I've never felt so wronged in my life and unable to do anything about it. So I was driving down from Davis to Irvine after finals and going past Valencia, I see a cop car. My first instinct is to step on my brakes, cuz I'm usually over the speed limit. So I see him and I know he sees me, but I'm going 60 in a 65 now, so no worries. He tries to do the drive away, hide, drive really slow and wait for me to pass at a higher speed thing. I'm familiar with this tactic, so I continue going up to the speed limit (65). Now, I see cars going past be left and right for about 2 miles, so I decide to speed up a little and followed bumper to bumper with a guy going 69. The cop car suddenly reappears in my rear view mirror and flashes his lights. Right now I'm thinking what a dick cop for pulling me over while going the same speed as everyone else. He then proceeds to explain his trickery on me to catch me speeding at 81mph. You can imagine me freaking out. I ask to see his radar gun and he tells me I can't see it on the freeway and he walks away with my license n registeration. He comes 10 min later and tells me I can see the radar detector on his dashboard now. So it says 81 and his speed was 109 to catch up with me. So WTF! My speedometer clearly said 69 and I can tell the difference in speed and engine sound in 6th of 69 and 81. I clearly state my case about following the pack, but he remains adamant about his story. So my question is, can change the speed on the meter or maybe revert back to a previously recorded speed?

I know in all good conscious that I was going 69mph, but I don't have any way of arguing this if his detector says 81. Please help me out. This is the 4th ticket, and I just got my S2000 a month ago. I don't even have a license plate yet. I was so depressed on the last 2 hours to Irvine, driving at 65 and watching cars pass me left and right. Even got honked at once and high beamed 3 times. I wish I had the balls to tell him that I was going to run my car into a wall and kill myself cuz of his bullshit and then do it. Not like I need the car anymore after a 4th ticket. Sorry for the long story. Home in So Cal has really cheered me up. Nor Cal's pretty sucky.

 

Yeah because that is rational.

 

I couldn't tell you what to do with the speedometer problem I've had cops follow me before trying to get me flustered into making a mistake and sometimes it worked.

Now when a cop pulls in behind me, I always pull over to the side of the road to let them pass, just because of their trickery. Even if I have to pull out a map or get on the cell phone just to make it look like I have something to do so he doesn't think I'm pulling over to let him pass.

Good luck in finding out what happened w/ the speedometer vs radar thing and good luck beating the ticket.

Warren

 

Go to court. If the cop shows up, ask him at what speed does his radar calibrate at. If he pretends not to know what you are talking about, ask him what is the display on the radar during each of the 3 calibration checks that he performs on his radar gun before each shift. If he does not calibrate, you win. If he says that the gun is self calibrating and does not display anything, he is lying, although I do not know how you could prove that to a Judge. I guarantee one of the three calibration methods, (probably the tuning fork calibration) displays a speed of 81mph. You could also go to the police department first, or just call, and request the specs and calibration procedures yourself (freedom of information act.) As a final act, if the police station stalls in providing the above info in a timely manor, you can request to file a formal compaint against the office. The departments usually hate this as it requires review by at least some civilians and if they know that the officer was pulling a fast one they will not want the media attention.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I do the same exact thing... I usually get really nervous when a cop drives behind me, even though I'm not doing anything wrong, so I'll just pull over and pretend to get on the phone.

To OP,
As far as you thinking that the cop set the radar to a previous reading, I'm sure you can ask for the video that his car cam took and check it out with that. Not a 100% on that, but it's worth it to ask or do a search to find if you can do it.

Andre

 

Generally the videos are only activated when the cherries are on so most of the "chase" will not be on tape, only pulling him over.

Secondly, the officer was using his radar in "moving" mode. There are more potential errors in moving mode than in stationary mode. Do some very thurough research and if you are smart enough you can get the officer to testify to some kind of mistake in operation that usually gets the evidence and the case thrown out. It is not that hard, but if you are nervous and are not VERY prepared in court the judge will allow the prosecuter to rattle you right out of there. Thats where attorneys come in if you can't handle yourself.

Lastly, if you have three speeding tickets and are being followed by a cop and you sped up to go over the limit you are not that bright. He probably ran your plates, saw three tickets and waited for you to do something dumb. And you did.

Tickets are very easy to get out of but you really need to know what you are doing in court. Good luck.

 

Get a lawyer.

 

God DAMN I hate cops. Just take the ticket to court and do your best to get it reduced to no points. Most cops are usually pretty receptive to that compromise unless you were doing something blatantly stupid. A small fine isn't so bad compared to points on your license.

 

I do the exact opposite. When cops pull up beside me I pass them(staying within the limit), and I've even put my blinker on and gotten in front of them. I try to show the cop that I'm not doing anything wrong, and I'm not scared of getting pulled over(even tho I am). When you see a cop and get scared that's when you get stopped. Just a few weeks ago I was at a light behind a cop. The light turned green and I guess the cop didn't see it. I flashed my lights twice and he still didn't budge, so I honked at him. He moved about a foot, stoped and looked at me in his rearview and then went. We made our turn and he continued to drive slow so I got over and passed his ass, but with staying in the speed limit.

 

I have only one suggestion:
ticketassassin.com