787B

I know its almost a fact that all cars have speedometers that are not 100 percent accurate but how innacurate is the speedometer on an FC, specifically a 1990 GXL.

I got my first ticket today in my car and it really makes me mad because the cop got me in a cheap place. I was driving down a straight stretch and its a fairly steep hill and its 4 lane. The road is about 700 yards of that hill until it reaches a stop light. There werent any cars around me and its about 10 in the morning. As I am going down the hill picking up momentum I brake a little but I dont just lay on the brakes because my pads are pretty worn and my brakes are squeaky and I didnt feel the need to waste my brakes all the way down the hill just to keep the car at 35 which is the speed limit. The cop was waiting at the bottom of the hill in a neighborhood off his motorcycle w/ the radar and he gets me from a long distance before i see him and he walks out to the middle of the road and points for me to pull over. I was so pissed because if you could actually see the road and how all this happened you would realize how cheap of a place it is to give people tickets because everyone easily cruises at 10 over because of the hill.

I could have downshifted and quickly turned into a parking lot to my left and driven aroudn the mall and gotten away since he was 10 feet from his motorcycle but i know it is hard to get away from the radio and plus he got a good look at my car. Also I know getting caught is 10 times as bad as just one ticket.

Anyway this cop doesnt even give me a warnign and its the first time i have ever gotten pulled over. He said well i clocked you at 47 in a 35 and i was like WTF?????????

I admit i was speeding a little over 35 but I can honestly say that my speedometer said 42 MPH. Is it off that much or can i not read it correctly?

Those of you with an FC that have gotten pulled over did the speedometer match what the cop said your speed was? I am wondering how much it is off.

Scott 89t2

do you have stock rims/tire size?

that sucks, I pretty sure cops can't give you tickets at the bottom of the hill here I'm 99% sure it's a law here.

Evil Aviator

Yeah, the speedo isn't all that accurate from the factory, and different sized tires and tire pressure make it even worse. However, it is quite possible that the police officer's radar gun was also out of calibration. Most of them need to be tuned before use in order to be accurate for the current atmospheric conditions. The officers are supposed to enter the calibration time in their log in case anyone contests the ticket.

Here's a good link for the mazda mechanical speedo gears. I didn't feel like dealing with all this gear stuff, so I went with the SPA speedo/tach which can be electronically calibrated for different tire sizes.
http://mrmazda.members.atlantic.net/speedo.html

fcturbo2

Did you get pulled over on the same car you just bought???Is the cop the same cop that inspected your 7 and thought it had pist-on??

Josepi

First off, alter your stock rims if you still have them. Or find someone to let you borrow theirs. Next goto a shop and have them recalibrate it. Take that to court. If you do it promptly (1 week or less from today) and keep the rims on the car till court, the judge will most likely reduce it or throw it out, seeing that you were nieve when it comes to changing rim sizes and how that affects speedos. After court swap back and recalibrate. Yes yes lots of time and $$, but in the long run with costly insurance, the bill you pay now would save your *** in the haul.

Joe

Gene

iTrader: (1)

heh, I often downshift and ride a lower gear down the hill, which is the right way to go donwhill, not cooking your brakes. makes a cool sound too! (bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa)

vaughnc

You can probably get out of it if you go see the judge. I'd have some type of proof your speedo was out of wack and/or your record is clean and you were STOPPING for a readlight.

47 in a 35 is a stupid ticket - I drive that fast all the time in traffic and around 45mph by myself.

DroptopRX7

iTrader: (12)

Its a completely untenable situation, but advice on the laws in other countries or even other states is not helpful. Neither does the fact that you changed tires, your speedo wasn't calibrated, your coffee spilled in your lap, you have to go to the bathroom, etc. Those are all factors you have control over, according to the court. You use those factors as reasons to get the ticket mitigated or do the driving school thing if your state allows it, but the point is:
A violation of the speed limit is a STRICT LIABILITY offense in the majority of states. Unless the speed reading was inaccurately obtained, anything else is an excuse. That doesn't mean it won't be heard, but you are trying to fall on the mercy of the court if your attempt at getting out of the ticket on the road fell on deaf ears! Be wary of advice or stories of what happened in other jurisdictions. Its not persuasive. The court in your case is only interested in what Kansas law states. You're from Kansas, right?
All this advice on what to do or not do or to argue comes up time and again. Best advice? Hire a lawyer to strike a deal with the district attorney. Present it as a done deal to the judge who only wants to get through the docket! The money you pay the lawyer will be a pittance compared to the funds the insurance collects if the ticket goes on your record!
RW

MikeL

Dude..., I haven't had a ticket since January of 1981. There's no excuse at all. Pay the ticket and slow down.

