Posted limit was 40. I was pulled over. Officer said he had to go up to 70 to catch up to me.
He marked it down as 59 and gave me a ticket. Is it worth fighting. How would I prove
I didn’t speed (not saying I wasn’t) my concern is just insurance rates going up
Location: ct
Comments
NAL. Seems like an easy win to me if that’s all the evidence he has. He claims he had to go 70 to catch up with you and then marked down a seemingly random number. If I’m behind someone of course I’d have to go faster than them to catch up, but unless he knows the distance he travels to catch up and the exact speed and acceleration, how can he know how fast you were going?
So unless he was “pacing” you at 70, he has no idea how fast you were going.
The police are going to have a lot more info to back up their claim than you do. For example, cop cars (usually) have on board radar on the front and back of the vehicle. Radar pings you, measures the difference in speed between you and the cop, then takes the cop’s own speed into account. If you were speeding and the police had to prove it, they would almost certainly be able to.
What you could do is go to your issued court date. Most of the time if you are given a ticket you are also given a court date. If you pay the ticket, the judge opens the case, sees that its paid, closes the case, moves on to the next one. If you decide to show up, you can try to fight it, but you’d be counting on the officer who pulled you over not showing up. Even if they dont the judge could still decide to rule against you, but could be worth a shot.
If you contest it, likely the prosecutor will amend the charge to reflect the 70 mph. Then you go to court. The court may or may not find his testimony about “catching up” to be persuasive. Do you feel lucky?
You’re really posting on Reddit about a speeding ticket. Holy shit dude just go to court. They overdo it down. They just want your money. They’re not gonna give you any points. You’re fine when you’re on your fourth or fifth DWI then maybe come to Reddit cause at that point you’re trying to avoid jail time but I know you’re probably just a young kid but like dude it’s really not a big deal especially if you’re white just go there wear a nice shirt wear some pants it’ll be reduced be prepared to pay like three to $400. They’ll give you time to pay it if you need it but I recommend just paying it. Ask your mom or your uncle or someone for the money if you don’t have it in you’re fineand please don’t ever come to Reddit with such a simple thing.
NAL.
As others have said, police do have onboard radar, so unless it was off or not calibrated correctly it’s very likely they can prove you were over the speed limit.
As for what you could do here, you have a few options.
A) Fight the ticket. If you go this route, PLEASE find a local traffic lawyer in the county the ticket was issued to represent you. You may be out more money fighting it this way, but trust me it’s a lot better to have a lawyer fight this than you personally. I went that route with mine, and while I still had to pay a fine, it was significantly less than what I would’ve had to pay and I avoided points on my license. That’s what a decent lawyer can do for you.
B) Pay the ticket. If you’re hurting for money, this may be the more financially feasible route. Less hassle, and it’s done and over with afterwards. Downside is you may incur points on your license.
As for your insurance rates going up, it genuinely depends on your carrier. I have State Farm, and they did NOT raise my rates after my ticket and it was a good 30+ over the limit (yes, I’m a dumby and didn’t pay attention, feel free to flame me for my reckless speed). You may get lucky in that regard, but never lie to a carrier about getting a ticket if asked. They will raise your rates if you are dishonest when asked, but there’s a 50/50 they don’t raise it if you’re honest when asked.
Good luck in your adventure my friend! I’ve only ever had one ticket, so I feel for you. It’s scary to get your first speeding ticket, and it’s scary to get pulled over for the first time. You got this!
NAL. Hire a lawyer and beat the ticket. Most lawyers have a high dismissal rate for these. LEOs are not particularly detailed when writing them as they expect you to just pay it. Writing it as 59 instead of 70 is not doing you any favors. The real expense is the huge insurance hit for years, not the few bucks on the ticket. They write the ticket lower so you just pay it.