1
$\begingroup$

So I was given a speeding ticket for supposedly traveling 42 mph on a road with a speed limit of 30 mph. However, the road I was clocked on was the street that I live on..I was pulled over about 1.5 miles and the officer told me someone clocked me going 42mph crossing a house that is only 250 feet from my address. There was no police officer on my street and I believe, considering the distance from where the alleged incident occured to where I was actually pulled over, that this is some sort of miscommunication and I wanted to prove so mathematically.

Knowing my car (2003 Infiniti G35), I could find the weight, combined with my own, to form the mass (3,573 lbs). I konw the distance (250ft), and essentially want to prove that it is either impossible or improbable that I could exit my driveway (distance and inital velocity=0) and end with a velocity of 42mph in such a minimal distance. What other information would I need? I feel like it should be simple but I'm struggling with whether to assume uniform acceleration, what other factors should be included, etc

The engine of the car is a 3.5L 194kW 260HP V6

Thank you all in advance! I thought this would be as much a fun exercise as simply disproving a ticket

  • 0
    A common first-year calculus problem is to show that an officer clocking someone at an angle will give a reading higher than the actual speed. Do you know where you were clocked from? – 2017-01-25
  • 1
    Obligatory reference to Feynman's [Lectures on Physics](http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_08.html) `I-8-2`: "*That’s impossible, sir, I was travelling for only seven minutes. It is ridiculous—how can I go 60 miles an hour when I wasn’t going an hour?*" ;-) – 2017-01-25
  • 0
    @Moo I have read that paper – 2017-01-25
  • 0
    @Kaynex I have read that paper, ubt unfortunately I do not know the officer's location/the location I was clocked from – 2017-01-25

0 Answers 0