Steve, I am glad to see your message on speed traps in Georgia. Any good work that the state has done to protect Georgia drivers from speed traps amounts to almost nothing. The reason I say this is that the state patrol has simply taken the good spots and are running the speed traps themselves, I live and drive on Hway 27 in West Georgia,. They work one spot where to speed limit goes from 65 to 55. They sit below a hill where you will not see them. They also work a steep hill going down to Buck creek. With your foot off the gas you gain around 10 mph going down the hill. Of course the laws against both of these that effect local law from using them does not apply to the State Patrol.

Morgan county sits on an overpass on opposite side of oncoming traffic using radar on I-20 with a chase vehicle waiting on the on ramp. Is that legal.

It sounds like they are visible. I cannot say for sure.

I gotten a citation 40-6-181 the officer said he used a laser but he came from behind me on I-85 north in Braselton came they use laser while moving

Most laser speed detection devices can be used in a moving mode.

Hello Mr. Black,

In response to your last reply, LASER speed detection cannot be used in a moving mode. Only RADAR can be used in a moving mode. LASER is a completely stationary method of speed detection. I am a retired Police Officer and was certified in all speed detection devices. I just wanted to bring this to your attention Sir.

Best Regards,
-G.A.

I stand corrected.

Very interesting, Sky Valley city police operate a daily speed trap on Highway 106 going up to Highlands, NC. The grade is well in excess of 7 degrees. Last evening I observed them set up over a mile inside NC clocking people entering Georgia. Who would a citizen complain to about these tactics? The town is only 272 people, is there a state agency for Georgia that can field complaints?

The Department of Public Safety grants municipalities licenses/permits to operate speed detection equipment which specifies the roads and locations on those roads where speed detection equipment may be operated.

Braselton also sits on the ramps at HWY 211 North. That clearly has less than the required visibility. Braselton is nothing more than a speed trap agency for Prue Profit.

How boutcha I’m on hwy 27 in walker Co and pass a gap. He busts a uturn rides my bumper then blue lights me. I ask why did he pull me over and says he clocked me goin 70 or 71 in a 55. So why the guess if he “clocked” me and how if we were traveling in opposite directions. Please let me know if I have a argument before I take this to court. Can’t afford to lose cause don’t think I can have another point on my license. Also insurance is killing me.

“Clocked” may mean different things to different people. Clocked can mean observed or registered. It does not necessarily mean to calculate speed based on timing. It may mean that using radar, he or she observed that your speed was 71 in a 55 zone.

Take a closer look at the ticket where it sets out the speed. Near that, it will identify the method used to determine the speed cited.

But, no, it would not be possible to pace you while going in the opposite direction.

Sean,
Could you provide the code section for this? Very curious about what roads our sheriff can and cannot run radar on.
Thanks

OCGA 40-14-3 spells out the permitting process. As far as getting a copy of the permit which will have an addendum of roads and streets where detection devices can be used, you would have to send an Open Records Act request to either Georgia DPS or the particular law enforcment agency for a copy of the permit and attachments.

An interesting side note from by Google search is that the city of Ball Ground was sent a cease and desist from using speed detection devices earlier this year. I am not sure what the status of that is. The article I found was behind a paywall.

So, maintaining the list of roads seems to be a joint enterprise of the DOT, the local agency and the DPS.

If the cop has no lights on can he still give you a ticket?

At one point, Georgia had very strict rules about patrol vehicle markings and lights. Many of those have been loosened. Many departments have policies regarding unmarked patrol vehicles making stops.

My wife got a ticket by mail in a school zone by a stationary camera set at the school zone signs. These cameras are set up in most of the school zones in Henry County. She is a teacher so she is very conscious of school zones as she is around kids all day. So many have gotten violations in what I consider a speed trap.

She was supposedly clocked 47 in a normally marked 45 mph speed area but it was ten minutes prior to school zone speed limit expiration. It is marked as 35 mph until 4:45. Is this legal? Thanks for your response.

Let us start by saying that these camera issued tickets are not uniform traffic citations and do not have license consequences at all. In most cases, they are inconveniences that people pay a nuisance fee to get them to go away. Paying them will not result in transmission of a conviction to Georgia Department of Drivers Services.

