speeding?? No Proof

66o66o

Hey,
i got stopped speeding by a cop a while back,
he never gave me a ticket at the time and he didn't have a speed gun so didn't actually show me proof of me speeding,
but he said i was speeding because he was and he was driving behind me!

What do you think? Should i contest it or do you trhink i'll get done for it!

dermot_sheehan

Are you sure he did not use a device to measure your speed? e.g. either a speed gun or specially calibrated speedometer in his own car.

Reason is s. 105 of the Road Traffic Act requires that opinion evidence as to speed be corroborated

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA24Y1961S105.html

Guy:Incognito

You should stop speeding.

bazz26

66o66o wrote:

Hey,
i got stopped speeding by a cop a while back,
he never gave me a ticket at the time and he didn't have a speed gun so didn't actually show me proof of me speeding,
but he said i was speeding because he was and he was driving behind me!

What do you think? Should i contest it or do you trhink i'll get done for it!

Maybe the camera was built into the front of the car?

Did you receive points in the post yet?

66o66o

Don;t think the car was set for speeding, as i said he didn;t even write me a speeding ticket! just said i was speeding, his opinion.

he def didn't have a speed gun! don;t even think he was looking for speeders, just an oportunistic catch for him.

Oh yeah don't usually speed but empty motorway and + 10 miles an hour over the limit isn;t really that bad

66o66o

didn;t get any points yet! got a summons to court alright!

Guy:Incognito

A straight summons? did you punch him in the face or something?

66o66o

no , i got the fine but never paid it, thought i should contest it!
Just seeing if anybody had an opinion either way.

if he had no speed camera in the car and couldn;t record my speed
he never gave me a speeding ticket either just said i was speeding and said expect something in the post. he never wrote me a ticket or anything at the time.

so do ye think i should contest or what?

jimmycrackcorm

Contest it. Any half witted solicitor would get you easily out of that. E.g. how did the Garda measure your speed relative to his own; how accurate is his car speed indicator.

I have a friend who was up in court because a Garda formed an opinion that he was driving dangerously by virtue that he took off too quick when a traffic light turned to Green. His solicitor embarassed the garda in court and the judge dismissed on a lack of exidence.

66o66o

yeah think i will. I'll let ye know how it goes!

WizZard

AFAIK (and IANAL!) you need to have two gardaí to verify that you were speeding. i.e. if two or more gardaí in a car observe and agree that you are speeding the offense holds up.

Big Nelly

Again can everyone actually get some information. The Garda do not hand you a piece of paper anymore telling you are speeding etc. Its all electronic to save them time so you dont get handed a ticket. Some of the small Garda stations in rural Ireland(hills of Donegal) won't have this technology yet but anyone on a main road etc will just get it put onto system automatically

johnnyrotten

Contest it at your peril!
In the current climate the Judge is going to side with the Garda. Remember the Garda is going to give evidence against you, albeit in the form of a statement, but this is taken as evidence none the less.
Take it on the chin and slow down!

milltown

Garda cars are fitted with calibrated speedometers. The speedo in your car and mine only have to be 100% accurate at 30mph (presumably metricated now) and otherwise can be 10% out, iirc. His is accurate, so if he was speeding following you, you were speeding. Q.E.D.

You were very foolish to wait until you were summonsed to start finding out if there is an escape route. You have probably doubled your points and fine.

On a slightly different note; why have we so many posts here now from people who have been caught speeding and admit that they were speeding but still want to get away with it? Whatever happened to just taking your medicine? I very much doubt anybody here got caught the first time they exceeded a speed limit. Common sense dictates that the more often you speed and the more dangerous you are on the road, the more likely you are to be caught.

Penalty points were introduced to hammer this point home and stop the serial speeders and company car drivers who didn't give a second thought to writing cheques for speeding tickets every week.

_Kaiser_

Stekelly wrote:

You should stop speeding.

