I got clocked today for going 51 on 45. *I wasn't speeding on purpose, and I know better to endanger someone's lives. But the road was empty and I just went a bit faster without paying attention* What is getting clocked?? Does it make it easier to appeal?

 

Most of the tie just means your speed was read. Do you know how you were clocked (LIDAR, RADAR, Pacing?). For 6 over I'd take it in front of a judge, if you've got a clean driving record.

 

I do have a clean driving record. But I'm not sure what LIDAR is. It was not radar because on the citation there is 3 boxes to check: Radar, Estimated, and Clocked. He checked of clocked. This is while I was on the road with him tailing me.

 

Clocked means he was estimate your speed on what he was doing. If you want to go to court, the judge may let you take a driving course and not get the points.

 

Most likely he was running radar from the cruiser, not a hand-held. The radar unit is usually a black or white housing located on the left (driver side) of the light bar. It is what police use to run radar while moving. Each states ticket system will be different, but I'll bet this is what he was doing. What kind of officer was it? Local, state (highway), county, etc.?

-Cody

 

Ahhh, notice any white lines on the side of the road? This sounds like it was the old stopwatch between to points and speed=distance/time. Usually they get the road marked off every 1, 1/2 or 1/4 mile interview, or they can also use their trip function and get the distance segment that way. You'll get better info from people within MA as to how common this is there.

Here is a link of interest for you

 

The OP states the cop was tailing him.....thus he was probably using his own speedometer to determine the OP's speed.

Definitely take it to court. Just the fact that there is always a difference in speedomter accuracy should provide reasonable doubt.

 

It was in MA. It was a state trooper. It was on a small highway, I just paid toll and passed him on the merge. About 3 miles down he caught up to me and tailed me until i got off an exit. Said he clocked me going 51 on 45.

 

Probably means he followed you and matched your speed...looked at his speedo and noted the speed.
Gotta have a little more situational awareness when the po-po is around.

 

They nailed you for 6MPH over? Damn, that's cold.

 

Have a clean driving record? Sounds like you don't have much or any speeding history... If so, call up your local District Attorney's office, and ask them if they really want to go to court over 6mph... tell them to check your record - it's clean - and ask that they drop it. If they won't then go to court and ask them again before the session starts.

In NC, under 10MPH over with no priors in 3 years nets you no points and no insurance increase anyway - don't know how it works in MA.

 

Even if you were doing 51 in a 45, that's pretty tight. Nevertheless, you were speeding. BUT... in most states, with a clean driving record, if you go to court you will have options other than "pay the fine and get the points". Usually they'll put you on a "probationary" period where you pay the fine but get put on "probation", where they drop the charges if you're good for 90-120 days... BUT if you get caught for a traffic violation in that period they "remember" this violation as well. Go, pay attention, ask the question of what your options are and if probation is offered. Most judges make that offer as a blanket offer to the courtroom full of offenders.

That officer, however, was certainly being a bit picky. 51 in a 45? That's tight. It IS speeding, but that's really tight enforcement... remember that and avoid that area!

Good luck!

 

Rules of thumb:

NEVER pass a cop.

If a cop comes up behind you, slow to the EXACT speed limit and set your cruise control. Eventually s/he will get bored and go on to greener pastures.

Get a radar detector. If it starts beeping/shrieking/whatever, HIT THE BRAKES and slow to the exact speed limit. Set your cruise control until you're past the danger.

Works for me. Only problem with MINIs is that the MCS is so hard to rein in...

 

Probably easier just to pay the fine and go to driving school. In California, you still need to pay, but don't get the points if you take driving school.

I got a ticket for just missing a red light on a left turn about 6 months ago. Ticket came in the mail. A traffic camera caught me.

 

Just remember we all have to pay our dues sometime.

 

If he used anything other than a form of RADAR or LASER to get your speed reading I'd say there's reasonable doubt he was able to accurately judge a 6mph difference in speed.

 

6MPH is negligible. you'll be able to get off with out the points and just pay the fine. if you are really clever you could get out of it altogether. i read a book on how to get out of tickets. it was great. i haven't paid one in like three years. you should get it. i forget who it was by though. google it.

 

Click on http://www.motorists.org/fightticket/

great resources for fighting tickets!

 

Take it to court....the method he used is thrown out frequently...
http://www.radardetector.net/viewforum.php?f=6 post eon there and tell them the situation...i think you can win this one...


Jack