I also advise that you listen to DroptopRX7 as he should know about these things for two reasons: 1) He's a demon driver and 2) His occuaption.

He's in the business of lying to help make things go his way. We all need his type sometimes though. I think you need one like him now if you're gonna fight it. Hey, if we don't feed the sharks, there will be no sharks and, we all need a toof'd MF from time to time, don't we?

Seriously though, good luck with it and, SLOW DOWN!

Mike

DroptopRX7

iTrader: (12)

1. Keep driving fast and keep feeding the profession. "You gotta put your money where your mouth is!"
The town, the court, the clerks, the liars...I mean lawyers, the cops are all fed by the income from traffic violations.
2. Buy a Valentine 1. My mother is a chronic speeder but only speeds in jurisdictions other than home. The cops and judges know her too well. And she always, always has the Valentine or Escort alert and ready. Finally, she's got a staff of liars...dammit...lawyers on hand. "Speed costs money, how fast can you go?"
Ralf

LLADNAR

Shawnee County Traffic cops SUCK ***,,i got busted on my birthday ina car i had never driven before and he got me from roughly a mile away,,and the road i was on was right next to a highway that had cars on it going about the speed that he says i was going,,,i htink he clocked a car on the highway and busted my *** instead,,,,but my sister works at the courthouse and i ended up just paying the court costs

787B

yes it is the car i just bought but no it wasnt the cop that thought my car had pistons. I wish that were the case because I would give her a good example of how the rotary works by burning out right in front of her and then heading for the border.

I am still mad about this ticket though because I honestly do not speed all the time and the one time i just coast down a hill to save on gas a cop gets me and acts like a dick. I should have gotten a warning since I have never been pulled over but NOOOOO...

I am going to get fight it or pay a little extra to get a diversion (i only get one of those) and that will help my insurance.

yes i still have the stock tires/rims and i know my speedometer did not say 47. You are right though that is just an excuse and the court might not buy it.

oh and i would have downshifted to ride in a higher gear but i dont want to hear my leaky cat go pop pop leak leak

anyway i have learned my lesson : GET A VALENTINE 1

DroptopRX7

iTrader: (12)

Don't misunderstand. Any reason you give might be valid. You were sliding down the hill on ice, your speedo didn't work, you were only 2 mph over, you are new and didn't know the speed limit, etc. Strictly speaking, its the LAW that says if you violate even by one iota, you are guilty of violating the law, no matter what the reason. You might try to get out of it on the street with the cop or later you get a "diversion" or whatever the court calls it. Many times the cop will make a decision right there and then, but it is within their discretion, they do not have to give you a break. Knowing that, always be polite, no matter how much it hurts, and don't stand out. If you have to go to court, they might not remember the incident enough for it to be worthwhile to give testimony or won't show up. Of course, your lawyer might try a couple of continuances to try a time when the cop can't be there to act as witness. Those are all stratagems though, after the fact. The point is that the law does not tolerate excuses, no matter how worthwhile, if you violate the speed limit. That is presuming all the speed detection devices, including the cops eyes, are working properly.
RW

LLADNAR

there is allways loopholes,,,you can ask for the calibration records for the radar gun,,the police officer must be there.(right to face your accuser),,and even if you are clocked by an airplane speed trap the pilot of the plane or helicopter must also be present


but since you have the opportunity forthe diversion i would take it

darkwaveboi

i actually had an encounter w/ a pretty cool virginia state sheriff. I was cruisin in a neighborhood going 35 in a 25 zone at 11:00 at night, and this cop car was driving the opposite direction as me but i didtn see him. of course it had to be right after a stop sign so you could hear me coming from a block away. well i saw his lights flash, and i was like, yep, thats for me, so i pulled over in literally one house (30 ft). i had already pulled over and had my window down, radio off by the time he had made the U. well he pulls up beside me..

