I was railroaded...

[zippyneedsawin]

I don't have any advice for actually fighting this in court. But by at least pleading 'not guilty,' you force the trooper who wrote the ticket to show up in court. If he/she doesn't appear the day you contest the ticket, you win. If you plan on making your case in court, get your spedometer checked. you have no case if you can't prove your spedometer is accurate. Good luck. I sympathize with your case, very frustrating-- especially when you feel you can't win.

[Danzig]

i've never fought a ticket, but i have never heard that there are extra charges for doing so--i think court costs are included in the cost of the ticket.
as for hiring an attorney, i have never heard of anyone doing so to fight a speeding ticket.

go to court if possible. take along whatever is necessary to show that you had your speedometer checked, and that it was accurate-since it sounds as tho the trooper believes you had your speed set, but that your truck was inaccurate--at least that way you can at least show that IF you were speeding, it was certainly unintentional if in fact your speedometer was off.
he would have to show in court, or the case is thrown out. if he does show up, ask him to prove that his radar was calibrated, as that has to be done every day. my husband went to court to fight a ticket (he won) and a trooper did not have his daily calibration sheet for his gun, all the tix he wrote that day were thrown out.

good luck!

my hubby got a ticket for rolling thru a stop sign. he's going to fight it, as it's his word vs the trooper.
and the price on that is 240--i'd rather he had gotten a speeding ticket.

[MaTH716]

Was the trooper going the other way? If so did he follow you for a couple of miles before pulling you over or did he do it right away? I have never heard of a trooper going in one direction and clocking people going the other way. Is your record clean? Get your odometer checked and try to fight it. Try explaining to the judge that you do the same routine every night for x amout of years and never have had a problem and you get pulled over by a trooper going in the other direction (if that is the case). If you know any local police officers/troopers ask them about clocking people going in the other direction, it just doesn't sound right. Good Luck.

[KY_Sasquash]

It's a little too late for this advice but here's the best that I've received. After he told you that you were going 80 you shouldve asked him if his radar was calibrated (they're supposed to do that every single day) and if he says yes, then ask him if he "locked it in" (i.e clocked in how fast you were speeding on his radar), then if he says yes again ask to see it. You gotta be nice about it b/c i guess a lot of cops dont take too kindly to being put on the spot. Its my understanding (havent had the chance to apply it yet!) that if the gun wasnt calibrated or the speed wasnt locked in you can get out of it......you still might be able to apply this in court, but maybe on the calibration b/c the trooper is supposed to do it every morning and keep a log of it.

[SniperSB23]

Show up in court. If he no shows you get out of it and even if he shows chances are if your record is clean he'll be willing to talk and reduce it to parking on pavement or something that just carries a fine.

[3kings]

If you really want to fight this ticket, I would do two things. Have your speedometer checked for accuracy and have the technition give you a written result. If this is in your favor, bring it to court. Try to find some data on how accurate radar guns are from a moving automobile going in the opposite direction. I don't believe he will have an accurate clocking. Lastly depending on the results of these 2 queries, be polite and ask for no points and a reduction of the fine because travel is a major part of your enployment and you don't want to be reprimanded at work.

Next time my advise to you would be to ask for a warning. I have quite a few friends that are PA State Police who tell be if you are less than 20 miles over the speed limit, polite, and ask for a warning you will get one the majority of time.

[packerbacker7964]

You need to write everything down about that night before you forget. Dark,raining,foggy all of the weather conditions. Write down what you were wearing, type of road straight or curves. What the Tropper was wearing what he said what you said to him. Lots of times the judge will want to know these things because it shows an attention to detail by you.

[Scav]

Bigs, YOU BETTER go to f'n court and fight that pig. it is BULLSHIT. The one thing is that all this will matter what JUDGE you get. You did admit to 'speeding'. There are multiple things that can go right for you, now keep in mind this is Illinois rules but my guess is that are somewhat the same. You should have asked to see the radar gun as they HAVE to lock it in when they catch you, they also have to show you that it has been recently calibrated.

1) The oinker doesn't show up and you get out, some hate going to court, some love it

2) You plead guity but you will get a fine, and it not go on your record

3) The judge ****s you and you have to pay the $163 plus like $25 for court fees.

4) You can't plead not guilty because you admited it, but I think you can plead no contest. I would ask the people you work with and ask them if they went to traffic court and see what they say

It is worth it to go to court, plus you will be able to state your case

1) You drive the same route every single day using your cruise control at 67 MPH
2) Your clean record (if you don't have one I wouldn't mention this)
3) Going an opposite direction and had the wherewithall to 'radar' me while OTHER cars are around me
4) His assumption that your speedometer needs calibrating or your tires were off, why could he assume that, and if that is the case, doesn't that warrant a warning? How many people KNOW their speedometer is off
5) This is $163 in chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for your two young daughters

[Scav]

Your ****ing speedometer is fine, the guy was just being a dick

Also, you can probably request the court date without giving a plea.