Speeding ticket

What is the name of your state?PA

My mother got a speeding ticket today. She was in a 55mph zone and he said he clocked her going 70mph. I was sitting behind her talking to my brother. I can't honestly say I know for a fact she wasn't speeding but I only ever saw her speedomoter go as high as 59mph. The other reason I don't think that she was speeding is because there were other cars passing her. She never went into the passing lane. When we saw him pull out, I even told her not to pull over because I thought he was going after the car that had just passed us or one of the other ones in the group that had passed us. I guess I just have trouble believing she was the one speeding when she was actually the only one who stayed in her lane while every one else (who obviously were going faster) went around her.

I don't have a problem with how the officer treated my mother but I did think some of the things he said were odd. He told my mom he clocked her going 70mph but when I looked at the citation there was a box he could check off for the method of speed detection he used. Even though "clocked" was on there, he had "radar" marked. He also gave a vehicle description of Station Wagon, Tan color but we were in a silver mini-van. He also marked the location where he caught her with radar but when we went back and looked at that section of the road there were only two spots where he could have been parked but both places sit pretty far down below road level and at that angle I don't see how he could determine for certain which vehicle he gunned because you could just barely see the top of a person's car (some cars you couldn't see at all until they got down around the bend). I understand that radar is typically accurate but how is he certain he got my mom's speed and not someone else's? I'm not kidding about how many people were out driving today. There were so many cars that a lot of people weren't pulling into the far lane like you typically would when you see someone pulled over to go out around us because there were already people in that lane. I saw one car that looked like it was no more than two feet behind the officer because there was no way to get in the other lane.

Can she fight it because of the vehicle description error, inconsistant statement as to whether she was clocked or radar or that maybe his gun picked up someone elses speed? I did a check on-line of radar studies and found that some guns have a less than 43% accuracy rating when there is more than one vehicle in a 100 yard area. Is this true? One last thing. She had just bought this vehicle yesterday (we were on our way to pick up her car that she left at the dealership). We decided to use her old car to test the speed of her van (not reliable, I know). We went through a construction area that checks the car speed to make sure the car was accurate and then we took both vehicles out on the highway. When I got the car to 65mph her van speedometer said she was going 74mph. Just the opposite of what we hoped for but all I keep thinking is that in order for her to be going a true 70mph have van speedometer would have been reading almost 80mph and there is just no way. I never saw her speedometer get even close to that.

[JETX]

Oh, geeeeeze, here we go again!!
"Can she fight it because of the vehicle description error, inconsistant statement as to whether she was clocked or radar or that maybe his gun picked up someone elses speed?"
*** She has the right to defend herself against the citation; however, NOTHING in your post is considered sufficient to warrant dismissal.

The vehicle description is not sufficient as the officer is not expected to be an 'auto expert'. The license number was correct, right??

As for YOUR confusion on the 'inconsistent statement', it isn't. The speed WAS clocked by radar. That is the proper term that is used to indicate how the speed was established.

And the old issue of 'wrong vehicle' has been tried thousands of times..... and those tickets (unless there is a HUGE amount of evidence to the contrary) all remained.

Look JETX. This is a fifty year old woman who has never had a speeding ticket or any other moving violation, for that matter. Maybe if I hadn't been with her I wouldn't believe her myself. But I was there. I saw her speedometer a few times before she got pulled over. Never once did I see it go above 59mph. I also find it hard to believe that out of the four adults in the vehicle none of us noticed that she was driving like a speed demon. What I did see were quite a few vehicles passing us. Logic tells me they weren't going slower. I'm not sitting here bad mouthing the officer like some people would. I'm saying that I think either he or his equipment made a mistake. Oh, and I don't expect him to be an 'auto expert' but I do expect him to be able to read the logo on the back that said 'mini-van' or her temp. registration that said 'mini-van', color silver. If he can't read what was on her van and her paperwork how do I know he could read the gun or the manual for how to use it?

[racer72]

She should most definitely go to court and fight this ticket. The injustice served upon your mother must be a terrible cross to bear. Yes, the judge will believe your story and do the only thing he can do. Whip out his handy dandy correction pen and fix the "errors" on the citation. I would also suggest hiring a lawyer to represent your mother in court. You emotional response to JETX's perfectly legal and correct response shows don't have a clue on how to handle traffic tickets in a court of law.

Gee, I forgot that a police officer or his equipment can never to be questioned. I guess that's why there is no such thing as traffic court and you pay your ticket right on the spot. I forgot stupidity runs rampant on this site. But hey, your ignorance on the subject is duly noted. I'll have to remember to thank myself for wasting my time.

[JETX]

Another useless drooling from sinsin.

[kidoday]

Your mother has two options. Pay the ticket and move on, or fight it. If all of you feel that she wasn't doing 70 then I would have everyone in that car present in traffic court to help defend your mother. The worst they are going to do is charge her with the ticket, the best is drop it completely.

[Bravo8]

Couple of points:

The use of the term "Clocked" is immaterial. We often say "clocked" when discussing the detection of speed, regardless of the method used. For example, an officer may say they clocked you by RADAR, ESP, VASCAR. etc. The actual legal definition of "Clock" per PA law is the pacing of another vehicle with one's own vehicle. That is the purpose of the "Clocked" section of the citation.

Your minivan is a stationwagon, at least according to PennDOT. If you look at the registration for the minivan, you will see "SW" next to type of vehicle. All minivans and SUVs are considered stationwagons.

So neither of these items is actually a mistake on the Trooper's part.

You can challenge the accuracy of the Trooper's equipment, and this may be your best defense. Simply claiming that she wasn't speeding isn't going to help (everyone says that), and having everyone in the car testify is a waste of time (and might just piss off the judge). The "witnesses" in the car are your family/friends, and that calls their credibility into question when they are testifyinh on your (or your mother's) behalf. They certainly aren't independent witnesses.

Also, contrary to popular belief, it does no good for multiple people to testify to the exact same facts. If your mother testifies that the sky is blue, we don't need 500 other people telling us the same thing.

If the Trooper's equipment is calibrated and his documentation is in order, your only hope is to find a lenient judge who feels like cutting a break.