Officer estimates enough for speeding convictions

AP ^ | 6/2/10 | Staff

[MissTed]

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.

The court upheld a lower court's ruling against a driver who challenged a speeding conviction that had been based on testimony from police officer in Copley, 25 miles south of Cleveland. The officer said it appeared to him that the man was driving too fast.

[MissTed]

That's comforting.

[GeronL]

Government by whim

[wastedyears]

See my tagline.

[Paladin2]

Some situations are fairly obvious, others not.

[WayneS]

Revenue Generation.

[kbennkc]

Good common sense ruling , and I will match my cop bashing creds with anybody .

[mockingbyrd]

This can’t end well.

[MissTed]

Maybe they can guestimate that everyone has a .182 BAC. That will REALLY bring in the cash!

[Paladin2]

Radar and video data logging on these puppies can tell the truth.

http://www.volvocars.com/us/all-cars/volvo-s60/pages/default.aspx

[Paladin2]

Even I can tell if someone passes me going 120.

[ntmxx]

Deemed to be correct; it’s the Law.

[sauropod]

Boy, you’re not kidding.

[stuartcr]

Profiling?

[relictele]

You sound guilty. Turn yourself in to the thought police immediately.

[Niteranger68]

I wish one of the GPS manufacturers would develop a feature that logs your last 10-15 minutes of driving (route and speed) at the press of a button with the ability to print a report that could possibly prove that a person was not speeding.

[Snickering Hound]

[Frenchtown Dan]

It’s all about money. More tickets, more fines. And if they don’t need to buy radar guns anymore it’s even more money in their pockets.

When I drove a truck, I was warned about Ohio, and how crooked the cops are there. It’s well known amongst truckers to avoid Ohio if possible.

[kbennkc]

A prosecution against a defendant who did not take a test is often easier than one , where the test results can be questioned , which is always . Proper defense gets the jury thinking the whole case rests on the test , they forget the weaving down the road , strong smell of alcoholic beverage , stumbling through the field sobriety tests , throwing up in the cop car , the admission of drinking 10 beers in two hours .
Good heavens , have some faith in the jury system helping you avoid justice . Your defense counsel gets to talk too .

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Once got out of a traffic stop. Cop asked me if I knew how fast I was traveling and I replied, “Yes sir, 61.2 mph.”

When he wondered about the accuarcy, I pointed to my GPS and said, “Courtesy of Uncle Sam!”

When he stoppped chuckling, he reminded me that the limit was 55 and that I should slow down.

[US Navy Vet]

It sounds like the retarded Iowa “Supreme Court” “ruling” that red light cameras are legal. It is the same court that “legalized” “Gay marraige”.