Story: I received a speeding ticket in Montgomery County Md. - doing 54 in a 35 mph zone, registrered by a Laser gun.

I was riding a 1985 Honda Sabre. The bike has no fairing.

I went to court - following the advice of outlined in the book Traffic Ticket Defense. (Excellent book by the way.)

I made several mistakes and ended up paying a $35 fine with $22 court costs - the Judge reduced the ticket speed from 54 to 44.

I received an excellent lesson in how to handle myself in court, and have several recommendations on what not to do in a court trial...

The first mistake I made was, once it had been ascertained that the officer had no direct recollection of the event other than what was written on the ticket, I still asked him several questions about traffic conditions, weather, my atire, and other non-important things.

The second mistake I made was addressing my defense at the officer rather than the Judge.

The third mistake I made was in allowing the officer to make comments that were not in direct response to questions asked by myself or the Judge.

And the fourth major mistake I made was in not presenting more information about my actions that day.

I attempted to demonstrate that it was possible for a Laser to register the speed of a faster vehicle behind my motorcycle. A laser can only register the beam returned directly to it from a flat reflective surface like a license plate, or a focused reflective surface like a headlight. I pointed out that the beam width of a Laser at 680 ft was approximately 2 feet, and since my headligh was only 7 inches wide, and the bike had no fairing, that another vehicle behind my bike was the culprit. I had taken a picture of my bike 25 ft in front of a Ford Bronco, and the Ford's headlight can be seen right next to and at the same height as the headlight on my bike. (I was so nervous in court that I forgot to show the picture to the Judge.)

I didn't present any defense by way of describing my actions or other traffic in the vicinity that day.

Anyway, I got blind sided by the Judge when she ruled against me saying that the Laser is "Vehicle Specific".

Next time (there probably will be one),to counteract the mistakes I made above, I will be asking the officer only enough questions to be sure he has no direct recollection of the event (these officers give out so many tickets that for them to remember the day let alone any single event is unlikely - my ticket was issed in October 98 and I went to court Jan 30 1999). Also, I will get him to agree that the only information that a Laser can give him is a vehicle's speed and the distance that speed is being registered at. I will get him to agree that Laser doesn't display a license number, VIN or any other "Vehicle Specific" information.

If the officer attempts to make any comments, I will ask the Judge to correct a my understanding of the officer's role in court. ie: that he is there only as a witness for the prosecution to the events of that incident, not as a representative of the prosecution, nor as a representative of the state. If the judge confirms that my understanding is correct then I will request that the judge ignore the officer's comments and further, remind the officer to stay within the limits of his role as "merely" a witness for the prosecution. (I didn't pay attention to this detail in the book, nor understand how I could use it to my advantage.)

Also, I will present more information to the Judge concerning other traffic in the vicinity.