Looking for some help on this one

gwh68 · #1 (**permalink**) 2008-12-10

OK, here's the details, I was travelling through some city side streets in Aurora, Colorado, I didn't notice that the school zone sign was blinking and that the speed limit had dropped to 25.
I have a BEL 995 radar detector and saw the police officer parked to the side of the road and immediately checked my speed and even slowed down. As I passed the officer, I noticed he was facing away from traffic.

I passed him and about a minute later, he pulled me AND ANOTHER car over for speeding.

He first wrote me a ticket, then the other car. I asked him what he clocked me with and he said laser, I asked if I could see it and he returned with the gun showing 42mph at 135 feet. This is what he wrote the ticket on.

I do not believe I was going this fast, I also have multiple problems with this:
1. My laser detector never went off, I would think if he did clock me, it would have registered.

2. He pulled over two vehicles! There were about 8 cars traveling together, is it possible for him to take a reading on one, then take a reading on another in that short of time? I'm not sure how radar guns work, but it seems that he showed me the last reading, wouldn't that have been for the guy behind me that he pulled over? Don't most guns require a full two seconds of lock for an accurate reading? If the last lock was for the guy DIRECTLY behind me, it seems that he may be "guessing" on one of them!

3. I finished my errand and on the way home, saw another sheriff with 3, yes, 3 cars pulled to the side of the road (I even snapped a quick picture). I don't believe there was an accident, but it seems like the sheriff's department maybe got orders to "issue more tickets"

I've heard that the typical strategies of subpeonaing the maintenance records/training records, etc of the laser device may not fly in Colorado courts. Anyone have any experience/advice for this one?

Thanks a million!

Speed Trap Hunter · #2 (**permalink**) 2008-12-10

gwh68,

If he was facing away from you, he likely targeted you from the back with his police laser gun. At 135 feet, the beam is very narrow and even a Valentine 1 would likely struggle to alert to a rear shot at such close range. So the fact that your radar detector did not alert is not at all surprising.

If multiple vehicles are closely following each other then, yes, they can be pulled over at the same time.

This happened to me once many years ago and not only did I receive a speeding ticket, I also got cited for following "too closely."

Frankly, I would try to arrange for a plea-deal to some violation that doesn't carry any points. I am not familiar with Colorado motor vehicle statutes, but I suspect there is one.

STH

gwh68 · #3 (**permalink**) 2008-12-23

Sent a letter to the department requesting all the typical stuff you request when you're going to fight a ticket.
They pushed back on the following:
1. They only gave me the serial number of the radar gun, they said I had to contact the colorado dept of agriculture for the make and model.
2. They said they don't need an fcc license for speed detection equipment so they can't give me their license info.
3. They said the deputy's training records are confidential and not releaseable
4. They said I had to contact the manufacturer for calibration and maintenance records on the laser unit
5. They said I had to obtain the owner's manual/guides/literature from the laser manufacturer
6. They said they don't hold the records for engineering reports/studies performed in the determination of the speed limit for that area.

I'm so getting jerked around aren't I?

steagall1000 · #4 (**permalink**) 2008-12-23

gwh68,

First off I would like to say, I'm sorry to hear about you getting a speeding ticket. The Beltronics 995 vector doesn't always alert to laser hits like it should. Its a great radar detector, but if this officer was shooting at you with laser at 135 feet, I know that the beam divergence/beam width is less than 10 inches wide, so your radar detector probably didn't see it.

The problem with Laser is it gives no advance warning on radar detectors. Only the V1 is capable of picking up laser scatter better than most detectors I have seen.

Yes it is possible that this officer could have gotten another cars speed, and showed that to you on his gun display. The problem there is how can you prove it? My advice for you would be fight your ticket in court. Ask for the last calibration certificate that the gun was calibrated at. It gives the date it was done on it and who calibrated it.

Proving in court that the officer got another car instead of you, is going to be hard to prove. Since laser has pin point accuracy and which ever car the officer aims at is what the speed is. Its hard to beat in court.

Maybe TSi+WRX and the Veil Guy can give you some more advice on this issue. My best advice is fight your ticket. Also if laser is used alot in your area, I would do some research on a good Laser Jammer. I hope this helps you alittle.

Good Luck!!