The time has come guys. March 26 at 1:30pm will be the time I will be disputing my first speeding ticket in 2.5 years.

Here is the story:

I'm going to school, (BCIT) turn left off Willingdon on to Canada Way like I always do and then turn 2 blocks up on Wayburn to head for the parking lot. The parking lot is about 1.5km down way burn and as I'm pulling into the gravel lot in the back (WAY in the back of the parking lot) I see police lights!!! The guy IS PULLING ME OVER in the school lot and I mean DEEP in the school lot! His story is that he caught me speeding on Canada way and he "wanted to may sure it was a one time offence." I have witnesses for what he said too, my buddy was in the car. There was no way I was speeding, my car is just very loud and I asked him if he had me on radar=no. He was just folowing me apparently.

The bonus to the situation is that a girl I go to school with saw the WHOLE thing. She said he followed me from Canada Way but he was a few cars back. (she was behind the cop) He wasn't even behind me! How can he gauge my speed? Just by engine noise and that doesn't consitute a speeding ticket and this would explain why he waited so long to pull me over. It took him a while to catch up and he didn't have any proof, so he just gave me a ticket on noise alone.

There was a lot of traffic like there is every day here, so speeding isn't really possible to any significant effect.

Any suggestions guys?

That girl from school is writing a letter for me telling the story.
I don't think a cop can use the "i was following you and therefore I know how fast you where going" if he wasn't right behind me and can't see my whole vehicle.

thanks

Andy

 

1) good chances he wont show
2) ask him STRAIGHT UP: did u have me on radar ? NO ? ok how can u prove without reasonable doubt how fast i was going .. how fast WAS i exactly going !? no number !? ok i was going 50 .. prove me wrong .. u cant ?? c ya

get the girl to come to court with u if she can to say that the cop wasny directly behind u ..

also, goto the police station and ask for full disclosure like craig mentioned in my case ..

 

As with Payam, definitely go for full disclosure. Get the police officer's notes and a copy of the ticket so you can see what evidence will be used against you. If he has no notes it will be easier to defend yourself.

Try to get your friend to come into court and testify on your behalf. If she cannot, a simple letter will not hold much weight with a judge. You should get a sworn affadavit from her if you want to use written observations as evidence that you were not speeding.

As for how the legality of how he allegedly gauged your speed... if he had you in sight, and at any time noticed that your speed exceeded the limit based on his judgement, that is all he needs to write the ticket. "Pacing" is a common technique, and cop car speedometers are calibrated very frequently.

You best bet is to do the obvious and argue that you were not speeding, that the traffic around you was not speeding (this is where your friend/witness comes in), and that you were moving with the flow of traffic. If your friend can confirm that the traffic around you was not speeding, that should be enough to convince the judge.

One last thing you can try is to ask the Officer at exactly what point you were exceeding the speed limit, and also ask about his position relative to you. If he cannot remember or gets wishy washy, I would imagine it's game over and you win.

 

yeah i agree...

ANd when ur pulling up to the court house blast the song
"f u ck the police" it will be great

 

My case is: how can he pace me if he wasn't behind me. Plus I remember a Red light I had to stop for at the street before Wayburn, so that would give me 1 block for him to "catch me" speeding

Thanks

 

How, where and when do I get full discloser?

 

If he can see you at all and thinks he can judge your speed, that will be enough to write the ticket. He doesn't necessarily have to be right behind you. However if you can convince the judge that the cop was too far back, was obstructed to due to heavy traffic, etc. then you will win.

 

just a note: yesterday i had my courte date .. my officer obviously wasnt there .. also, out of the 7 officers booked for that court room .. only 2 had shown up ... and one of them who didnt show had actually sent a letter to waive the ticket so the guy didnt even have to plead ...


for full disclusore u have to goto the police station office in burnaby i presume (as ur ticket was written in burnaby) ....

just goto the police station office in the municipal centre of burnaby .. and ask for full disclosure in regarding of ur traffic violation. thats it...

 

I went to the police station off Canada Way today to ask for "Full discloser" and they didn't know what I was talking about. When I tryed to explain it to the woman at the desk, she said that that is the police man's property and I would have to apply for his notes over the internet

Phil...any ideas what she is talking about?

Andy

 

Ask to speak to her supervisor

I thought you were supposed to go to the courthouse and *apply* for disclosure (to give them time to gather the materials)... maybe try that?

 

the front desk lady told me the SAME thing .. she had NO clue what i was talkin about ... and told me to go talk to the cheif police officer or something (then she's like .. oh wait, ur cop has been transferred)

first i asked the lady in the courthouse, she told me to goto the police department

i gotta get this done for 3 tickets i got comin up in april .. so we gotta find out how its done !

 

I think Craig laid it out flat for you. Make sure the girl is there with you and try to get the officer to stubble on hes owns words like a bad opti. He also has the right to x-examine your witness and see if your story and her story don't match up. Don't drop your guard and get your story straight with the dame.

 

STUPID OPTI,


PS. Yeah Andy its a winner for sure

 

As everyone else stated, if you play your cards right this case should be easy to win. Once you have the officer's notes, you will be able to examine his prosecution for holes. As a side note, he doesn't have to be behind you to effectively "pace" you. He can guage your speed utilizing other environmental constants. If the chick can't come get her letter notarized.

Good luck .

 

Ohh God its your word against his, obviously you'll win, its like nothing happened