No way on earth I was going this fast...

DarkMesa8 · Feb 9, 2005

Hi, I just got a ticket in Jacksonville, FL and was hoping to ask a few questions here.

For background, I was passing on a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 40. The car infront of me was going like 35-40, so I passed it in the left lane. The cop was directly infront of me by at least 3/4 of a mile driving towards and pulled me over. The other car mistakenly pulled over as well but the cop let him go. He comes to me and tells me he clocked me at 75! I've sped before, and never contested a ticket for an infraction I did commit, but there is absolutely no way in hell I was doing 75 passing that car.

Here's a few points that I want to know if they are relevant.

1. I heard the cop ask the other driver how fast he was going when I passed him, and he claimed he was just "cruising". When we did reach the cops the person I passed was right behind me and we were both doing speed limit. If I caught the cop admitting the other car was right behind me when he pulled me over, would it be reasonable to say I was not doing 75? The citation states "speeding as he passed another vehicle".

2. It was the dead of night, and he was a good 3/4 to 1 mile infront of me heading straight towards me. How could he possibly estimate my speed? Does that matter in Florida?

3. The Frugie, how did you go about attempting to obtain the records for your radar gun? What kind of run around were they giving you?

4. The gun was a Pro-1000. Does anybody know anything about it?

LawGirl10 · Feb 9, 2005

DarkMesa8 said:
Hi, I just got a ticket in Jacksonville, FL and was hoping to ask a few questions here.

For background, I was passing on a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 40. The car infront of me was going like 35-40, so I passed it in the left lane. The cop was directly infront of me by at least 3/4 of a mile driving towards and pulled me over. The other car mistakenly pulled over as well but the cop let him go. He comes to me and tells me he clocked me at 75! I've sped before, and never contested a ticket for an infraction I did commit, but there is absolutely no way in hell I was doing 75 passing that car.

Here's a few points that I want to know if they are relevant.

1. I heard the cop ask the other driver how fast he was going when I passed him, and he claimed he was just "cruising". When we did reach the cops the person I passed was right behind me and we were both doing speed limit. If I caught the cop admitting the other car was right behind me when he pulled me over, would it be reasonable to say I was not doing 75? The citation states "speeding as he passed another vehicle".

2. It was the dead of night, and he was a good 3/4 to 1 mile infront of me heading straight towards me. How could he possibly estimate my speed? Does that matter in Florida?

3. The Frugie, how did you go about attempting to obtain the records for your radar gun? What kind of run around were they giving you?

4. The gun was a Pro-1000. Does anybody know anything about it?

If I understand your first question correctly, it shouldn't matter if another car was behind you when he pulled you over. If he clocked you with his radar when you were passing (and you admit the car you were passing was going 35-40), then it is perfectly reasonable to get a speed of 75mph (or whatever) on you while you were passing. If you are asking another question, please explain it better.

As to the second question, if he said he was estimating your speed, that is one thing, if he said he got you on radar, that is another. Radar is quite clear (even with two vehicles involved that are the same direction) and most officers are very well trained to use it and refute testimony in court.

If he was estimating, he better have a method that he can explain in court. There is a method (if I remember right, it is called VASCAR) where they can determine a speed based on calculations of where your car was when the VASCAR was activated and where your car was when they activated it again for a reading. VASCAR basically determines your speed from determining rate of time vs. amount of travel.

JETX · Feb 9, 2005

DarkMesa8 said:
but there is absolutely no way in hell I was doing 75 passing that car.

Okay, you have convinced us. Now, you just have to convince the court.

Here's a few points that I want to know if they are relevant.

If I caught the cop admitting the other car was right behind me when he pulled me over, would it be reasonable to say I was not doing 75?

No one can answer that until you play your audio tape in court. You do have an audio tape of EXACTLY what the officer asked the other driver, don't you??

It was the dead of night, and he was a good 3/4 to 1 mile infront of me heading straight towards me.