There may be technical defenses to individual citations but in most cases, the costs of asserting them through a lawyer is cost prohibitive.

Your wife’s case. She was within the marked speed zone. She was within the time that the school zone limit applies. The “normal” speed limit is 45 mph. The speed limit during school hours, which includes time prior to school start and a period after school end, is 35 mph. The school limit applied at the time and place that she was driving 47 mph. Yes, it is legal, and your statement of the facts indicates she was accurately cited.

Cop pulled me over, said he lased me from behind. The only possible place for him to have been stationary, he was not at. Which leaves me to believe that somehow he magically lased me while also moving in the same direction behind the car I pulled out in front of (not possible to laser while moving). I think it’s because my vehicle is a loud srt jeep and I accelerated hard to what I thought was 45ish in a 40 (turns out it’s a 35 and he claims I was going 56). Anyways, he didn’t annotate the method of detection on the citation. Does that help with anything?

So, one possibility is that his denotation of the detection method did not transfer through on your copy of the citation but may be on the copy submitted to the court. Check that before getting too committed to any particular argument.

Yes, his ability to actually use a detection method is important. Might give the prosecutor or court room to reduce the speed.

So, one possibility is that his denotation of the detection method did not transfer through on your copy of the citation but may be on the copy submitted to the court. Check that before getting too committed to any particular argument.

Yes, his ability to actually use a detection method is important. Might give the prosecutor or court room to reduce the speed.

I received a notice from the DMV that my title and registration is on hold due to an unpaid speeding ticket captured by a camera. I was never notified that this speeding ticket existed but apparently since 60 days has passed, I am beyond the statute of limitations to contest it. Is there still a way I can fight the citation? I believe it is unlawful because it occurred within 30 days of the speed limit being reduced – speed used to be 35 mph and then was changed to 25 mph. Also, there is zero signage stating that a speed detection device is in use.

Off the cuff, it is hard to say. My guess is that paying the ticket (which does not put points on your license) would be significantly cheaper than contesting the ticket at this point.

They can not use bait & chase tactic. Thats illegal for non state officers.

Sir,

I was cited for driving 63mph in a 45mph zone, however, the alleged violation occurred in an unincorporated area within 600 feet of a speed limit reduction to 35MPH. While the violation did not occur in the 35mph zone but just prior to it (though within 600’ of it), would it still make sense to state that pursuant to § 40-14-9 (Evidence obtained by county or municipal law enforcement officers in using speed detection devices within 600 feet of a reduction of a speed limit outside an incorporated municipality shall be inadmissible in the prosecution of a violation of any municipal ordinance, county ordinance, or state law regulating speed;) I believe that the evidence presented by the deputy is inadmissable? Granted, the word “within” is key to this defense, and the obvious intent of the law is to prevent law enforcement from issuing citations when a speed limit has just changed, however, as the law reads, especially the part of the article reading “within 600’ of a reduction of speed limit” could be interpretted to mean on both sides of the change in speed limit location.

In addition to this, pursuant to § 40-14-5 (b) (Each county, municipal, or campus law enforcement officer using a radar device, except for an automated traffic enforcement safety device as provided for under Code Section 40-14-18, shall notify each person against whom the officer intends to make a case based on the use of the radar device that the person has a right to request the officer to test the radar device for accuracy.) I was never notified that I had a right to this request.

Do I have a case?

Thank you for your assistance.

You need to understand first that the officer will likely testify that he or she made a visual estimate of speed before deploying their speed detection device. Such testimony can be sufficient by itself to support a conviction of the speeding offense. Where the speed detetection device is determined not to be admissible, that does not necessarily mean that he speeding violation goes away.

There is no case law as to your point that the use of the device within 600 feet does not specify the area after the sign as opposed to before the sign. Obviously, the bad use that OCGA 40-14-9 is aimed at is the use within the distance immediately after the speed change. I could not find that the appellate courts have weighed in on this argument, so argue away.

As to the failure to offer the test of the device by the officer, you should subpoena any bodycam or videocam footage to see if the footage matches your recollection. You will likely also need it to rebut the officer’s testimony that he or she always makes that offer. A side note is that this is a goofy provision anyway, because you are not entitled, under the statute, to witness the test. The officer goes back to his patrol car, conducts the test and then reports back to you that the device is still within calibration.

