TexasCHLforum.com

.30calSolution wrote:

gigag04 wrote:

.30calSolution wrote: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And, because of the possibility of liability, it is very hard to find cities operating out of date equipment.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.

Back in the late 70's, Pennsylvania State troopers had a vault box bolted to the car floor. When I was stopped, i was given an envelope to put the money in, seal, and drop in the box. Other than watching me count the money before sealing the envelope, the officer never touched the money. He said he also did not have the key to the box. At the time, I already had a Texas license and was told it was for everyone from states that did not have a contract with PA for collection of fines.

KFP wrote:Honest question: What is a speed trap?

There are three types of speed traps. Many people refer to anyplace with strict enforcement of the speed limit as a speed trap. Selma, on IH-35, meets this definition. The limit is 70 before, through, and after Selma, but they enforce the limit so much more strictly than neighboring towns that the city was named in a country song for its speed enforcement.

A second type of speed trap, and is much closer to the legal definition, is a town or location where the speed limit suddenly drops and is strictly enforced. Think of some of the places where you are cruising at 60 and come over a hill and see the limit drop to 45. Shortly after the change there are four or five patrol cars enforcing the new limit. This is actually fairly common and almost meets the legal definition.

And the third type is the legal definition of entrapment. This is where you are enticed into breaking the law that you would not normally break. For this type of speed trap, think of anyplace where you are cruising along and the limit suddenly drops but there is no sign announcing the drop ahead of time. If the officer writes the ticket as soon as you pass the sign, this is entrapment since you had no possible way to suddenly change speeds with no notice. Some cities (like Windcrest) do this by not posting the streets at all. They post a sign as you enter the city that the limit on all streets is XX mph unless noted otherwise. If you pull off the main street that was posted higher and there is no sign on the side street to remind you, it could be entrapment.

In general, most people will still say speed trap when they mean any of these interchangeably. And some use what is almost a fourth definition - any place that wrote me a ticket is a speed trap.