Ticketed for Speeding, but I Think I Was Driving Slowly

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington in the city of Blaine, but I am from and currently in BC, Canada.

Hello, I helped drive a friend down to the states to pick up a shipment yesterday and while looking for a place to grab some food I was pulled over and ticketed $271. I feel I do not deserve the ticket as I was driving very slowly. What happened was, I was passing a school on H street in the west direction when there was a police car stationed off and perpendicular to the road. As I was driving along I saw the police car but, I did not worry about my speed since I was moving along very slowly. I then also began to accelerate since I was leaving the school zone. This is when the police car came out and flashed its lights. I looked at my speedometer and it showed me going at around 50 km/h(~31mph) before I pulled over. Later I drove back in the other direction and I noticed the spot where the police car was parked was past the school zone. The location written on the ticket says M.P. Block# 800 and I assume that means the section for house numbers 8## but, on Google maps it says the location where the police car was is estimated to be at 686. I would go back to check but it's literally in another country. The ticket and the police officer say I was going at 32mph in a 20mph zone. I am lost to what I should do.

This maybe unrelated but, although our school zones are usually 30km/h, 50km/h is very reasonable but I knew mph is around half of km/h so I was going a lot slower. The friend I was with who frequently travels to USA said there was no way I was travelling 12mph above 20mph in the school zone and that I accelerated after it. I was only in USA for 2 hours and now I have a $271 ticket. I live by myself going to university so I'm on a slim budget and I've been eating nothing but instant noodles and cafeteria food trying to save up for a snowboarding trip but now that's out the window. Seems like every time I try to help people out I get punished for it. Sorry for ranting but I'm just very disappointed about this entire situation. Please help if you can. Thank you.

EDIT: Sorry I can't seem to attach the image but the link is there instead.

You have told us that you were driving at the speed of roughly 31 MPH. The officer says you were driving at the speed of 32 MPH. With due respect to the notion that "there was no way I was travelling 12mph above 20mph in the school zone", 31 MPH is 11 MPH over the limit. With due respect to your friend's impressions, the officer observed your speed, it's consistent with the speed you describe, and you suggest that you weren't paying attention to your speedometer.

If you have an analog speedometer, you can look at the MPH numbers. If you have a digital speed display, check your manual for how to switch from a KMH to MPH display.

You should read the posts in the traffic court forum about defending against a Washington speeding ticket, including discussion of discovery, mitigation and deferral.

Sorry I believe you've misread. I accelerated to 31mph while exiting the school zone. The ticket states that I was doing 32mph inside the school zone. I was driving slower within the school zone. I am under the impression the school zone boundaries are the same as in Canada, the school zone ends at the last school zone sign. Does it not?

I do have an analog speedometer, but the numbers are listed in only km/h. As far as I am aware most cars here only have the speed listed in km/h. I don't recall being in or driving a car which has mph on the dash.

I have read a few of the other posts but, I was hoping for some more personalised help. I am not very familiar with the legal system, let alone with an American one.

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Quoting PandaMan

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I have read a few of the other posts but, I was hoping for some more personalised help. I am not very familiar with the legal system, let alone with an American one.

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Each state is different, so the first thing you can do is to read Procedural Guide to Traffic Tickets in Washington State. However please note that mitigation and deferral options are probably not available for a school zone ticket according to RCW 46.61.440 (3).

Also you can read through previous posts regarding school zone tickets in Washington for possible defenses.

Are you able to return for a hearing? If so, you will need to request a contested hearing, then request discovery materials and post links to scanned copies with personal info redacted. There are a few Washington forum gurus who might jump in when those details become available.

The school zone ends where the "End School Zone" sign OR another speed limit sign is posted. And, you may not increase your speed until AFTER you pass the sign.

Barry

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Quoting searcher99

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Each state is different, so the first thing you can do is to read Procedural Guide to Traffic Tickets in Washington State. However please note that mitigation and deferral options are probably not available for a school zone ticket according to RCW 46.61.440 (3).

Also you can read through previous posts regarding school zone tickets in Washington for possible defenses.

Are you able to return for a hearing? If so, you will need to request a contested hearing, then request discovery materials and post links to scanned copies with personal info redacted. There are a few Washington forum gurus who might jump in when those details become available.

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Thank you, I'll give those a reading and I will link the discovery materials when I receive them. About heading back for a hearing, I really don't want to but it's not really like I have much of a choice. Also, is it true that I should only request discovery materials 15-14 days before the court date?

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Quoting blewis

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The school zone ends where the "End School Zone" sign OR another speed limit sign is posted. And, you may not increase your speed until AFTER you pass the sign.

Barry

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I just checked on Google maps. There doesn't seem to be an "End School Zone" nor any other posted speed limit sign all the away across the bridge and into a completely different area.

There is a school with children playing at 8th and H. It sounds like you sped up before the end of the zone. At Elm, past the point you appear to have been pulled over it seems the zone ends.

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Quoting PandaMan

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I just checked on Google maps. There doesn't seem to be an "End School Zone" nor any other posted speed limit sign all the away across the bridge and into a completely different area.

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And by saying that, you really don't remember an "End School Zone" sign and yet...

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Quoting PandaMan

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I then also began to accelerate since I was leaving the school zone.

