Shouldn't quantum mechanics get us out of speeding tickets?

Question

I mean, if the cop knows where I am, he can't know how fast I was going, and if he knows how fast I was going he can't know where I am....

I wonder if the position of a macro object is merely the sum of the collapsed superpositions of each quantum particle that makes up that object. So, we are really the result of a smoothing out of all the quantum possibilities?

Answer 1

I would just LOVE to hear you make that argument in court.

Answer 2

Unfortunately for an object of macroscopic size (like your car), he can pin your position and momentum down plenty well enough to write a ticket.

Say he gets your velocity down to within plus or minus one mile per hour.

Say he gets your position down to the nearest mm.

Say your car weighs about 1000 kg.

Calculate deltap deltax. Compare that to planck's constant. See your problem?

edit--yes, your interpretation in the additional info describes what physicists call the correspondence principle.