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This driver used Google Maps to get out of a speeding ticket

What happens if it's a machine that issues you a ticket? In that case, it's time to turn to technology to help you out of a potentially expensive jam.

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Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters/File
Google Maps application is displayed on a smartphone in Seoul, South Korea

Getting a ticket is never fun. Well, it's possible the part before you got pulled over was fun, but it wasn't necessarily legal fun. Occasionally, though, cops can make mistakes and that's why you get to go to court to prove your innocence. What happens if it's a machine that issues you a ticket? In that case, it's time to turn to technology to help you out of a potentially expensive jam.

That's what Danial Mercer of Winnipeg did when he was issued a speeding ticket. A speed camera snapped a picture of Mercer that showed him going 49 km/h in a school zone. The speed limit in that zone is 30 km/h, and the fine for this infraction is $299. The problem is that, according to Mercer he was already past the school zone and into an area with a higher speed limit.

To prove this point in court, Mercer pulled up images from Google Street View that showed where the school zone exists. Comparing those pictures to the one captured by the ticket camera, Mercer was able to show that he was beyond the speed limited zone. The judge agreed, and his ticket was dropped.

The police went back out and examined the camera and the school zone. They don't agree with Mercer's findings, saying he was still within the school zone. Regardless, the issue is currently put to bed unless the charges are reinstated.

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