What is “pacing?
Pacing is the granddaddy of all speed measuring techniques. The officer typically drives up behind the target, accelerating until his speed matches the speed of the target vehicle. His calibrated speedometer then verifies the target vehicle’s speed. Although pacing also works when the police cruiser is in front of the target vehicle, some courts consider this approach unreliable and won’t allow it. Pacing is especially effective at night, but rarely works when the drivers maintain a close watch in their rear view mirror.
Many speeding tickets are issued from the police officer following or “pacing” a suspected speeder and using his or her own speedometer to clock the suspect’s speed. With this technique, the officer must maintain a constant distance between her vehicle and the suspect’s car long enough to make a reasonably accurate estimate of its speed. The road configuration where you were busted may help prove inadequate pacing. Hills, curves, traffic lights, and stop signs can all help you prove that an officer did not pace you long enough. For example, an officer following your vehicle a few hundred feet behind will often lose sight of it at a curve, not allowing enough distance to properly pace the vehicle. Similarly, if you were ticketed within 500 feet of starting up from a stop sign or light, the officer will not be able to prove that she paced your car for a reasonable distance.
