minute “buffer”. They are constantly active, and when the officer activates his overhead lights, the camera starts recording everything from that point forward, plus it saves the two minutes preceding the activation. Apparently the camera manufacturers realized that it’s useful to see why the officer flipped his lights on. Very handy feature.