After a long day at work, I stopped to get gas at my local shell. I am in the left (center) lane at a stop light. The road I'm on is a 45 mph speed limit. The light turns green and a rev my car and get to 55-60 mph, then coast to make my turn. As slow down to make my left / u-turn to my house, lights are flashing behind me. Just to be safe, I make the left instead of my u-turn. The cop follows me and pulls me over. He does the usual and asks for my license and registration. I ask him what speed he had me going at. He says that he tracked me doing 65 in a 45. There is no-way that I was going that speed because my wing never deployed. I am going to court to contest this. Do you guys think I have a case? What should I bring as evidence to prove that I was not going the speed he says I was going? Is there something that documents the speed that our wings deploy at (I have heard anywhere from 58-62 mph).

 

Well, the wing not coming up might be proof that you where not doing 65 mph. Also he might not have gotten your speed at all but just guessed at your speed and pulled you over. If this is the case then when you take it to court he will not have any proof and you will get off.

 

You should have asked to see the radar detector with your speed on it.

 

Mine deploys around 65-68...if I'm going 65 for a extended period of time it will go up after like 10-15 seconds at that speed, but it's typically near 68 mph the wing deploys.

 

I think the owner's manual tells when exactly it comes up. I think I read around 58-62 mph. Good luck.

 

I understand what needed here is documented evidence with the time indicated against the "evidence" provided by the cop.

If there's such, does it cost? If it did, does the cost = or lesser than paying the speeding ticket and any fee incur (if any) to raise a case in court?

Still, good luck.

 

~ he probably paced you (legal method)... following behind you at the same speed you were going to determine your overage/mph.

 

Tim, sorry to hear about your recent ticket. It sounds to me that your sudden acceleration from a dead stop is probably what "sparked" the policeman's attention. (he probably thought you were "drag racing" the person next to you). If he had given you a ticket for "Willful display of acceleration" (usually what you would get for smokin your tires) you could fight the ticket by saying your "ESP" prevents that from happening.
It doesn't sound like he had an actual "radar fix" on you, since he didn't specifically say that he "clocked" you at the speed he wrote the ticket for. It should say on your copy of the summons how he determined your speed.
If I were you, I would simply tell the judge the truth, that you were in a hurry to get home and if your guilty of anything, it's probably that you took off quicker than the rest of the traffic, and that you don't deny you were probably going a little over the posted speed limit, but couldn't have been going the speed the officer "estimated" since the wing didn't deploy. (That's when you show him page 71 of your owners manual).
Explaining to judge that you just recently purchased the Crossfire, and that you're not as familiar with the car as you should be, (since your previous car wasn't as "peppy" as this one) probably wouldn't hurt either.
Being polite, and respectful, wearing a dress shirt and tie wouldn't hurt either. Good Luck.

 

mine comes up at 57, and down at 39, exactly as stated in my book.

 

Mine comes up at 61-62.

 

Best advice.

 

I decided to fight a ticket and go to court. I am in SoCal and they treat tickets the same as any crime.

First came the assistant DA. He tried to get me to plea bargain. "Just admit you're guilty and I'll reduce your fine to $25 and it won't go on your record as speeding." This is one of the ways the DA gets to claim a high percentage of cases won.

After declining, I was told to sit in the court until the judge called my case. I wound up sitting for most of the day, but I truly felt it was a bogus ticket. I scanned the court to see if the CHiP officer was there. They are the DAs prime witness. A no show by them will drop the charge. There were a number of officers but I couldn't recognize him.

I watched as each case came up. About 1/3 were dismissed because the officer did not show. I noticed a trend in all the cases that went before the judge. NEVER EVER ADMIT GUILT. Not even a little. You can say "I don't believe I exceeded the posted limit" Bring any info (owner's guide) that shows that the spoiler will deploy at around 60. Tell the judge the spoiler did not deploy therefore you could not be going 65. You may have to "cross examine" the officer. If he lies, that is perjury. The key is that no spoiler deployed then the speed the officer recorded is wrong. You can also ask the method he determined your speed. If he used radar or his speedometer, ask when they were last calibrated and ask them to show you the report. They probably won't have it to submit. Those should get the case dismissed. Any error entered on the ticket gives the judge grounds to dismiss.

