Just want to report on the outcome of my case (see below). Maybe this will help somebody (I was hoping to find help here, but mostly got a bunch of insults). I went to the hearing yesterday. It was in Woburn. The judge there seems actually a very reasonable man and he found me not responsible. It went as follows:
There was a police officer, who was not the one who ticketed me, but apparently the original policeman doesn't have to show up at the magistrate hearings. He read off my ticket. The judge asked me to tell my side of the story. I basically explained to him that I checked my speed the moment I saw the police cruiser and it was just under 65. I said that I kept checking my speed as I pbutted the officer and so on... I was just trying to make him understand that as a reasonable person I wouldn't speed by the police at 80mph. (I have to admit being a stupid person for pbutting a cop at all, but that's a lesson learned). Then I pointed out that I didn't think the officer had any way of knowing my speed, since he couldn't have possibly used LIDAR from a moving vehicle and he didn't follow me at all, since I started pulling over as soon as he caught up with me.
Worse than a MFFYI was traveling westbound on one freeway, preparing to go south on another freeway. The ramp to the other freeway had 2 lanes; the right lane led to northbound and the left lane...
The judge agreed that LIDAR could not have possibly been used in this case and said that he was not sure how the officer measured my speed, so he found me not responsible. He asked the policeman present at the hearing if he wanted to appeal, but the guy basically said "I am confused myself as to how the speed was measured" and I was free to go. The whole conversation took under 5 minutes and it restored my faith in the justice system here.
To all people who provided their "opinions" on my driving - I don't care. I asked a question about a legitimate problem (issuing a ticket for 80mph when I was in fact going 65mph), I didn't ask for judgement on whether what I did was right or wrong. Moreover, how would you know whether what I did was unsafe? You have no idea what car I drive, what tires I have, what my skill level is, or the exact conditions of that particular stretch of road at that particular hour. A Dale Earnhardt can be perfectly safe at 100mph on this road, whereas some people shouldn't be on these highways in any conditions ever. How would you know the risk I was taking by going 65???
Worse than a MFFYOn Sat, 28 May 2005 06:36:21 GMT, "Larry Scholnick" And, of course, either one could have solved the dilemma by SPEEDING UP instead of slowing down...
And to all who think that going at speed limit is unsafe, I suggest you learn to drive. For my part, I pay good money to go to auto schools, autocross compebreastion, track events. I go do powerslides in empty parking lots in rain and snow. I can handle 65mph on a straight wet road. I am not going to drive like an old lady until I become one (the "lady" part would be a challenge, though). However, if that's what you choose to do - that's your choice and I am not going to say one bad thing about you.
Nikita.
