moTAP

On my way to dinner tonight, I briefly accelerated from a stop light. The local constable most definitely heard me coming and pulled me over.

I received a ticket for 40 in a 30 instead of the supposed $500 fine I should have received for not registering my car in MA on top of the officer's estimate of my traveled speed.

On the ticket the box for estimated speed and clocked speed are both checked. What does clocked mean? There are boxes for lidar and radar and neither are checked. I'm 99% sure I was not going as fast as the officer quoted and that all he did was hear my car and pull me over.

Also, from my recollection, I am not required to register my car in MA as I am not a permanent resident here. Obviously I did not argue against the officer's assertion. He told me I needed to get a special visitor decal? Has anyone heard of this?

Do I have any recourse to fight this? I have no tickets in MA and a clean driving record in my home licensing state.

GDawgA4

register here, so long as you can provide proof you're a student at a local university/school.

Clocked I believe means he used a measuring device, probably radar? Did your V1 (IIRC, you have one) go off?

ALWAYS appeal your tickets. Worse that can happen is you get fined for it anyways. The magistrate may let you go with a clean record and tell you to keep the speeds down. If the magistrate doesn't find you not guilty, then its the judge next and you can plead the case to him. Most of the time if you have a clean record, they'll either drop the charges or no points and pay the fine. Be courteous, etc etc.

Jeff 'S iv

there is a law against accelerating to quickly, I forget what they call it. I wrote down some noteworthy tips on the guys post who did 65 in a 55 from a few days ago. my subject line reads "you couldn't be more wrong".

moTAP

There are boxes on the ticket with the options: clocked, radar, lidar, and estimated.

Clocked and estimated are both checked, but the other two are not.

I had the volume very low, but the remote display is clearly visible and I never got the indication that you would get from a strong radar hit.

I have traveled this area before and while there are sometimes police, they don't usually run with instant-on radar or anything like that.

I explained that I was a local student and that's what I did not re-register and he said it did not matter, it was still a $500 fine.

Do you know if MA lets you do a written trial by declaration?

moTAP

I don't think he actually saw the quick acceleration, he probably just heard it. My car is reasonably loud.

S4andTLS

When you get the date to appear call and have it postponed to a later date. Paperwork often gets lost.

moTAP

I politely told the officer that I did not re-register the car because NC (where I am from) does not require this for out of state students.

He responded with something along the lines of

"What state are we in now? It's a $500 fine here."


Thanks for the advice on the continuance, do you know how many I can get?

A6AvantErik: MCS

but, if its not, you could always use that as last resort in your appeal story to the magistrate if he doesnt look convinced

though, it kind of holds a double standard, as it then goes along with your bright red tinted "vehicle" , loud exhaust, and hints that with a radar detector that you like to speed.. =\

S4andTLS

<ul><li><a href="http://www.mass.gov/rmv/forms/20098.pdf">http://www.mass.gov/rmv/forms/20098.pdf</a</li></ul>

GDawgA4

students run around Boston in their cars. See it everywhere, especially around Comm Ave in Boston.