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Monday July 18, 2005 9:43 pm
How Google Maps Got Me Out Of A Traffic Ticket
In January of this year, I was pulled over by a traffic officer for “disobeying a steady red”, a.k.a. running a red light. I pleaded “Not Guilty” to the charge, and today - nearly six months later – I went to court to find out the fate of my ticket violation. Check out how Google Maps saved me some serious cash - and points on my license!
There I was on a bench waiting for my name to be called at the Downtown Manhattan DMV hearings bureau. After hearing several testimonies from other drivers, I knew this Judge wasn’t going to be sympathetic to my troubles. So driver after driver, only one had a happy ending. So at this point I was worried because being found guilty would mean a 150 dollar fine, plus 50 in penalties, and worse of all points on my license. I began to contemplate how it all happened since it had been so long. I jotted down some notes on a small piece of paper, and then the moment of truth arrived.
After my name was called, I gathered my belongings and made my way up to the stand where the offending officer joined me. The judge swore her in and asked for her testimony. The officer did what I expected - after all, I had been listening to all of those prior testimonies – and began to describe the scene of the violation. In her story I noticed one fatal flaw, which I had planned to exploit but I had no proof whatsoever. The officer stated the street I was on was a one way westbound street and I was turning onto an avenue that was at a two way street separated by a concrete divider. Only thing was, I was on a two way, not one.
So it came time for my testimony and I stated that I was in mid-turn when an oncoming vehicle was coming toward me very quickly and I had decided not to make the turn until that SUV passed me. The Judge stopped and asked me how could there be an oncoming vehicle if the street was only one way. I stated that it was indeed a two way street. The officer reiterated that it was only a one way. So who was the judge to believe? I was desperate for proof so I did the unthinkable: I whipped out my notebook. I was very lucky to find an extremely bad connection via Wi-Fi. I pulled up Firefox and when to maps.google.com. I typed up the intersection and zoomed in as close as possible:
As you can see, Cathedral Pkwy (110th street) has no arrow indicating the traffic directions. However, 109th and 111th do. I mentioned this to the judge that this means that 110th is indeed a two way street. The traffic officer begged to differ. She said perhaps an arrow was just missing from the equation. So I called her bluff, and researched a new intersection, Times Square:
I asked her honor if she was familiar with 42nd Street. She nodded and I continued to mention how all of its neighboring streets have indication arrows of the direction, with one exception: 42nd Street. Everyone knows that this is a two way. The judge said that due to lack of memory of the officer she will have to dismiss the violation. Thank you Google Maps, you rule.
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Need a job?
We fight traffic tickets in ontario. www.roadwarriors.ca
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hi i am sisa
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Glad to hear that you got out of your ticket. In the future, if you ever need more help, there is a pretty good guide here:
http://ww.beatspeedingticket.us
It’s got a lot of useful information. I’ve been in your shoes, and it’s great to see when the police offer doesn’t know what they are talking about!
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Glad to hear that you got out of your ticket. In the future, if you ever need more help, there is a pretty good guide here:
http://www.beatspeedingticket.us
It’s got a lot of useful information. I’ve been in your shoes, and it’s great to see when the police offer doesn’t know what they are talking about!
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The other error in the officers testimony is that if 110th street was in fact one way, it would travel east-bound not west-bound since even numbered streets in Manhatten travel east unless they permit two-way traffic as is the case for 110th and 42nd as you cited.
It would need to be an odd numbered street to be one-way west.
The other trick to deal with arrows problem would be to flip over to satellite mode where it is very easy to see the stop lines on both sides of the interestion.
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The real question is:
Did you, or did you not run a red light ?
P.
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“Actually the satellite images do not help because the buildings are tall and you cannot distinguis the direction of the cars. So i was glad to have another option. “
Well I just checked that intersection on Google Maps, Hybrid view and yes if you zoom in all the way you can distinguish 2 way traffic there.
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What a croc of shite. Google maps is just a *map* - we’ve had them around for thousands of frickin years.
you’re argument would have stood up without the use of google
pfft.
