The Physics of Fighting a Traffic Ticket

How much was the Court costs? How long did it take to prepare the paper? You can't win against a stacked deck....

I'm guessing that the judge just didn't want to know that much about it....

Well, I think our Euro-physicist is not an honest man, using his own example, anyone would know that an oficer of a mean height (common among population), at the distance of rO= 10 m., and given the height of a Toyota Yaris 60.2 in and of a Subaru Otback 63.9 in. would have perfectly clear sight of the roof top of the toyota and thus be certain wether it stoped or not. (Even if the lanes were contiguous!).

Regards

Great dissertation of innocence...but in reality when you appear in front of a judge with a hundred people behind you to fight their cause, going into such an in-depth argument will only piss off the judge, who probaby wouldn't comprehend the argument to begin with, and he'll throw the ticket at you faster than an oncoming train -

I thought it was interesting that he writes this very detailed technical paper with many graphs, but in Fig. 4 the scale between the 2 cars lengths is clearly way off. His car (Car 1) appears to only be about 50% of the length of Car 2 not the almost 80% it actually is.

Shawn

The question is whether the judge read it and was convinced by the argument, or was intimidated by the math and didn't want to deal with it. If the latter, it could have gone either way.

I'm calling BS. There is no acceleration / decelleration curve for C₂. Did C₂ run the stop sign? I detect mumbo jumbo. Also, the deal breaker is in the asumption that a Yaris can decellerate at 10 m/s². Clearly Bull Scrub!!

-A-

On top of that, the Yaris then accelerates at 10 m/s2?? Really?

Also, the weight transfer on the stock suspension that would have been clearly evident within the observable envelope.

This little car would have had to come to a smoking stop (better than a G), and then a wheel spinning start (again, better than a G). The cop could have given him a ticket for exhibition of speed!

In top trim the Yaris has 106 hp and can do 0-60 mph in 9.1 seconds. That is: 0-26.9 m/s in 9.1 sec.

If: a=(v-v₀)/t

Then: a=(26.9m/s-0m/s)/9.1s => a=2.96m/s²

Which is, um. . . what's the word. . . LESS than 10 m/s²!!

This whole thing stinks to high heaven. Not even a math phobic Judge would have given this a pass.

And it's poorly written.

-A-

See post number 2: Published on April Fools' Day!

CNN carried this as "news" last night...it appears that they are tricked into running internet spam/hype as news stories quite often.

Yes, Doorman and Cuba_Pete,

I thought I could get some points by posting an irrefutable refute using math and outrage!

Maybe not.

Still, it seems our trusted Anonymous Hero has done the same as CNN in posting a prank as an article. Or, MAYBE, he knew we were sharp enough to get it out of the chute and was looking forward to the slings and arrows!

Either way, I had fun ranting.

-A-

Okay enough, as this presentation is pure BS and full of more holes than a collander. The math just doesn't work!

In the end, what was the outcome of the court proceedings? Did the guy get off or did he have to pay the ticket + get a mark on his license? No mention whatsoever what the Judge decided.....

Razzle Dazzle 'em! LOL

This could work...the judge's head will spin and kick the guy out of the court!

I think I'm with #2, don't believe anything you read around the first of April. I doubt that it really happened.

Judge says she didn't understand physicist's stop sign ticket paper, let him off anyway

Judge says she didn't understand physicist's …

By Justin Hyde | Motoramic - 2 hours 16 minutes ago

Mr. Hyde's article has a link in it to lend his story authenticity. However, the link is the actual UT San Diego story entitled, "Victory of Science Over Traffic Ticket Debunked. Commissioner Says the Physics Paper Didn't Affect Her Ruling."

Still, I AM very surprised that this is a real story. I am also disheartened by the fact that no one else seems to be pointing to the glairing inconsistencies in the paper.

Maybe I'm upset because junk science wins again. The average person still can't tell the difference between volumetric efficiency and aft deflector shields. Any idiot who can sound sufficiently smart is perceived by all to actually BE smart.

I can rant from the mountain tops that a Toyota Yaris cannot maintain constant acceleration of 10 m/s² for 10 seconds, or 20 seconds, or any time at all for that matter. Even if it were to be dropped from SPACE!

I give up. I'm going to go back to playing with my Star Trek wristwatch and be contented with the belief that the rest of the world just doesn't understand.

-A-