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Speeding ticket by Airplane

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holmes528

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California

I received a ticket in Santa Barbara California on the 101 freeway for doing 90 mph in a 65 mph. I was told that a airplane got me speeding and a motorcycle cop pulled me over. I had slowed down early because my radar detector had come on. The motorcycle cop looked my car over for the longest time and then ask me what type of car I was driving. I have taken all emblems off the car. My question is I plan on pleading not guilty and try to get out of this by finding some technicality that they may not have followed. I know that they were doing something wrong because I was going 80 mph most of the way up to Santa Barbara, and if they didn't know what type of car I was driving only color they may have pulled over wrong car. It's a busy area and a lot of cars went past that were of the same color.
 


Pugilist

Member
Well, if no one here on the 'net provides better info than Curt did (he's a police officer), you could try an old fashioned book. It is called Fight Your Ticket, by David Brown, and is available at all libraries and bookstores. Look in the index in the back, under "Aircraft."

And no, I am not the author or publisher of FYT, or a paid endorser.

Pug
 
"Speeding Ticket By Airplane" <<<<What the ???

As I was surfing through the threads this stopped me in my eye tracks. I couldn't imagine what it meant. At first I wondered, did someone get a speeding ticket in an airplane? No. That's just too weird. Then it made sense after reading it.

But the two posts by Curt581 and Puglist through me into a laughing fit so as to prompt my daughter to come from down the hall to ask me what was so funny.

To the original poster. Maybe you should pay the ticket and not try to beat it. You even said you were doing about 80 in a 65. Or maybe you can claim that you "flew" by the airplane way too fast for him to possibly know what speed you were driving.
 

cepe10

Member
As I was surfing through the threads this stopped me in my eye tracks. I couldn't imagine what it meant. At first I wondered, did someone get a speeding ticket in an airplane? No. That's just too weird. Then it made sense after reading it. . To the original poster. Maybe you should pay the ticket and not try to beat it. You even said you were doing about 80 in a 65. Or maybe you can claim that you "flew" by the airplane way too fast for him to possibly know what speed you were driving.
Lara have you read the highway safety deskbook? or the IACP or NHTSA guidlines for proper speed measurments and enforcement procedures? Just wondering because your advice seems to be very naive.
 

cepe10

Member
aircraft measurement disadvantages

Beyond the obvious difficulty with positive target identification and the fact the aircraft is most likely not focused on a traffic mission, the national highway transportation safety administration lists a number of other drawbacks along with the requirments to make accurate measurements with this technique.


Average Speed Computers.
The use of average speed computers is also worthy of consideration. It emits no beams and can be used in all weather and traffic conditions. It is target-specific and can be used in a moving or stationary mode. Some consider this a better measurement of speed, since it measures average speed over the target area, rather than maximum speed, as do other devices.

The disadvantage of the average speed computer is that it is permanently mounted. Reaction time by the operator could affect the determination of speed.

Aircraft enforcement uses the same basic formula that average speed computers use, but the measurement is usually accomplished by a certified stopwatch or a computer. The roadways must be marked and the area must also be free of any obstructions so as not to interfere with the identification of any suspected violator.

A police department will probably not purchase an aircraft solely for the purpose of apprehending speeders. The initial cost to pur-chase and then maintain an aircraft are expensive—one of the main disadvantages of using aircraft. More likely, traffic enforcement is one of many duties for which an aircraft will be used. Traffic enforcement is only one facet of the total mission for an aircraft.


Finally, this method requires additional officers for court testimony. Some agencies will attempt to limit the necessity to have aircraft crews testify in court by having officers from the ground accompany the pilot so they can testify when the case comes to court.


Note the both the aircraft and ground personel are required for testimony, the computer or timing device needs to be certified, the markings on the road need to apparent and certified.
 
To the op and anyone else I may have offended. I'm sorry, and yes, I am naive. I am as green as an Irish field concerning traffic law. I should have said nothing.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
To Cepe:
Yes, California DOES use aircraft for speed enforcement. Doesn't have to be dedicated. I don't see how that, in an of itself, is at all relevant.
Aside from that, you rpost implies that OP should challenge markings and certifications...in this case, absolutely true.

To OP:
Don't go in to court saying "I wasn't doing 90, I was only doing 80" - because you'll walk out with either a) a conviction for 80 in a 65, b) a conviction for 90 in a 65. Of course, you may be able to take traffic school, depending on the county court rules (and the judge).


Back to Cepe:
Please give a citation of the information you are relying on to say that BOTH officers need to be present...
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Back to Cepe:
Please give a citation of the information you are relying on to say that BOTH officers need to be present...
As much as it physically pains me to agree with Peepee, he is (accidentally, I'm sure - even a broken clock is right twice a day) correct in this instance.

The reasoning is that the ticketing officer cannot testify to the timing of the target from the plane due to such being hearsay. Similarly, the airplane officer cannot testify as to the ground identification and ticketing of the target. (This also applies to the "speed traps" where there are two sets of officers, one up front doing the radaring and the second group, in the "chase" cars who actually pull the drivers over).

However, unless this is the officers' first day on the job, the odds are pretty good that they know both need to be present in court. The big advantage is that driver-requested adjournments now have 2x the chance of falling on a date of an unavailable officer.
 

Jim_bo

Member
You guys are wrong about the stop-watch thing. Excerpt from California Vehicle Code:

40802. (a) A "speed trap" is either of the following:
(1) A particular section of a highway measured as to distance and
with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order
that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it
takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

Furthermore, to make it interesting:

(b) Every officer arresting, or participating or assisting in the
arrest of, a person so charged while on duty for the exclusive or
main purpose of enforcing the provisions of Divisions 10 and 11 is
incompetent as a witness if at the time of such arrest he was not
wearing a distinctive uniform, or was using a motor vehicle not
painted the distinctive color specified by the commissioner.


So, was the aircraft painted in a distinctive color? Was the officerin the airplane wearing a uniform? Hhhhmmm.....

Seriously, there are probably a hundred holes in the prosecution of this ticket. However, we need specifics... i.e. what section of the vehicle code were you charged with? Was radar used? Laser? Give all of the details on the ticket and let's discuss.
 

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