How exactly do you prove you were innocent, that you were doing the speed limit?
I also wonder how the citation is worded, if you pay the ticket, do you acknowledge YOU were speeding and therefore YOU are given the points?
Or does the citation have a box that says I'm paying the ticket because I can't prove I am innocent but I really didn't do it?
You admit to nothing by paying. No points (See "Make it easy to pay, hard to fight", above) no admission of guilt. Just like a parking ticket. Unless of course, you choose to fight the system itself, instead of just your citation. Then, oddly enough, your paying of the fine means you admitted guilt, and have no standing in a suit.
Nothing in the law says they have to give you that leeway. Base police have always said they will write a ticket if you are 1 MPH over the limit. They say their radar is calibrated and there is no reason to give you that break.
And who is really checking the machines? The only reason anyone would question the machine is if it was pushing out 100% fines. Otherwise, who has the ability to verify the software is accurately reporting what the radar was tripped at?
Discounting the base "We have not a lot else to do, and little chance of writing citations otherwise" police, far more officers give that buffer than don't. No, it's not written anywhere, but if you can, listen in on conversations officers have among themselves about this. Back in the early days of the Chargers, I hung out on the largest of the LEO forums that had tens of thousands of members, mostly sworn officers. And that was the gist of the conversions. Officers generally spoke of that as an unofficial rule of thumb. Barring other things, like a large differential (traffic in a 45 going 30, and you are doing 54, you're going down), theygenerally felt that there were enough folks going 10 or better over that they didn't need to hit folks going less than that.
Who checks the machine? Well, before being placed in service, MD law requires that the measuring device be certified via an independent 3rd party. Marylands SHA SafeZones and I think Baltimore got caught using devices only certed by the maker, but of course, tehre was no punishment, no citations thrown out. Which is why localtities feel free to do whatever they want, the state simply wont go after ones that break the law. And the courts won't give standing to citizens. As for daily checks, the machines are generally speaking self checking. Every day, they do a self test, which self test is supposed to be verified and signed off on by the system operator. Meaning the police department it belongs to. Most records that have been reviewed indicate these checks are spotty at best. Officers get tired of driving around, opening boxes to see the same green lights every day, and signing the same log sheet every day. So, as is human nature, it gets pencil whipped.
And this is what kills me, everyone assumes "Well, it must have these checks and balances. It's operated by law enforcement". "It's about safety, who would compromise safety by being lazy". Well, its not about saffety, it's about money, and they know damn well there are no repercussions for not doing it right. When the fix is in, people get lazy.