I watched as defendant after defendant would slip and say something like "I was a little over...maybe I did go over the limit, but not by much...maybe I rolled thru the stop sign, but everybody does that..." etc. They all were found guilty. I also saw a number of people badgered by the DA and gave in to a "possibility" they did do the infraction, all of them were found guilty.

I saw many obviously guilty individuals get off making a good argument and NOT admiting guilt. They all had their cases dismissed.

BTW I was ready to fight the ticket and brought a receipt for fixing my speedometer (I was on the freeway and all of the other cars were pulling away from me. I asked the officer if he noticed that and he said "yeah, but I stopped you!" In court when my name was called I had my receipt and was prepared to not admit guilt to anything. As I went to sit in front of the judge, the ADA stood and asked the charges be dropped because the officer was not present. I almost objected and caught myself before blunting out "...you tried to get me to plea bargain, you knew the officer was not present but you made me waste a day in court! I demand my right of trial!" Instead I just smiled and let the judge drop the charges and said "Thank you."

 

In Ohio Traffic courts, (even though they will deny it) You're considered guilty until you prove yourself innocent.
So Karl, you are probably right about never ever admitting guilt of any kind, especially in California. After all, it worked for "OJ".

 

why not just accept the plea bargain for a lesser charge. whether it costs more or less is irrelevant if they offer to keep it off my record i always accept, and i'm not stuck in a courtroom for a full day.

 

Thanks SRT for the write up... learned a lot from this post... and you answered some of my questions along the way.

I have been driving in the states for about 2 years now and have never been ticketed with the exception of parking tickets... There was one occasion where I was driving my lexus in the left lane of a 50 mph zone at about 85... some SUV behind me decides that speed is not fast enough for him goes in the middle lane and attempts to speed by me... we both accelerate to about 100... then I turn around and notice that it is the police... He then yells from the loud speaker "SLOW DOWN"... and just speed by me.

Another time something similar happened again in my lex driving 115 in the left lane of a 65 mph zone some guy is tailgating me, but I do not increase speed... he Then turns on his sirens... I was like F U C K, and pulled over to the shoulder on the left and he just sped by...

There were numerous other times where cops saw me notoriously violating the speed limit, but I have only been pulled over once and the cop was out of it... He must of had a really good night and I talked to him some and he just told me "just get out of here" laughing.

On the other hand I have a few friends who have had their licenses revoked or suspend. One of my friends was driving drunk from NYC cops attempted to pull him over, but he refused and was eventually stopped by road block... this did not end good for him.

One day when I am ticketed for speeding, I am going to go to court and deny the whole thing without budging even if it does not go well for me I am still curious of the results, because I really do not think a cop can prove it in any way... so in the end It is just going to be my word against his.

 

Sidez, So what you're saying is those "Foreign Diplomat" License Plates really work.

 

In Texas, at least in the county I live in, you are guilty unless you prove yourself innocent. And the court will almost always take the word of the officer over yours, because he is a trained professional to identify infractions. And often times when you take it to court, you have to pay additional court fees if you are still found guilty. It's better to take the plea bargain.

 

O man if i had those I would be bullet proof, but good guess.

 

My manual says 62 mph down at 39 mph. If your wing did not deploy, you weren't at 65 mph, you weren't even at 62 mph for any period. I'd say explain that you might have accelerated faster than the pack but speeding you were not and that if you were, the wing of the vehicle would have simply deployed. I'd also throw in that you realize the unique look of the vehicle combined with the acceleration may have caused the appearance that you were in-fact speeding; but you were not. In any event realize that being polite and referring to the judge as "your honor" will get you far. For example, "I will accept any judgment doled out by the court and your honor, however, my plea is not guilty because I was not speeding; if I was infact speeding, I would not contest this ticket; I'd be upset I was caught but I would pay for the infraction, I would not waste the court or your honors time today". It also helps if you don't have any major prior moving violations and be sincere, which should be easy; because you were not speeding.

Oh yeah be sure to include that the officer in question was simply just doing his job and you respectfully disagree with his observation; and if it was you. You would of probably thought the same.

 

Mine comes up when I'm horny.