will dash cam help fight speed cam ticket?

[twoscoops]

Like everyone else, I drive at or slightly above the posted speed limit. (knowingly or unknowingly)

A few weeks ago, I drove past a known speed camera pole and the flash went off behind me. I looked at my speedometer and the needle was between 30mph and 40mph. Since I wasn't speeding, I was confused... I thought the camera might have been taking picture of another car behind me... but there were no cars anywhere near me at the time. This was around 11pm on a deserted street in the suburbs.

Imagine my surprise when I received a nice speed camera ticket in the mail. It had a picture of my car at that location. It said I was doing 52mph in a 35mph zone. I know it's from the same date because I was driving home from the airport that night.

I know my speedometer is functioning properly... It's within 2mph of the speed shown on my phone using the GPS test app.

There's probably zero chance of winning if I go fight this ticket. Since it's a $102 ticket and no points are assessed, I'll just pay it.

That's why I'm now thinking about getting a dash cam. Can the dash cam video be used in court to prove that I was not speeding? (with the GPS data and video with timestamp) Perhaps the dash cam video will even show the flash from the speed cam?

 

[niko]

Like everyone else, I drive at or slightly above the posted speed limit. (knowingly or unknowingly)

A few weeks ago, I drove past a known speed camera pole and the flash went off behind me. I looked at my speedometer and the needle was between 30mph and 40mph. Since I wasn't speeding, I was confused... I thought the camera might have been taking picture of another car behind me... but there were no cars anywhere near me at the time. This was around 11pm on a deserted street in the suburbs.

Imagine my surprise when I received a nice speed camera ticket in the mail. It had a picture of my car at that location. It said I was doing 52mph in a 35mph zone. I know it's from the same date because I was driving home from the airport that night.

I know my speedometer is functioning properly... It's within 2mph of the speed shown on my phone using the GPS test app.

There's probably zero chance of winning if I go fight this ticket. Since it's a $102 ticket and no points are assessed, I'll just pay it.

That's why I'm now thinking about getting a dash cam. Can the dash cam video be used in court to prove that I was not speeding? (with the GPS data and video with timestamp) Perhaps the dash cam video will even show the flash from the speed cam?

You story is sad.
You do not need to have a GPS, because if your dash camera is not authorised / recognized by local legal system, then gps data on the screen can not be accepted in court.
However your speed can be calculated from video: distance you drive within certain time. Good lawyer would win a case this way. You can not alter time on the screen of your dash camera recording. One second will stay one second. This way case could be won.

 

[BobDiaz]

Sadly with speeding tickets you are guilty and must prove your innocence. With the date, time, and speed burned into the video, you might have a chance, BUT it will be an uphill battle.


Bob Diaz

 

[niko]

Lawyers, court time, all kind of hustle etc. - it will not worth on 102usd.
Only thing to go to court with this minor ticket is if you want to "beat the system" and proof your innocence for your own peace of mind.
Of course you can engage media to get more attention. This way all speed cameras will be re-tested and calibrated by authorities.

 

[CD55]

I'm not sure if it is true but someone told me the flash goes off when the charge in the capacitor decays past a certain point so it will recharge.
Lets keep fingers crossed you don't get a ticket.

 

[Roadcam HD]

http://help.orf.at/stories/1717004//#top

 

[jokiin]

http://help.orf.at/stories/1717004//#top

would certainly be counter productive to try and fight a $100 fine and risk getting a $10,000 fine in the process

good reminder to check local laws before using a dashcam

 

[cantremember]

Reminds me of a fixed speed trap in my area who seems to be rigged. Seen it flash many cars, even several cars in a row driving like turtles.

 

[grholme]

Hi.
I had a similar situation. I received a Red light camera ticket of $350, Camera showed me at the stop line of the intersection with the light showing amber. 1.5 second later is another photo showing me in the middle of the intersection and the stop light is Red.
What this failed to show is that when approaching the intersection I was almot att it when the light turned amber then within 2 seconds it went red maybe even quicker than 2 seconds I had no chance. I was not speeding.
When I called a paralegal to fight the ticket they asked which intersection. They said "oh that one. Yeah we know about it" It would cost me $500 to fight it.
This is deliberate theft by that city. A dash cam would have at least proven that I had no chance to stop in time. I was not exceeding the speed limit being aware of speed traps.
That motivated me to get a dash cam... Well. that and the fact that at another stop light another time a guy reversed instead of going forward. That cost me $700 for "rear ending" him. so I lost $1000 by unethical and immoral reasons. To me a few hundred for a dash cam is worth it ..
Glenn

 

[HangFire]

Complain to the locality elected official(s) AND CC THE LOCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Say you refuse to patronize any business in the area until this is fixed.

 

[kamban]

Here in USA in most jurisdictions if you enter the intersection on yellow you cannot get a ticket even if it turns red while you are in the middle or exiting the junction.
It should already be red when you enter the junction.

 

[cheekytrucker]

Only other thing I can suggest is to ask for proof of calibration of the Speed Camera, all camera, fixed and mobile must be calibrated.
With this camera recording so far adrift from the truth, it may also be worth a phone call to a local paper, I bet you are not the only person to be caught out by it.

 

[OldGoat]

Only other thing I can suggest is to ask for proof of calibration of the Speed Camera, all , camera, fixed and mobile must be calibrated.
With this camera recording so far adrift from the truth, it may also be worth a phone call to a local paper, I bet you are not the only person to be caught out by it.

