So What Would You Think?

[sparks19]

well there was a time before radar guns were invented to determine speed.

do cops have radar on their dashboards? I'm not talking about the ones just sitting on the side of the road ready to nab someone. I mean cops that are just driving around and nab someone. I"m genuinly curious.

definitely has the potential of abuse but radar guns weren't always around so how did it work before that?

 

[Romy]

They can pace you with their own speedometer and determine your speed that way.

If they are stationary the only way to tell is with radar guns. And radar guns have to be calibrated or they can be up to 10 MPH off. If the officer didn't include a record of the last time their radar gun was calibrated when submitting your ticket, and you go to court, the judge generally throws it out if it falls within the margin of error. At least in our state.

We also have a law saying an officer can't catch you speeding and give you a ticket if they lose sight of your car and then catch up to you later. Which is kind of rad. One of my friends in college blew past a cop in his sports car at 2 am on the freeway. He was like, "oh crap!" but got out of sight. He did slow down to the speed limit and the cop came up on him and pulled him over. That cop was like, "I can't legally give you a ticket because I lost sight of you, but just thought you might want to know....136." :rofl1: Then he told my friend to drive more carefully and let him go.

 

[Pops2]

romy
that is an evidentiary rule in most states because if it went to an actual trial it would be cause for reasonable doubt of guilt.

 

[sparks19]

Yeah I don't know how I feel about the whole "lost sight of you going 136 so can't give you a ticket" that is BS and NO ONE needs to go that speed. Oh I can't give you a ticket so feel free to go on and KILL someone I will arrest you then instead.

sorry... 136? No need to go that speed and I wish more people doing that would get nailed. unfortunately most people doing that crap are never caught. but when they are... when they blow past me at speeds like that and then I see them pulled over... I ALWAYS honk and wave. lol warms my heart

you want to kill yourself. go for it. but dont' you endanger me because you are stupid

 

[Romy]

I agree Sparks, it was stupid. He wasn't trying to escape, just going so fast that by the time the cop caught up he had been out of sight.

But, I do see the point. At 2 am the cop knew exactly who it was because that was the only other car on the road. If it was in the middle of the day, and the person was driving a silver Toyota (though I don't think those get up to 135, lol) and he lost sight of it, how likely do you think it would be that he would find the exact same Toyota he lost sight of and not some innocent person driving a similar vehicle?

 

[ACooper]

well there was a time before radar guns were invented to determine speed.

That was my first thought as well.

But just to 'trust' a cop who says "they were speeding" on a ticket in this day and age? Nah, I'd think that most people could choose to fight that ticket and win. Seems like it'd be a major waste of time and paper for whatever town/state they tried to implement this plan in......JMO.

The first car I had was a POS (like most people's first cars, LOL) and the speedometer quit working very soon after I acquired the car. I was on the freeway in AZ once, I know I was going pretty fast but no idea HOW FAST.........a cop comes flying up in my rear view, I slow it down to match his speed. He pulls beside me, waves a finger, and uses his speaker thing to say "You BETTER keep it at that speed young lady!" I was so embarrassed because it was quite crowded and other motorists looked my way and you could see them giggling, I think that hurt more than a ticket! ROFL

 

[Samantha's pet]

I thought this was outrageous but I talked to my hubby. Apparently this is the law here too. He got a ticket once for his "estimated speed". The cops here have to be trained on gauging speed, though.

I think it is so ridiculous. If you fight it in court I dont see HOW they prove you were speeding. What if a cop pulls you over b/c he is offended by your bumper sticker and just decides to claim you were speeding? I thought the policeman had to prove their claims by the record on their radar thing. Are cops just automatically right in court?

 

[Renee750il]

Are cops just automatically right in court?

Yup. No proof necessary. I've actually had a judge tell me (a different one than the one I mentioned before) that she KNEW the cop was lying, but that's just how it's done, and after all, I was working for a big time attorney so I could afford it.

Oh, and the attorney I worked for routinely flogged her in court and in mediation . . . but she didn't talk about that part, of course

 

[Beanie]

I sort of think that "back in the day" before radar guns, cops were probably a little more trustworthy.
Unfortunately now there's so much corruption and so much "I just need to meet my quota" et cetera et cetera... that we are all very jaded about this stuff. That is one reason I DON'T like driving a red car. It makes me feel more vulnerable because I feel like cops look at it and think "she's going to speed because her car is red."

Oh yeah, and one time I was in Chicago and a cop was standing on the side of the road at a stop light, and I'm stopped at the red light, and all of a sudden he's walking towards me. I start FREAKING OUT while trying to remain calm and pretend I haven't noticed this cop is walking straight towards my car. My friend was with me and is quietly freaking out too, like "WTF DID WE DO!?"

Then the cop just kept walking past us. I'm pretty sure he was doing it just to freak us out, because we BOTH swore up and down he was looking right at us and coming straight at us. >=/ Nice. ffffffffff