LDS Freedom Forum

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohi ... 41192.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary.

What kind of precedent is this setting???

Col. Flagg wrote:http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohi ... 41192.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary.

What kind of precedent is this setting???

Don't speed in Ohio.....in fact make sure you don't "look" like you are speeding.....better yet don't even travel to Ohio....and if you live there - move!

Jason wrote:

Col. Flagg wrote:http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohi ... 41192.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary.

What kind of precedent is this setting???

Don't speed in Ohio.....in fact make sure you don't "look" like you are speeding.....better yet don't even travel to Ohio....and if you live there - move!

Move yes, but don't drive out

It turns out that Ohio is not the only state where this is true. North Carolina also trains their officers to visually detect whether or not motorists are speeding. With their calibrated eyeballs, they can give you a speeding ticket that will hold up in court. It wouldn't surprise me if there were other states that do this as well.

I've been hit with this in Idaho. I'm fairly sure there are a lot of states that accept a "trained" officer's visual estimate as "proof" of guilt. So much for innocent until proven guilty eh. It is possible to fight these and win sometimes though. My sister-in-law (also in Idaho) successfully fought one. The court was very reasonable. To beat the officer's word, all she had to do was have a professional test done proving her old beater car wasn't even physically capable of the speed and acceleration the officer claimed (he got her shortly after a stop). It cost her hundreds of dollars but she was set on winning. Very reasonable when faced with the opinion of a trained officer; after all, a trained officer is as good as physical proof.

Rensai wrote:I've been hit with this in Idaho. I'm fairly sure there are a lot of states that accept a "trained" officer's visual estimate as "proof" of guilt. So much for innocent until proven guilty eh. It is possible to fight these and win sometimes though. My sister-in-law (also in Idaho) successfully fought one. The court was very reasonable. To beat the officer's word, all she had to do was have a professional test done proving her old beater car wasn't even physically capable of the speed and acceleration the officer claimed (he got her shortly after a stop). It cost her hundreds of dollars but she was set on winning. Very reasonable when faced with the opinion of a trained officer; after all, a trained officer is as good as physical proof.

GOOD for your sister-in-law!

I understand that some cars now have computers in them that can be used to prove exactly how fast you were going. Then you can sue the Cop for making a false police report.

The key to winning in the long run is to sue Cops for every possible Federal violation of the Constitution that they almost always commit at a traffic stop. Until Americans make it too expensive for Cops to do this trash to us they will continue to do it. Why? Because they are Cops.

If 5% of people that got traffic tickets fought them, even if they lost, then the state/county/city would LOSE money and that is the ONLY reason they give out most tickets. And if people would do the service or even the jail time instead of paying the tickets the garbage would cease. If everyone took jail time instead of the fines they would have to release everyone because there is not enough room. There are so many ways to peacefully fight back but no one wants to be free. They just do not want to be inconvenienced.

It IS about the money and NOTHING else. More tickets mean more Cops means more Job security for DAs and Judges and Cops. Follow the money. They care nothing about freedom or the Constitution. Cops care about their pay check and their pension.

Arizona just passed this law as well.

NamasteMama wrote:Arizona just passed this law as well.

Which law?

Wiikwajio wrote:
I understand that some cars now have computers in them that can be used to prove exactly how fast you were going. Then you can sue the Cop for making a false police report.

This is true. Its estimated that 65%+ Cars on the road today already have this "feature" its called an Event Data Recorder (EDR) and it will track everything needed to know exactly what was going on with the car, but its primarily used only in car crashes when its unclear what happened; it's like the black box in airplanes. For example, they used it on some of the cases against Toyota where the drivers claimed the gas pedal was stuck and the breaks didn't work. The EDR proved in at least a couple cases that the person had panicked and slammed their foot on the gas rather than the break. Your right that if my sister-in-law's old car had had one it would have proven the cop wrong easily enough, but it still makes me uncomfortable.

It scares me to see the computer gaining more and more control and data on our cars. Cars are easily hacked right now and the EDR is just one more feature that a hacker could use. For example, see http://www.switched.com/2010/05/16/remo ... ort-finds/

Col. Flagg wrote:http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohi ... 41192.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary.

What kind of precedent is this setting???

This kind of stuff is exactly why I have Pre-Paid Legal Services. When stopped by a law officer, all one has to do is present one's "legal shield" card and tell him one wants to exercise one's miranda rights if his intent is to detain or question for any reason. It's best to already have one's attorney on the phone when the officer is checking one's license and registration, especially if one is stopped by an officer that would refuse to let a call be made before one is taken to somewhere they don't want to be. Then one tells him an attorney wants to speak to him to explain why he stopped the car. This is great for those who think they've been profiled, also.
The card reads:
"If it is your intention to question, detain or arrest me, please allow me to call an attorney immediately."

It also tells the officer this:
This person is a member of the legal shield program and has 24-hour telephone access to legal representation . . . This means a call can be made on a weekend, late at night, anytime, anywhere.

Say one lives in Arizona, is on vacation in Vermont. One gets stopped. Just call the number provided on the card and Wa La.