“Lawyer blames his BMW for speeding and loses”

by Walter Olson on June 21, 2009

“A Portland attorney who blamed his German luxury car for a speeding ticket was told he was responsible, not the automaker,” reports AP/OregonLive: C. Akin Blitz brought in a PowerPoint presentation and the testimony of a mechanic to bolster his argument “that he had no idea his BMW 535xi was going 76 mph in a 55 mph zone because of its handling characteristics”, but Clatsop County Circuit Judge Philip Nelson disagreed and fined Blitz $182.

P.S.: Ken at Popehat: “Legal realism note: as a rule, you will not find traffic court judges sympathetic to the defense ‘Your honor, I am not guilty because my German luxury car is too awesome.”

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{ 4 comments }

1 Bill Poser 06.21.09 at 1:19 pm

BMWs don’t have speedometers! Who knew?

2 Bumper 06.21.09 at 3:11 pm

Why didn’t he just do what any normal person would do and just get the damn thing fixed? And is he so out of contact with reality that he thought he would be the one to defeat the Streisand Effect?

3 Benjamin 06.22.09 at 10:51 am

Wow, I should have used that defense when I replaced a leaking fuel pump and my pickup truck started going faster with the gas pedal at the same level. Vehicles go faster when you are not spilling out half the fuel before it gets to the engine.

4 Justin 06.23.09 at 10:00 am

5 series?
If it was a 7 series, I would agree with him.

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