Police Word Enough To Be Fined For Speeding?

[Iron Mike]

Ok.. So there was a post a while ago about some poor bloke in Vic who got fined by the cops and decided to take his case to court. The debate then started in that thread about whether or not a police officer's word is suffice to warrant a speeding fine without any hard proof eg. radar read-out. A few people claimed that it did. I thought it didn't and now guess what? I've been hit with a $600 fine, 6 demerit points, and a 6 month suspension because some cop "estimates" that I was going 40 kmh over the limit. No proof, no readings, no nothing. When he pulled me over he immediately tried to force a confession of excessive speed out of me, though I only admitted to what I actually did. Yes I was speeding but only by 10-15 over. He told me he didnt have a reading but estimated my speed based off his 20 yrs experience as a cop. Anyway this asshole started interrogating me asking me if id been in trouble with cops before, breath/drug tests etc., while clearly trying to pressure me into saying what he wanted to hear. So naturally I refuse to be punished for something I didnt do, so im taking the matter to court. The cops word against mine. Ill keep you all posted and we'll see where this all ends...

Edited January 2, 2013 by Iron Mike

[Johnie]

Same with me but not for speeding, im taking my fines to court, he pined me on driving turbo and no p plates displayed (in a convertible btw) the copper never saw the engine bay and never saw me in the drivers seat or driving the car on the road, problem is how am i gonna prove it. its pretty much my word vs the coppers,and the copper put another date on one of the fines too so it didn't look like i coped it all in one day wtf thats bs

I dont care about paying the fines its the points that hit me, as that would cost me to lose my licance.

The car was parked on the side of the road and i was working under the bonnet, he said ill get 2 fines in the mail, few days later the fines came and there was 4 in there wtf -.- 6 points worth and $1000+ in fines, so goin to court for it but idk when it is

Edited January 2, 2013 by Johnie

[Greekos]

i have read in the past experienced/long serving police officers have won court cases where they had judged the speed without radar/laser or pacing behind you, it was deemed that a police officer would have the experience to accurately judge your speed by sight.

You shouldn't have admitted that you were speeding until you were shown your speed, the fact that you were driving a "sports car" that looks/sounds fast doesn't help plus all the stigma attached to performance cars is working against you, you can only weigh up your choices if you have a clean driving record and believe you were only speeding by 10/20km/hr over go speak with a good lawyer and see what they have to say, i own up to my mistakes but if I'm wrongly accursed i fight my point across. good luck dude!

[emts]

So Cops are trained to be official estimators of speed.

you will need hard proof that you were not doing what they said.

we have a well respected officer on here who has confirmed this.

if your planning on taking it to court you def need more than just your word v his.

now that said, get a lawyer and use him to put in a plea that you were doing 10-15 not 40 and you might get it reduced. but you best have a good driving history for them to do that.

[Cowboy1600]

So Cops are trained to be official estimators of speed.

you will need hard proof that you were not doing what they said.

we have a well respected officer on here who has confirmed this.

if your planning on taking it to court you def need more than just your word v his.

now that said, get a lawyer and use him to put in a plea that you were doing 10-15 not 40 and you might get it reduced. but you best have a good driving history for them to do that.

This.

You're boned if it's your word vs his. He will win, 100%.

Argue that you were only 10-15 over and his estimate was off and you might stand a small chance of getting that past the keeper, but don't hold your breath. A good traffic lawyer will help, but will be pricey.

[Jack-]

Police officers word > yours. Long gone are the days off innocent until proven guilty in any traffic matter.

I learnt this when I had my car impounded for nothing goodluck.

[gmr]

Not much help to you know sorry mate but dashcams are worth every cent, descent unit can be had for around $200. Get one that logs your speed to GPS.

[Iron Mike]

So I had an on-the-spot 1 month suspension 6 years ago for being 28 kmh over. Other than that a pretty clean record. Im guessing even though it was a while ago it will look pretty bad. Has anyone ever had a favourable outcome in a similar scenario? When I was 18 I took a fine to court, pleaded guilty in the face of exceptional circumstances and got out of it...

