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Had two speeding tickets in a neighboring town a few years ago while working there. My father-in-law, whom I was working for at the time, warned me the cops were pretty nasty about pulling people over. I was going through town at around 6 am, so I was the only one on the street at the time.
Heeding his advice, I set my cruise at the speed limit, 35 MPH. Sure enough, on two occasions, I was pulled over. Both times, within a week of each other, the officer claimed to have clocked me at 10 over. I argued with no luck with the officer at the scene the second time. I asked to see the radar and he said that "locking" the radar was outlawed many years before, so all that I would see would be a empty screen. Basically, he said it was my word against his.
I did some reseach and eventually hired a lawyer since the points from two consecutive tickets would have killed my insurance. My research showed that officers must be trained on the radar and the units need to be calibrated on a regular basis. My lawyer suggested we take a gamble and ask for training certifications on both officers and also ask for calibration certifications for both units.
Long story short, they either did not have the documents or did not feel like looking them up. Both tickets were reduced. My lawyer said that when he asked for the documents in front of the city attorney and the magistrate (he went in without me), the one officer got so pissed, he threw his ticket book across the room.
As a side note, years later, the magistrate now works in the city attorney's office where I now work. I do tech support for the city. (Not the same city I got the tickets in, for those following at home). I asked her recently if she remembered the incident and she did. Apparently the chewed out the officer who threw the ticket book after my attorney left. She is a nice lady, but I would NOT want to be at the receiving end of a lecture from her.
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I reject your reality, and substitute my own
-- Adam Savage
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