Getting Out of Traffic Tickets: Part 2

OK, back to helping you get out of your ticket. In part I, we talked about u-turns and how to put the law on your side. Well, now you're saying that was all great information but who gets a "u-turn" ticket? I say to you, the reader, let's put what we learned into context.

Here is one everyone can relate to: the big, bad, ugly and might I add costly speeding ticket. Your charge is based on the readout from a radar unit used by the officer. Your ticket says you're charged in violation of section 133.65.766 of your state's vehicle code; speeding. However, section 354.76.988 of the same vehicle code states that an officer must follow certain procedures in using a radar unit and you can prove he /she did not follow the proper procedures.

Now that I have your attention, you'll need to know how can you prove he or she wasn't following the proper procedures. This part can be a little tricky.

First things first, I would like to enlighten you of how mistakes are made with a radar unit. Radar units are very capable of giving false "ground speeds". A radar unit that is used while the patrol car is moving must take two things into account.

The speed of an oncoming vehicle relative to the patrol car

The speed of the patrol car relative to the ground

There are indeed several factors to take into consideration that can go wrong. In order to understand these factors I first need to clarify what a radar is and how it works.

Radar is an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging. A radar uses radio waves reflected off a moving object to determine how fast it is traveling. When police officers use radar the object now becomes your car. Radars units generate the waves with a "transmitter".

When they bounce back off of your car, they are picked up and then amplified by a receiver so they can be analyzed. The analysis is then reflected in a speed readout device.

Radar systems use radio waves similar to those involved in Am/Fm radio transmissions. The big difference is that radar uses a much higher frequency, mater of fact up to two hundred billion waves per second as compared to one million per second for an Am radio.

I'm sure by now you're asking why the lecture on radars....well, you question asker you, The higher the frequency the straighter the beam, the truer the reflections, and the more accurate the speed readout. This information becomes very important to know in order to be able to attack "so to speak" the radars accuracy.

To know that the officers do not receive any type of formal training to operate a radar gun (hand held or mounted) is vital in your defense. You will need to ask the officer (permitting he or she actually showed up for court) a few specific questions.

Example of a question you may need to ask the officer. This should get your mindset in the right direction.

Was the radar unit set on automatic? Reason - If the radar unit is set on automatic it will give a reading of a different vehicle. How? The radar units beam width (being similar to a flashlight beam) picks up one of several cars.

Something under no circumstances to forget to do would be to Subpoena the radar unit's instructional manual. Look through it for completeness, police departments have been known to tear out pages that discuss common radar screw-ups.

Previously I mentioned mistakes that are prone to happen with the radar units. One of the most common are calibrating errors. Every scientific instrument ever created used for measuring requires it to be regularly calibrated to check for accuracy.

In order for the radar unit to be properly calibrated it must be check for accuracy against an object at a known (not radar determined) speed.

Now you have all of this information to add to your box of arsenal to use in your battle of the tickets.

Last but not least, here are a few things I would highly urge you to not say to the judge should you have your day in court.

I didn't do it

The officer is lying

Pointing out the officer mistakenly wrote the wrong make, model, and color of your car

You're honestly mistaken about the law

No one was harmed

The officer was picking on me

And by all means do not tell a sympathetic story

This concludes part II. I would like to make sure you understand all state section numbers are fictitious because not all states statutes are exactly the same.

Good luck with your day in court!