Pacing in Spotsylvania County Speeding Cases 

Pacing is when an officer uses their vehicle to determine the speed of the subject vehicle. Pacing occurs when an officer follows a vehicle for a certain amount of time and at a certain distance. They then look at their own speedometer to determine the speed of the car that they are following. To learn about pacing or other speed detection methods in Spotsylvania, contact an experienced Spotsylvania traffic attorney today.

How Pacing Works

Pacing is pretty simple. It relies on the officer’s vehicle to provide the speed and the officer gauges the speed based on their own car. That way, they are able to determine the speed of the other vehicle through pacing in Spotsylvania speeding cases.

Use of Pacing in Court

Pacing is proven through the officer’s testimony. That is the only thing they have. Sometimes the state troopers will have a video camera and video footage of pacing, but normally it is just the officer’s testimony. They state that they paced for a certain distance and that they observed the speed accurately based on their own vehicle’s speed in Spotsylvania speeding cases.

The officer’s credibility is the main element in a case. There are some situations where an officer will testify to something that did not happen according to an individual. Unfortunately, courts do give the weight of the authority of experts, which would be law enforcement, unless there is something that an attorney can cross-examine or unless there is some evidence that they can pull out from the situation to contradict the officer’s testimony.

Weight Given in Court

The weight given to pacing in court depends on the judge. Most of the time, judges give it the same weight as a speed determined by any other means.

The pacing relies on the officer’s ability to correctly read their own speedometer and to testify to that. They examine a series of questions, like was their speedometer correct and did they follow the individual for a certain distance? The judge will assess the credibility of the officer with regard to pacing in a Spotsylvania speeding case.

Admissable Evidence

For pacing to be admissible in court, there is a set distance an officer must follow. Usually, the rule of thumb in courts is that an officer has to at least be seen doing one-tenth of a mile or two-tenths of a mile, which is not much at all and usually that is enough for a judge to accept that an officer is pacing the car correctly.

When an Officer Does not Maintain Consistent Speed

There is no rule that says the officer’s evidence cannot be used, whether or not the officer should be believed, or whether or not the speed is accurate on the officer’s end if a person does not maintain the correct speed. However, it is something that the judge needs to consider and the defense attorneys would bring up if they believe the officer is being unreliable. For more on pacing in Spotsylvania speeding cases, contact a qualified attorney.