Faulty GPS twice steers astray motorist into Flint Hill speed traps

It was a typical Tuesday of routine cases at Rappahannock County General District Court — speeding, reckless driving, driving under the influence — until a Charlottesville graduate student stood before the judge.

“My name is Faraz Dadgostari, a PhD student at UVA engineering school,” began the man who looked to be in his mid-30s, addressing retired Prince William County Chief Judge Peter W. Steketee, who was in Rappahannock to help handle the county’s court load.

Judge Steketee, at the same time, was handed a stack of numbered exhibits — detailed research, ground and aerial photographs, and court records reaching all the way to the

Virginia Supreme Court — carefully compiled by the engineering student in advance of his day in court.

All of this effort for allegedly driving 42 mph in a 25 mph zone through Flint Hill.

“I received a ticket on Zachary Taylor Highway for speeding on November 30, 2019,” Dadgostari explained to the judge. “The case number is GT19002532-00.”

It was clear from the start that Dadgostari fit the engineering mold. He argued in precise, inch-perfect terms against every aspect of his moving violation, citing his various exhibits — and faulty GPS navigation — along the way.

A visibly intrigued Judge Steketee listened politely and patiently to the defendant’s every word. As did the arresting officer in the case — Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Lt. Cody Dodson. Others in the crowded courtroom turned their heads and smiled at the young man’s determination.

“When the officer stopped me for speeding I was coming back from Pittsburgh headed to Charlottesville, however at the time that officer Dodson pulled me over I was lost due to the lack of GPS and did not know where my location is,” said Dadgostari, with what sounded like a Persian accent. “Since I was lost, I was mostly looking for signs to get some idea about the correct direction toward Charlottesville and I was not in a hurry.

“I believe that I was driving with a normal speed,” he said in other words. “I got really surprised when I saw officer Dodson’s car behind me and to my surprise he turned on his emergency lights. I may have been driving slightly above the speed limit… but I do not drive so much above the speed limit. My first guess was that due to my confusion about the correct direction, I lost my attention and made a mistake.”

Here’s where Dadgostari made his defense even more interesting.

“The day after the incident, as I checked the location of my ticket, to my surprise I recognized that it is the same location I received a speeding ticket three years ago, when again I was lost due to GPS problem, coming back from Philadelphia,” he told the judge.

“In that case I waived my ticket since I believed that it was totally my fault. But regarding the fact that I am highly cautious about speed limits and try my best to drive responsibly, it seems really strange to me that during the last three years and thirtythousand miles of driving I have violated the speed limit… in the only two times that I have passed the very same location on the Zachary Taylor Highway.”

The student added, “To find out what was the problem, I used the data published by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia… and looked into the data of all similar cases, 25 cases… for the same charge of violating speed limit of 25 miles per hour at the same location.

“I have found the following evidences, supporting the fact that I am not guilty of the charge for violation of [the] speed limit.” That evidence? “Sixty-four percent — 16 of 25 cases… of the speed tickets — have been given to non-local drivers, drivers who are residents of the zip codes of at least 30 miles away from this location. Such a disproportionality for a local road suggests that being unfamiliar with the road may place a role in why people are more probable to get confused and unintentionally drive above the speed limit,” Dadgostari surmised.

He next provided the court with a list of names of all the motorists cited in recent months for moving violations in Flint Hill, including their home addresses and distances lived from Flint Hill — ie. Lowell, Mass., and North Providence, RI, both about 500 miles away — genders, race, case numbers, arresting officers, and hearing dates.

“Ninety-three percent — 15 out of 16 cases… of the non-local drivers — have never had any traffic related case during the last five years,” the student found.

Dadgostari concluded, among other findings, that “aforementioned evidences about this location suggests that there should be some factors that have undeniable influence on the behavior… of drivers and increases the probability of their mistakes to a degree that makes them to unintentionally violate speed limits to the level that this location experiences speeding three times more than what it should be under normal circumstances.”

Beyond that, he suggested to Judge Steketee that “a comprehensive scientific study is required to figure out [what] are the cause roots [of] this problem, but considering my limited resources I found out some inconsistencies in the setting of the speed limits in this road based on the VDOT speed limits map.”

Meaning he took photographs and measurements to determine the exact distance (“1829 feet,” for example) separating the 55, 35 and 25 mph speed limit signs upon approach to Flint Hill and questioned whether the distances from one to the other conformed to state requirements.

The judge did all he could to keep up with the budding engineer’s presentation, realizing he still had a full docket of court cases in front of him.

“I am requesting to dismiss this ticket based on the aforementioned evidences,” Dadgostari finally concluded. “I should mention that I’ve already registered for defensive driving classes to ensure such a misperception of speed will never happen again.”

The judge turned the last page of exhibits and handed them back to the man.

“Your information is interesting,” he assured the student, but all said and done “I have to go with the facts.”

Those facts, he told Dadgostari — but only after thoroughly quizzing Dodson on the accuracy of his radar equipment — clearly pointed to the student as speeding through Flint Hill. And not once, by his own admission, but twice — lost or otherwise.

Judge Steketee then admonished the motorist to rely less on GPS and pay more attention to the road, for his well being and the safety of others. Still, it was apparent that the judge wanted the man to know how impressed he was with his court presentation, and he made certain that the defendant understood he had every “right to appeal” the court’s decision.

A new hearing and a new judge, starting fresh, the judge explained to Dadgostari, all but encouraging him to appeal his decision.

The judge handed the student a fine of $50, plus court costs.

‘Since I was lost, I was mostly looking for signs to get . . . toward Charlottesville’