honest speeding ticket question...

[acklac7]

If you feel your total time traveling to the court office, paying court or lawyer fees, and waiting on the verdict are worth it go for it.

 

I always take my cases (all traffic btw) to court, I always have come out ahead. Don't understand why so many on here think you have to hire a lawyer; all you need to do is dress in Business attire and ask to speak to the prosecutor. More often then not they (Prosecution) will cut you a deal right off the bat, at least Franklin County will. Also i've never had to wait more then an hour at "trial". The first time the Prosecutor flat out dropped the charges, the other time I plead to a lesser charge and was immediately brought before the judge.

 

Also, your initial court appearance will "require" you to show up @ 9:00am. THEN WAIT FOR UP TO 3 HOURS TO ENTER YOUR PLEA. IF YOU INTEND TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY SIMPLY SHOW UP WAAYYYY LATE TO COURT, like 11:15. 85% of the room (or more) will be cleared out and you can literally walk in, plead not guilty, then turn around and walk out. Takes 10min MAX. Fuck waiting around for 3 hours. This works for Franklin County, not sure I would try it anywhere else.

[1fast5gp]

I always heard 9 you're fine, 10 you're mine.

 

Jalopnik put together an infographic that seems to support this, and the "mph over the limit" data was collected over 2million tickets issued in...OHIO!

 

For the lazy:

9mph over = 8703 tickets

10mph over = 77,000 tickets

14mph over = 150,000 tickets

 

There's more data in there (like how fucking Ohio issues more tickets than any other state) but that's the particularly relevant stuff.

 

I bet most of the 9mph over tickets were amended tickets where they plead down to a no point speed. When i did that, the prosecutor amended the ticket to 9mph over the speed limit.

[Ben]

Yes it is in your American rights to a fair trial. I hate the speed limits myself and they should be raised IMO. If you feel your total time traveling to the court office, paying court or lawyer fees, and waiting on the verdict are worth it go for it. Don't let me stop you. Paying ~$150 for something I did against the law when I knew it was against the law sounds like a better use of my time. After I make my payment online by electronic transaction I have all this extra time to do other things. I think I will speed again on my way to work because I am sorry I thought this was America.

 

Actually, traffic court is not really all that time-consuming. Usually just a couple of hours of waiting around for a prosecutor to become free (and sometimes less than 30 minutes). And there's negligible to no time spent in front of the judge for a plea bargain (which is how you get out of points 99.9% of the time). Even if you did argue the case in an attempt to obtain a "not guilty" verdict you wouldn't wait for a verdict because traffic court cases are "bench trials" (i.e., no jury) and the judge usually makes up his mind, one way or the other, about 30 seconds after the last words are out of your lawyer's mouth. The money and time you spend on a lawyer fighting a ticket is usually outweighed by the benefit of a clean driving record and no insurance hike. A few extra bucks and a couple of hours now - or high insurance premiums forever and no breaks ever again because now your driving record isn't clean? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

Also, not saying that you don't have a perfect right to feel as you do or deal with your tickets as you see fit. But the view you are espousing is essentially the keystone of the whole ticket-writing scheme. If everyone fought tickets the infrastructure needed to deal with all those extra cases would cause the whole mess to become unprofitable. So if you really profess to dislike speed limits (and, implicitly, the results of exceeding them) you ought to fight the good fight.

[acklac7]

Actually, traffic court is not really all that time-consuming. Usually just a couple of hours of waiting around for a prosecutor to become free (and sometimes less than 30 minutes).

 

The single most time consuming factor in Traffic Court is your initial appearance (to plead Guilty/Not Guilty). Your 2nd Appearance (Preliminary Hearing - when you actually get to talk to the Prosecutor) is cake. You go up front to check in, then immediately speak to the Prosector (at least in my experience). Both times I've gone to Court (Preliminary hearings) i've been out in less then an hour. Your initial hearing is a different story, again, i'd suggest you show up late to the initial hearing in order to avoid waiting around to enter your (Not Guilty) plea. Sitting around on some broke-dick wood bench for 3 hours just to say "I wish to plead not Guilty" is by far the worse part of the entire process.

[unfunnyryan]

I bet most of the 9mph over tickets were amended tickets where they plead down to a no point speed. When i did that, the prosecutor amended the ticket to 9mph over the speed limit.

 

Hah, yeah. When I was SUPPOSEDLY caught doing 65 in a 35 (no fucking way) they amended it to 4 over, no points. Prosecutor offered me a deal before I was even in the court room where I ended up paying $100, thats it.

 

http://puu.sh/aeS9E/f5b966f8d6.png

 

Take it to court, if your record is clean you'll probably get off easy.

[Jelloman4571647545499]

These posts are always fun to read especially when people toss in the "trying to make a quota, get a raise, etc". I think the area your friend was traveling was 55mph on 23 near Waldo. If it is that area he might as well go online and pay that thing.

[Jelloman4571647545499]

I agree it seems like a BS ticket, which is why I never write them, but at the end of the day it's still breaking the law.

 

To the OP. It's your word vs his in all reality. As somebody said before, all the trooper has to really say is that you were the only vehicle matching that description.

 

The pilots are "supposed" to keep their eye on the targeted vehicle until it gets stopped by ground units to prevent any mix up like you're saying. Do they actually do that? Probably not... But be prepared that they could say that.

 

 

What department are you with?

[RyM3rC]

If everyone fought tickets the infrastructure needed to deal with all those extra cases would cause the whole mess to become unprofitable. So if you really profess to dislike speed limits (and, implicitly, the results of exceeding them) you ought to fight the good fight.