The biggest issue you have is that the visual estimation of speed may allow the judge to find you guilty of some degree of speeding. A prosecutor is not required to prove that you were speeding at the speed notated by the officer; the prosecutor just has to prove that you were exceeding the speed limit by one or more miles per hour.

I have a question on the visible within 500 feet rule. If the cop car lights are off and it’s night time with no street lights, is that vehicle considered visible. Could my ticket be thrown out due to this rule?

Visible means hidden or obscured. I don’t think the darkness and no lights on patrol car will be enough.

My city is using the School Zone Speed cameras. I have noticed that the city does not have signs posted on 7 of the 8 state highway entrances that should indicate Speed Detection Devices in use,. They are simply absent. Would this be a valid defense against a school zone speed violation?

Second question: None of the cameras used in my city for school zones are on the list of approved Speed Detection Devices maintained by the DPS. Is this a valid defense against a school zone camera violation?

Thanks

Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices fall under a different set of governmental regulations and are subject to GDOT oversight. GDOT approval of the permit to operate the particular system includes approval of the device to be used. If the device was changed subsequently without a new permit that could present a defensible issue.

Acworth just wrote me up for 48 in 35 on small road. I know this ticket isn’t a big concern, because it’s under 15. Also he wrote me under a local ordinance violation, not a state law. One thing is he was hidden behind heavy trees. Further he never offered to calibrate. I’m thinking of going to court, and defending it based on him hiding, and he didn’t offer to test calibration. I think dash, body video would probably prove my defense on both items. I figure it’s worth a shot, and if the judge finds me guilty nothing lost. Actually think it would be interesting to do, and help with anxiety of having to defend myself in court just in case I have to on a more serious issue.

Good luck.

Dear Sir
I was traveling to Atlanta, Georgia from Florida and I got 2 citations at Cuthbert, GA, they are:
40-5-20 (Temporary license is not valid-Not US Citizen) and 40-6-181 (Speeding in excess of maximum limit, Stationary Radar front antenna 90 MPH in 65 MPH zone).

My questions are:
1. I have received a complete certified driver’s record from FLHSMV which shows my license was never canceled/suspended. Also, I have gotten a letter that says my license is valid. Are these information enough to prove me not guilty of the charge 40-5-20?

2. I was not told by the officer that I was speeding and was not offered to check the radar which is a violation of the 40-14-5. I was booked for 40-5-20 and then in the police station, I come to know about the charge 40-6-181. Can I ask the court to dismiss the case as the officer violated 40-14-5?

3. Is 40-14-6 also applied for the law enforcement officers? Because it only mentioned the law as “Each county, municipality, college, and university using speed detection devices shall erect signs on every highway….”, wherein 40-14-5 states as “Each state, county, municipal, or campus law enforcement officer using a radar device shall test the device….”. If 40-14-6 also applied for law enforcement officer, then the officer also violated that law as well.

I hope you will answer my questions. My court date is on Feb 3, 2022 so I urgently request your kind advice. Your kind support will be highly appreciated.

Please email me if you need more information. Thank you.

I cannot render an opinion on documents that I have not reviewed or without full information. That said, I do not handle cases in or near Cuthbert. You should consult with a lawyer near that area with these specific questions.

In general, properly authenticated documents from your issuing state showing that your license was and is valid should rebut the license related citation.

A review of the video of the stop would probably be needed to prove failure to comply with the testing requirement.

The officer is an employee of a city, county, college or the state. The signage requirement and permit for radar/laser detection equipment is tied to the employer.

Seems in Crisp County GA, I -75 speeding tickets are used as a fundraiser by the local county law enforcement.

I was pulled over on I-95 by a local officer and I know for a fact I was going 75 per my digital car speedometer . He claimed I was going 92!! There’s no way, my car would have been rattling and shaking at that speed! The interstate was packed also. That’s 22mph over the limit. When he told me the speed I said I couldn’t believe that and I didn’t think that was right. (I was not rude but respectful). He said his radar was calibrated that day. I asked if there was any way it’s not correct? Reading through this article I saw where they have to allow you to check their calibration under O.C.G.A. § 40-14-5. If they didn’t do that can I use that in court? How do I request to see proper calibration certification? Before court, bench trial, jury trial? I just know there’s no way my little old car was doing that, especially with my digital speedometer and the fact I was getting great mpg! Help?

