Transportation and Vehicle Safety: Speeding Ticket 22349 b (TBD), radar gun, two cars

Question
Hi,

I received a 22349 b ticket for speeding at 72mph in a 55mph zone and wanted to know what may be the chances that I win the case by Trial By Declaration (TBD) and what I should focus or discuss my argument on.  

I was driving on hwy 120 and the CHP was approaching from the opposite direction of the hwy (approximately minimum 1/4 mile away).  Two cars were slightly behind me (~150-200ft), and closing in the distance (going faster than me).  The location was in a long straight hwy section of about 3/4-mile in length and just past that section of the hwy, the road turned and was no longer visible.  When I first saw the CHP he was coming off the turn and into the straight away, at that point I know for sure I was going max 60-65 (thinking I was in a 65pmh zone), the CHP past me and the other two cars now were just behind me and then immediately after passing the last car did a u-turn, put his flashing lights and all cars including myself pulled over, but parked behind me.  When he came to my window he told me that he had recieved several calls about people reporting us as driving recklessly at speeds over 90mph (which were totally false) and had been looking for us (almost word by word he said it like that) and had tagged me going 72mph.  He then gave me the ticket and that was it.

For this situation I have 2 arguments that I would like to ask your opinion on.  

First, as far as radar accuracy, how much could the CHP radar gun have been affected if he was coming off a turn and would have had an angle making it hard to target my car only and not have been intercepted or affected by the other two cars speeds approaching my car, making it seem like I was going at a faster speed?  Or Could he have had an actual reading of 72mph from the cars behind me and just assumed it was my speed and because of the reports (which I'm assuming by the my car's description easy to notice since I had two snowboards on top of the roof) he decided to give me a ticket simply because of his assumption?

Second,  I understand for speeding tickets if you are going 0-15mph over the speed limit it is one fine category and if you are going 15 or over it goes into a higher fine category.  So if I know for sure that I was going 60-65 (assume 65mph) I would still be breaking the speed limit, however, my fine would be lower.  So I understand I would be admitting guilt, but would I be able to make a case out of this to reduce my fine of $363 to maybe in the $250 area?

I am assuming I won't be able to provide both arguments in the TBD because of the 2nd argument (assuming guilt to a degree), however, please advise for what may be my best chance on winning the TBD or at least if I have a chance on reducing my fine (but also after reduction being able to still attend traffic school).

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Alberto
SF Bay Area

Answer
Hello Alberto and welcome to AllExperts!

Your violation is for exceeding the maximum speed limit, which is 55 on a 2 lane undivided highway, unless posted otherwise.

Concerning your first question, you would have to determine when he had tagged your car as they often run radar from a fixed point. Regardless, radar today is not what it used to be. Technology has greatly improved isolation, distance to target, angle of return and so on. This makes the device very accurate, and the only main issue is what vehicle was actually targeted.

If this was laser based, they can actually tag one car out of 30 in extremely close proximity to one another and have an absolutely accurate read. In this case, it would be most difficult to fight.

If the device was non-laser based, depending on how close the other vehicles were to yours, it's entirely possible the device picked up another car, as the target is usually the one traveling the fastest. If one of the other cars were closing the distance to yours, it was probably that car which gave the return. In this case, the speed was correct, but the wrong vehicle was tagged.

Concerning your second question, you should be cautious, as this is a two part issue. One is whether you were violating the speed limit and the other is what your actual speed was. If you admit your guilt, but do not convince the judge that the wrong car was tagged, then you will be penalized at the higher fine.

I recommend you first discover whether standard radar or laser based radar was used. If this is standard radar, then I would submit your facts based on the close proximity of the vehicles and specifically the ones closing the distance to yours (traveling faster). Your case should be based on being wrongly tagged for the stated speed. If lidar based, I recommend you request traffic school.

Regarding the report of reckless driving, this would certainly be a reason to enforce that area or roadway, but the officer cannot in and of itself base the citation on a violation that he did not personally observe. The judge will not allow this report to influence his decision, rather, it will be based on the facts that are substantiated.

Best of luck to you!

Terry