Quote:
Dan L said:
someone said that if you're not handed the 'ticket' by an officer it is unenforceable in court. ?
Sorry, I am afraid it is enforceable, if they can positively identify your face in the picture.
If it is blurred, wrong sex (compared with car's registered owner), doesn't look like your drivers license picture, or ..., they often try to convince the owner he/she must snitch on who was driving. You do NOT have to answer. See the following site for very extensive discussions of this in California:
http://www.highwayrobbery.net/Culver City appears to be one of the worst problem areas.
Also CA drivers should be aware of some *good* idiosyncrasies in our traffic laws. There are links on the the site I referred to.
For example,The "Basic Speed Law" applies when you are driving under 55 (65 on freeway) on a non-local road, etc., and says exceeding the posted speed limit is only "prima facie" evidence that you are driving at a speed "greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property."
Most important:
"(b) The speed of any vehicle upon a highway in excess of the prima facie speed limits in Section 22352 or established as authorized in this code is prima facie unlawful unless the defendant establishes by competent evidence that the speed in excess of said limits did not constitute a violation of the basic speed law at the time, place and under the conditions then existing."
This means that exceeding the speed limit (under 55) is not illegal, only that the onus is on you to prove that you were driving reasonably and prudently if you were exceeding the limit.
As far as I know this unusual law is unique to California. Elsewhere, exceeding the speed limit is unlawful, not just prima facie unlawful (and in CA that is the case over 55 mph).
Reading the law is easy:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/tocd11c7a1.htm I wish I had known this when I got nailed going 36 in a 30 (cop said it was 25, but I soon noticed a 30 sign!!) on totally empty 4 lanes, one way, Folsom St at 9 AM on a beautiful Saturday in San Francisco. (He was offended that I passed his motorcycle while talking with my wife without seeing him and bowing.) I now think I could have won in court, but I took the ridiculous online school.
Another little known, though complex, defense in CA is the anti-Speed Trap law, which forbids use of radar under certain not unusual circumstances. Search dmv and the highwayrobbery site.
Also, with regard to front license plates, see
http://www.moweraxle.com/homepage.htmlHe has license plate mounts (for under $100) that fit in the tow hook socket on Porsches and are very easy to put in -- and remove. I am testing the strategy of carrying one around assembled with a plate in my trunk. So, if questioned, I can say I was about to mount it, offer to do so on the spot, and attempt to deflect a ticket.