Guess My Speed and Give Me a Ticket, In Ohio

quall writes "The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that police may estimate your car's speed and issue a ticket if they believe you were speeding. The hearing threw out a radar gun as evidence because the officer was not qualified to use it, but apparently his guess was good enough. If you make your way into Ohio, I suggest driving 5mph under the speed limit because this leaves little room to dispute your ticket in court. The only chance you have is if the issuing officer decides to skip your hearing." I wonder whether the court would also accept a driver's own GPS log as exculpatory evidence.

Hmmm you don't suppose...

[garyisabusyguy]

that most of the judge's wages are paid from speeding fines?

Re:GPS

[RazorSharp]

Any conversation with a police officer should start with you saying "Evening officer, what seems to be the trouble?"

Unless it happens to be morning. Or early afternoon.

Re:Guilty with no evidence?

[dnahelicase]

So much for a fair trial.

So by now, who hasnt wiped their ass off with the bill of rights?

In Ohio the officers might not be trained to operate the Bill of Rights...

Re:GPS

[nschubach]

I still like to say "evening." Keeps them on their toes.

In other news...

[stagg]

Ohio now allows police to guess whether or not pregnant mothers are carrying human offspring, or an animal hybrid. http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/06/03/1422213/OH-Senate-Passes-Bill-Banning-Human-Animal-Hybrids [slashdot.org] In cases where animal hybrids are suspected, the Ohio police are to issue a ticket immediately.

Re:GPS

[maxume]

So since you use a powerful, bold disclaimer, if you accidentally omit it sometime, does your previous use of the disclaimer then imply that you are giving legal advice when you omit it?

Or is it so much puffery?

Re:GPS

[Anonymous Coward]

Meow also works.

Re:Next Stop: Murder!

[masmullin]

You post like a briber. Im hauling you in!

Re:GPS

[JWSmythe]

You're right. Next time I'm stopped, I'll confess to speeding, running a stop sign last week, and the fact that there are 5 kilos of heroin in the trunk next to the dead hooker.

    No, hold on. How about I let him tell me why he's pulling me over, and I'll graciously accept the ticket for the burned out taillight.

    (Just kidding about the contents of my trunk. I promise.)

Re:Next Stop: Murder!

[JWSmythe]

    Maybe we can work something out. I'd like to make this cash donation to the "Widows and Orphans Fund". Would you be kind enough to deliver it for me? I don't need a receipt.

Re:Next Stop: Murder!

[Anonymous Coward]

He then warned me that besides being against the law, about half the time when they try to do a traffic stop in that area, the person will run, and that doesn't usually end nicely. Cars parked on the side of the road frequently get hit. He liked my car, and didn't want to see it damaged.

Sounds like a protection racket. "Nice car you've got there; be a shame if anything were to ... happen to it."

Re:This isn't so strange.

[RenderSeven]

Best to preempt any questions with "I'll bet you $50 you're going to give me a ticket"

Re:GPS

[pwnies]

What part of "Don't admit to knowing anything" is confusing you. If you tell them the time of day, they'll know that you know. Now they have the upper hand!

Re:Oh no they didn't.

[bi$hop]

There is a law against this, and it's one of the laws of physics.

I see no problem letting them guess my speed as long as they make an *educated* guess. I'm sure most of them have degrees in physics or mathematics anyway. They're probably just working temporarily as cops because they're in-between university research projects. They'll probably be using this equation: Vxf = xi + Vxi(t)

Re:Oh no they didn't.

[bi$hop]

Zero of course....it's the starting point!

The initial velocity (Vxi) is much more interesting to determine (but it wouldn't be that hard). You'd also have to add any acceleration that might occur: + (Ax)(t^2)

Re:Don't visit NC

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool story, bro, but you left out the part about whether you were actually speeding.

Re:GPS

[hasdikarlsam]

That's why I always say "evening", no matter the time of day!

Re:GPS

[DarthVain]

Yeah Sure.