Don't ya just hate speed traps?

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
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:) well today, we took a different route heading to my inlaws, my wife figured it was shorter but as I was driving out of South Corning NY on Hwy 225 heading south, there is a curve that takes you outside of the residential area and then drops down a small slope onto a long straight stretch which has a speed limit sign that shows 55 miles per hour just a few car lengths into that straight stretch...but, the downhill slope to that area is still in the realm of only 30 miles an hour.

There in lies the rub, you are heading down hill, speed picks up as you are now going on a straight stretch with nothing in your path, but off to the left sits a St Trooper car...waiting...smiling...and as you drive past and my speedometer at the time wasn't even up to 50 yet, I wondered why he was pulling out after me?

He claims he clocked me at 50 at the top of the slope, again with the smile, he was polite but while I know I wasn't even up to 50 yet I know I was at least at 40 or so as I started down the slope, so technically I would agree I was over the 30 mile per hour speed limit, but, it sure felt wrong to be getting a ticket for something with the surrounding area leading you to start to that 55 sign. He, still smiling, takes my license and paper work, heads back to the bank...I mean patrol car ;) and proceeds to write the ticket.

He comes back and says he will give me a break this time and just made the ticket out for "Disobeyed Traffic Control Device" so no mention of speeding, but I'm sure the it'll end up being probably $150 when all is said and done. Fortunately the ticket is in NY, while I live in PA so nothing against my license. My wife was pretty good about not ranting on me about speeding, as I just drive as the conditions are good and try not to speed, but this seems a little silly. I was sad the rest of the 40 mile or so trip we were taking to her inlaws, where I got to hear it all again, good natured of course, but everyone else had a story of being pulled over and successfully talked their way out of a ticket, I'm never so lucky :)

Ah, there goes some of that savings...

G2

PS, this shortcut turned out not to be so short...well, if you deduct the time spent with the officer, maybe it was shorter, but we got there late just the same...
 
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I once pulled up to a red light stopped, witnessed a cop make an illegal left turn on the red light with no lights or warnings, into oncoming traffic. I waited for the light and went, same cop comes and pulls me over for running the red light. I says, "Not only was it green when I went, but you ran the red and cut off traffic coming both directions." she says, "How do you know I wasn't on my way to an emergency?" I answered, "Because you're here pulling me over for a mistake you made." I got a warning.

I once got stopped on my way out of work at 2am, I was closing that day and as I was locking up I got stopped by not one, not two, but six police cruisers. While running my license and all that crap, all six cars still sitting there, K9 rolled up, did I mention I was wearing my work clothes, which included a reflective vest, and had the keys. My final words were, "While you're all here jerking me around for no reason, you're not out there doing your jobs." and I may have followed up with a quip about doughnuts. I got off with a warning for ??? it just had my name and the date on it.

I got smashed into backing out of the driveway by a jeep that was doing at least 50 around a blind curve on a 20mph residential back road with no center line. My car was thrown, spinning, through the air for about 50 feet and was almost ripped in half, jeeps engine was completely destroyed. I got the ticket, because obviously you don't even need an elementary school level knowledge of how like, physics works to be a traffic cop. It's much easier to apply one size fits all punishment to all accidents. :rolleyes:
 
If you challenge the ticket in court, the judge offers 1/2 price in Ventura county CA, at least in my local court. I fought my charge and won, but it was interesting to see the judge offering discounts. It is worth it if you are willing to miss work for your day in traffic court. :rolleyes:
 
Man theey go to what they call "the berry patches" as they call them, and just smoke one car after another. They sit in places where they know they'll catch people. They get money for their departments this way and actually have quotas they have to fulfill. Atleast that is how it works here. To protect and Serve man.
 
I'd be wiling to go to court but in the end I'd have to admit I was going faster than the 30 miles per hour that it was listed, which puts me in the wrong, while to me, I was driving safely as I always strive to do, but the rule of the law, that was busted as was I ;)

There are reasons for speed limits and some will take advantage of that location, I was just not privy that they hung out in those areas...I do now !

G2
 
Down here on the west coast of Florida every little town has a trap waiting for you. They use unmarked pick-up trucks with radar parked along the road and a 1/2 dozen chase cars waiting for the call. It's a big part of their budget. Some of the towns like Waldo,Lawtey and Starke sell t-shirts about their traps.
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Things like this, among a host of others, is why people do not respect police.
 
A crappy part of the shift from Peace Officer to Law Enforcement Officer over the last few decades.
Here in the PRK, they are discussing setting up automated traffic cams that monitor your speed and issue citations automatically.
All in the name of "public safety". :rolleyes:

Do they really think we're stupid enough to believe it's NOT really all about those general fund $$$ it will generate...
 
Things like this, among a host of others, is why people do not respect police.

I don't see why. I hate speed traps just as much as the next guy, but if you speed through a speed trap you're going to get a speeding ticket.
 
There was a YUGE battle here over radar detectors. Eventually they were removed or turned off. Personally, I didn't have a problem with them. They were set to go off at 11MPH over the posted speed limit. IMHO, if you have to drive faster than 56MPH in a 45 zone, you deserve a ticket. My only gripe is that the company got most of the fine. Out of a $120 fine, the city only got $4.

Live cops, on the other hand can be reasonable. Last August my wife was taking me to a medical appointment and she was clocked doing 75 in a 45 zone. The cop just gave her a warning. :D
 
I got agree with you Gary they're real pain. I actually live right next to a speed trap myself. The public library right next to me happens to be the most popular speed trap in town. Most Sundays there's at least two or three cops sitting there grabbing people as the accelerate down the bridge. I swear at least once they're playing a game over there where each cop car gets in line, normally 3 deep, staggered. the first one in line gets the first person and they move up in line. The game appears to be to see who can give the fastest tickets and race back to get first in line. I swear they're moving a lot faster on the way back to the parking lot after they give the ticket then when they pull out to get the ticket in the first place. