From: Ralph on Saturday, July 4, 1998

State: Maryland

Story: Two State Troopers were sitting at the bottom of a hill on I-83 S-B, and using VASCAR on cars coming down the hill. The only visual markers to measure off of were highway signs which were .2, .3 and .4 miles away. Although these were rather large signs, I don't think they could have accurately measured my speed because of 1) stopwatch start and stop variance, and 2) the distance between their patrol car and the sign(s). The ticket reads "80.0 in a 65 MPH zone" The mathematics would suggest that 80.0 is ... let's see 98.75% accurate ... or is it 99.8875% accurate.

I already know that a normal sort of stopwatch error would produce about a 6 MPH error - a 7.5% error. So,

1) Is the burden on the trooper to prove his 98.75% accuracy? Will the case be dismissed if he cannot?

2) Do I increase my fine in MD if I contest the ticket and lose?

3) I am a PA driver. The Trooper said I would receive no points. True? Will my insurance be affected?

4) If the device were tripped automatically, (if there were no stopwatch or distance variance), how accurate is VASCAR at those distances?

5) How accurate is VASCAR under these circumstances?