:rolleyes:

layke

66o66o wrote:

no , i got the fine but never paid it, thought i should contest it!
Just seeing if anybody had an opinion either way.

if he had no speed camera in the car and couldn;t record my speed
he never gave me a speeding ticket either just said i was speeding and said expect something in the post. he never wrote me a ticket or anything at the time.

so do ye think i should contest or what?

Did you admit the speed you were doing to the copper? If so your fooked.
If you said something like, "I dunno but I think it wasn't that fast" your ok.

Can you remeber at all, because you can guerentee he has it written down.

JHMEG

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1123/motoring.html

deman

Were you or were you not speeding?

testicle

milltown wrote:

Garda cars are fitted with calibrated speedometers. The speedo in your car and mine only have to be 100% accurate at 30mph (presumably metricated now) and otherwise can be 10% out, iirc. His is accurate, so if he was speeding following you, you were speeding. Q.E.D.

No they are not.

QED

Seth Brundle

Stekelly wrote:

You should stop speeding.

How exactly is that answering the original post?

deman wrote:

Were you or were you not speeding?

Again, this is not relevant. The question being asked was about being caught speeding without any form of official detection equipment and whether this is legal.

66o66o

Oh Hey i may or may not have got off with it already! Lol.

_____________________
i did
_________________

read between the lines

drdre

get a solictor, and fight for the case, if they have NO proof the judge will tell them to .......... because its a waste of time when theres no proof. Or another option is to contact the guard through the solictor and talk to him and tell him that you were not speeding and try to mutually agree.This is possible only through the solictor.

kippy

Oh yeah don't usually speed but empty motorway and + 10 miles an hour over the limit isn;t really that bad

Wrong attitude. It is against the law.

If what you are telling us is true and you have told us everything then I believe you have a pretty valid case of contesting the charge.



There are more and more people trying to get off on speeding charges, which in my opinion is a good thing as it shows more and more people are getting caught. The pity is the guards seem to be leaving certain loopholes that these people (OP included) can get off, even when they admit themselves that they are breaking the law.


I am a bit skeptical of the reasoning and timing behind the OP's post as well as some of the comments he has expressed. If he is being truthful he should be able to tell us how he got off and how he didnt spot the Garda car behind him (or was it undercover)

Kippy

milltown

testicle wrote:

No they are not.

QED

My bad. Upon further research it appears that only the British traffic cars are thus equipped.

Sizzler

milltown wrote:

On a slightly different note; why have we so many posts here now from people who have been caught speeding and admit that they were speeding but still want to get away with it? Whatever happened to just taking your medicine?

Also upon reading the many posts on the forum in relation to speeding there appears to just as many 'holier than thou' merchants who simply direct people to 'take it on the chin' etc.

How many of these people have actually got caught speeding and were you angry at all in the slightest?

Duckjob

Stekelly wrote:

You should stop speeding.

kbannon wrote:

How exactly is that answering the original post?

It's not, but it allows the poster to bask in the glow of self righteousness while at the same time contributing nothing to the topic of the thread.

OP, in your situation I'd probably just take the fine and points. If you've been good and didnt have points already then there's probably going to be little if any change to your insurance.

Could be risky to contest it within the current climate - especially if the garda does have recorded evidence it could go doubly bad for you.

milltown

Sizzler wrote:

Also upon reading the many posts on the forum in relation to speeding there appears to just as many 'holier than thou' merchants who simply direct people to 'take it on the chin' etc.

How many of these people have actually got caught speeding and were you angry at all in the slightest?

If that's directed at me, yes I was caught speeding, once, before points were introduced. Was I angry? Yes, very, but only because I was at a barbecue and we had run out of ice and I offered to go get some. I got a £80 (iirc) fine for doing 42mph in a 30 on a Sunday afternoon. What made me angry was my own stupidity for not paying attention to the limit, I was in no hurry, and the fact that I was out of pocket for doing some friends a favour.

I am a lot more careful since and especially since points were introduced. I do occasionally find myself on the wrong side of the limit but if or when I get caught by the Gardaí doing so, I will pay my fine, accept my points and resolve not to gather any more.