In article <nj8Pa.585$H91.13404@news.itd.umich.edu>, Eric@Eric.com says...I recently received a ticket for speeding in Detroit, MI (actually HighlandPark, MI, but issued by Detroit police, which apparently have jurisdictionover traffic tickets in Highland Park, though I'd like confirmation fromthis if anyone knows whether this is true or not) for going 80 in a 55 zone.I am certain that I can prove mathematically that this was not possible, asI couldn't have accelerated from 0 to 80 fast enough to be going 80 at thepoint at which I was cited for going 80. Would this defense work in court? Ican prepare all of the equations showing that it isn't possible, the onlything I need to find is my car's 0-80 acceleration time from a reliablesource. Most sources unfortunately only give 0-60 times, and I know thatacceleration isn't linear (i.e., it is going to be a lot more than a 33%longer time to accelerate to 80 than it is to 60, due to the gearing of thecar). Anyway, I was just looking for some advice about whether this defensewould hold up in court, or whether the judge would just assume I'm fakingthe numbers, or else just not believe me anyways and believe the cop overme. Also, does anyone have any reliable statistics about how often copsdon't show up in court on contested tickets? I've heard all sorts of randomnumbers, but no official stats. Also, if anyone has any informationspecifically about the process of trying to beat a ticket in Detroit, I'dappreciate that as well. Thanks.

If I was a judge, I would not give too much credence to performance numbers
published in a magazine. The other question is, why don't you time your
car's performance yourself. That way you can be sure how fast your car,
not all models of the same car will perform the same, can hit 80.
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Alex __O
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