They are supposed to offer to check the calibration, but they don’t have to let you watch. If you think that he didn’t follow procedure, you probably would need to subpoena the dashcam and/or bodycam of the interaction.

OCGA 40-14-5(b) Each county, municipal, or campus law enforcement officer using a radar device, except for an automated traffic enforcement safety device as provided for under Code Section 40-14-18, shall notify each person against whom the officer intends to make a case based on the use of the radar device that the person has a right to request the officer to test the radar device for accuracy. The notice shall be given prior to the time a citation and complaint or ticket is issued against the person and, if requested to make a test, the officer shall test the radar device for accuracy. In the event the radar device does not meet the minimum accuracy requirements, the citation and complaint or ticket shall not be issued against the person, and the radar device shall be removed from service and thereafter shall not be used by the county, municipal, or campus law enforcement agency until it has been serviced, calibrated, and recertified by a technician with the qualifications specified in Code Section 40-14-4.

“No operation of a stationary speed detection device from a vehicle which is obstructed from the view of approaching motorists or is otherwise not visible at a distance of at least 500 feet. (O.C.G.A. § 40-14-7)”

Does this mean that if the city officer was hidden from view in a bushy driveway, down hill at the end of a school zone, that he was in violation?

I feel like sitting at an “End School Zone” that ends at the bottom of a hill doesn’t seem fair. I see people pulled over daily by this opportunist.

By itself, the hill issue only matters if it is more than a 7% slope or grade. That means that the rise is 7 units more over a distance of 100 units. If I go out to do a rough measure, I use a 4 foot level and a yardstick. I prop the level up to make it level over the slope and the measure how far off the ground that end is. Do some division and you have your slope.

But, you are right, there is a separate rule about visibility about non-State officers. They are required to be visible for 500 feet. So, you go to the sight with a tape measure, park your car where the officer’s car was. Then measure until you get to where you can’t see the car and walk back to where you can first see any part of the car. Is it less than 500 feet?

I was tkted for speeding in Ga.
I had a speeding 18 wheeler on my back. I speeded up to get away from it. I saw the trooper but there was nothing I could do., except get chunched by the truck. Can i fight this tkt?
Two old ladies & 2 doggies.

Probably not. Legal justification requires something more than not wanting to get tailgated by an 80,000 pound behemoth with less than nimble brakes, although that comes close. What you should do is try to get the speed reduced or plead your case to the prosecutor or judge to try to get some mercy.

June 11, I got stop by local police office he was on top of Bridge, I was under Bridge…he came off the exit..stop me alot vehicle was in front and beside me be hind me…he stop me an said I was going 95 in a 70 zone…I was not spending…I do not want no points or my insurance going up…what can I do…also is it true local law enforcement not aloud to speed trap you off a bridge…only state trooper.

The issue with the bridge is that local officers cannot operate speed detection over a greater than 7% grade. Seems like operating from a bridge would create a situation where there was greater than a 7% grade between officer and target. I have not had that issue come up in my practice, though.

Can an officer write you a citation for speeding if he said he lasered me while he was parked approximately 50’ before the speed limit change sign and he pulled out right behind me as I was approaching the sign?

OCGA 40-14-9 states:

Evidence obtained by county or municipal law enforcement officers in using speed detection devices within 300 feet of a reduction of a speed limit inside an incorporated municipality or within 600 feet of a reduction of a speed limit outside an incorporated municipality or consolidated city-county government shall be inadmissible in the prosecution of a violation of any municipal ordinance, county ordinance, or state law regulating speed; nor shall such evidence be admissible in the prosecution of a violation as aforesaid when such violation has occurred within 30 days following a reduction of the speed limit in the area where the violation took place, except that this 30 day limitation shall not apply to a speeding violation within a highway work zone, as defined in Code Section 40-6-188, or in an area with variable speed limits, as defined in Code Section 40-6-182.

