So my parents got fined a speeding ticket in which the police officer told them they were going at 92km/h. Which in fact they were going at 68km/h in a 70 zone. The police officer refused to show them any evidence.
I have never had this problem before.
I know that we can bring it to court, but would that be expensive?
If anyone have past experience please advise us on what can be done?
Wrongly fined speeding ticket what to do?
B612 on 17/06/2016 - 21:34
Last edited 17/06/2016 - 23:28 by 1 other user
Last edited 17/06/2016 - 23:28 by 1 other user
Comments
The officer will have a record of them speeding on their speed gun. These guns are tested religiously. If you get caught for speeding, 99.999% chance you were speeding.
If you bring it to court as a "he said, she said" with a cop, you will lose the case and the court cost. I'm assuming your parents have zero proof of their speed.
Is it their first time?
8-ball points to NO
COOL STORY THOUGH
68 -> 92…big different there buddy… Unless you have some sort of dashcam that shows your speed how are you going to prove you were going 68 (assuming the officer will present their evidence in court)
Have you compared your parents speedo accuracy with a GPS whilst travelling in the car? They may have a faulty speedo.
Is it possible your parents were speeding at a further distance from the officer compared to where they thought they may have been pinged? If it was a straight road they can track your speed from quite a distance (before you are even able to visually see them in some cases).
I'd rule out these two possibilities first before attempting to take it to court, or it may cost your parents even more.
Court costs are minimal unless you employ someone, to represent yourself, plead your innocence, admit contrition and throw your self to the mercy of the court, sometimes works if there is ANY doubt. Simply plead your case truthfully. The judge/magistrate can apply leniency on any grounds he/she sees fit. Good luck.
Not going to be any doubt if they used a radar / lidar device.
Those 20kph are pretty noticeable, especially as they've likely been driving for years. Not to mention you'd be flying past other traffic.
I'm also claiming BS on this!
OP, what is the reason you are wanting to fight the speeding fine? How can you be sure that your parents were not above the speed limit?
From my experience Police officers usually issue a speeding fine that's lower than what is on the detector.
If your parents fight it in court and fail there's the possibility that the judge applies the appropriate charges. ie. upgrade it to 20-29km/h over the speed limit.
The margin of error that your parents are claiming is too huge. 68km/h to 92km/h is an error of +35.3%. That large a mistake can only occur from operator error. Also, police can issue a speeding fine without using a radar/lidar detector or provide your parents proof. For example a Police officer could follow them in a non-radar equipped car.
I cannot speak for other states but in Victoria, the State of Nannies, you are able to get one speeding fine excused per year if your explanation is good enough.
I got one rubbed out when I overtook a weaving car for safety reasons (I would rather have had the idiot driver well behind me). Just as I did that the speed limit went from 80 to 60, so I was over the limit. I wrote a letter, and explained the situation (I even referred to the fact that the speed camera would have taken a pic of the car I overtook, a white Camry, which it did).
The fine was excused, with the added rider that the next one would not be, regardless of the circumstances.
I was 13kmh over the limit, and the change of speed limits was an extenuating circumstance.
The allegation is that your folks were 22kmh over. That might not make it across the line, but good luck.After speaking to them, they did mention there was a much faster car next to them before they where pull over.
the fact that he drives a Honda Civic Type R , might have the police catching the wrong car?AFAIK, a handheld laser is pretty much pinpoint accurate, the car beside them wouldn't have had an effect. If a cop had've seen a faster car beside your parents car, don't you think he'd target the faster car? Issue a higher fine etc.
what i mean is would they have got the speed of the other car and pull my parent's car over
Again, handhelds are pinpoint accurate.
I agree with Spackbace. LIDAR is an acronym for Light Detection And Ranging.
If you've time, research a few manufacturer websites and download instructions, videos and demonstrations of the speed detecting devices.
I'm a law abiding mature motorcycle rider so its been decades since I researched LIDAR, radar, radar detectors, LIDAR jammers, paint and stealth technology. From memory the operation of the devices is recommended to target their beam at license plates, headlight reflector housings and front bumper of a target vehicle. Radar is different and has wider scatter but police and manufacturers are usually aware of radar's limitation so Police had approved/designated locations to setup speed traps.
It is possible that Police can point their device at one car but choose to pull over a neighbouring vehicle or multiple vehicles. Eg. cars racing each other. Owners of exotics and sports motorcycles get pulled over way too often considering how much harder it is tracking them.
If you want to contest on the basis of science, calibration, operating environment, operator error then go nuts cause society needs more law abiding drivers and less dodgy cops.
You say that there was a faster car next to them. That still won't prove your parents were not speeding. All the cars could have been detected at +92km/h.
For future there are commuters that have come up with ways of proving their speeds for defense in court. Had heard of drivers who mount an action camera pointed at their speedometer, dated evidence of their mechanic calibrating their speedometer, GPS data logging enabled crash camera.
2 options. Cop it on the chin and pay the fine or take it to court to contest it. Only your parents know if they could possibly get out of it in a courtroom, the police officer will have his side of the story, they will have theirs. The magistrate will decide.
BS.
If the story doesn't make sense, chances are it's not true.