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i currently reside in NC and have been for a little less than a month.Yes, but that's true in quite a few states. All police offices and deputies are not traffic officers and thus, there is no need to require them to be certified with speed detection devices.. Did you know that the police aren't required to have speed detection devices which are ANSI certified, aka radar detectors, in their cars?As someone who has been trained with the use of a radar detector (not the laser), I can assure you how easy it is to estimate a vehicle's speed. Furthermore, it will take you less than a full day to get good at it.Seems that they are "trained" to accurately determine your speed with just their eyeballs, even if going the opposite way on a two lane road with a huge median between the lanes.With the exception of trying to satisfy a quota of some sort or being in a known drug area, I'd argue that many officers wouldn't waste their time for 7 MPH over the limit.My wife had her cruise control set at 55 here on Hwy 17 near Jacksonville. A state trooper was on the other side of 17 going north while she was going south. He turned around and gave her a speeding ticket for doing 63 in a 55. He admitted he didn't have a radar gun and wasn't required to have one in order to give tickets.No, but with training and experience, it is acceptable in court. At least it is in Florida.Now I ask anyone here, are eyeballs ANSI certified to accurately determine the PRECISE speed of a moving vehicle, even one going south while you are going north, separated by a median?I hear ya.I was in the Navy for 20 years, been on 7 surface ships and 4 subs and even I can't accurately determine the speed over water down to the precise knot of a ship, especially one that I am deployed on, and I consider myself very knowledgeable in surface ships and submarines, even foreign navy ships.
Just Me, D
(Tapatalk - iPhone 4S)Last edited by JustMe'D; 06-07-2012 at 07:31 AM.
06-06-2012 12:31 PM -
What D said. I went through classes to become a part time cop but never actually got around to joining the force. Medical coding pays more.i currently reside in NC and have been for a little less than a month. Yes, but that's true in quite a few states. All police offices and deputies are not traffic officers and thus, there is no need to require them to be certified with a speed detection devices.
As someone who has been trained with the use of a radar detector (not the laser), I can assure you how easy it is to estimate a vehicle's speed. Furthermore, it will take you less than a full day to get good at it.
With the exception of trying to satisfy a quota of some sort or being in a known drug area, I'd argue that many officers wouldn't waste their time for 7 MPH over the limit.
No, but with training and experience, it is acceptable in court. At least it is in Florida.
I hear ya.
Just Me, D
(Tapatalk - iPhone 4S)
In any event, yes, cops in Arkansas who are RADAR and LIDAR certified are also trained to pace vehicles. Like D said, it's easy to guesstimate how fast another car is going if you watch the flow of traffic. Obviously if someone is pulling a Mario Andretti and is zooming past cars, they're speeding but even a few miles an hour over the limit can be noticeable.
Unless you're in a construction or hauling it through school zone here, most cops won't bother with anything under 10MPH unless they're working seatbelt enforcement, then they'll pull you over for doing 3MPH over, but they can ONLY write tickets if you're not wearing a seatbelt. I got nabbed for doing 2MPH over on a residential street by a cop that was parked who was working seatbelt enforcement. Obviously I didn't get a ticket, but it gave the cop reasonable doubt to stop me to check to see if I had my belt on because at the time, in AR, seat belt offenses on an adult wasn't enough to stop a car.
To the OP: Look at the ticket for me and see if something is checked. I know in Arkansas, a cop has to check HOW they clocked you speeding whether through mechanical device such as a radar, traffic cam or pacing. I'm interested to see if the cop checked anything or if there's even a spot for that on the ticket.Last edited by NobodyListenstoLaura; 06-06-2012 at 01:41 PM.
06-06-2012 01:36 PM -
What D said. I went through classes to become a part time cop but never actually got around to joining the force. Medical coding pays more. In any event, yes, cops in Arkansas who are RADAR and LIDAR certified are also trained to pace vehicles. Like D said, it's easy to guesstimate how fast another car is going if you watch the flow of traffic. Obviously if someone is pulling a Mario Andretti and is zooming past cars, they're speeding but even a few miles an hour over the limit can be noticeable.
Unless you're in a construction or hauling it through school zone here, most cops won't bother with anything under 10MPH unless they're working seatbelt enforcement, then they'll pull you over for doing 3MPH over, but they can ONLY write tickets if you're not wearing a seatbelt. I got nabbed for doing 2MPH over on a residential street by a cop that was parked who was working seatbelt enforcement. Obviously I didn't get a ticket, but it gave the cop reasonable doubt to stop me to check to see if I had my belt on because at the time, in AR, seat belt offenses on an adult wasn't enough to stop a car.
