arstechnica.com— GPS-based tracking devices don't just help you figure out where you are and where you're going, they might also help you avoid a speeding ticket.
Oct 26, 2007View in Crawl 4
I tried this against a supposed 64 in a 45 ticket... I was heading out on a business trip and had the laptop recording all GPS activity, and at that stretch of road, I never went above 46... I was told through my attorney by the judge that GPS devices are NOT CERTIFIED... The only thing that got me out of that ticket was that it was proven (by my lawyer) that the cop had a form of dyslexia and interpreted the radar gun as reading 64 instead of 46... And something about waste of court time to further prosecute on any new evidence... Several previous complaints had been filed against this officer, but he was still on the streets giving speeding tickets.
I would consider radar a much better measure of instantaneous velocity than a GPS unit. Not that both don't have their strengths and weaknesses, but I'd hardly say the GPS data "proves" anything.
there are dash mounted radars in some cop cars in Australia (mainly highway patrol and traffic enforcement), calculate their own speed while checking your speed and working out the difference. I got booked for 25km/h over the limit 85 in a 60 zone and got A$250 fine. i wish i could have rammed the car in front of me that was doing 10 under the limit that caused me to go crazy bananas!! grr
The rebuttal to the GPS is .. he may have accelerated to the illegal speed during the sixty (60) second window between readings. Right. He accelerated to the illegal speed, maintained the illegal speed long enough to be recorded by law enforcement, then decelerated to approximately his original speed -- and all in sixty seconds. Right.
gheideOct 27, 2007
I tried this against a supposed 64 in a 45 ticket... I was heading out on a business trip and had the laptop recording all GPS activity, and at that stretch of road, I never went above 46... I was told through my attorney by the judge that GPS devices are NOT CERTIFIED... The only thing that got me out of that ticket was that it was proven (by my lawyer) that the cop had a form of dyslexia and interpreted the radar gun as reading 64 instead of 46... And something about waste of court time to further prosecute on any new evidence... Several previous complaints had been filed against this officer, but he was still on the streets giving speeding tickets.
brassbudOct 27, 2007
I would consider radar a much better measure of instantaneous velocity than a GPS unit. Not that both don't have their strengths and weaknesses, but I'd hardly say the GPS data "proves" anything.
lucas22Oct 28, 2007
there are dash mounted radars in some cop cars in Australia (mainly highway patrol and traffic enforcement), calculate their own speed while checking your speed and working out the difference. I got booked for 25km/h over the limit 85 in a 60 zone and got A$250 fine. i wish i could have rammed the car in front of me that was doing 10 under the limit that caused me to go crazy bananas!! grr
djrocksteadyOct 29, 2007
as long as it's not government mandated, i think its ok. Many people really are terrible drivers, nice to see technology can help.
darthomOct 31, 2007
The rebuttal to the GPS is .. he may have accelerated to the illegal speed during the sixty (60) second window between readings. Right. He accelerated to the illegal speed, maintained the illegal speed long enough to be recorded by law enforcement, then decelerated to approximately his original speed -- and all in sixty seconds. Right.
kjaer77Nov 11, 2007
What a cool article.
spongya77Nov 30, 2007
Dyslexic cops reading meters? Talk about equal opportunity.
weetwg01Apr 9, 2008
The GPS units I have used show consistent speed except during rapid acceleration or deceleration <a class="user" href="http://www.lowrance-gps.net/">http://www.lowrance-gps.net/</a>