If the admitted evidence meets all of those requirements, then there could be a defense.

Can a city/municipality radar on sections of Interstate Hwy system I-85, I-20 or any others in Georgia if they only have less than 2 miles of Interstate within their signage city limits?

The Georgia Department of Public Safety determines whether to issue a particular agency a speed detection permit. The permit specifies the roads and highways on which the agency can act under that permit. Neither Georgia statutes nor DPS regulations include the two-mile rule that you describe, or any other measurement level. Roads included do have to have had speed limits determined by appropriate engineering studies and be properly marked in accordance with the Uniform Manual on Traffic Control Devices and Georgia law.

My wife got a ticket in an area that is open 5 lanes of traffic where the speed limit is 35. People have questioned the low speed and received the answer-it is a residential area. The other end of town, same road, has more traffic entering and exiting the road and more foot traffic and the speed limit is 45. It is a notorious speed trap. There is a rumor that only one officer on the city police force is certified to operate a radar and it is not the officer that gave her the ticket. Is there a way to find out who is trained and certified to operate a radar gun? Some form of public record?

Requests for individual officer training transcripts are handled by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council. https://www.gapost.org/

My wife and I are originally from South Carolina. We moved to Atlanta in 1985 for my job, and we have lived here ever since. In that time we have made frequent trips back and forth to visit family, always via I-85. During that same time period, we have repeatedly, year-after-year, time-after-time seen Jackson County patrol cars hiding in various places between the 155 – 173 mile markers clocking traffic travelling primarily south on I-85. After seeing them there probably a hundred or more times, I can’t imagine any other reason for it than as a means to generate revenue for Jackson County. Put another way, with an entire county to police, why else would that one particular county spend so much time and resources on monitoring the speed of motorists on that short section of interstate highway? If it was simply a matter of “good policing policy”, then why do we never see it being done by other counties in Georgia or other states we have travelled?

I will use an analogy. I know people who live on a lake and one of their pasttimes is fishing. They rarely fish off their dock. They don’t want to deplete their part of the lake of fish, and they want to go where the lunkers are. And of course there’s also the “Pretty Boy” Floyd quote that ends “because that’s where the money is.”

Reading O.C.G.A. 40-14-18 subsection b:2:D; A copy of a certificate sworn to or affirmed by a certified peace officer employed by a law enforcement agency authorized to enforce the speed limit of the school zone and stating that, based upon inspection of photographically recorded images, the owner’s motor vehicle was operated in disregard or disobedience of the speed limit in the marked school zone and that such disregard or disobedience was not otherwise authorized by law;

My questions is, is this certificate required to be signed by the Law Enforcement Officer who is Swearing to or Affirming the photographically record image? The only thing on the citation was a badge number, which could have been placed on there by anyone within the police department.

I have never been present to witness the process that the local department uses to accomplish that certification. I understand your point, but I think you will find that the department states that is the certification.

My car was driven from Asheville to Cumming Ga through the town of Tallulah Falls Ga. My car is a Tesla and it was supposedly set to run at 10mph above the 45mph speed limit. The actual driver was not me and could have been one of two people and I am not contesting the charge as much as the following. Do the police in Georgia not have to actually GIVE a ticket to the driver instead of just sending a photo of the car obviously going down a hill? The ticket came from the “Robot Police Machine” on the side of the road and no human was there. The ticket came from The Town of Talluah Falls Police Department , 3903 Volunteer Drive Suite 400, Chattanooga Tn 37416. Local police cannot tell me if such a MONEY HARVESTING arrangement is legal in Georgia. What are the facts here? Thanks!