What EXACTLY does 'dead of night' mean??

How could he possibly estimate my speed?

Good question to ask him in court.... but a radar might be a good guess.

Does that matter in Florida?

Does what matter??

The Frugie, how did you go about attempting to obtain the records for your radar gun? What kind of run around were they giving you?

I remember the Frug (never liked that dance!!), but what the hell is a 'Frugie'??

The gun was a Pro-1000. Does anybody know anything about it?

Yep. Go to: http://www.kustomsignals.com/product_body3.asp?action=features&product_id=33&cat_id=8&strpagename=fixedmount

DarkMesa8 · Feb 10, 2005

JETX said:
Okay, you have convinced us. Now, you just have to convince the court.

Here's a few points that I want to know if they are relevant.

JETX said:

No one can answer that until you play your audio tape in court. You do have an audio tape of EXACTLY what the officer asked the other driver, don't you??

Click to expand...

No, but I remember his tag number and what he looks like.

JETX said:

What EXACTLY does 'dead of night' mean??

Click to expand...

There was no way he would've been able to estimate my speed before tagging me with the radar. Is it just a myth that police departments are required to estimate speed before using radar, or is that actually a requirement.

JETX said:

I remember the Frug (never liked that dance!!), but what the hell is a 'Frugie'??

Click to expand...

He got a ticket in Jacksonville, FL also, was just asking him a question.

The more people I speak with about this, the more I feel I just may be in a hole and don't really stand a chance getting this dismissed. If I retain a good lawyer, do you think I could plea it down?

DarkMesa8 · Feb 10, 2005

LawGirl10 said:
If I understand your first question correctly, it shouldn't matter if another car was behind you when he pulled you over. If he clocked you with his radar when you were passing (and you admit the car you were passing was going 35-40), then it is perfectly reasonable to get a speed of 75mph (or whatever) on you while you were passing. If you are asking another question, please explain it better.

Well, my point was that if I was doing 75, and the car I passed was doing 35-40, I physically would've been several hundred yards ahead of that car by the time the cop pulled me over. But the indisputable fact was that car was right behind me when we reached the cop.

Robbie0723 · Feb 10, 2005

Is it possible the other car accelerated while you were passing forcing you to a higher speed to avoid hitting oncomming traffic?

A good, experienced traffic lawyer can almost always help minimize the damages.

DarkMesa8 · Feb 10, 2005

Robbie0723 said:
Is it possible the other car accelerated while you were passing forcing you to a higher speed to avoid hitting oncomming traffic?

A good, experienced traffic lawyer can almost always help minimize the damages.

Yeah, the more people I speak with, the more I think my chances of getting it dismissed are pretty slim.

I'm more leaning now towards "minimizing the damages" and have a few consultation appointments with lawyers.

Is pleading "not guilty" and than having the lawyer plea bargain with the DA a possibility, or are people telling me crap?

The Frugie · Mar 8, 2005

hey, DarkMesa8, sorry i just noticed ur post. haven't been to the site in a while. anyway, that ticket definitlely sounds challengable. here's jso's website. u should be able to find a number on there. ask them who u should talk to about the maintenance records, and don't stop calling no matter how many times they bounce u around. eventually, they're gonna get sick of hearing from u and somebody's gonna answer ur questions. also, from the way u describe the situation, it sounds like u and the officer were positioned in awkard places (compared to the usual ticketed offense). i'd do some research into the shortcomings of radar. in the meantime, if u schedule a court date, the first one will simply be an arraignment. there, u can plead no contest and get a "lenient" sentence, or plead not guilty and be given a future court date where u actually argue ur case. hope this helps.

RetiredMotor · Mar 8, 2005

"Is it just a myth that police departments are required to estimate speed before using radar, or is that actually a requirement."

No myth where I worked, the judge would ask us all the time what brought the vehicle to our attention before we put the radar on it. Also our experience in estimating speed.

No way on earth I was going this fast...

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