Althouse: "Physicist writes four-page math paper to beat $400 traffic ticket."

April 16, 2012

"Physicist writes four-page math paper to beat $400 traffic ticket."

"The paper concludes that due to the officer's placement, the sneeze and the obstructing car, the cop's 'perception of reality did not properly reflect reality.'"

16 comments:

edutcher said...: Reminiscent of the old "How Hot Is Hell?" bit.

(if you've never read it, do so; you need the laugh); 4/16/12, 12:09 PM
MadisonMan said...: Why would you ticket someone if you can't see what they're doing?; 4/16/12, 12:25 PM
Aridog said...: I've managed to "beat" only one traffic ticket in my entire life. The exception was while driving around St louis, MO, on the old belt way (before freeway there)and ws stopped by a police officer for speeding ...e.g., exceeding 50 MPH or so. I was as pleasantly as possible and suggested he couldn't have timed me correctly in as much as he was in the outside lane of a curve, while I was on the inside ..e.g., he had to be going faster than me to keep up with me.

He said okay, you may go, that's the first time I ever heard that one.; 4/16/12, 12:41 PM
Wince said...: I beat a red light ticket in a similar fashion.

It was an extended intersection. My stop line was a couple hundred feet from where the cop car was waiting at the light at the point where the two roads intersected perpendicularly.

The cop didn't see me run the red light; he pulled me over when he saw me drive by after his light had turned green. He had inferred I had run my red light.

So, I got a scaled street plan and measured the distances. I returned to the intersection with a friend to measure the time between my light turning yellow and the cop's light turning green.

I wrote the distance and time equations on a piece of cardboard, and showed that a car traveling the posted speed couldn't traverse the distance in time.

Sounds abstruse, but it was pretty obvious while it actually happened.

The magistrate found in my favor. He said the most important thing was I didn't argue the cop had lied, only perceived the situation incorrectly based upon what he saw.

I told him, "like Einstein said, it's all relative."; 4/16/12, 12:46 PM
Elliott A said...: My wife was once told by the police officer that he would have stopped her sooner, but she was going so fast he couldn't catch up to her quickly. She got off, she was wearing her nurse's uniform (this was in 1978); 4/16/12, 1:35 PM
Methadras said...: In California there is a process for traffic violations called the TR-205, Trial by Declaration. What it allows you to do is basically send in a written statement of why you are not guilty of said traffic violation with any attached evidence, plus the full bail bail amount of the ticket in the form of a check. It is sent to a commissioner, not a judge. The ticketing officer has, I believe 25 - 30 days to respond in writing to that same commissioner and then a determination of innocence or guilt is made and you are sent that determination in the mail. If you are guilty, you can proceed with appealing it or ask for traffic school, etc. If you are innocent, you are sent back the full amount of the bail you sent in and no record of the violation.

I've been 100% successful using this method and here is why. First of all, I never have to go into court to argue my case, just stand at the clerks desk to get the paperwork and ask for an extension. Second of all, I can plead my case on paper and use whatever tools I need at my disposal to make that case, which wouldn't be so easy to do in a court setting. Thirdly, there is roughly a 90% chance that the ticketing officer will not write a response to my evidential response to the violation and for one specific reason; He doesn't get paid for it.

In California, an officer actually gets overtime to come to court to face the violator. He doesn't get paid to write a response. If you are a plain jane offender, more often than not, he won't remember you, so that's why I simply follow instructions and make myself as unobtrusive and forgettable to him as possible. Then when I go TR-205 on him/her they most likely will not remember the violation or you, and under penalty of perjury and not being paid will simply ignore the commissioners response. Summary judgement, I win and I spend little to no time in doing it. The End.; 4/16/12, 1:39 PM
Methadras said...: Elliott A said...

My wife was once told by the police officer that he would have stopped her sooner, but she was going so fast he couldn't catch up to her quickly. She got off, she was wearing her nurse's uniform (this was in 1978)

Professional courtesies are almost always used. Now, if your wife is hot in that nurses outfit, even more 'courtesy' is shown.; 4/16/12, 1:41 PM
Pettifogger said...: The only time I got off, it was more political. It was in the late '60s when campuses had a lot of political turmoil. Luckily for me, it was Tuesday, the day ROTC members wore uniforms on campus. I am convinced my warning in place of a ticket was due to my short hair and uniform.; 4/16/12, 2:21 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Where is rh.. this post is nothing to sneeze at ;); 4/16/12, 2:29 PM
Tom from Virginia said...: Was the physicist Sheldon Cooper?; 4/16/12, 2:33 PM
Nora said...: I was in an exident at night at the junction, that was the other driver fault. However, he had witnesses in his car, who all claimed that it was my fault. The guy also did not have insurance and was entitled for a state paid lawyer who decided to prosecute me. A lawyer I got from my insurance was absolutely useless. After 2 years I ended all the idiocy by writing a letter that shown that according to the other driver's and his pals' story he found the way to over-ride the laws of physics, and suggested to prosecute the other side for giving false witness. I'm a mechanical engineer, and knew what I'm saying was right. However, I get mad when I think that, if I was not, how it would end.; 4/16/12, 4:45 PM
Peter said...: One trick that sometimes works for getting out of traffic tickets involves the insurance cards that many states require all vehicles to carry. What you do is make sure that you have an expired card in the vehicle (while keeping your policy effective, of course). If a cop stops you, hand him the expired card along with your registration. So long as the underlying violation isn't too serious, the cop sometimes will give you a ticket just for the expired card. It doesn't matter to him because either type of ticket will count toward his quota. In most states, all you then have to do is mail in a copy of the current insurance card along with the ticket and it will be dismissed at no cost.; 4/16/12, 5:04 PM
jimbino said...: We all need to hire this physicist to explain to all the pundits that the statistics on DWI relating to "alcohol-related" accidents have no basis whatsoever in science.

We are rightly concerned with alcohol's role in causing accidents or in being a contributing factor.

But the stats on this are not available. The stats we have regarding "alcohol-related" incidents have no scientific or rational bearing on causation, including, as they do, stats on incidents involving sleeping drunks in cars hit by a sober driver, a drunk pedestrian hit by a sober driver, and accidents involving a drunk driver who was hit or killed through no fault of his own, etc.

The only two ways to determine the stats on DWI-causation of accidents are by scientific analysis or by judgment in a court of law. All the other stats the pundits like to cite regarding "alcohol-related" accidents or deaths are based on religion or other superstition.; 4/16/12, 5:30 PM
Larry J said...: I am convinced my warning in place of a ticket was due to my short hair and uniform.

I got out of a ticket back in 1981 while wearing my uniform. I was driving an old hunk of junk van and was pulled over by a Nebraska State Trooper. He asked me if I knew how fast I was going and I truthfully told him no. Few of the guages worked in that van and I honestly had no sure idea how fast I was going. He told me to slow down a bit and let me go.; 4/16/12, 6:15 PM
el polacko said...: it doesn't take a 'rocket scientist'. i've gotten out of two tickets by making a several page declaration, complete with photos and diagrams, as to why the cop couldn't possibly have seen me in the first instance and why the charge was completely bogus in the second. sometimes the truth really can set you free.; 4/17/12, 1:13 AM
kpoe said...: I think this man was very lucky because he found this way to beat his ticket....I'm sure his paper was studied and the next person that would try to beat a ticket this way will have no chance unless she's innocent.
I asked my lawyer about this case and he told me that this is one in a million and that he's sure it won't become a trend.
I share his opinion and that's why he's gonna be my choice when I want to beat a traffic ticket Toronto; 4/20/12, 5:11 AM