hwybear wrote:RiffRaff wrote:I'm going to plead not guilty and have a go at it. My thinking is that it should be fairly easy to prove that I wasn't the lead vehicle in question as long as the Officer well...tells the truth (for lack of a better term).
That will be very difficult to do for multiple reasons.
- you did not even see the officer to slow down in time, therefore do not know which 2 or 3 or whatever vehicles the officer was looking at and at what time
- just b/c your vehicle was following someone doesn't mean the officer even considered obtaining a speed on the alledged vehicle in what you believe is "the lead", further you possibly could have closed the distance, caught up to the vehicle, then saw the officer.
- quite often just pick a vehicle out of the group of vehicles, simple to do with lidar, whether it is the first, fourth or last vehicle
- would not believe this.....when parked perpedincular, how many people do the ole, lift their hand, checking their speed as they pass by the "nose" of the cruiser 
just other things to consider
Thanks again for your input hwybear. I appreciate the interesting points that you brought up, and I'd obviously rather see them here than in court!
I should have been more detailed in my initial post. There were no cars within seeing distance both behind me, and both in-front of the red Ford (my believed 'lead' vehicle). I am 100% sure of this as it was very dark and I distinctly recall seeing no other vehicles. This was a part of the 'notes' I took at the time of the incident. Maybe I should bring traffic reports of that particular highway on that particular date/time? I should also note that this particular highway is also not a very busy one, especially on a Saturday evening. Might this make my plea a little more believable?
If LIDAR can only target one vehicle, it must have been one of the three cars described in the initial post, if I can establish that there were no vehicles in-front/behind of our group.
In my head, (keep in mind that I've never been to court, so I'm not totally sure if this logic would apply) if I can establish that there is no one behind me, I can't possibly be a 'lead' vehicle. I don't doubt that its simple to pick out a vehicle in a group with LIDAR, but in this particular case, the disclosure only makes reference to a 'lead' vehicle, and only that vehicle (whichever car it might be).
If I can also establish that there was indeed a red Ford about 15+ meters ahead of me and that there was indeed a Honda sedan beside me, it would then logically indicate that there is only one vehicle that could be construed as 'leading' anything at all, and that would be the Ford. (Again...this is just my newbie logic.)
So I believe if I can establish those facts, I should be able to prove I am not the 'lead' vehicle in the notes, and hopefully cast some doubt as to whether I was speeding at all.
Finally, I'd like to note that by no means do I think I've 'won' my case at all. But that I'm simply going to have a go-at-it and argue my case, especially considering the circumstances where ...well...I can't afford the fine and the subsequent insurance $ raise. In a strange way, I really appreciate the experience, and as well as the help everyone here provided.
I just hope to not be made to look like an idiot as I've heard other de-grading horror stories before, lol.
