in many places, aren't they supposed to have already visually estimated your speed, then use the RADAR gun as a backup? i've heard this before, but don't know if it's true or not.

if this is true, how would I go about finding out if it is the law/policy where I live (Island County, WA/Whidbey Island/town of Oak Harbor/ZIP 98277)?

2/13/2008 12:54:07 AM

This is a rumor. The radar gun is all they need to nail your ass. There really isn't anyway to operate a speed radar outside the state guidelines.

2/13/2008 1:39:15 AM

he doesnt have to wear his hat either

2/13/2008 6:24:50 AM

They can write you a ticket w/ a visual, a radar checked speed, or both. It doesn't matter. Best thing to do is if you are gonna drive fast at least drive a bike.

2/13/2008 6:47:29 AM

In the safe driving class they taught here they blatently said that you can operate a radar incorrectly. First off they are supposed to visualy estimate before using the gun. If they estimate u are higher than the speed limit that is when they use the gun. You can also ask the cop what he estimated before he clocked you.

2/13/2008 8:15:47 AM

as long as they are radar certified, which i think probably every cop is, then they can write you a ticket without a radar, but it will be A## with ## being your speed, or ### in the case of duke

2/13/2008 8:27:15 AM

Quote :

"You can also ask the cop what he estimated before he clocked you. "

uh what ever speed i want to

2/13/2008 8:49:49 AM

As far as Law enforcement is concerned.

They could eyeball you and determine you are speeding. How would you challenge it?

2/13/2008 9:52:48 AM

thats how mark got his ticket like 10 years ago at the beach. on the sand.

damned cops

2/13/2008 9:55:52 AM

I think visual speed estimates are the most likely to get thrown out in court out of all the methods (vascar, radar, lidar, pacing, etc.)

I've heard of lawyers dropping an object from a certain height, asking the cop how fast it was moving when it hit the floor, and then using simple physics to determine if the officer was right. Stuff like that is probably a stupid waste of time though. Either the judge is going to trust the cop's ability to guess your speed or not.

2/13/2008 10:56:23 AM

well you're right.

i think ive been stopped twice for a "visual" A45 ticket. he said i was going above 45. and i asked him my speed and he said that he didnt need it because he is radar certified.

i bought it up to the DA, and he said that the cops can do that. but he dropped it to 9 over for me.

sometimes it may work (getting it dropped), other times it may not(not getting it dropped). but im thinking it may not work more than anything else

[Edited on February 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM. Reason : ]

2/13/2008 11:00:17 AM

Quote :

"I've heard of lawyers dropping an object from a certain height, asking the cop how fast it was moving when it hit the floor, and then using simple physics to determine if the officer was right"

im not sure how i feel about cops doing the visual radar thing, but i will say that that is a stupid way to test a cop's knowledge of a speeding car. i would imagine when cops are watching for speeding vehicles they are using landmarks they are familiar with, with a relatively known time for how long it should take them to get from point a to point b.

2/13/2008 11:15:02 AM

Quote :

"The radar gun is all they need to nail your ass"

2/13/2008 12:59:56 PM

I have a cop friend and a lawyer threw a piece of paper in court and he asked him how fast and he said about 35mph, judge issued ticket and everyone went on there way.

2/13/2008 1:05:04 PM

i do know this to be true and the leo usually doesn't pay attention to this: pay attention to the surface the cop car is sitting on. that is a key to at least possibly getting you out of a ticket. a radar gun has to be certified for a certain type of surface e.g. asphalt or dirt/grass. however, it can't be both. when you go to court, ask to see the radar certification. you do have a right to see that. the bullshit about having a right to see the radar is just that, bullshit. but on the certification it will define what surface type the radar gun is certified for use on. if it's certified for asphalt and he was sitting in a median or vice-versa, you're free and clear since the ticket will no longer hold up in court.

2/13/2008 4:10:00 PM

^so cant you just lie about it sometimes?

2/13/2008 4:20:38 PM

i'm sure the cop could lie about it but i highly doubt it in court. i think it would be pretty obvious what the defendant is getting at by asking for the radar certification

2/13/2008 4:27:18 PM

well i meant that even if you did get clocked on the road (cop was driving the other way).

is there a place that he puts down where HE was when HE clocked you?

say he is gravel certified and he clocked me while he was parked on gravel. he just puts A45 as in he is radar certified. can i say "he was on the road when he clocked me" and get away?

seems kind of like an easy get outa free type card.
hopefully the DA will show you the certification before he asks where he was when you were clocked

2/13/2008 4:31:47 PM

Quote :

"i do know this to be true and the leo usually doesn't pay attention to this: pay attention to the surface the cop car is sitting on. that is a key to at least possibly getting you out of a ticket. a radar gun has to be certified for a certain type of surface e.g. asphalt or dirt/grass. however, it can't be both. when you go to court, ask to see the radar certification. you do have a right to see that. the bullshit about having a right to see the radar is just that, bullshit. but on the certification it will define what surface type the radar gun is certified for use on. if it's certified for asphalt and he was sitting in a median or vice-versa, you're free and clear since the ticket will no longer hold up in court."

I consider myself an expert in radar. I work with in professionally every day and I am very well versed in the underlying physics involved. The surface over which a radar is used makes no difference. The radar beam isn't interacting with that surface.

2/13/2008 5:23:39 PM

i wonder how my dad, who, btw, is an electrical engineer, used that as a technicality to get out of a ticket? maybe a leo can chime in? DeputyDog?

