I just read a story in which one man described his adventures in traffic court after being cited for speeding. The alleged speeder was cited for doing 40 mph while driving in a 25 mph zone on his way home from work. Since this was his first time receiving a speeding ticket, he said nothing at the time when he was stopped. Instead, he accepted the citation and went on his way. A few days later he remembered he was using Google’s My Tracks app on his Android phone and tracked his travels the night he was cited for speeding.
What he found from Google’s My Tracks GPS technology was that at no time was he speeding on any of the streets over which he had traveled. In fact, the data from Google Tracks verified the man’s claim that he drove his vehicle in a lawful manner. He proceeded to download the data and sat down and described the data so he could present his case in court.
On the day of his trial, he asked the officer a few questions. He learned that the officer couldn’t remember the last time he had training in using the radar gun, nor when the radar gun was last calibrated for accuracy and didn’t even know the model number of the unit. This alone helped build the man’s case. He next presented the data he collected from Google’s My Tracks showing that he was not speeding.
The judge ruled that the suspect was not guilty. Not because of the data collected by Google’s My Tracks, but by the officer’s admission to his lack of expertise in using the radar device. The judge also admitted that he was not familiar enough with GPS technology to rule solely on the data presented.
Now, before you try this defense on your own, here are a few tips that were passed on in the article. Don’t think that you can get off from a speeding ticket by data alone. It was the officer’s lack of evidence that set the speeder free, though I would venture a guess that the mans presentation didn’t hurt. I would also guess that this defense may not work in every jurisdiction throughout the U.S. This case was in California, which is noted for a very liberal interpretation of its laws. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.
So what do you think?
Comments welcome.
Yes, well if he wasn’t speeding then he can argue it in court even without the supporting data. The key fact in all of this is that it will be a waste of your time if you were speeding and got a ticket. So he really didn’t beat anything. He was just able to prove lawfulness. If it shows you were doing 35MPH in a 30MPH zone the judge could still rule against you, because you were speeding if you exceed the limit by 1 mile over the posted limit.
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This is really intriguing. I wonder if the ruling would have differed had the officer had more training and knowledge. If such were the case, would the gentleman have proceeded to find avenues to appeal? I think that technology of this nature is a great tool to have. Without it, the gentleman would have not fought the ticket, and others would have been cited for a violation when, in fact, they might not have been breaking the law. I am curious to know how the law will be looked upon and how these forms of technology (evidence) will be viewed in future cases!
I once was ticketed for speeding in Lovington New Mexico. I wasn’t speeding so I took it to court. I also asked the officer when the radar gun was last calibrated and he didn’t know. I then presented my case that the officer could not have gotten me on radar, as I had a radar detector in my car and it never went off. Obviously the officer was lying, no?
The judge ruled against me because, and I quote, “The fact that you have a radar detector means that you speed. Therefore whether or not you were speeding at this time, you are still guilty of speeding, since you obviously do it regularly.”
That seriously jaded my perception of the legal system.
You guys should quit running ads for QuiBids. That type of “entertainment shopping” is a pure ripoff. The fact that you run those ads on your website makes me think less of you.
I don’t imagine the results of some Google app would ever hold water in court, but that trick of grilling the cop on his knowledge of the radar might be worth a try!
“The fact that you have a radar detector means that you speed. Therefore whether or not you were speeding at this time, you are still guilty of speeding, since you obviously do it regularly.”
The same principle applys to drinking & driving
You’ve just not been caught
“That seriously jaded my perception of the legal system.”
My larger concerns is technology tracking capability / can & will be used against us
I am not sure how often Google My Track is calculating the speed, but I suspect that it is not a continuous, averaging recording ie. he can have peak speed that is higher that the speed indicated in this application.
Hi Arthur,
Good point.
Here’s a cool new concept I’ve been working on:
Follow the speed limit.
The should put i detector in the car that records your speed at any given moment so it can be presented in the court. I know some cars have a detector that when ever you get in a crash it tells the exact speed, angle of the wheel turned,time of hit ETC. so i don’t think it would be that hard to make something like that, that tells the speed at any given moment. What do you thin?
Ahhhh-HA!
Hmmm – Have not seen this behaviour. No search page change for me – but then I search directly from the Chrome bar. Also no change in signature on email… But I did delete it. No need for the risk.
I didn’t notice any search changes either, and I installed it on Firefox. Removed anyways.
I hadn’t noticed it doing anything but it wasn’t particularly difficult to convince me to remove it as it was rubbish anyway.
How do I opt out of google+ entirely?
Is the application called Google+ or GooglePlus on your Facebook app page?