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These guys with the “All but one ended in a happy ending” are idiots. They obviously can’t read or just glanced through the story, hoping to insult it at the end. The actual sentence was:
“So driver after driver, only one had a happy ending.”
Sure, bad grammar, poor sentence structure, but the guy makes the point that everyone EXCEPT one guy was punished by the law.
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Good story! And it had a happy ending!
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Great story.
I used a digital camera to get out of a ticket. I was ticketed for going 56 in a 45. I discussed with the officer that I was in a 55 zone when he said he clocked me going by a Pepsi distributers, but when he caught up with me it was a 45 zone. He disagreed and gave me a ticket.
The next day I parked my car where he stopped me and walked back up the road and I took a picture of a sign to prove I was right. You could see my car up the road beyond the sign. I went to the court and said I was fighting the ticket and was given a court date.
The officer looked pissed in court when I said to the judge, “I nicely tried to tell the officer he was mistaken about the speed limit. If the speed limit was 45 back a half mile where he said he clocked me doing 56 when he was in the Pepsi distributer parking lot, then why does this sign say, *Begin 45*, as you enter the city limits?” The judge knew the road, drove it every day, he also knew my name and stated so asking if I was, “Little Fred” which got chuckles since I’m a very big guy (I’m Fred Jr.). The judge had worked with my father some 25 years before…they were both policeman then. I was right, my ticket was dismissed and the officer was told by the judge there better not be any bad feelings toward me.
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Thats why we need more wifi spots around, you never know when you are going to need to use google…
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WOW how cool is that.good old google maps
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Here is some comments on How to avoid a Speeding Ticket
The best advice is not to speed. But it’s going to happen, everyone speeds, the police, the Judges and the prosecutors.
How do you avoid a ticket? There are times and places where you are more likely to get a ticket. School zones and anytime you see a Community Safety Zone are areas that the police are going to target with speed enforcement. Be aware on long straight stretches of roadway, and as you come over the crest of a hill or going down any hill.
The police look for good places to catch offenders. They don’t always base the set up of a speed trap on the whether there is a good reason to do enforcement, but more on the fact are they going to get tickets.
Always pay attention to the posted speed limit. If you don’t see the speed signs the limit in the city is 50 and outside the city its 80.
If you re driving 10 to 15 km/h over the limit your very unlikely to get a ticket. The police are regular people doing a job. They are going to use common sense and not stop people speeding a little over the limit. Most officers will set a personal limit as to what they feel is acceptable. A lot of officers will use over 15km per hour and some will say 20km/h. The limit the officer makes is totally within his discretion, and an officer could write you a ticket for even one kilometer over the limit, but we have never seen it happen.
If you see a police car or officer, stay within the speed limit. If you pass a police car even speeding slightly you could be stopped and given a ticket. It’s wise to let police vehicles pass or reduce your speed in the vicinity of a police vehicle.
Some officers using radar target the passing lane, especially on the 400 series highways in Ontario. Conventional radar targets the largest, fastest object therefore don’t be the lead vehicle.
Laser radar can pick a vehicle out of a group of cars all the officer has to do is target the vehicle and pull the trigger recording the speed. Again if you’re the first vehicle, your going to be the first vehicle checked for speed. Never be the first vehicle in a line of speeding vehicles. You can read more at www.Ontariospeeding.com
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excelente por lo inusual,
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Thanks for information end very interesting Website.
Bye.
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Rather, the story provides the proper setting for the teachings of all traditions, showing the true magnitude of their central truths…
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Hi,
I couldnt agree more with your comments, the google maps are now a standard for mapping and issues due to distances for issues for traffic tickets. Great blog by the way,
Best wishes
Chris.
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I agree. Google rules! I’m all for getting out of tickets and have gotten out of many (though I’ve yet to use Google to help me) Will definitely take this into consideration next time. I got stuck with traffic school a few times. Did you know you can take traffic school on the internet now? Traffic school sucked when you had to go in person. I spent more than my share of Saturdays all day in a classroom. Last time, I found a site that let you take it online. Ticket cleared and it was so damn easy and convenient. The site I used:
http://www.BESTtrafficschool.com
CHECK IT OUT!
