If you're going to fight this ticket, you need to contact the NATIONAL MOTORIST ASSOCIATION immediately. There can be strict deadlines for filings, getting discovery, Etc. and everything varies by State. NMA has a guide I wrote organized by States.

The police are required to visually estimate your speed before taking a radar or laser reading. The only way to estimate speed is to compare the moving vehicle to stationary objects. They can't do that in the dark.

NMA has a paper I wrote on this topic.

If you're going to fight the ticket you need to educate yourself.

This is not legal advice.

Ken

 

In 25,000+ miles I've been pulled over exactly once. I was speeding, but ended up getting out of it. My passport radar detector has saved me countless times, but definitely don't feel like I'm targeted at all.

 

Visually estimate speed, hmm i always thought a radar was pretty much a sure bet for them in most cases. Cops do camp out alot in the dark in the interstates, and can and will nail ya if youre speedin but id love it if you were right on this one though, ill definitely read the paper.

 

yup... just got an 80 in a 55 ticket . apperently there is still a 55 zone on the I-5CA (its between the 710 and the 91). since the ticket i have counted how many palces the 55 mph speed limit sign was posted... its posted only twice on a 10 mile stretch of highway, and the signs are within a mile of eachother. BULL $H!T!!!

as for the question of being targeted by cops... my answer is NO. my driving style hasnt changed at all in the past 6 years (always 80+ on the freeway) and i NEVER got a ticket, or even pulled over for speeding. I think a persons eye is naturally attracted to contrast... and a shinny blue car with no roof is definatly a contrast to the commuter cars and big rigs on the I 5 in los angeles.

 

My car is a rolling billboard promoting CCR; During the daytime the graphics make the car stick out like a sore thumb, and at night it's even worse, with a red glow coming from the grill, headrests, and undercarage. The word "Racing" appears boldly on both sides of the car and the windshield banner. The car draws constant attention from all sorts of people, including the cops. I have no doubt what-so-ever that the cops will use any excuse to pull me over, but they're always more interested in talking about the car or CCR than they are in giving me a ticket.

You were ticketed for doing 20 over the posted limit. A while back I was clocked at 74 in a 45, which is 29 over the limit. Like you, I was on a deserted road, at night. Of course the cop pulled me over, then he asked me if I knew how fast I was going, and informed me that he'd clocked me at 74. THEN he started asking me questions about the car, we ended up raising the hood so he and his trainee could look at my motor, and they never mentioned the speeding agian.

What I'm driving at here is that the law is not necessarily fair, and it can swing either way. You can almost always get the points and/or fine reduced by putting in minimal effort, but I personally will not fight a ticket unless it is bogus in some way. Several years ago I had a state trooper clock me at 72 in a 45. I'd been going faster, but got down to 72 before his RADAR got a lock. He decided to write me for 98 in a 45 instead of what his RADAR showed, so I decided to fight it. Long story short, it never went to court and the ticket was tossed out. Another time I was ticketed for 75 in a 55, when in fact I was only going 65. The cop was nasty and threatening, so I just told him to write his ticket and I'd see him in court. He opted to put an incorrect court date on the ticket rather than show up in court and explain his behavior, so that one got thrown out too. However, if a cop catches me doing 85 in a 65 and decides to write me a valid ticket, I'm not going to fight it. "If you play, you pay." (Steve McQueen) If I can do so I will get the points or fine reduced, but if I'm caught fair and square I just shut up and pay up.
Just my two cents worth.

 

www.ticketassassin.com

 

I've received perhaps seventy-five speeding tickets over the last twenty-odd years, and I was guilty perhaps seventy-four times. Once, though, the cop really did overstate my speed -- I was as near as I could be to the (65) limit, and he tagged me for 80. Radar ticket, but the V1 (still on because I'd been driving as I normally do earlier in the day) never peeped. Of all those tickets, that's the only one I ever fought.

Lost, obviously. Golly, who you think the judge is gonna believe?

 

Damn dude I thought I was bad. I have recieved about 35 tickets ranging from speeding, reckless driving and exhibition of speed in the last 25 years. I have recieved one ticket for speeding in the last four years which was in January of this year. The Highway Patrol clocked me at 97 mph in a 65 zone. I pled NOT GUILTY your Honor and won my case in a traffic trial

Some of my tickets I pled not guilty and won. (very few) I have pled not guilty to others and the Cop didn't show up and I won. MOST of the tickets I have recieved I pled not guilty and lost.

So you see, as a rule of thumb, always plead.....



NOT GUILTY YOUR HONOR