[s-cars] Speeding ticket technicality

[Kirby Smith]

I wouldn't invoke the cosine effect if I were you.  The measured speed
is the true speed times the cosine of the angle between the measurement
line of sight and your velocity vector.  In other words, you are going
faster than measured.

kirby


"Varon H. Fugman" wrote:
> 
> I would concur with the advice to consult an attorney.
> 
> I once had a ticket where the officer circled "pm" instead of "am" making it
> 12 hours off.  However, I was unable to leverage this sufficiently defending
> myself, although I did get the officer to (very reluctantly) admit that he
> had made a mistake and the ticket was wrong.  But I couldn't get him to
> admit that the speed on the ticket might also be wrong!  Or that he might
> have made another mistake.
> 
> My questioning of the officer did elicit some laughter from the courtroom,
> but I don't think that improved my case in the judges eyes.
> 
> One other option you might consider if your state permits it is to sign up
> for defensive driving.  That what I did for my last ticket rather than try
> to fight it.  Of course, gotta keep my record clean for a whole year now!
> 
> However, with a good attorney you might have at least 50/50 odds getting it
> dismissed because of the error... especially if your attorney frequently has
> lunch with the DA!
> 
> Start lining up your witnesses to testify where you were on that date and
> time!
> 
> Varon
> '95 urS6 keeping is close to the limit... most of the time!
> 
> P.S. If he clocked you while you were coming around a corner, depending on
> where he was relative to you, there's always the possibility of the cosine
> effect.  This is where the straight-line closing speed between you and the
> oncoming police car is higher than your actual speed along the curve.
> 
> P.P.S. And with moving radar one should also rule out shadowing...  Could
> there have been a large truck or train moving slowly that the radar could
> have mistaken for the ground?  This too can result in a higher than actual
> speed reading.  The officer is supposed to verify that the "ground speed"
> displayed on his moving radar unit matches his speedometer, but in their
> hurry to make a U-turn and pull someone over they frequently omit this step.
> Of course, that doesn't mean they will admit it in court!
> 
> P.P.P.S. And of course we need to make sure both the radar unit and
> speedometer in the patrol car were both recently calibrated.  If it has been
> too long, they really aren't trustworthy, are they?
> 
> P.P.P.P.S. Based on my experience, none of the above information will help
> trying to defend yourself in traffic court!
> 
> P.P.P.P.P.S Isn't it funny how they police never want to admit that there
> are serious shortcoming with radar... until they need the justification to
> purchase expensive laser guns!
> 
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