GPS Defense Fails in Traffic Court

You’ve probably seen sporadic news reports about people using their car’s GPS to fight their speeding tickets. Will it work?

One of the most famous cases centers around a Sonoma County teen who has been fighting his speeding ticket for over a year. His parents have hired a GPS expert to testify in traffic court as to the accuracy of their son’s GPS unit. And the case is still trudging through the courts.

I saw a simple version of the GPS defense in Spotsylvania County General District Court the other day. A gentleman went up to the bench for his speeding ticket hearing. The Virginia State Trooper testified as to the defendant’s speed and his radar accuracy. Then the defendant claimed, “but my Garmin said I was only going 78.”

The traffic court judge was not impressed. He explained that the defendant had no proof of the GPS unit’s speed reading and the GPS could very well be wrong. The ruling? Guilty.

The conclusion? You need more than “my GPS said I wasn’t speeding” to get out of your traffic ticket. There ARE effective ways to use this defense, but you might even need a GPS expert to make it happen.

Photo by Premshree Pillai