2/13/2008 7:12:31 PM

why dont yall cheap motherfuckers pay the 300.00 and the ticket never happened

my last one only cost 150, fuck all that court room bullshit

[Edited on February 13, 2008 at 7:34 PM. Reason : como]

2/13/2008 7:33:14 PM

or just have a mother who works for a lawyer

my shit goes poof

2/13/2008 7:45:31 PM

my shit goes poof

2/13/2008 9:00:05 PM

Quote :

"in many places, aren't they supposed to have already visually estimated your speed, then use the RADAR gun as a backup? i've heard this before, but don't know if it's true or not. if this is true, how would I go about finding out if it is the law/policy where I live (Island County, WA/Whidbey Island/town of Oak Harbor/ZIP 98277)?"

How many more times will you get pulled before you have to go before the old man?

2/13/2008 9:02:25 PM

unless they take me downtown, i don't really intend on any of the powers that be having anything to do with it.

2/13/2008 9:54:48 PM

when you sneeze, your snot is going 200mph...

2/14/2008 5:30:46 AM

Tickets are the price you pay to play the game. Pony up Duke. Sucks, but when we drive fast, thats the penalty for gettin' caught.

2/14/2008 7:52:56 AM

Duke dont you get out of 95% of tickets by being in the air force. I thought that was one of few benefits of being in the chair force.

2/14/2008 8:22:25 AM

awww shit. it's gettin ready to get real.

2/14/2008 10:15:22 AM

Quote :

"Best thing to do is if you are gonna drive fast at least drive a bike."

no, i'd like to: A, survive a wreck at that speed. B, survive a wreck and not be mutilated. and C, Rain, no thanks.

2/14/2008 10:31:55 AM

Quote :

"Duke dont you get out of 95% of tickets by being in the air force. I thought that was one of few benefits of being in the chair force."

Duke's not in the air force.

2/14/2008 10:52:47 AM

I wasnt trying to instigate. Ive just heard from multiple people who have escaped tickets due to military IDs. Is there truth to that?

2/14/2008 12:18:49 PM

I'm in the Marine Corps...but as far as getting out of tickets by being military...It's helped me a few times, but the cops here don't give a shit.

I think the effect is probably generally less beneficial in any military town, and especially here. All of the speed limits are ridiculously low (like backroads that would be 55 mph anywhere else are 40 mph here), and there are a bazillion cops that run instant on constantly. They do stuff like pop over hills and flip on the RADAR just hoping there's a speeder on the other side.


I understand that tickets are just a cost of having a fast car and driving fast. that's exactly how i look at them--a fast driving tax. still, i like to minimize how much i pay them.

2/14/2008 1:11:16 PM

Speaking of the Air Force, don't speed on an Air Force Base. I've been ticketed for 32 in a 30. No shit, they'll get you.

I've also been ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt in Iraq.

2/14/2008 4:39:48 PM

That's nothing.

I've been ticketed on TWO seperate occasions by Pullen Park police.

I've been pulled over 13 times in the last 7 months (ticketed thrice).

There's a deputy in Durham who's pulled me 3 times, and a cop in Raleigh who's pulled me twice.

I got observed (but not clocked) doing about 110 down Western Blvd, then turning left on to Pullen and riding a wheelie across the bridge, and walked away with a written warning (there wasn't ANYONE around me through the entire deal, so don't start bitching about me being dangerous).

I can't think of an offense I haven't been pulled for besides passing a stopped school bus (i mean, i've never drank and driven, but I've been pulled and sobriety tested/breathalyzed several times).

[Edited on February 14, 2008 at 4:53 PM. Reason : ^and fuck 'em...if he wrote me a ticket for 2-over, I'd ask to speak with his Sgt or Lt.]

2/14/2008 4:52:23 PM

ha, his 1SG was standing next to him and trying to make polite small talk with me. It was all I could do to maintain my composure.

2/14/2008 5:13:04 PM

then i would've asked to speak with their Capt.

was there a fine associated with it, or just base points?

i got a ticket on base for "following too closely". $75 fine. I'm taking it to court to fight it...it's a federal court, which will be a new experience. I don't know if it'll go on my record and affect my insurance or not, but I have no intention of letting a $75 fine go for "following too close" (which i wasn't even doing) while driving 25 mph, no less.

[Edited on February 14, 2008 at 5:18 PM. Reason : hgdhd]

2/14/2008 5:15:53 PM

$25 . . . I think I was going to be on leave when I was supposed to show up in court so I just paid it.

Pope has a strict no speeding policy. If I'd been doing it in a housing area I would have lost my driving privleges for a year on Pope and, because of an MOA, a year on Bragg too. If you get behind me on PAFB, expect to be doing 28 in a 30.

2/14/2008 5:34:26 PM

Quote :

"it's a federal court, which will be a new experience."

they suck.

why federal? didn't know they handled anything like that

[Edited on February 14, 2008 at 5:39 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/14/2008 5:39:01 PM

because it was on federal property (military base)

hopefully they'll just be like "what the fuck? a ticket for 'following too close', and when you were going 25 mph? We've got better stuff to deal with."

that or hopefully the MP won't show up to federal court 45 minutes away for such a Mickey Mouse ticket.

I don't give a shit if I spend $75 in gas to get out of a $75 ticket, even if it doesn't go on my insurance anyway. That was bullshit, and I don't plan on paying it.

2/14/2008 5:43:28 PM

Federal system is a whole different world.. not sure how they handle tickets since they typically don't deal with little shit but they usually don't let you pay your way out of it on most things.

But for something like this the worst that can happen is you pay $75 so not exactly a whole lot to lose

2/14/2008 5:49:41 PM