Radar effective?
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Getting a ticket by being paced is usually pretty easy to get out of. At trial the officer needs to bring evidence that the speed ometer was properly calibrated and maintained according to manufacturer specs. This is rarely if ever the case. The problem is that most officers can testify as an expert on the stand that they have special expertise in simply observing a vehicle and predicting its speed within 5 mph. That is the biggest pile of horse $hit I have ever heard off. Unfortunately the gutless judges in NY buy it hook line and sinker too often. Got pulled over while following an officer once. He said he observed my speed to be 85 mph. He wasn't even close, it was more like 97mph. End result no ticket; dismissed.
as for the photo enforcing...there are aerosols that you can spray on your license plate, so when a flash or bright reflection of light hits the license plate, it's like starring into the sun. radar only helps when you are around other speeders, or a cop is using K or Ka band. laser...you're prety much screwed because they dont bounce around, they are only to the car they hit and back to the gun.
To testify "expert" an officer must have documented numerous hours of visual speed estimating confirmed with the use of radar and/or lidar. The officer must be within 3 mph plus or minus (a range of six mph) (all depends on the state as well) I have seen this and testified to it. It works and is not a "pile of horse $hit". It is not as hard as one would think considering some traffic officers spend 8 - 10 hours a day clocking speeds. Then when one in NY gets it wrong, according to you, you admit that you were indeed going 12 mph faster than what the officer testified to, what a pile of horse...well you know. Take it to a track or pay the fine if your going to do the crime. I have seen numerous innocent people harmed or killed because someone was traveling at excessive speeds. It just is not worth it.
I'm sorry, my opinion about the ability to estimate speed comes not only from my experience but dealing with numerous officers (some family members) who are certified to testify and who have told me that they don't believe that what they are doing is more than an estimated guess. I have also cross examined officers who have acknowledged that they don't believe they can acurately predict the speed. Frankly there are too many variable on the road to accurately do this. You have other cars driving at different speeds, unknown distances of benchmarks, etc. None of the tickets I have defended have stuck when an officer testified he estimated the speed.
Sounds like you know a lot of officers who have creditability problems and no honor. If they feel visual estimates are "estimated guesses", or testified that do not believe they can accurately "predict" (should be an estimate, not a prediction) speed then they should NOT make visual estimates. The Oath and the law require that the officer believe the "suspect" committed the act, beyond a reasonable doubt, if they do not believe in what they are doing then they should stop. And frankly they should get out of law enforcement because if they have no honor or creditability then they are no better than the criminals they arrest.
I disagree with your statement, "frankly there are too many variables on the road to accurately do this", as I was certified to do visual estimates and know from personal experience that with training it can be done and be done accurately. Having cars travel by at different speeds has no bearing on my focusing on a particular vehicle and estimating it's speed. I am not sure what you are referring to when you say "benchmarks"? If by this you mean landmarks, the distances would not be unknown if the officer is estimating speed properly. I am not surprised that "none of the tickets you have defended have stuck when an officer testified he estimated speed" as it sounds like none of the officers you have encountered have any creditability.
Now I am curious why state; "The problem is that most officers can testify as an expert on the stand that they have special expertise in simply observing a vehicle and predicting its speed within 5 mph. That is the biggest pile of horse $hit I have ever heard off. Unfortunately the gutless judges in NY buy it hook line and sinker too often. “It would seem to me that what you said about "none of the tickets sticking" and this contradict each other?
I disagree with your statement, "frankly there are too many variables on the road to accurately do this", as I was certified to do visual estimates and know from personal experience that with training it can be done and be done accurately. Having cars travel by at different speeds has no bearing on my focusing on a particular vehicle and estimating it's speed. I am not sure what you are referring to when you say "benchmarks"? If by this you mean landmarks, the distances would not be unknown if the officer is estimating speed properly. I am not surprised that "none of the tickets you have defended have stuck when an officer testified he estimated speed" as it sounds like none of the officers you have encountered have any creditability.
Now I am curious why state; "The problem is that most officers can testify as an expert on the stand that they have special expertise in simply observing a vehicle and predicting its speed within 5 mph. That is the biggest pile of horse $hit I have ever heard off. Unfortunately the gutless judges in NY buy it hook line and sinker too often. “It would seem to me that what you said about "none of the tickets sticking" and this contradict each other?
