1st ticket

[WildBill]

Honest question: What is a speed trap?

There are three types of speed traps ...

Since the thread started with a ticket outside of Texas, I am going to post the only legal definition that I have seen for a speed trap. It is from the California Vehicle Code:
40801:
No peace officer or other person shall use a speed trap in arresting, or participating or assisting in the arrest of, any person for any alleged violation of this code nor shall any speed trap be used in securing evidence as to the speed of any vehicle for the purpose of an arrest or prosecution under this code.

40802 A "speed trap" is either of the following:
(a) 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.

[Oldgringo]

A lobster trap is used to catch lobsters. A speed trap is used to catch speeders.

I reckon the above observations pretty well sum it up.

[WildBill]

A lobster trap is used to catch lobsters. A speed trap is used to catch speeders.

I reckon the above observations pretty well sum it up.

Lobsters taste better than speeders, especially when dipped in drawn butter.

[Oldgringo]

A lobster trap is used to catch lobsters. A speed trap is used to catch speeders.

I reckon the above observations pretty well sum it up.

Lobsters taste better than speeders, especially when dipped in drawn butter.

I certainly agree with the lobster thing. Hmmm, I think I'll slow down and save my money for some lobsters in drawn butter.

[.30calSolution]

If you were using a GPS you should be able to go back and check your past traveled route's and look at the speed at which you were traveling in the area in which he said you were speeding. People have used GPS devices before to be cleared of speeding tickets, the court can't really dispute it. Also, you can question the equipment he was using and ask to see if the inspection is up to date on the calibration, if it isn't it will be thrown out due to possibly faulty equipment. I guess since you paid the ticket there isn't much you can do now. But, in the future if you should come across this you know what you can do.

I'm not sure how Louisiana does it, but a law was recently passed in Ohio that really stinks. An LEO can now write a ticket for a vehicle that sounds like it was speeding...yeah you read it correctly, a ticket for "sounding fast" or "it sounded like he was speeding" and it has nothing to do with your exhaust.

[chasfm11]

I have my own definition of a speed trap. It is where an alert motorist who already knew of "enhanced enforcement" and was going to extraordinary measures to stay within the law was unable to do so.

Case in point.
Traveling the Interstate from Pittsburgh, PA to Wheeling, WVA, I was driving 5mph under the posted limit from the minute that I crossed the WVA line. I was in a rental car and didn't want to risk being ticketed because the rental's speedometer was off a couple of miles per hour.

I exited the interstate, went up the exit ramp and stopped at the stop sign at the top. I turned right and in less than 100 yards, the local LEO lit me up, coming out of a used car lot. I was ticketed for 30mph in a 25mph zone. The road that I was on certainly didn't appear to be a 25mph road but, even looking very carefully, I didn't see a speed limit sign. After I received my citation, I physically walked back to the corner that I had just passed. There was a 25mph sign but it was less than 2 feet BEHIND a much larger sign showing the name of the town. No reasonable driver would have ever seen the mph sign because it would have been necessary to come to a dead stop and look directly sideways at an exact point to do so - something that no reasonable driver would ever do, having just stopped for the exit ramp less than 20 feet before.

I was warned by the LEO that I had to post the equivalent of the ticket in cash before I left WVA or risk a bench warrant being issued for me. I immediately drove to the town's municipal building and paid the fine. There was quite a line ahead of me - all from the same location.

Now THAT is a speed trap.

[gigag04]

Also, you can question the equipment he was using and ask to see if the inspection is up to date on the calibration, if it isn't it will be thrown out due to possibly faulty equipment

*HIGHLY* unlikely but technically possible. Also a good officer has your speed visually estimated before he confirms it with a radar/lidar. If you were speeding and choose to lie about in court to get out of the fine - you commit perjury. My conscience won't allow me to do that. I'll take my licks and move on in my life.

[.30calSolution]

Also, you can question the equipment he was using and ask to see if the inspection is up to date on the calibration, if it isn't it will be thrown out due to possibly faulty equipment

*HIGHLY* unlikely but technically possible. Also a good officer has your speed visually estimated before he confirms it with a radar/lidar. If you were speeding and choose to lie about in court to get out of the fine - you commit perjury. My conscience won't allow me to do that. I'll take my licks and move on in my life.

If their equipment is not up to date with the state and federal standards it will be tossed out. There's no Ifs ands or buts about it. As far as I know they have to have it checked to make sure it's calibrated correctly yearly, so if they haven't your home free. Unless you live in the state I just came from, Ohio, they can just write you that ticket because it sounded like you were speeding.

[gigag04]

Also, you can question the equipment he was using and ask to see if the inspection is up to date on the calibration, if it isn't it will be thrown out due to possibly faulty equipment

*HIGHLY* unlikely but technically possible. Also a good officer has your speed visually estimated before he confirms it with a radar/lidar. If you were speeding and choose to lie about in court to get out of the fine - you commit perjury. My conscience won't allow me to do that. I'll take my licks and move on in my life.

If their equipment is not up to date with the state and federal standards it will be tossed out. There's no Ifs ands or buts about it. As far as I know they have to have it checked to make sure it's calibrated correctly yearly, so if they haven't your home free. Unless you live in the state I just came from, Ohio, they can just write you that ticket because it sounded like you were speeding.