 

Yep.

[greg1647545532]

did the pilot get the license plate to the officer. If no there is reasonable doubt that there could be a similar looking vehicle.

 

Like Stretch said, it's not going to be hard for the guy in the plane to continue watching the car as the trooper pulls it over and radio down, "Yep, that's the right car." It's not like they give a vague description and fly off, they're not going to be travelling much faster than the traffic.

[acklac7]

Like Stretch said, it's not going to be hard for the guy in the plane to continue watching the car as the trooper pulls it over and radio down, "Yep, that's the right car." It's not like they give a vague description and fly off, they're not going to be travelling much faster than the traffic.

 

Even if they do give a vague description they're not going to admit to it in court.

 

Your best bet is to either luck out and the cop(s) dont show up to court (in which case your basically dismissed), or ask for a plea bargain before going before a judge. Your chances of winning a case with Officers present/testifying are slim to none IMO.

[Darkside]

I've listened to these guys on the radio more times than I wanted to. The spotter gives the description of the car, its exact location and lane of travel. He follows it until the officer on the road gets behind it and confirms it over the radio. Unless there is a loophole that requires the spotter to be in court I think it would be tough to beat.

[HotCarl]

Just to clear up some misunderstanding, my friend took it on the chin and paid his ticket. Im not arguing if he should fight it, I'm asking an honest question as to whether or not this form of traffic stop and ticket citation is completely legit.

 

To answer a previous post, the trooper pilot did not keep visual confirmation on my friends jeep during the entire traffic stop and I can prove this b/c our other friend who was traveling in a black accord behind us was stopped for the same reason. So the pilot needed to rate and prove the jeep was speeding then do the same for the accord, then move onto the next car and so on and so forth.

 

Also, troopers were lined up on the side of the road over a hill, when we went over the hill they walked to the center of the lane and pointed us to pull over (we had pulled into the left lane to give safe clearance thinking the troopers were performing a traffic stop).

 

Again I'm not saying my friend should have fought the ticket, I'm questioning the validity of this form of revenue generating traffic stop.

[greg1647545532]

Were both cars speeding? If so, then in our limited sample size of 2, the accuracy of this method is 100%.

 

I've found some limited case law that upholds speeding convictions by air, which generally include statements like

 

The declarations further disclose Brown advised Officer Harman who was in the patrol car in the vicinity of the speeding Corvette and he stopped the Corvette. Brown confirmed from the air the stopped vehicle was the same one he had paced by plane. Harman then issued the driver, Darby, the citation subject of this proceeding.

 

I feel pretty comfortable thinking that's how it would actually go down in court; the pilot would say that he confirmed that it was the correct vehicle from the air, you could argue that you weren't speeding, and then the jury could decide whether or not to believe you. I don't see anything that suggests you could get the ticket thrown out just because the pilot can't read the license plate or anything.

 

Keep in mind that the Ohio supreme court recently upheld the ability of an officer to issue a speeding ticket by visual estimate alone. The word of the officer (or pilot in this case) carries a lot of weight in court.

 

eta: If it makes you feel any better, I'm also reading that enforcement by aircraft is very expensive, doesn't generate much money, and is falling out of favor as budgets get squeezed.

[HotCarl]

 

eta: If it makes you feel any better, I'm also reading that enforcement by aircraft is very expensive, doesn't generate much money, and is falling out of favor as budgets get squeezed.

 

well that's super.

[Spidey2721]

i had to go to court for a 84 in a 55 on 309 a lil south of kenton. heading to columbus. the cop that pulled me over was rather cool. i didnt fight it in court. judge asked me why i was going so fast. i answered cause i was stupid. the judge laughed and everyone in the court room. then he said no really. i told him that i had passed a semi a lil while back.. he finished my sentence for me... and you just didnt slow down. i said yea. i ended up with no points (if i remember right) and came out of it pretty cheap too. guess if you can make the judge laugh. he was actually a pretty cool judge. dont remember his name. was prolly back in 01-02.

[TTQ B4U]

i had to go to court for a 84 in a 55 on 309 a lil south of kenton. heading to columbus. the cop that pulled me over was rather cool. i didnt fight it in court. judge asked me why i was going so fast. i answered cause i was stupid. the judge laughed and everyone in the court room. then he said no really. i told him that i had passed a semi a lil while back.. he finished my sentence for me... and you just didnt slow down. i said yea. i ended up with no points (if i remember right) and came out of it pretty cheap too. guess if you can make the judge laugh. he was actually a pretty cool judge. dont remember his name. was prolly back in 01-02.

 

Good story and not a big deal really. I passed a semi on 315N today and from moving to the left and blasting around him, I was well up over 85mph and with clear road ahead, I just coasted down to my typical 72-74mph. I would hate to post the speeds I've hit passing a semi on a two lane 55mph roads.

[Ben]

Keep in mind that the Ohio supreme court recently upheld the ability of an officer to issue a speeding ticket by visual estimate alone. The word of the officer (or pilot in this case) carries a lot of weight in court.

 

The case to which you refer (City of Barberton v. Jenney, 929 N.E.2d 1047 (Ohio 2010)) is no longer good law and has been superseded by statute. Ohio Revised Code, section 4511.091©(1) provides, in pertinent part, "No person shall be arrested, charged, or convicted of [speeding] based on a peace officer's unaided visual estimation of the speed of a motor vehicle . . . ."

 

In other words the Legislature overruled the Ohio Supreme Court on this point.