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When Speeding Isn't Speeding
The difference between fighting one of these tickets and a speeding ticket for going over the speed limit is that here the prosecution has the burden of proving you were driving unsafely. (Again, that's because the posted speed limit is presumed to be safe.) This means the officer must testify that, given the unusual road, weather, or traffic conditions, your below-the-limit speed was unsafe. This can be tough to do unless you were involved in an accident, since the cop may be hard put to come up with enough hard evidence to rebut the presumption established by the posted limit.
Police most often rely on the "basic" speed law after an accident. They reason that you were driving too fast, no matter how slow you were driving, because you were in an accident. However, you do not have to despair if you were in an accident and are charged with violating the "basic" law for driving at an unsafe below-the-limit speed. The fact that you've had an accident is not absolute proof that you were driving unsafely. Accidents, after all, are not always caused by your violating the law. Often they are caused when another driver screwed up.
If the police officer argues that the accident itself is evidence that you were driving at an unsafe speed, even though you were not technically speeding, you must be prepared to challenge him. Your best bets are normally to claim, and hopefully prove, that the accident could have occurred for a number of reasons. For example, it could have been:
- entirely or partly another driver's fault
- the result of a freak act of nature, in the form of a sudden wind gust, a tree falling, or other natural occurrence, or
- a defect in the highway, signs, or signals, which would happen if a stop sign is missing or a stoplight fails.
FAQs
- Does the law entitle me to a jury for a driver's license suspension/revocation hearing ?
- Am I entitled to notice and a hearing before the state revokes my driver's license?
- I got stuck in a speed trap. What can I do about it?
- Aren't radar detector devices the best way to avoid speed traps and radar guns?
- What are the elements of a speeding charge?
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