To the OP: Look at the ticket for me and see if something is checked. I know in Arkansas, a cop has to check HOW they clocked you speeding whether through mechanical device such as a radar, traffic cam or pacing. I'm interested to see if the cop checked anything or if there's even a spot for that on the ticket.
Eyeballing is NOT PROOF. If the pace of traffic is ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit and there's a group of cars going together, you simply can NOT accurately determine the speed of those cars if you're going THE OPPOSITE WAY ON A TWO LANE HIGHWAY. Speeding tickets are nothing more than a source of revenue for the county and state.06-07-2012 09:05 AM - No, but with training and experience, it is acceptable in court.Yes, you can. As i aforementioned in a previous reply, you would be surprised at how easy it is and how accurate you become at determining a vehicle's speed whether you're stationary or not.If the pace of traffic is ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit and there's a group of cars going together, you simply can NOT accurately determine the speed of those cars if you're going THE OPPOSITE WAY ON A TWO LANE HIGHWAY.True, but a lot of agencies don't depend on it for revenue although others do. Still, there are officers, deputies and troopers in every agency who love and are good at working traffic. Unfortunately, they often suck in other areas of law enforcement.Speeding tickets are nothing more than a source of revenue for the county and state.
Just Me, D
(Tapatalk - iPhone 4S)Last edited by JustMe'D; 06-07-2012 at 11:28 AM.
06-07-2012 09:31 AM - Argue that in court. See what happens. I worked as a dispatcher and occasional court clerk for almost ten years before I switched to medical coding. I've heard it all. Cops have heard it all. Judges have heard it all. Chances are, you'll lose, but hey, if you want to try it, go for it.Acutally, you can. That is exactly how we were trained in law enforcement academy. We were in a controlled setting on a portion of a highway that was still closed to the general public. For instance, I was driving with a trained cop in my passenger seat. On the opposite side of the highway, with a grassy median in between us, several other cop cars would come by. The cop in the seat next to mine knew how fast the cars were each going and I had to guess how fast they were. County cops here generally don't have radars in their cars, and that's exactly how they guess. Most of them won't specifically say you were doing 63 in a 55, but rather they paced you doing 5-10MPH over the speed limit.If the pace of traffic is ten miles per hour below the posted speed limit and there's a group of cars going together, you simply can NOT accurately determine the speed of those cars if you're going THE OPPOSITE WAY ON A TWO LANE HIGHWAY.After the money is divided up between the county, city and state as well as police funds for widowed and injured officers, each entity gets very little money off speeding tickets.Speeding tickets are nothing more than a source of revenue for the county and state.
If you want to go to jail on the spot, ask the trooper where he keeps all the toaster ovens he gets from ticket writing.
06-07-2012 10:15 AM -
There is a math formula that can be used to determine speed based on time and the distance between 2 points. Could it be the officers are doing this? Of course they would have to have 2 fixed points to use and know the distance between them and then they would have to get the timing right and do the calculations quickly. Of course if it was a "speed trap" these variables are not outside the realm of possibilities. Using math it can be done. But to suggest it simply done with the eyeballs is less believable. It does not require special gear unless you count a brain and a watch as special.Last edited by pkcable; 06-10-2012 at 11:17 AM.
06-10-2012 11:15 AM - There is another town just north of the one I used to dispatch for. Their police force was two beat up former city cars but none of their cop cars had radar, so that's exactly how they did speed detection. It took X seconds to get from the stop sign to the caution school zone sign and if you got there faster than X seconds, you were speeding.There is a math formula that can be used to determine speed based on time and the distance between 2 points. Could it be the officers are doing this? Of course they would have to have 2 fixed points to use and know the distance between them and then they would have to get the timing right and do the calculations quickly. Of course if it was a "speed trap" these variables are not outside the realm of possibilities. Using math it can be done. But to suggest it simply done with the eyeballs is less believable. It does not require special gear unless you count a brain and a watch as special.
Anyone with two eyes can tell if a car is going faster than other cars coming towards you or passing you, median or not. I do it all the time on the road to pace myself with the other traffic. In Memphis, you do what the other cars are doing, regardless of the speed limit or you'll be ran over and killed. Even most cops won't get on the interstate loop for fear of being mowed down.06-11-2012 09:27 AM - We simply agree to disagree and that's okay with me. By the way, I'm not a trooper nor have I ever been. Anyway, like anyone else, you have a 50/50 chance of winning in traffic court should you choose to contest the citation. If you do, I wish you well. Take care.
Just Me, D
(iPhone 4S)06-11-2012 12:48 PM