Riiiight. So - can you find me a department that is using equipment out of certification? Also can you post the federal and state requirements?

[srothstein]

Also, you can question the equipment he was using and ask to see if the inspection is up to date on the calibration, if it isn't it will be thrown out due to possibly faulty equipment

*HIGHLY* unlikely but technically possible. Also a good officer has your speed visually estimated before he confirms it with a radar/lidar. If you were speeding and choose to lie about in court to get out of the fine - you commit perjury. My conscience won't allow me to do that. I'll take my licks and move on in my life.

If their equipment is not up to date with the state and federal standards it will be tossed out. There's no Ifs ands or buts about it. As far as I know they have to have it checked to make sure it's calibrated correctly yearly, so if they haven't your home free. Unless you live in the state I just came from, Ohio, they can just write you that ticket because it sounded like you were speeding.

While I would put it a little differently than GigAg04 did, I would agree with him that this is not something you should count on. For one thing, there is no state requirement that the equipment be certified as calibrated on any regular period. There is a federal requirement that the equipment broadcast on the assigned frequency, but no specified check period that I am aware of (I am not a radar technician, just an instructor). As in many cases, manufacturers give recommended maintenance periods to avoid liability on their part and help customers avoid liability. These are not enforceable by courts.

And, because of the possibility of liability, it is very hard to find cities operating out of date equipment.

Overall, I would not bet on this happening and do not recommend it as a tactic. My recommendation (other than being careful about your speed) is to never dispute the speed the officer claims you were going without proof that it is physically impossible (accusing my daughter of speeding on her moped in a 45 mph zone was one example of this - lawyer from an accident did it, not a cop though). Dispute other parts of the law and you stand a much better chance of winning than arguing what speed you actually were traveling at.

[tacticool]

Are we losing sight of the OP admitting they were speeding?

[.30calSolution]

I realize that the OP was speeding and admitted to speeding. The issue is with the officer stating he was speeding in excess of what the OP stated his speed at. If i were to receive a ticket and knew darned well I wasn't going that fast I would dispute it and pay the true costs of my ticket(I would never knowingly admit to breaking the law, to each his own). The difference between +10mph and +11 mph in alot of states is huge, It's the difference between a simple fine and getting points on your license + a much larger fine. Those points can add up and also cause your insurance premiums to rise.

In Ohio for example, all of the equipment inside the cruise must be checked annually. My friend got out of a speeding ticket using his GPS (LEO actually hit a large truck that had just passed him and thought it was my friend)and I know someone else who had gotten the case thrown out because of improperly calibrated equipment. I'm not sure of what the state reg's are down here but I know what they are when I just came from. I need to do alot of reading.

[jimlongley]

On GPS, I was traveling all the time a couple of years back, a new rental car every week, sometimes even twice a week, and I used my GPS to check Speedometer accuracy, and they were all over the map, from 7 under to 5 over. None farther than that, but it was NEVER right on.

I used to live in upstate NY and race at Lebanon Valley Speedway. Between "The Valley" and the Albany NY area on route 20 is the little village of Nassau, and it was a speed trap. 55mph approaching the village, but the village was 30, and no real warning of the drop. If you didn't know it was coming, you got caught.

To make matters worse, the local cop was REALLY named Earp.

He stopped me for 60 in a 30 zone once, I was on my way from the diner to another part of the village, and was within the 30 zone the whole time, but I had been drag racing that day and still had numbers in soap on the windows. I was taken to the JP (I actually had to drive my car under "escort") and when I pointed my car out, a rust bucket 58 Plymouth wagon, and questioned whether I could have made it all the way up to 60 in the distance from the diner to the stop sign (where Earp "caught" me) and get stopped for it. No radar in the car, and NY State law required a full 1/4 mile clock for a valid stop. The JP threw me out with a warning to not get caught again.

Funny thing was that with my car tuned for the drags, I could easily make it to 60 and back before the stop sign, so Earp might have been right, but the JP didn't think the car would do it, and knew that Earp didn't have a valid clock.

I was one of the few kids ever to beat an Earp ticket.

[.30calSolution]

On GPS, I was traveling all the time a couple of years back, a new rental car every week, sometimes even twice a week, and I used my GPS to check Speedometer accuracy, and they were all over the map, from 7 under to 5 over. None farther than that, but it was NEVER right on.

The new ones are accurate within 1m anywhere it has satellite contact, they also show your lat & longitude. I would expect that they are very accurate as long as you don't quickly accelerate/decelerate. Mine also shows what sat you are connected to and where it's located in the sky above, it's not an expensive model either. Big brother has been using them for many years and our military uses them daily, they land helicopters on dimes in sandstorms. All I know is that GPS proof holds up in court. I will try and dig it up later. I'm hitting the bed for now.

[JNMAR]

Back in my younger days when I drove a lot, 3-4 thousand miles a month, I usually drove quite fast. I never questioned a ticket because I knew for every one I got, which actually wasn't very many considering, there were 100's that I should have gotten an didn't. To me it was sorta like a poker hand, you win some and some you lose...and when you do lose, ya just ante up and deal again.