From: tmjk@epix.net on Tuesday, August 10, 1999
State: Pennsylvania
Story: On Aug. 4, 1999, I was pulled over for speeding 51.4 mph in a 35mph zone. I had just pulled onto rt. 322 after coming off a U-turn ramp and was heading toward a cattle chute type construction zone. The speed limit sign is approximately 5-10 yards in front of where the officer was sitting off the road and on a hill. The sign is also just before you come out from under a RR underpass which the cop cannot see from his vantage point. Anticipating the upcoming road narrowing, I immediately stopped accelerating. The speed limit changes to 40 through the construction zone, but I am a conscientious driver and my car always seems wider than the road, so I always slow down.
He pulled me over at the first exit, the Front St. exit and gave me the citation, marking sec. 3362, subsec. 44?? and issued a fine for $192. The device used was Acutrac and it states that he timed me for .018 of a mile and 1.26 seconds.
I've done the math and the figures calculate correctly, but I cannot believe I was going that fast in the amount of time I had to come off the ramp and knowing full well that I was heading into the cattle chute like area. Additionally, my regular car was in the garage, so I was driving my husband's 1982 Jaguar which has a cylinder going bad and misses which makes acceleration very slow, to say the least. My question is regarding the accuracy of the acutrac??(officer spelling) device and the possibility for human error in the operation of this device. Any information would help. Thanks.
They have sworn to serve you