cop: "Is this your car?"
me: "yes sir.." (thinking..wtf..was it called in stolen or something)
cop: "how old are you"
me: "18"
cop: "so you bought this car"
me: "no, my mom bought it.."
cop: "so its your parents car?"
me: "yes sir"
cop: "i see you got an exhaust on there..you like drivin FAST puttin parts on?"
me: "its only the exhaust sir, i see them on lots of cars and thought it was cool" (trying to sound as ignorant as possible)

cop: "you know that exhaust is illegal and you seemed to be going to fast, if you keep speeding, you'll get pulled over and over again and lose your license or hit some kid one day and ruin your life"
me: "oh..im sorry i was driving fast sir, i'll try to keep it down"
cop: "alrite, drive safe"

the cop didnt even ask to see my license or registration. i could of been 14 years old and he wouldnt of known if the car wasnt reported...goes to show that if you show more respect for them..they'll let you off easier or totally..keep in mind this was the sheriff, so he really is the badass of all street cops. too bad he had no way of clockin me because he was driving the opposite direction..but i also showed a lot of ignorance..which he probably felt bad for me for. oh well...

he still didnt ask me how many cylinders..

on another note...a lot of my friends are all american muscle car boys and think they're badass...its extremely fun giong up to people and telling them your car will beat theres with a 60 cubic inch engine...heheh...

Felix Wankel

Radars have a switch to work that way.


13B's are 80 ci, and 12A's are 70 ci

darkwaveboi

are you serious? well..hmm..the sticker under my hood said 30ci x 2

NathanRX7

Are you sure about that? Better go check.

XimbueX

You baby, 47 in a 35 is nothing, go to court and get it thrown out. Worse case it only gets dropped to 9 over and you have to pay a little fine.

Learn to downshift next time, so you wont have to wear down your precious brakes.

By the sound of your attitude, no wonder the cop gave you a ticket.

.[ matt ford. IM:XimbueX
.[ 88 GXL. -> Modded [to death (literally)]
.[ 87 TurboII -> Fresh Canvas
.[ Mazda Sports Car Club of NC http://www.msccnc.org

Maxthe7man

There are alot of loopholes to fight tickets, just do a "google" web search on it...
Radar and laser guns have to be perfectly inline with the target vehicle in order to be 100% accurate, no cop will tell you this, but they probably don't know either, if its radar, the chances of it being wrong are great, you can get a radar gun to clock a stop sign at 50 mph if you want it to, over distance the beam is so wide, the cop really has no idea what they are picking up, I drive through this one town on the way home, they recently reduced the speed from 70 km/h to 60 km/h and put an automatic radar readout sign on the road, that shows the maximim speed allowed (60) and above that the speed of your car, when I went through it, I held the needle steady at 60, the sign flashed 85,72,57,79,43, etc etc, it was all over the place, and only one reading was remotley close, a couple of days later, I went by the sign again, this time with a bunch of other cars that were all doing around 55-65, the sign was flashing 112,34,61, 78....
Laser is accurate to a degree, however, as Car and Driver, and Road and Track have both shown, a car with good headlights and driving lights on it can skew the readings, or make it impossible to read the speed.. Also a car that is angular with sloping low hood lines like a corvette( or FC), is incredibly hard to get an accurate reading off of, even with laser, than a vehicle like a bus, or truck that has a large upright shiny grill...
The way society works, we and the courts often take the word of the law enforcers as gospel, the cop had a speed reading device, so what? does he know how to use it, is accurate in all circumstances? Did he visually know that you were speeding? They are actually supposed to know you are speeding and only use the radar/laser for verification..
If you know that you were not excessivley speeding, thats up for you to prove in court, if you were, thats your fault, and your responsibility
Just make sure that you weren't getting picked on for being a guy in a sports car, as much as this sounds like a stereotype of cops and people, its true, sporty cars attract cops, I have seen it first hand with my dad driving a tinted out first gen, they pulled him over, they were pretty suprised to see an old gray guy driving the car, the tipped their hats, and said have a nice day, no tickets, no warning, no explanation, if it were me driving though, I think the outcome would have been much different..Max

787B

thank you guys for all the advice. I will pay to get a diversion and will be more careful around town.

anyway i do know how to downshift and ride in a higher gear to slow me down and under the speed limit XimbueX, but like i said for now my exhaust is junk and taking my foot off the gas releases a hideous sound of popping & clunking from my leaky cats and exhaust so i choose not to do it....its embarrassing.

XimbueX

More embarrasing then getting pulled over?

MIKE-P-29

You seriously better watch what you say when you get pulled over. Saying something like the spedometer doesnt work or something to that affect will net you a ticker for inproper equipment