Comments on: Pulled Over for Speeding? Dealing with the Police

By: Safe driver

Safe driver — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:18:48 +0000

OK, I got pulled over today on the Hume highway, alleged to be doing 130 in a 110 zone.

The officer was polite, as I was to him. He informed me he clocked me doing 130 and showed me his LIDAR. He stated he initially saw me doing a “visually estimated” 126 km/h, and that I was in front of a black van that was also speeding. I asked how he got the 130 reading and he stated that he locked onto me initially at 126 and I increased speed to 130 km/h over a 3 second lock downhill!

I was on cruise control set on 120 (actual speedo reading) and had my GPS on (which I confirmed as reading 113 which is why I set cruise at 120. Have been doing that for 12 years.)

I stated I was not speading right from the start, and he informed me I was being recorded which I’m fine with. I then went on to ask about the GPS and he informed me he did not wan’t to hear it and that “those things are very inaccurate as they need to get info from the satellites which takes too long to be reliable.”

He then wrote the ticket.

Now I am a professional driver, I live on the road and clock up 100,000 km a year and have not been booked AT ALL or had an accident for nearly 20 years. Last time I was booked I was 20 with a Monaro! I do NOT speed! Period.

I don’t believe this hype about speeding is safe, cameras are dangerous etc. I agree with catching speeders and drink drivers. Get tough with them! But it hurts when I KNOW I was not speeding! So what can I do? Should I go to court and defend myself?

By: Not a f*wit

Not a f*wit — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:22:34 +0000

If you don’t speed you won’t get a fine. Could all the nut job conspiracy theorits please wake up to yourselves? It’s idiots like you that ruin the justice system.

By: luke

luke — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:39:36 +0000

hey guys… similar to zac’s question (18/9/09)…

i was driving around town today and saw a marked car parked on a side street with his gun out the window. are victorian marked cars likely to issue fines in the mail? eg. 5k’s over, etc.

By: jrg200

jrg200 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:15:47 +0000

I was booked for 57km in what has turned out to be a 60km zone, even though he wrote on the fine that it is 50??
also he wrote TUPMED 57-81. What does this mean, and what should I do?

they tried to tell me they clocked me at 81km, and that’s not possible considering the short distance from the street entry to where they pulled me over!

any suggestions?

By: Hung Low

Hung Low — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:51:25 +0000

It is moronic gits like you that let these power tripping public servants get away with anything they wish!
Take it to court, present all evidence and clog up the system. The more the judicial system gets over burdened with petty cases, chances are the Cops will have no choice but to show more leniency over petty infringements!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:10:22 +0000

The law says you can’t take speed readings within a certain range of speed restriction changes. Idiot.

By: Save it for the track

Save it for the track — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:24:12 +0000

Yep, sounds like you were speeding. A LIDAR (if that is what was used) are EXTREMELY accurate despite any protestations or alleged ‘evidence’ offered by alleged ’speeding experts’. The laser of the LIDAR can easily be directed between stationary objects such as poles etc., and still be able to get a valid check. If you truly believe you weren’t speeding you need to go to court, and then your oprions would be to request the records as relates to the device used. Personally I have yet to lose a ticket matter at court, but I always ensure I am well within guidelines, my equipment is working correctly, and most of the time the offence and conversation is all on video.

By: Save it for the track

Save it for the track — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:49:24 +0000

Zac. In NSW if you see a marked Police car and they don’t pull you over, 99.999999% of teh time you won’t be getting anys ort of ticket. Also in nSW, odds are you WILL NOT get a ticket for 105 in a 100 issued by an officer or other similar fictional stories. Victoria however is a different matter.

By: Seo

Seo — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:10:54 +0000

ITS THE LAW

SIMPLE

PAY FINE, MOVE ON

By: nige

nige — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:36:59 +0000

i live on the great ocean road, and during the summer the road gets quite hectic between torquay and apollo bay. im a local in wye river, and on a recent trip returning from apollo bay, i was booked for doing 82 in a 60 zone. the only thing i question is this,
why did the officer follow me with no lights out of the 60 zone, (about a three minute drive) and pull me over with lights in a 80 zone when i know, i was doing 60 in the 60 zone? a road i drive a nearly dayly bases. you would think if i was doing 20 kms over a speed limit, that i would be pulled over pretty quickly, not tailed without lights, then pulled over a few minutes later.