I agree, in the distant past I have beaten several speeding tickets by going to court and challenging the calibration of the "radar", I would think the Speed Camera should have the same type of calibration requirements. I don't mind if the speed camera is used for a ticket of over 10 mph, but I have read in Chicago it has been issued for going over 3 mph, which I feel is too close to the "margin of error", and is just a speed trap.

 

[sludgeguts]

I keep hearing about this 'margin of error' - I think that car speedos are purposely calibrated to read just below real speeds because it is so often difficult to tell at a glance just how fast you are really going. Added to which, a brand new tyre can give a completely different speed reading from a very worn tyre - especially on the really knobbly/chunky tyres you often find on landrovers etc.
Unless, of course, you are talking about the 10% that people often talk about. Here in the UK, that's simply a load of nonsense. My wife got a photo of her car doing 32mph in a 30 zone. She elected to go on the awareness course & met many others who were also within the 10%.
The speedo in my car only has figures for 20, 40, 60, 80 etc mph - whereas the major speed limits are 30, 50 and 70!
I can (and have) plugged a reader into my car's OBD port to get a digital readout of my speed - and this just confuses things even more - I thought I was good at keeping my speed stready but the readout says otherwise.
It may have been a good many years since I was originally taught to drive, but my old instructor always said, if you keep the needle so the top edge is just under or touching the marks on your speedo then you can't go too far wrong. Advice that I believe has served me well.

 

[Quick]

Hi.
I had a similar situation. I received a Red light camera ticket of $350, Camera showed me at the stop line of the intersection with the light showing amber. 1.5 second later is another photo showing me in the middle of the intersection and the stop light is Red.
What this failed to show is that when approaching the intersection I was almot att it when the light turned amber then within 2 seconds it went red maybe even quicker than 2 seconds I had no chance. I was not speeding.
When I called a paralegal to fight the ticket they asked which intersection. They said "oh that one. Yeah we know about it" It would cost me $500 to fight it.
This is deliberate theft by that city. A dash cam would have at least proven that I had no chance to stop in time. I was not exceeding the speed limit being aware of speed traps.

Generally here in the States your camera/recording are not going to be allowed. It's not a certified device, it doesn't have a certified (regular) calibration, etc, etc. ...besides, how do you prove the recording was from your camera in your car while you were driving it? You're also not likely to pay thousands for a recognized by the court expert to testify as to the validity of all that. Even so, everything is up to the judge's discretion and they just might look at it and just might let it influence their ruling. Just don't have much in the way of expectations.

That motivated me to get a dash cam... Well. that and the fact that at another stop light another time a guy reversed instead of going forward. That cost me $700 for "rear ending" him. so I lost $1000 by unethical and immoral reasons. To me a few hundred for a dash cam is worth it ..
Glenn

In this case you might have higher expectations. You can identify the car, and show that it did indeed back into you.

 

[bn880]

I keep hearing about this 'margin of error' - I think that car speedos are purposely calibrated to read just below real speeds because it is so often difficult to tell at a glance just how fast you are really going. Added to which, a brand new tyre can give a completely different speed reading from a very worn tyre - especially on the really knobbly/chunky tyres you often find on landrovers etc...

Right, but they are all calibrated to show just ABOVE real speed, to be safe. Usually something around 1.5-3%

 

[Quick]

Right, but they are all calibrated to show just ABOVE real speed, to be safe. Usually something around 1.5-3%

I wonder if that's less true with digital/electronic speedometers now. Definitely used to be the case with mechanical/cable driven speedometers.
My car is spot on according to the "your speed is" radar signs. This model came new with 2 different tire configurations. 245/45/20 on all 4 corners or a stagger with 255/45/20 on the rear. With the 245/45/20 the speedometer is right on. With the 255s it's about 1 mph off at 80.

 

[kamkar]

Back in the late 80ties my friend got masured by a cop with a speed gun ( assume a radar based one )
The cop masuered my friend on MC to do 180 km/h on a small street and in rush houer in the 2 largest town in Denmark, after talking to the cops on site for a while the mesurment was dropped as they mesured a mom with her kid in a stroller to do 62 km/h.

The speedo in my Little 2011 Suzuki is off by 9-13 km/h compared to "your speed radar signs" and GPS up to 130 km/h witch is the fastest you can drive legally in Denmark.
When my speedo indicate i am doing 70 km/h, GPS and speed signs indicate 60 km/h.

The same was the case with my previous 2 cars witch where Suzuki and Mitsubishi 4x4 cars, speedo allways indicate more then actual speed, allso here in DK cops deduct 3% off mesurment.

 

[bn880]

I wonder if that's less true with digital/electronic speedometers now. Definitely used to be the case with mechanical/cable driven speedometers.
My car is spot on according to the "your speed is" radar signs. This model came new with 2 different tire configurations. 245/45/20 on all 4 corners or a stagger with 255/45/20 on the rear. With the 245/45/20 the speedometer is right on. With the 255s it's about 1 mph off at 80.

It's still true with electronic speed sensors. You might be off by 2Km and not notice it. Some cars with custom ECU programming will have the speed corrected by the shops/people doing the tuning.

 

[Hillbilly]

In Australia and maybe other countries the ADR rules on speedo accuracy are A Speedo may NOT read UNDER the actual speed of the vehicle.
It may have a margin of error above the actual speed of up to 10% +or- 4% so it may read as high as 14 over at 100 MY Passat is 6 kph over at 100kph and the Polo is 7 over.

Can adjust the Passat but not the Polo and the tyres to bring it right would be too big and be illegal.