Beating A Ticket With Google Maps And Some Free Stolen WiFi

from the thank-you-technology dept

The one traffic ticket I received, many years ago, involved running a stop sign which I didn't run (I'm one of those annoying folks who believes in complete stops at stop signs, not even rolling stops -- and this stop sign had a cop hiding down the street for the previous three months, so I was especially careful there). I went to court to fight it, but it was my word against the cops. In fact, in the description the cop gave to the court, he described how I drove past the sign warning that there was a stop sign ahead -- which was impossible, because that sign is actually before the street I had turned from (the street on which I lived). However, the judge took the officer's word -- which is what you'd expect him to do. However, it looks like traffic violators everywhere are getting more tools to fight such misstatements. Boing Boing points to a case in Manhattan where someone used an available WiFi signal to call up Google Maps and show that the road he was on was a two-way road, rather than a one-way road, as the ticketing officer had claimed. Of course, that means the judge had to be convinced that Google Maps accurately showed which roads are one way -- but it at least seemed credible. Still, as Mark at Boing Boing notes, the guy in question could, conceivably, now be accused of stealing WiFi.
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  • identicon
    acousticiris, 19 Jul 2005 @ 4:32pm

    An answer to your sidebar...

    ...when going to court to fight a ticket, the only method that has some success (provided you didn't pay a lawyer to handle the matter) is to be humble, admit you did something (that in this case you didn't do), apologize and ask that the judge take it under advisement (3-6 months probation, no tickets, no points, no insurance increase). You'll probably pay court costs in the amount equal to the fine on the ticket, but where I live that's a small price to pay to keep your insurance costs low.
    When it's your word against a cop, a judge is almost always going to give the cop the benefit of the doubt. If you don't have some sort of hard evidence, or a lawyer, you're going to lose.
    Consequently, it's about $300 to fight a speeding ticket with counsel. Whereas, two points on your license as a young individual in Michigan will cost you about $1200 over 3 years on a newer vehicle if you have anything more than PL/PD coverage... It really brings new life to the phrase "The man who represents himself has an idiot for a client".
    But then IANAL...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ivan Sick, 20 Jul 2005 @ 5:23am

    No Subject Given

    Computer + WiFi = evidence? A Polaroid of the street in question is no longer sufficient?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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