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Using Google Maps to Get Out of a Traffic Ticket
Michael Nguyen writes "Edwin uses Google Maps to prove to the judge his traffic ticket was wrongly issued, saving himself some cash and points on his license. During his testimony, Edwin whips out a notebook, loads up Google Maps and upstages the offending officer with some quick Google Map searches." I wonder if anyone's gotten out of a ticket by showing how inaccurate most speed-check methods can be.
Now the guy can be charged for unauthorized access of a computer network, like that guy in Florida that /. mentioned last week.
The easiest way to get out of a speeding ticket is to ask the officer technical questions like "When was the last time the radar gun was calibrated?" and "What type of software does your system use?" Then hit them with the grand finale to get out of the ticket "May I see the code?"
Speeding tickets always include a) the speed, and b) the location. Both cannot be known with arbitrary precision, therefore the ticket must be bogus.
I heard of someone who tried. My government teacher in high school told us of a friend who contested a speeding ticket under the premise that the radar gun wouldn't tell the correct speed of his car when measured from the side. So, he paid for a jury trial, and proceeded to go on at great lengths on how the radar gun wasn't accurate. Everything was going fine until the cop took the stand.
He asked the cop, "So, is it true that radar guns do not measure the correct speed when used from the side instead of straight on?"
"Sure," the cop answered, "they register a lower speed."
Needless to say, the guy wasn't too happy about turning a relatively cheap speeding ticket into an expensive embarrassment.
That's an interesting specialty. He must pull down tens of dollars a day doing stuff like that.
He illegally used the court wifi and was charged with a felony for which he'll appear in court again at a later date. He's planning on using his laptop again to show how the judge was incorrect.
Works even better for trivial misdemeanors:
"My dog was NOT barking too loud. I would like to proceed to jury selection."
If you were as much of a pompous ass to the court as you are on Slashdot (Mr. "Senior Programmer"), no wonder you got your ass handed to you. It may not sound fair at first, but it's called Karma, and you had it coming to you.
That's right. It says that Snape is the Half-Blood Prince and kills Dumbledore.
After all, I am strangely colored.
You did it all wrong. When you get a parking ticket, put it on the car behind you. 9 times out of 10, the person will just pay it without looking at it.
A co-worker of mine used to do this when living on the east coast, and it only backfired twice, out of about 20 of them.
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Or at least that's my understanding of small town USA justice based on what we see on the TV...
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There was bitching on Boing Boing first, too!
I was doing the speed limit officer
There's a person with the title "speed limit officer"? And you were what, again? I always wondered if this worked to get out of a ticket, but figured it was myth...
...That's when you wave at him.
My girlfriend was running late to work one morning. She saw a cop in an SUV enter the freeway about 10 cars behind her, so she gunned it, figuring the SUV probably couldn't go that fast, and she was probably far enough ahead of him that he wouldn't notice. Of course that didn't work at all, and about a mile later she was pulled over. After he issued the ticket, as he was about to walk back to his car, the cop said, "Didn't you notice I was behind you?" She makes ridiculous comments all the time, and she answered, "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be able to catch me." I mean really.. you'd have to be stupid to say that to a cop.
So the court date rolled around about a month later. She decided to show up, plead guilty, and hope the charges would be reduced. The judge opened the case file and read over it for a minute. Finally he said: "Says here you thought you could outrun the cop?" And she just started laughing. "Well, he was in an SUV. I just thought..." And then the whole courtroom started laughing too. In the end, the judge decided to let her off with a warning because she made him laugh.
Sometimes the best defense is no defense.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Not paying the fine for a civil infraction is a crime. Funny, isn't it?
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
Slashdot is going downhill faster and faster.
That's completely unjustified! It's always been kinda half-assed.
I'd try that, but I'm in San Francisco. The guy behind me wouldn't pay it either.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
The admin of gearlive.com must be wondering if he can use Google Maps to get out of the slashdotting..
Remember, there are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive idiots.
and this is why you are not invited to more parties.
Are there really states where this is supposed to be a defense? In California they are very specific that the "flow of traffic" is not a legal defense for speeding. I think this is similar in Indiana and Massachusetts and I'd assumed it was the case for other states as well.
So the light turns green. (my light. the turning light. of a 10 lane highway +2 turning lanes)
This just makes me think of highway moderation. e.g., SR-137 (Score: +2, turning lanes)
Hi! That sounds just like Russia. You pay the officer a small "fee" to forget about the ticket. The fee might be of the same size as the ticket, but wont be recorded anywhere.
I had no idea Texas had that kind of corruption!