How a Lawyer Beats a Speeding Ticket

Since 1879 when the first two Americans were fined for speeding horses in Seattle, statistics show that an average of 41 million speeding tickets are issued every year in this country. Most of them are paid, leaving the offender to face the consequences of fines, increased insurance rates, and possibly a suspended driver’s licenses in some cases. Nevertheless, it does not have to be that way, since a speeding ticket attorney has many methods to help defendants beat speeding tickets, using the parameters within the law.

Varying Speeding Charges

Most people believe a speeding ticket is a speeding ticket, and an officer who observes or measures a speeder has objective evidence to prove it. The truth is, it isn’t always that clear. Some of the methods law enforcement agencies use in different states vary, and therefore, the means drivers can use to dispute those charges vary as well.

Some states use only an absolute speed limit as the means of measuring speeders. They post a speed limit and if they measure someone going over that limit, by radar devices, laser devices, or pacing, they pull them over and issue a ticket.

Other states may use the absolute method most of the time, but also include presumed speed limits. In those cases, as long as a driver is driving at a safe speed for the traffic, location, and conditions, they are presumed to be within the law. Only if they exhibit dangerous behavior that endangers themselves or others are they presumed to be speeding.

Finally, most states include a basic speed limit in their considerations. This is the slowest speed a person can drive without endangering others. Most police officers do not issue tickets for basic speed, or driving too slowly, unless it causes an accident or disrupts the flow of traffic.

Fighting Speeding Charges

No matter which type of speeding charge a driver faces, there are ways to fight a ticket.

There are many cars on the road today, and if the conditions are such that an officer could lose sight of a car between the time they discern that they are speeding and when they pull them over, they may have charged the wrong driver. If the defendant can show that there were turns and curves in the road between those events, they may have their case dismissed.

There are times when an emergency occurs on the roadway and the only way a driver can avoid being part of, or causing, an accident is by speeding up. There must be evidence of this incident, however, before this defense will stand up in court.

Not all speed detection devices are reliable or maintained to well enough to register the correct speed. In order to use this defense, however, the driver must have well-documented information about the device used, its use and maintenance specifications, and police records of how those devices were maintained. In addition, they must show evidence that such devices were faulty in the past in order to have the judge rule that they are faulty in this case.
When the charge is exceeding a presumed speed limit, a driver may be able prove that they were driving safely for the conditions and traffic at the time of the ticket. For this defense, however, the driver must have eyewitnesses or evidence that the traffic flow generally moves at that speed, in that location, at that time, every day.

When defending against a basic charge of speeding, since most of those tickets are issued after accidents, the key defense can be to prove that the accident was not the ticketed driver’s fault. It may have been the other driver’s fault, caused by bad driving conditions, or the result of poor road conditions or signage.

Getting Legal Help in Beating a Speeding Ticket

With all of the options available to a defendant, it can be important to focus on one primary defense, not all of the alternatives. For that reason, there must be a significant amount of evidence to create doubt about that one primary element. That can be done by an experienced speeding ticket attorney who is committed to helping their client beat their speeding ticket and keep a clean driving record.

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