You Can Fight Your Bay Area Speeding Ticket, Regardless of What Technology the Officer Used to ‘Clock’ Your Speed

News sources recently reported on a “crackdown” on speeding violations in one Bay Area city. The crackdown included catching drivers using state-of-the-art technology for calculating drivers’ speeds. However, even if you’ve been ticketed by an officer equipped with the latest in cutting-edge technology, do not despair. You may still have a very viable opportunity to contest your speeding ticket and do so successfully. To give yourself the best chance possible to avoid the fines, driver’s license point deductions and insurance rate increase that can go with a speeding ticket, contact an experienced San Francisco traffic ticket attorney today.

The news report, which appeared on sfgate.com, discussed a speed enforcement “crackdown” in South San Francisco. On a single August day, police in that city wrote 72 speeding tickets. Police told sfgate.com that the crackdown focused on “streets where speed and other traffic issues have been a recurring problem.”

The crackdown was part a “saturation patrol” that was possible thanks to funding by the state Office of Traffic Safety through the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the report. In the well-funded crackdown, officers used something called a “lidar” device. Lidar devices use lasers to determine an object’s speed and are touted as being highly accurate. If you are issued a speeding citation, and if the officer who issued the ticket used a lidar device to assess your speed, do you have any chance of success, especially given how accurate lidar is? The answer is “Yes!” Even if you were ticketed by an officer using lidar, there may still be ways to contest your ticket successfully.

There are several things that can happen to produce a “win” in your traffic ticket defense. The police have to have proof that the speed at which you were “clocked” was an accurate assessment. If the officer who ticketed you can’t show that the lidar device was in accurate working condition on the day of your ticket, you may be able to win your case. This can include things like whether the device was properly calibrated, whether the officer who ticketed you had received appropriate training in using a lidar device and whether the officer used the device in a manner consistent with its manufacturer specifications. Additionally, you may have a valid defense that is unrelated to the lidar device used on your vehicle. For example, if the most recent traffic survey of the road where you got your ticket is too old, then your may have a winning defense on the basis that the citation is not enforceable.

These are just a few examples. There are many possible techniques through which a skilled and experienced traffic ticket defense attorney can achieve a successful result. If you need reliable and effective legal representation for your speeding ticket, contact the San Francisco traffic ticket defense professionals at Uthman Law Office. Attorney David Uthman has over 20 years of experience as a litigation attorney and almost a decade of experience as a police officer. We are extremely familiar with the law and the system, and know how to use both for your best possible outcome. Put our knowledge to work for you. Call us today at (415) 556-9200 to schedule your FREE initial consultation to get the help you need.

More blog posts:

What You Should Do (and What Not to Do) When you Receive a Speeding Ticket in California, San Francisco Criminal Lawyer Blog, March 27, 2018

You Can No Longer Lose Your License for Unpaid Traffic Fines, But Don’t Just Ignore an Unpaid Traffic Ticket in California, San Francisco Criminal Lawyer Blog, June 12, 2018