Tonight I had the max out on this two lane backroad with a limit of 35mph, everyone goes about 40 on it and I was going about 5 over most of the other drivers or so. Anyways out of nowhere this cop pulls out and pulls me over for speeding. I was polite and honest with the officer, made sure to have my papers ready and not waste his time or look shady, but it didn't help much...

I got a $147 ticket for 56.5 in a 35 zone which I'm sure is really bad pointswise since it's > 20mph over.

Anyways I plan to take it to court since it won't cost me any more than just paying it and I have plenty of free time. The real issue here is the method he used to asses my speed which is listed as VASCAR. I've searched here and on google and from what I've read it seems that VASCAR is nothing but a cop with a fancy stopwatch and there's a significant margin of error when used over a short distance.

If I work out the math and show the judge how wide a margin of error this VASCAR system has do I have a chance? I know I was speeding somewhat but having the ticket/points reduced would be a great help. Does anyone here have any tips for dealing with this kind of situation?

(I was timed for 0.0311 miles or about 165 feet if this makes any difference)

Thanks in advance

 

That method of checking for speeders is dumb. Go to court and state that you were going a little over the speed limit, but you definitely weren't going over 45, make sure you were going with the flow of traffic. If you have a good driving record, tell the judge that you've never speeded before..etc. To me, something like that will get reduced/dropped quick.
I agree..if the speed limit is 35, 40-45 can be acceptable at times, if you're driving along with the flow of traffic, you shouldn't be singled out.

 

What the Cop does is switch the Vascar unit on when your car pass a certain point(point A). When your car reaches the predeterminded ending point(point B), the cop stops the timer. The Vascar unit then calulates your Average speed between Points A and B. Vascar is rarely used but it does stand up in court.

 

thanks for the info Around here, in Broomall and Newtown Square PA (suburbs of Philadelphia) the lines are popping up all over but I think in PA only state troopers are allowed to use radar so local cops either use pacing or a system like vascar (don't quote me on that though).

 

Do you ever go fishing? Do you usually catch everything residing within given body of water? Didn't think so..

 

Sorry, Looking for speeders isn't the same as fishing. I would be more concerned about the person trying to go ahead of the pack.

 

I'm not so much upset about being caught, a ticket is the risk you take when you drive over the speed limit AT ALL. I'm just concerned about the accuracy of how I was clocked because it makes a big difference as far as fines and points go. The cops out there are just doing their job of enforcing the laws, unfair as they may be.

 

if it's your first offense, you can usually just go to court and plead your case in it being your first offense, late for school function/work/etc, and ask for leniancy.. they'll probably go easy on you and drop the fine to 45 in a 35 or so..
Other than that, if you try to make the cop look stupid by discrediting his abilities, you're going to **** off him AND the judge.
in that case, you can either get out of it (unlikely), or you pay the full fine.


I would go for a little a$$ kissing if I were you.