Speeding tickets suck...
So last nite, as I was returning my female friend home from a hanging out,, I decide to actually drive my car fast for a change. I come to a fairly lonely stretch of 2 laned parkway, with no sidestreets, turn offs or homes nearby. Its 1am, no intersections for at least a mile, and I know the area fairly well. I rolled hard into first gear, then second and finally third. The area was zoned 45mph, and I probably got things up to near 70mph, then got on the brakes hard, as we neared a residential area. I slowed the car down to 55mph, and slowed to the speed limit, then saw APD on my arse.
He pulls me from the car, and I ask him what the charge is . Taking it as a sign of disrespect, he cuffs me and says I'm charged with reckless driving. Having gone through this all before, I ask him a speed, and he says "you know how fast you were going" and tosses me in his car. Anyway, long story short, he's got me on an illegal lane change, excessive speed for conditions and reckless driving. We start to talk, I tell him about my volvos (lol, he was trying to make small talk...and how i used to repair computers at the city municipal court). He lets me off, tells me to NOLO the reckless charge and the others won't be a bad fine.
The improper lane change dosn't worry me, and the excessive speed charge carries no points onto your license, but the reckless charge does. You get a whopping 4 points on your license and a possible 6 months suspension. I'm pretty sure the fine will be huge, and my friends in city government can't get the ticket cleaned up, as the city govt infrastructure is on some ethics kick now.
Anyways, my question is about the reckless charge. I looked over the ticket, and checked for speed. He said he estimated me at 60+ mph and it says so on the ticket. There is nothing mentioning radar, laser or vascar; just his estimate. There are no mile markers on that section of highway for him to clock me by either.
Anyway, my cop friend a few years back informed me, that for a speeding charge to actually stick, and not get thrown down in court, an officer must record a Radar/Laser calibration number check (which must be completed daily) and a log entry. Vascars can be contested as well, with a request for a speedometer calibration, which can take up to 3 months because the vehicle has to be sent off to a facility upstate.
So what of this charge? Its just his estimate, so this should be relatively easy to contest right? However, it is a reckless charge, which goes under a different section of code rather than just an excessive speed charge. Can a reckless charge that cites excessive speed hold water, without the use of a speed checking device? Anyone ever dealt with any of these?
The last charge I had, the officer simply never showed up in court. While I'm tempted to play this one the same way and plead not guilty, I'm not sure if my luck will hold that way twice.
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Originally Posted by superboost
