Considering the fact that Georgia has a law that imposes harsher penalties on speeders under certain circumstances, the so-called “Super Speeder” law, it may not be a good idea to simply plead guilty and pay a speeding ticket.
You may think that if an officer offers you “proof” that you were speeding, then you must have been, so you have no choice when it comes to a defense. Fortunately, you may be wrong.
It never hurts to challenge a speeding ticket
Depending on the circumstances, your ticket may be immaterial. If one of the following situations occurs, the court may dismiss the ticket or reduce it to something that will not have as great an impact on your driver’s license, your bank account and your insurance rates:
- Something could go wrong with the device used to calculate your speed. Like other machines, they need routine maintenance and calibration, and if not properly taken care of, it could provide false readings.
- The officer may not use the speed-calculating device correctly. Mistakes happen, and police officers are not immune to making them.
- An emergency arose that required you to drive at excessive speeds in order to escape the danger and/or protect yourself or someone else in your vehicle.
- More than one person drives a vehicle just like yours. It’s possible that the officer mistook your vehicle for a similar one that was actually the speeding vehicle.
These are not necessarily the only defenses you could have to your speeding ticket. The particular circumstances of your situation require careful scrutiny. Of course, you are responsible for presenting such defenses to the court. You will need to obtain the appropriate evidence and present it to the court. This is not always an easy task. Instead of attempting to undertake this task alone, you could make use of the legal resources available in your area.
An attorney well versed in defending people in similar situations could advocate on your behalf. Obtaining the right evidence based on what happened could require going through additional legal processes. For instance, if you need to obtain records regarding the speed calculation device used by an officer, along with the officer’s training records, you would probably need a subpoena. This is just one example of how a criminal defense attorney proves invaluable in these types of situations.