First of all, I would like to apologize if my statements have offended anyone, that was never my intent. I have had some experience, as an attorney, dealing with speeding tickets (for clients and myself) that have involved non-radar related ticket (i.e. visual estimations). I personally have had great success with defending against them. My statement regarding the gutless judges simply refers to cases I've heard of from other attorneys. In one ticket i received the officer said he paced me. It was written on the ticket. The problem is the officer was never behind me except after I slowed down to the speed limit. This is the same officer who almost ran me off the road because he was admittedly driving 86 mph, with no lights or sirens. Yes, this officer lacked credibility and honor and quite frankly was a liar. Now I don't make it a habit of driving too fast and if I am exceeding the speed limit and get pulled over, I deserve it. But, when an officer pulls me over issues me a ticket and has no rational basis for it, I will challenge the officer to his face likeI did and in court, like I did -and won.
Again, no offense intended. I'll drop the topic.
Again, no offense intended. I'll drop the topic.
If every cop who had no "honor" quit, there would barely be any police left. Coming from the region in the U.S. most packed with cops and stupid laws designed solely for increasing revenue, I can tell you that there's probably one or two cops I've seen in my entire life that have actually followed the law. I constantly see cops running stop signs, lane changing without signaling, and most of all, speeding at least 10mph over the limit. This is why I don't like cops too much... if I did the same thing, they'd have my ass in no time. Police here don't follow the law simply because they are the law, and until they begin to follow speed limits and obey every rule that I have to, I'm not gonna stop breaking them. I’m not saying that I constantly drive 25mph over the limit, but I think we can all agree that stopping someone for 7mph over the limit is ridiculous. What's the point in following a rule (which was supposedly created for "safety") when the people who enforce that rule don't even follow it? That only confirms my point that a lot of the street laws are made for one thing: money. Also, do you ever speed? I’m not trying to be an ass or anything but with a car like yours I doubt that you stay at or below the speed limit all the time, it simply isn’t possible.
I have seen cops beat red lights and make illegal turns and U-turns, speed, and use their siren to stop traffic to make a turn, and other shit like that. I don't really care, their job is to serve & protect they can drive how they want as their job is to keep the streets safe. I do not doubt that cops do their job, but I'm so sick of the whole speeding ticket thing. You have cops and your insurance company on your ass. Get a speeding ticket and you gotta go to court, and then you get points on your license, and then your insurance goes way up. It's such a gay system. I LIVE to drive and to drive hard. I enjoy driving and I like to drive "spirited" on a daily basis....an autocross event once every few months isn't going to satisfy my craving for speed, and drag strips are boring...I need turns and different roads to choose from, that's where the fun is.
And when I drive, it's not like my intention is to go out and get into an accident. I just like to have fun driving around, taking turns faster than minimum speed, etc. I'm not trying to kill anyone, I just like to drive.
Big Daddy, you have an M Roadster, it's not like you're driving some gayass go kart...I'm sure every time you drive the M, you brake the speed limit.
And when I drive, it's not like my intention is to go out and get into an accident. I just like to have fun driving around, taking turns faster than minimum speed, etc. I'm not trying to kill anyone, I just like to drive.
Big Daddy, you have an M Roadster, it's not like you're driving some gayass go kart...I'm sure every time you drive the M, you brake the speed limit.
"If every cop who had no "honor" quit, there would barely be any police left." Every profession has its bad apples, police are no different. But your statement is far from the truth. Most police officers I know are honorable. "and until they begin to follow speed limits and obey every rule that I have to, I'm not gonna stop breaking them." This is a juvenile approach, and resolves nothing. I refuse to be honest until every politician is honest..you will have a long wait. If you want to change the laws get involved, the police did not write them, they just took an oath to up hold them.
"I have seen cops beat red lights and make illegal turns and U-turns, speed, and use their siren to stop traffic to make a turn, and other shit like that. I don't really care, their job is to serve & protect they can drive how they want as their job is to keep the streets safe." Mr E I agree with most of what you say. Sometimes we only see the lights come on and the u-turn made and we assume the guy does not want to be last to the donut shop. Maybe he got a hot call, that is close and sounding a siren and/or lights would scare the criminal away, or worse give him something to shoot at.
