Some automated radar system took a picture of my car as I was apparently going 40MPH in a 25MPH zone (country back road).
What I received was a piece of paper with 3 pictures of my car and a long description as to why it’s legal for them to do this.
What are my chances for fighting this?
From NOVA experience, I’d guess you have very litle chance of beating this. I don’t know anyone that was ever successfull. I lived in NOVA for ten years before moving to Orlando.
Is there any reason for you to believe you didn’t do it?
Usually, there is an option for you, as the registered owner of the vehicle, to declare that you were not the driver and that X was the driver. You’d have to swear an affidavit that X was driving the car, and then X will get the ticket. Of course, remember trying to dodge responsibility by lying about this will probably be perjury, which is a whole lot more trouble than the speeding fine.
IAAL, but I’m not YOUR lawyer, nor am I licensed to practice in your area. If you want real, binding legal advice, call a lawyer licensed to practice where the ticket was issued.
Yeah, because I’d never been to part of the world before and we were rubber-necking to whole time. Besides, all they have is a picture of my car and a computer system that says I was going 40. I don’t understand how that’s proof of anything other than I was on that road that day.
It’s proof you were speeding because, like a red-light camera, this camera is activated only when a vehicle is exceeding the limit (or, in the first case, going through a red light).
Chances are though, that like a red-light camera, you’ll only be fined, not assigned points, since, like a red-light camera, there’s no way of proving who the driver is.
I don’t want to lie about it, but I’m a little disturbed at the big brother-ish methods used, especially when there’s little chance for me to win – even if it is totally wrong.
It kills me because I had to go there to get a brass pipe fitting at a local hardware store, a $5 piece. I had to go over a fucking ferry that cost $6, drive 30 minutes each way (gas $$$) and now I got this ticket. So I’m guessing it looks like the piece ended up costing me over $50. So much for trying to keep a mom 'n pop hardware store in business in some shitty little town with computerized speed traps.
My mom got one of those in Cleveland on an empty street during the afternoon on Memorial Day, on the way back from visiting her mother’s grave. She paid it. Shit happens.
So you were there, you were driving. Do you contest that you were going 40?
Basically, is your motivation simply to fight the system or do you honestly believe that you were not driving 40?
The true patriot is the man who can get a speeding ticket and be thankful that the system works.
You were going 15 over in a 25. I don’t think you can get past that simple fact in court. Just pay the damn thing and take the hit to experience.
A friend of mine was able to successfully fight a speeding ticket (motorcycle, radar gun, rural town in a state he was passing through) by hiring a lawyer who requested from the police department proof that the radar had been recently calibrated. I guess it hadn’t, because the ticket was ultimately dismissed. I believe his legal fees were higher than the fine would’ve been, but he wanted to avoid the points on his driving record.
Automated radar being a newer deal in most places, it might be more likely to have been recently calibrated. Short of some principled stand you want to make, I’d be inclined to eat it on this one.
You were driving over the limit. You were caught. Suck it up.
In some jurisdictions, you can ask for a jury trial. A jury trial is a big, expensive pain in the ass, so the case is often dismissed. Because of this (and because of books publicizing this tactic), many jurisdictions are removing this as an option for minor traffic violations.
You know this, how?
Well, it’s obvious that I’m going to pay it, but I’m a little pissed about the situation.
The end result is that Poolesville, MD will get my $40 and I’ll consider it a visitor’s tax. It’s a good thing they let me know right away that it was going to cost me a lot of visit the little shithole.
Because you said you were there, in your car, and driving. Now if you think that the laser-guided, computerized and fully automated speed measuring system is incorrect then feel free to fight it. My guess is that you are guilty. Pay the fine.
I was talking to my bro in IL last week. He said a friend of his got a ticket for running a red light—a slow and go on right, essentially—and wanted to fight it. But, when he went on line to the website they had actual video.
Thanks for providing a guess.
So state it outright:
Your defense so far is that you were “rubbernecking” - that’s not a very good defense for speeding.
If you went to court - what would be your argument that you shouldn’t be ticketed?
Pretty much has to be one of the three.
You’ve been beating around the bush on your guilt in this matter. I can understand - it makes righteous indignation a bit easier if you’re the victim.
Holy shit! $40 for 15 over? And you’re complaining? That’d be about $250 here in WI.