Orange County Rennlisters - got a speeding ticket on the 73. Officer was pacing

I didn't even know that pacing was a legals means of gauging one's speed. Anyone ever successfully fight one of these?

I live in Orange County, NY, sorry. However, don't fight it. Were you nice to the cop? Most of the time you plead not guilty, go to court and speak to the officer before you are called and see if he'll reduce the ticket down to 10mph over the limit, which is the lowest ticket you get - at least here in NY.

I've heard that is the hardest one to get out of if the cop shows up to court. In some states they dismiss the charges if he doesn't show up (TN). In GA they re-schedule but usually offer a reduced speed for a giuilty or NOLO plea. You take your chances though, especially if you weren't duly respectful and the cop does show up.

One basis to fight this type of ticket is to challenge the foundation of the officer's speed evidence, which in this case is his patrol car's speedo. You can subpoena the calibration records, and if it's not current or complete, as the judge at the trial to deem his speed evidence inadmissible. Remember, the officer has the burden of proof. Or you can just go to traffic school of you qualify.

This is your best chance - also, I appealed a ticket once and the cop didn't show up - immediate dismissal of charges here in CA. However, the game I played was this: set up a court date - they'll first setup a date that the cop is supposed to be in court - then I postponed the hearing and I think I was assigned a random date. For all I know, I was the only person on that officer's docket that day. He didn't show and I was able to walk away.

Yeah, you can try for the calibration records...file a motion of discovery. How fast was it? If it was quite fast, you're better off trying for prayer of judgment if your state offers it...or getting a well connected (not necessarily intelligent, just well connected) traffic attorney.

I also live on OC and with insurance rates these days, you probably should go to traffic school. However, I can understand if you do not want to go. I vowed NEVER to return to that place. It is like hell. Seems only toothless and poor people go to traffic school Odd. Of course, every other county in CA allows online traffic school, but not OC. Good luck - I usually average 80-90 over the 73.

YOU CAN DO TRAFFIC SCHOOL ONLINE!! Did this and worked out fine...no toothless or poor people, except me and my computer screen.

Maybe I should add that this is my 3rd ticket. Traffic school is not an option (and online traffic school is not offerred in OC). I am going to try and subpoena the officer's speedo calibration. Do I need to speak to a clerk or what? I have never tried this before. I guess I'll have to go to the court and figure this all out. The worst part? I was coming back from having my Billstein's installed! :-( Oh, I was going 90, but the officer was like 2 miles behind me and had to speed up to catch me. He also made a number of mistakes on the ticket...wrong model year, wrong birthdate, even put down that my court date was at 4am and has to change it to 8.

was the speed limit 55?

65 I think.

i hired an lawyer for my last one. he made me take the car to get the speedo checked... the speedo was off because the "PO"(wink) installed tires that were oversized...I had no idea I was driving fast. (wink). paid court fees (250) and the lawyer (600) worth every single penny, no points on my insurance.

Does this have something to do with the fact that a lot of you guys get insurance through a broker? I've had probably 2 dozen tickets over 20 years of driving, sometimes as many as 4 in a year. I've never had a rate increase because of tickets (Allstate).

It is VERY state dependant. GA actually has lots of laws relating to speeding and speed traps that protect drivers as a response to hte fact that they and SC used to be the kings of speed traps.

Our biggest anti-speed trap law is merely that only GSP may hide out of site of normal traffic, while all other traffic duty vehicles must be in plain site. I paid all my ticket and got all my points - just a cost of driving. Maybe my agent is shielding me, but my understanding has always been that the insurance companies only do record spot checks and your chance of having yours flagged is extremely low. Could be this has changed with computer data mining, but my last ticket was about 18 months ago (+18 mph) and no change to insurance.

GA also has things like a speed trap can only be stationed so close to a speed limit change sign and can't be on a downhill. In NC where there are no such laws, cops love to put traps right behind signs that drop the speed limit (which in some instances is pretty substantial, like one sign near me where it goes from 55 to 25) and get people while they are still slowing down. In MD they actively report moving violations to your insurance company (at least if there are points involved, which in MD means any moving violation)...cute, no? Also, some states have things like they can only not give you a discount if you have a ticket, while other states let them actually jack your rates if you have a ticket.

Maybe I should add that this is my 3rd ticket. I hate to say it but a lot is going to depend upon your judge. One of the first things many judges do is to check your record, and two prior speeding tickets is not good. I assume these other two tickets were given to you in the last couple of years. The other thing that may work against you is your car. Some judges just don't like Porsche owners. Traffic Court judges don't make much money, and some of them resent guys who can afford high priced cars.

The police have been very active on the 73 for the last 2 weeks. There are always 2 patrol cars between Aliso Creek and the 5 in the afternoon. My best luck with beating tickets is to reschedule the court date and the officer does not show (happened twice and no officers showed). For the Rennlisters that are not familiar with SOCAL freeways, 90 is not fast. I drive 125 miles round trip every day from San Diego to Orange County and my average speed on 73 and I-5 is above 85, while being passed by moms in SUVs on the phone and drinking a Starbucks. Good luck on the ticket Bruce

That sucks. Thanks for the heads up. Drive the 73 a lot and always speed. I thought thats why you pay the toll? There was a thread not to long ago about a lawyer in the OC who fights speeding tickets. I wanna say his name was Stan the ticket Man? I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks Bruce, i am going to reschedule my court date and hope the cop doesn't show.

Thanks, please post the link if you can find it!

I recd a ticket for racing (Not too smart at 21) but the police took almost 5 minutes to catch up to me at a redlight off the 73. I went to court and they lowered it from racing at 90+ MPH to 70 MPH because the police was so far behind us and could not really say that I was racing or going 90+ MPH. I say that it really depends how much money you have to spend or how much your time is worth if you want to fight it or just pay the ticket. Good luck.