It seems Tallulah Falls has become the biggest speed trap in our area. I received a citation in the mail dated Sunday, April 9th, which was Easter Sunday. The time of my supposed error was 4:55 PM. It stated I was speeding in “a school zone during times defined in O.C.G.A. 40-14-18.” I’m assuming this means that there are certain times that there are school zones during the day. First of all, I was not driving that day – my husband was. Second, to my knowledge there was no school going on that day on Easter Sunday at 5:00 in the afternoon. The third thing is that there are flashing lights that designate when school is in session that I always do regard when I’m in that area. In reality, this is misleading as the speed limit in Tallulah Falls along that stretch of highway is always 45. It appears as you are passing through that the speed is 45 only when the lights are flashing and as you are already out of the small town, you would assume there is no reason for it to be 45 all the time. In talking with others, I have found that half the population of north Georgia has received these same tickets so the small town of Tallulah Falls is making quite a chunk of money with their cameras. My dilemma is that I have to pay the $100 fine within 60 days or pay another fine. Yet the date to contest the citation is also in 60 days. Which means to me that if I don’t pay the fine or win the argument I will have to pay another fee. There’s no winning this and the state is allowing it to happen. BTW, our speed was not outrageous – it was only 58, which is very reasonable for that area on a non-school day. What can I do to remedy this?

Provided that the city operates the camera as required by state law, such a money harvesting arrangement is legal in Georgia.

However, it is not a ticket in the normal sense. It is not a moving violation charged against the driver. It is a civil fine against the owner whose vehicle was used to commit the violation. It will not put points against anyone’s license. Failure to pay can result in bad results. Pay the fine and move on is the best I can tell you.

It has to be during school hours. There has to be some required signage. The flashing lights have to be active. The device has to be regularly calibrated, etc.

I am not a fan of these photo-enforced citations. But, they do not go against the person’s license or earn them points.

I cannot call the Tallulah Falls setup a speed trap. A speed trap is a hidden enforcement of speed laws. There is nothing hidden about Tallulah Falls. There are signs and flashing lights.

The citation does not claim you were driving. It claims you are the owner of the vehicle which was speeding. If your vehicle was stolen at the time or had been transferred to someone else, so you were not the owner, those would be defenses.

It is also a defense if school was not in session (or within the designated time preceding and following school session) and the lights were not flashing.

I am sure that there are those who would disagree with your characterization that is reasonable to run 58 mph through Tallulah Falls heading into a recreational area where there are often walkers, hikers, and cyclists sharing or attempting to cross the road and where people pulling trailers with campers or small watercraft may be trying to pull off the road or enter the road. I would also observe that the bridge over the dam has proven to be pretty hazardous by itself during inclement weather.

The town is required to keep records of the operation of the equipment and you can visit city hall to review their documentation including whether the equipment was supposed to be operating at the date and time shown on the citation.

I got a 21 over in a 65mph zone today, and received a Super Speeder citation from College Park Police. They got me on 85N close to the airport. I believe he used a laser detection device. He did not offer to let me see it.

Anyway I haven’t had a speeding ticket in over 10 years when I was a youth. I have no record. I’ve heard I can go to court and plea No Lo or No Contest.. and they may reduce it? I’ve also heard you can talk to the court solicitor and they can reduce it. I just don’t want the points on my license and have to pay the SS fee. Any suggestions?

Nolo contendere will not avoid the super speeder addon fee. A speed reduction is a better option. Two miles reduction gets you below super speeder and lowers the points. Better yet, would be a seven miles per hour reduction, which gets a Georgia licensee to zero points. If you have an out-of-state license, points are determined by your home state. Better than a speed reduction would be diversion or a city ordinance violation. You would need to speak to a lawyer more familiar with College Park Municipal Court to find your best option.

I received a citation stating I was going 52 mph in a 35mph zone using laser speed detection at a distance of 1256ft. and last car coming down the hill this was stated by the officer in hapeville on my citation. There were about 3 cars in front of me on a one lane road. Where the officer was positioned there was no way to see the officer until you were about to pass as there is a fence with black tarp in front that made it difficult to see the police vehicle. I tried pulling to the side of the road but the officer kept riding my bumper until I pulled into a dead end street that I felt extremely unsafe on. Which was also not visible to those passing. The street isn’t kept up overgrown trees and such block the view. The officer didn’t let me know I could ask for accuracy test until after the citation was written. The officer also callled for backup as if i put us in an unsafe area which made me even more nervous and had me flustered. The officer even asked for my phone number for court purposes is that normal? This particular spot is also where two cities meet east point and hapeville. At 1256ft. I’m inclined to believe I probably was still in east point but I would have to check does that matter?

You should speak to a lawyer more familiar with that area. I am too far away to have an idea about the locations you describe.