Speeding - technical point.?

Question

A recent call to court has a line in a witness statement as:

"At the time of the offence no Police Radios or mobile phones were not in use or transmitting." (My quotes).

In relation to a temporary speed-gun (type LTI 20/20 TS/M) and the double negative could I argue that the gun might well have been incorrect from interference from a large number of sources? How would a court react?

Thanks.

Many thanks for all responses. I think I've got enough now.

Happy answering.

Chris

Answer 1

They'll fine you - you'll have to do better than that - you will have to list the 'large number of sources' and prove that a technical failing may have resulted in an incorrect reading - which is highly unlikey as the guns operate on a different frequency - you got tagged - pay the dues and drive more carefully next time

Answer 2

It might work. It might not. Depends on the judge. Some judges don't buy minor arguments like that.

Besides, if the officer knows what he's doing, he will tell the court he also visually observed you driving at a high rate of speed and checked your speed with a radar unit.

Sit on the highway enough you can peg fairly close to how fast someone is going without the use of a radar and courts will sometimes take that into consideration.

You say the gun wasn't working right. The officer says he believed you were speeding by visual observation and the radar confirmed that......it doesn't look good for you.

Not to mention, especially with newer models of radar, the chances of interference from other sources is very small. It may be that the thing is designed to work with other sources transmitting nearby. So it might be a mute point to begin. Get a hold of a manual for the radar model and see what that says.

But like I said, it all depends on the court. Some courts don't like headaches when people fight minor stuff and just throw it out. Others you have to really prove something on the radar was broken.

Answer 3

To be honest no you really can't. Radars tend to normally work at frequencies between 3-30 GigaHertz, while cells and hand held radios work between 300 MegaHertz to 3 Giga Hertz so the chances of crossover is very small.

You could try argueing the harmonics of the other transmitting devices in the area may interfere, but you will have to prove it. Plus the chances of the perfect set of circumstances were the proper harmonics are generated to a high enough level to interfere is a very remote possibility. So that arguement has a snow balls chance in Hades of working.

Some people have tried argueing that the officer was driving at them, but most new radars compensate for this.

To be honest your only real shot at beating the radar rap is if the unit hadn't been calibrated correctly, but again you have to prove this. First thing if you haven't already, ensure that the the unit has been calibrated by factory licensed repair facility, and that all factory recommended maintenance was done on schedule.

The best way I found to beat the radar rap is not to speed.

Answer 4

No, you couldnt the machines are calibrated and highly tested, and are only allowed to be used under controlled conditions. The police officer using it has to chose an appropriate site.
For radio and digital inteference to affect the speed gun, it has to be directly next to it.

Basically the police offcicer is highly trained on that peice of equipment and you are going to try and argue from a untrained point of view.
your going to look daft

Further more, the courts operate a commons sense policy, a grammatical mistake wont affect the outcome, and you will look silly and deparate.

It's not worth loking stupid mate.

Answer 5

You could argue that many wireless signals are in the 800 MHz to 2.4 GHz range and that would make it viable for interference to common law enforcement RADAR equipment from between the eighth and tenth harmonic frequencies.

Since most commercial mobile phones now are frequency agile transmitters, it would be difficult to predict what combination of active communications would create the interference to which the Police have acknowledged causes interference with their detection system as evidenced by their statement above.

In the days when mobile communications were almost exclusively used by law enforcement, public safety units and a very few companies that "radio dispatched" service technicians, interference was unlikely, if the officer was not using his radio.

The times have changed however, and you would be hard pressed to find a vehicle on the road that did not have some sort of mobile phone, GPS Navigation, On-star or other passive and active communications system, sensors and technology, therefore increasing the probability of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI).

Answer 6

There is one question you can ask that may help you. Ask the Police officer who was operating the speed gun if the calibration of the gun was checked on the day you were caught. All police hand held guns and ttraffic police have to have their instruments calibrated every time they are used before going on duty. That is the law.

Answer 7

I hate to say it but you will jus have to face up to it and take the fine and points! To be honest there was probably no point even going to court if the radio interference was ur only argument!

I’ve been caught speeding 3 times and although the last 2 have been in reasonably questionable circumstances I have never got off!

Answer 8

This is obviously a typing error and could easily be corrected by calling a witness to verbally clarify it.Unlike an error in an actual charge where it is required the charge be proven.If you plead not guilty on these grounds you would likely attract an higher penalty for wasting every ones time.

Answer 9

if the negative is a double negative , then a fault is somewhere and you can raise it , if you are pleading not guilty
ALSO if IT is a hand held handgun , you can argue that the officer brought the gun up from his side at speed , thereby giving a wrong reading, SOMETHING LIKE A COWBOY WITH HIS GUN.
also if another car was in the vicinity when the officer aimed the gun at your vehicle , this is also illegal use of the speed gun , and will help you in your case, for these past two ways are used in the procedures of corrupt, officers.

Answer 10

One thing that all criminal convictions rely upon is evidence. Find evidence to the contrary in relation to the allegation and you might have a case. Without it, you might as well be asking pointless questions to members of a questions and answers website.

Good luck