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<a target=“_blank” href=“http://www.51wztg.cn”>网站推广</a>
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You’ve been lawplugged!
http://lawplug.com/story.php?title=How_Google_Maps_Got_Me_Out_Of_A_Traffic_Ticket
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You’ve been lawplugged!
http://lawplug.com/story.php?title=How_Google_Maps_Got_Me_Out_Of_A_Traffic_Ticket
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Hmm….I have to call potential B.S. The poster started out by stating that the judge was not sympathetic to other cases. What’s the chance a judge in a busy Manhattan traffic court would wait while this guy got out his laptop, found a spotty wireless connection, and pulled up google maps. Very few judges will put up with a person who is not prepared in court. So maybe this story is possible…but highly unlikely.
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And we’re still debating whether Google is the Big Brother or not
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way cool 210-881-0466
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If I understand here, you were in the middle of a turn, probably past the nefarious white line, waited till an SUV turned, and then when you completed your turn it was then a red light and that is what the officer ticketed you for?
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Very interesting post.
Google maps is great tools.
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haha! Google - the friendly neighbourhood help!
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Being in a government building like that, there’s actually pretty good odds that the wi-fi is there for public use - not sure of course, since I dont live in NYC.
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The way Edwin has explained his experience is nice.It indicates that presence of mind is very important.At the same time we should not forget the service being rendered by Google Maps , because Google is the one that saved Edwin at the critical stage.
Thanks for the article Edwin
http://www.theclickdepot.com/
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google - man’s new best friends!
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There’s only one big flaw to that tale. I don’t know of ANY court in America that allows laptops, much less consumer electronics, except powered-off cell phones, into ANY courtroom…
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Super
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you have a fast brain. putting the right tool to the right usage. good for you.
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great story
10x
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Looks like Google comes in handy for yet another purpose
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ORLY?
I don’t know about the traffic laws in NY state but where I live, I learned long ago (and repeatedly) in defensive driving class that it is NOT running a red light if you are in the intersection BEFORE the light turns red.
Once the light turns red, you are allowed to clear the intersection, while respecting the right-of-way of pedestrians and other traffic. Which would include oncoming traffic if you are attempting a (legal) left turn.
I’m also under the impression this is how it works in all other states. Do I know this for sure? No. But, I’m willing to wager that it’s the same in NY. If you enter the intersection when the light is not red, you are OK but once the light turns red you must clear the intersection.
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...i thought i was replying to someone’s comment, who said the OP was violating the law by just being in the intersection when the light turned red…
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Hey i found this Book that saved me from paying over $900 bucks in tickets So skip the tickets!
seriously it works!
add the WWW.
productsupplycenter.com/web315901
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That story of yours never happened. You came in front of the judge and did plead guilty and paid your fine. When you got back home your brain took over your embaressment and you started to create imaginary possibilities you could have done which you saw on TV from various lifetime shows. You wished it happened that way but it never did. No judge will let you to use your laptop in courthouse and as far as Im concerned the wireless in courthouses are all encrypted, you cant just connect to their network like that my friend.
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jhglkjhgflkmhjvl
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It’s amusing to know that normal stories like this could be so inspiring. Google maps is really useful. I, too, have my story of success with Google maps. But anyway, I’m happy for you that you have solved your problem with the help of Google. Thank God for the technology. LOL
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I’ve used sites like google maps and mapquest to get the best routes to drive to places i haven’t been before it helps me fight tickets because i can see which routes have less traffic therefore i don’t have to be speeding, and i also get to save money
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Definitely a lucky story. Good for you. Nice to know that we can win sometimes.
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Hahah awesome story!! Google maps is a greaat thingg!!
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Your laptop in the courtroom? Sorry, I just don’t buy it.
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Wouldnt it be great if we could use google maps to spot traffic wardens real-time location??? one day!
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I just love most of the comments regarding the wifi assume it had to have been stolen. While this article was 5 years ago and free wifi meant for the general public was unlikely back then, he doesn’t specify this in the article.
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hey That’s nice of you….because suddenly at that time you thought to escape from the judge at the last moment. Great job… but don’t do this again.May be who knows whether the google map will help you that time…
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