Edited January 3, 2013 by Iron Mike

[gdogzgtr]

I say get legal advice but best outcome would be to get speed dropped to less than 35 over so to lose licence for 1 month instead of 6. Shouldnt be too hard to do that as estimation only etc.

I highly doubt you can get it dropped to under 25 over and keep licence but worth trying.

I understand frustration with cops word against mine but imagine if it was the other way. Then every single fine would be contested if you simply said no I didn't do it and court said ok, dismissed. Might as well have no road laws at all.

[R31Nismoid]

A few people claimed that it did. I thought it didn't and now guess what? I've been hit with a $600 fine, 6 demerit points, and a 6 month suspension because some cop "estimates" that I was going 40 kmh over the limit. No proof, no readings, no nothing. W

It wasn't a claim... It was fact, as it's Law and has been for a loooong time, I guess now you realise that

Lawyer up. Admit to doing 18km/h over or something and you will probably get away with that reduction.

The fact you admitted to them you were speeding, you are basically stuffed. You should've said nothing.

[Charles89]

It sounds like cops are getting worse......

[Sunkist]

Cops are always getting worse

[xALmoN]

Well, they've got bionic eyes to accurately gauge your speed.

They've got bionic ears to immediately know your exhaust is too loud.

They're cyborgs i swear!

[w34ponGT]

with your exhaust even 5km/h sounds fast lol

i hope you get off man.. because even a few km can be a difference of 3 months

[eightsixboy]

Was he following you or was he stationary?

I got done once but the cop was following me so he used his speedo.

If the cop was stationary then thats grade a bulls**t, know one can realistically tell how fast someone is going just by looking, not enough to say you where speeding by that much anyways. As mentioned before a good defense might be to admit speeding but not as much as claimed.

Why do cops have the ability to assume guilt until you prove your innocence?

[R31Nismoid]

If the cop was stationary then thats grade a bulls**t, know one can realistically tell how fast someone is going just by looking

A grade bullshit?

To estimate speed you need 3 very basic things.

- Start Point

- End Point

- Time

It's really that simple. Will it ever be exact? No, but it'll be near enough and that is all the court cares about as it's not going to be wildly inaccurate.

[cLashez]

Hey, i think that was my post but i lost all my account info for the other account.

I took him to court, the update on that was that i did (admit) to going 10km over the speed limit because there was no signs saying the limit so i assumed it was 60km when it was 50km.

I was abused by the officer who threw my license on the ground and when i told him to show me evidence he said if i think cops need evidence to place "scum" into a court room i should just rip up my license now.

When he was notified i was going to court he sent me 4-5 NEW infringements that he just made up, which were; 100km in a 50.

So i was facing 3-4 months in jail, loss of license for 4 years and $1200 fine. Also my car was going to be impounded and destroyed.

$7000 on legal fees later, i delayed the court to get off my P Plates so that i am not on them till im 30, i managed to get away with just 45 days loss license and $600 fine. I then had to go on good behavior so i could keep my license after that which lasts 12 months?

No evidence was ever presented in court on his behalf, he didn't even show up.

Cops can do whatever they want and the legal system will just let them get away with it. Luckily i had a good judge who my lawyer explained the situation and the judge said "i understand the situation however the law states i must act with good judgement on the police behalf that they are doing their job correctly and for the people".

I will PM you my number if you need any help or advice.

[Iron Mike]

with your exhaust even 5km/h sounds fast lol

i hope you get off man.. because even a few km can be a difference of 3 months

Exactly

I thought if I admitted to speeding it might make things easier. Apparently not... in terms of court cases, it really depends on luck of the draw. When I went to court before I had a magistrate who acted like the fine I had was of no importance to her, and she was more than happy to let it side to keep her day moving...somehow I dont think ill be as lucky this time. Cop told me to sell my car (jealous bastard), think I might have to if I lose my license for that long

Edited January 5, 2013 by Iron Mike

[xALmoN]

got the cop's name?

and whereabouts did you get done?

[Iron Mike]

Eastern freeway in Doncaster about 3 weeks ago. Worst part was it was a day before I flew out to japan where I was supposed to buy some parts for my car (while on holiday) - Dont know if I will now.