Physicist's Traffic Ticket Canceled With Mathematics Paper
A physicist in California has used a mathematical paper that he had written to get out of a traffic ticket.
Dmitri Krioukov, who is a physicist at the University of California in San Diego, was pulled over for failing to come to a full stop at a stop sign.
He was facing a $400 fine, but Krioukov used a creative approach to fight the ticket that he thought was underserved.
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The paper, written by Krioukov, is titled "The Proof of Innocence," and according to the abstract the paper can be used as "a way to fight your traffic tickets."
The paper states that three conditions were met which would have subjected the police officer to an illusion which would had made it appear as though the car did not come to a complete stop.
"(1) The observer measures not the linear but angular speed of the car; (2) the car decelerates and subsequently accelerates relatively fast; and (3) there is a short-time obstruction of the observer's view of the car by an external object, e.g., another car, at the moment when both cars are near the stop sign," Krioukov explained.
The paper described the events of the traffic encounter. As Krioukov was approaching the stop sign the officer watching saw Krioukov's car from the side, which distorted how fast Krioukov was traveling prior to the stop.
As Krioukov came upon the sign, which he contended he had stopped at, the officer's view was impeded by a passing motorist.
Krioukov started again quickly and the officer's perception of Krioukov's speed made it seem that he had never stopped at all.
Krioukov further explained that the reason it was such a short stop was due to the fact that he had been fighting symptoms of a cold.
"He was sneezing while approaching the stop sign. As a result he involuntary pushed the brakes very hard" and then accelerated quickly, according to the paper.
