radar on a motorcycle

[beechfront]

i was recently given a citation for going 56mph in a 35mph zone. i swear i was not going that fast. cop told me i could come look at the radar if i wanted to but i declined - i believe him that it said 56, i just wonder how accurate it is reading a motorcycle in the rain.

[Geezer]

It's really very accurate but there is no way to be sure he was clocking you or the guy behind you. It's a very in-depth subject and I suggest you look for a copy of "The Ticket Book."

Geezer

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Beechfront,

Aside from the possibility of him registering the flat faced large vehicle behind you, if there was one, about the only things you can do to reduce your $$ costs, is:

1. Have Speedo calibrated!
2. Show up in court, and request to see the cop's radar calibration records, if they aren't up to date, then you can contest the results, but otherwise, they are usually considered "Prima Facia" evidence=incontestable!
3. Show up and hope he doesn't!

Good luck, sorry for the bad luck!
T.C.

[chevy45412001]

NEVER ADMIT GUILT!

first and foremost never admit guilt! then at court ask how acurate the radar is. NEVER ADMIT GUILT. SWear up and down I WAS NOT GOING THAT FAST,ask how accurate the radar is.They can never say it is 100 percent even if it was calib. two hours ago.it is not 100 percent accurate period,usally gets thrown out of court. But you can not at any point addmit guilt or your deffence is down the $hitter.Of all people my mom got out of tickets like this before,Things to consider ,her drive record was clean to start with. Second she went to the public liabrary and read up on radars, Thrid, went to court with knowledge,(she even put the cop on the stand, Right to face your accuser,asked him a few simple questions,which he could not anwser, bang judge threw it out with a stearn warning,,...to the cop ,to get his act together) so if your record shows your a speed freak hang it up pay the fine and plz slow down.If your a clean type driver go get informed go to court and by all means have some fun with it.Sorry for the lenght here i sometimes get carried away....ok i'll shut up now.

[Czekus21]

Ya,,,, What he said, and might I add,,,,, What he said,,, When your all done,, go and have a frosty and think of all the times ya got away with getting an XSive grin on yer face by the twist of the throttle.

[tfm3]

I concur- contest it in court; if nothing else it'll be a valuable learning experience. Ride your bike to the hearing- it'll make you feel better. BTW, once you're in the system, they will NEVER let you go. BT,DT. Might as well have some fun with it. Try not to bump into the same cop again,regardless of the outcome. Worst case scenario, at least it wasn't a DUI!

[jetmechmarty]

It's probably unwise to contest a ticket in court without a lawyer. You may have trouble impressing the judge on your own unless you happen to be an expert on radar.

Look for errors on the ticket. Does it say it was sunny when it was in fact raining, etc. Have proof.

[beechfront]

well going to court is not an option - this happened up in alaska.

it had JUST started raining which is why i had sped up not 5 seconds before (though not 21 over) and was trying to get back to my campground which was only 1 mile away before i got soaked. i told the cop that i was probalby speeding, but there was no way that i was going as fast as he claimed. cop didn't care one bit. he took his own sweet time filling out the ticket too - 15 minutes by my watch. i really hope that was not intentional but by his attitude it wouldn't surprise me.

thanks to the rain not much is legible on my ticket anymore. about all i can read is my name, the fine, and the address.

i talked to a few locals about the incident and they agreed that the cops around haines are real jerks.

i guess there could have been worse times to get pulled over - there were some stretches in northern canada/eastern alaska when i was driving rather xsively.... but at least then i would have known i had it coming.

[tfm3]

'Could have been worse' is the best attitude to have with any brush with the law that you can drive away from. Been subjected to some unfathomably intensive background checks lately during recent job search. One of them turned up a moving violation that I initially ignored but eventually disposed of- 26 years ago! Gotta love your Big Brother!

[Bud Manley]

let me get this straight, you got a ticket in Alaska and you don't live there?

Unless Nebraska has an agreement with Alaska don't even worry about it unless you happen to be a frequent traveler to Alaska. They have no way of collecting from you on it unless they have an agreement with your state to process your fines.
for instance if you live in Ohio and get a ticket in Michigan its the same thing as getting a ticket in Ohio. If you get a Ticket in Mississippi ignore it and it'll go away eventually.

Also I'd send a letter to the Govmn't explaining the actions of the police officer and the conditions that he forced upon a tourist in their state.

[sksxs1100]

i hope ohio does not have agrrement with texas...lol
but i have renewed my liscense a few times with no ill effect...lol

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Beechfront,

Have to agree with Bud here, unless you are going to be going back to Alaska within the next 7 years, then I'd forget about it, too! Statute of limitations on Non-felony type "crimes" and such!l
T.C.

[Hepcat]

Now, I admit I don't know about police radar, but the type that offers the free speed check often found around construction sites are accurate if you're travelling a constant speed, but accelerating and decelleratint really messes them up. I played with one on the way to work this summer. If you slow down to 10 and hit the throttle hard just as you're registerring on the radar, you can force areading into the 100's. (At least I could). Maybe your accelleration made a difference, like the others said, read up on it and send a letter to the governor!

[beechfront]

yeah i was coming around a corner accelerating when i met him......

[beechfront]

OK this is getting really interesting

as expected, i got a letter from the alaska court system yesterday saying i need to pay my ticket.

the thing i noticed right away was it said "total due $146"

which is $40 less than my ticket said. and actually it is $50 less because they tacked on a $10 late fee.


they also included a "COPY" of the ticket - which shows a lot of stuff scribbled out and changed. fine changed, & where it said "4 points" was scribbled out.


seems kind of strange.