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So if upon checking, you were unable to find any signs, and the reason you had to check was because you obviously could not remember any such sign. So how were you able to establish at which point you were leaving the school zone which is where you allege you began to accelerate?

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Quoting PandaMan

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Later I drove back in the other direction and I noticed the spot where the police car was parked was past the school zone.

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Radar does not measure your speed at the officer's location (it can but by that point a speeding driver would have seen him and slowed down). Instead, it is primarily used to measure your speed while you are approaching him or moving away from him.

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Quoting PandaMan

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The location written on the ticket says M.P. Block# 800 and I assume that means the section for house numbers 8## but, on Google maps it says the location where the police car was is estimated to be at 686.

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So if he was parked at 686, it is conceivable that he was able to measure your speed when you were in the 800 block which is approximately 0.1 miles away, and well within Radar's range.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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There is a school with children playing at 8th and H. It sounds like you sped up before the end of the zone. At Elm, past the point you appear to have been pulled over it seems the zone ends.

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Blaine High School is at 1055 H St, Blaine, WA, Blaine Middle School is at 975 H St, Blaine, WA.... I can see the children playing basketball but I am not sure what that location is as it did not come up on a school search in that vicinity. However, it does not matter simply because just opposite the street from that basketball court, you can see a large parking lot which appears to be part the property belonging to Blaine Elementary School whose address comes up as 836 Mitchell Ave, Blaine, WA. My understanding is that in Washington state, a school zone would extend to 300 feet beyond the school property; so you can go westbound for an additional 500 feet from Mitchel Street and that is likely where the school zone would end Certainly long past where the OP was likely to have been clocked. You can see all 3 schools I mentioned in this map.

drive

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Quoting Disagreeable

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There is a school with children playing at 8th and H. It sounds like you sped up before the end of the zone. At Elm, past the point you appear to have been pulled over it seems the zone ends.

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There were no children around at the time I was pulled over. I began to accelerate around Mitchell Ave. I see now that there is actually another sign further down near Elm but it isn't school sign shaped. Does it still count? How am I suppose to know it is a school zone sign? Surely that doesn't count if I am traveling the opposite direction as noone would know is it a school zone sign unless they have driven from the other direction and distinctly remembered it was a school zone sign.

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Quoting That Guy

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And by saying that, you really don't remember an "End School Zone" sign and yet...



So if upon checking, you were unable to find any signs, and the reason you had to check was because you obviously could not remember any such sign. So how were you able to establish at which point you were leaving the school zone which is where you allege you began to accelerate?

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In Canada, after I pass all the school zone signs on the right, I am suppose to look at the opposite side of the road and look for the last school zone shaped sign. That point is the end of the school zone.

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Radar does not measure your speed at the officer's location (it can but by that point a speeding driver would have seen him and slowed down). Instead, it is primarily used to measure your speed while you are approaching him or moving away from him.

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Yes, I saw him out in front. That was about the point I accelerated since I was leaving the school zone. I didn't expect him to pull me over for no good reason.

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So if he was parked at 686, it is conceivable that he was able to measure your speed when you were in the 800 block which is approximately 0.1 miles away, and well within Radar's range.

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Understood but both me and my friend do not think I was over the 20mph limit since after accelerating I was still only traveling at 31mph.

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Blaine High School is at 1055 H St, Blaine, WA, Blaine Middle School is at 975 H St, Blaine, WA.... I can see the children playing basketball but I am not sure what that location is as it did not come up on a school search in that vicinity. However, it does not matter simply because just opposite the street from that basketball court, you can see a large parking lot which appears to be part the property belonging to Blaine Elementary School whose address comes up as 836 Mitchell Ave, Blaine, WA. My understanding is that in Washington state, a school zone would extend to 300 feet beyond the school property; so you can go westbound for an additional 500 feet from Mitchel Street and that is likely where the school zone would end Certainly long past where the OP was likely to have been clocked. You can see all 3 schools I mentioned in this map.

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Are you sure about the extension of 300 feet beyond the school property? I've never heard of anything like this before and I've been told the rules of the road are the same in Canada as in America besides the metric/imperial conversion.

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Okay, so apparently there is a 300 feet thing in America. I never knew about this.

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(1) Subject to RCW 46.61.400(1), and except in those instances where a lower maximum lawful speed is provided by this chapter or otherwise, it shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle to operate the same at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour when operating any vehicle upon a highway either inside or outside an incorporated city or town when passing any marked school or playground crosswalk when such marked crosswalk is fully posted with standard school speed limit signs or standard playground speed limit signs. The speed zone at the crosswalk shall extend three hundred feet in either direction from the marked crosswalk.

(2) A county or incorporated city or town may create a school or playground speed zone on a highway bordering a marked school or playground, in which zone it is unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour. The school or playground speed zone may extend three hundred feet from the border of the school or playground property; however, the speed zone may only include area consistent with active school or playground use.

(3) A person found to have committed any infraction relating to speed restrictions within a school or playground speed zone shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. This penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.

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So what should I do then? Should I not contest it? I really don't feel I deserve this ticket but according to that 300 feet technicality, I am at fault. Would the court care if there was no way I could have known this? It also says it cannot be reduced so should I not mitigate it either? I'm running out of time. I'm lost to what I should do...