By: Zac

Zac — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:14:42 +0000

Stupid question so I expectto get stupid replies, but in honestly if anyone can provide a sensible reply that would rock.

Well I was running late to work this morning so I took the M4
( Freeway in NSW ) the speed limit was 100km/h.

I was doing approx 10km/h – 15km/h over the limit at most when there was a cop car in the middle of the freeway parked on the grassy island.

I saw him and put the brakes on but not sure if it was in time though, didn’t want to slam the brakes any harder since it would look obvious.

I drove on as usual, noticed he pulled out in a rapid hurry, so I expected to be flagged down but nothing happend, you would still think he’d chase me if that was the case

Will I get booked in the mail?
Don’t they need photgraphic evidence?

PS> I know I am stupid for speeding, but cast the 1st stone if you arn’t gulity of speeding at least once Smile

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:13:44 +0000

Thanks gaf

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:53:24 +0000

I just got done the day I got on my Green P’s. 25Km/h over apparently…… He was approaching me the opposite way, Had another car under 10m infront of him. Spoke to a speed ticked expert and he said that they cant have another car infront of them for 200m. Which makes sense as it was a mobile radar and its very easy to get bad reflections/incorrect ones with this system if there is multiple large objects.

I want to debate it but unfortunately I cant remember exactly what I said to the officer. I was too busy shacking to remember i think.

Thing that really is BS is that if you look at the QLD police website (PLEASE SEE FOR YOURSELF http://www.police.qld.gov.au/r.....manual/06/ ) and try find some policies, guess what, The pages you want to read come up with 404 error (PAGE NOT FOUND) Funny how chapter 6.0.0 to 6.5.7 works. All the chapters after (Which is what you need to know about positions and usage) wont work. Seams pretty dogey if you ask me.
So i called Police HQ, NOONE could find out why, ended up saying hold on, then transfered me to “traffic fines” without notice, they had no idea either, noone knew how to contact IT either……

What is with THAT, They wont give us access to the policies that we want and are entitled to know.

I wasn’t doing 85 and whats probably happened is that he hasn’t cleared the screen from his last catch. (Apparently it happens more than you think)

Just remember, If they pull you over,
1. DONT ADMIT TO SPEEDING
2. Ask to see your speed, If they cant show you, tell them to piss off. DO not let them bully you into a ticket, I was scared, DONT BE, there is really nothing to be afraid of.

Good luck

Andrew

By: gaf

gaf — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:48:32 +0000

grumpy…i would suggest getting a report from your phone company showing calls made AND received and compare the time on the ticket to the report… If calls were made minutes before or after the alledged call dont bother but if there is a good time gap it should stand up in court…The only other thing you should need to do is prove the report is of your ONLY mobile or they could argue you were using another phone… if you have more than 1 phone get reports for all of them, good luck.

By: K7

K7 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:23:13 +0000

I come from a family of police officers. My sister, her husband and my grandfather are all cops. With this in mind I have never had a pleasant incident with a member of the Police. I have been accused and threatened several times one officer even threatened to give my sister a ticket simply because he didn’t like my attitude (my sister was driving and I asked the officer what we had done wrong. We had noticed the Police car following us for several blocks and even stopping outside our house when I ran in to grab something). Recently I was told by an officer “we can do whatever we want”. Often I get pulled over just to be asked how my night has been (this is done by male officers only). A few weeks ago I went through a booze bus on my way to work and was told by the officer who breath tested me “a smile would be nice”! The nerve! I understand where people are coming from when they say they are intimidated when pulled over, of course they are intimidated, and no amount of counselling as suggested by one wanker on this site will fix that.
I think that people simply pay speeding fines without disputing them as it is the easier avenue to take. Court dates and disputes with police seem a lot more intimidating than a couple of hundred dollars and quite frankly most people don’t have the time for these lengthy processes. In my oppinion, speed cameras and parking fines are revenue raising. And I don’t see how suspending someones drivers licence could possibly make them a better driver. Perhaps the revenue raised from speeding and parking fines would be better used putting speeders through another driving course or something. I don’t know and I’m not claiming to have all the answers but there has to be a better way to deal with these issues. It is getting to the stage that the sight of a Police vehicle or officer does not make me feel safe but rather scared. I saw an interesting bumper sticker the other day which made me giggle: Victorian Police- To serve and collect.