I agree that ticketing for dollars in some places in overdone, and that some cops will ticket their mothers, and who goes out looking to get into an accident? I drive "spirited" at times and when and if I get a citation I will pay up, not whine or become a "cop hater". I would not go so far as to say everytime I drive the M I brake the speed limit. In city limits I stick to speed limits, on the highways and back roads I get spirited at times. For my super fast fix I go to a track, we have Pacific Raceway here (1 mile from my house) which has a road course, Bremerton Race Track, same deal, Spokane Raceway Park is four hours away and has a road course with a 1 1/2 mile straight, then Portland International is three hours away and it too has a road course.
"I have seen cops beat red lights and make illegal turns and U-turns, speed, and use their siren to stop traffic to make a turn, and other shit like that. I don't really care, their job is to serve & protect they can drive how they want as their job is to keep the streets safe." Mr E I agree with most of what you say. Sometimes we only see the lights come on and the u-turn made and we assume the guy does not want to be last to the donut shop. Maybe he got a hot call, that is close and sounding a siren and/or lights would scare the criminal away, or worse give him something to shoot at.
I agree that ticketing for dollars in some places in overdone, and that some cops will ticket their mothers, and who goes out looking to get into an accident? I drive "spirited" at times and when and if I get a citation I will pay up, not whine or become a "cop hater". I would not go so far as to say everytime I drive the M I brake the speed limit. In city limits I stick to speed limits, on the highways and back roads I get spirited at times. For my super fast fix I go to a track, we have Pacific Raceway here (1 mile from my house) which has a road course, Bremerton Race Track, same deal, Spokane Raceway Park is four hours away and has a road course with a 1 1/2 mile straight, then Portland International is three hours away and it too has a road course.
Big Daddy, yeah I am sure there are times when they whip out their siren for just a second, or they do something on the road to save time, I figure that they in fact do have somewhere to be ASAP but they don't feel it's necessary to go all out to turn and blast the siren, etc.
Maybe I am a cop hater, but when I got my speeding ticket for going 62mph in a 35 zone when I really wasn't doing anything CLOSE to that, I lost a lot of respect. I feel like cops are always looking to just give tickets to young drivers. They always tell kids to try to drive slowly and safely all the time as it raises insurance A LOT when we get a ticket, but it's kinda hard when all these cops are just dying to give us a ticket, plus the fact that sometimes I just can't control myself.
Maybe I am a cop hater, but when I got my speeding ticket for going 62mph in a 35 zone when I really wasn't doing anything CLOSE to that, I lost a lot of respect. I feel like cops are always looking to just give tickets to young drivers. They always tell kids to try to drive slowly and safely all the time as it raises insurance A LOT when we get a ticket, but it's kinda hard when all these cops are just dying to give us a ticket, plus the fact that sometimes I just can't control myself.
I agree that every profession has its bad apples and that doesn't mean that the entire profession is corrupt. But the police are public figures out in th open and they should be required to abide by the law when not reponding to an emergency, etc. I know for a fact that if one officer obeyed the law (by wearing his seat belt and not speeding) when responding to an accident not too long ago, he would still be alive. The officer unfortunately was killed in a 1 car accident. Had he been following the law he would be alive, period.
In my 20+ years of driving, I have only seen one officer actually obey the speed limit. It happened the other day when I was coming home from a late meeting around 11 PM. The officer was traveling 65mph.
The police in the area I live have very bad reputations and I do not live in a major city with lots of crime, etc. For example, in the last 3 years or so, a local PD lost 1 officer to suicide as a rsult of corruption charges and I believe 3-4 to the federal jail for coruption and protecting local crack dealers from a federal sting. This, unfortunately is fact. Do a search for Schenectady, NY PD and you will see.
I just wanted to give some perspective to my comments. Do I think all police are corrupt, etc.? No. But in my area a large percentage are; the federal authorities prosecuting will agree.
In my 20+ years of driving, I have only seen one officer actually obey the speed limit. It happened the other day when I was coming home from a late meeting around 11 PM. The officer was traveling 65mph.
The police in the area I live have very bad reputations and I do not live in a major city with lots of crime, etc. For example, in the last 3 years or so, a local PD lost 1 officer to suicide as a rsult of corruption charges and I believe 3-4 to the federal jail for coruption and protecting local crack dealers from a federal sting. This, unfortunately is fact. Do a search for Schenectady, NY PD and you will see.
I just wanted to give some perspective to my comments. Do I think all police are corrupt, etc.? No. But in my area a large percentage are; the federal authorities prosecuting will agree.