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:32:16 +0000

I got fined $250 and 3 demerits today for talking on my mobile phone in the car. Funny thing is that I wasn’t. I was talking to my 10mth old daughter in the rear seat. The policeman assumed I was talking into my hand (which he in turn thought was a phone)

I’m gonna fight this. Anyone got any advice/experience?

By: gaf

gaf — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:49:08 +0000

I am a law abiding motorbike enthusist who has a perfect insurance record and had 1 major speed fine several yrs ago after a very distressing night.i knew i was in the wrong and admitted it, having done that the kind officer dropped my speed from 58k over to 40 k over so i wouldn t loose my right to drive. I was gracious and paid the large fine. However a month ago i was pinged with the laser doing 14k over when i know for damn sure i was not speeding i have photos of where he was standing and you can barely even see where i would have been traveling. Not to mention the fact i was going round a bit of a bend down into a gully( yes i was keeping an eye on speed) he was a Sergent and yet still put incorrect info on the ticket(num nut). Im pretty sure his position was not a legal spot there where trees in the was a power pole and centre islands blocking his view between him and the spot he claimed i was, im sure there is requirements for certain amount of clear view in order for a correct reading. In the past i have had a strong view against speeding since i saw my cousin slam into an embankment at 160klms (no i wasnt doing the same speed he overtook me for going the speed limit) it was a sickening crash which left him with huge injuries including 4 smashed vertibre. Can you imagine how that effected me? I almost never sped back then and since then i never speed yet i got booked anyways. My confidence in the police is gone. Im disgusted with the arrogance of police when they claim their laser is flawless so i must have been speeding. And when you take them to court they spare absolutely no expense in bsing their way into your wallet for thousands in court costs. And def dont bs me in saying that “if you’re innocent then thats how the court will find” we all know a judge is not there to decide innocents or guilt its his/her job to decide who made the better argument which is a load of crap for those who cant afford a lawyer. Im really disappointed i thought if i dont speed i wont get booked like the dickheads on tv claim but no that was a load of you know what also. Any comments from the officers reading???

By: Troy

Troy — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:20:38 +0000

“allan Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 2:42 am
where do you go when its the police vechiles clearly marked speeding past you (no lights or sirens)you are doing correct speed 110kmh on hume highway dual lanes and police pass you at such a speed enough to rock your car,is their a law for civillian drivers none for police,even in built up areas exceeding 50 zones town centre ,picton rd 130kmh in 100kmh zone especially when some of their own coppers have been killed on this road not so long ago. they have the hide to say i have gone over the speed limit by 14kmh ,you ask me it is them that need photos taken and reported but to who my impression of nsw police force is they are all currupt one bad apple spoiles the lot/glorifid revenue raising and paid well for it take a pay cut instead of a bribe for speed”

Before you go shooting your uneducated mouth off Allan, have you considered the fact that sometimes Police need to get to a job (break/enter occurring..robbery etc…) as fast as possible WITHOUT wanting to warn the offenders of their approach??
And as far as all NSW Police being currupt (sic), Im assuming you have had personal dealings with each and every one of the 15000 odd Police in this State to qualify you to make such a ridiculous blanket claim? I have served for ten years in the NSW Police and have never once acted corruptly, and i take your offensive allegations as a personal insult.
Clearly you are an armchair critic who would be the first person to call the Police when something happened to you. If you can do a better job, feel free to head to the Police recruitment office and have a go yourself. Until then, give us some proof of what you allege or shut the hell up.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:36:04 +0000

Very interesting discussion so far, it’s good to hear from people from both sides of the argument.

@Tony – As far as I am aware, and certainly in the few cruise control equipped cars I’ve used, cars with cruise control both speed up the car to meet the ‘target speed’ as WELL as slow it down.
So yes when you’re going down a hill the cruise control device detects the vehicle is exceeding the target speed and slows the car down to correct.
This is not an exact science though, I’ve noticed down steep hills in my area that the car can exceed by 5-8 km/h, so if you’re particularly unlucky you could get flashed/gunned even when you’re using cruise control. This only happens for short periods until it stabilises though, maybe 10 seconds at most, and of course you’re always free to use the brake to slow down manually (this disengages the cruise control too).

P.S. Cars i’ve used with cruise control are Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Land Cruiser if that helps anyone.

By: Tony O'Connor

Tony O'Connor — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:12:09 +0000

Do any cars have cruise control that will maintain your set speed while traveling down a hill?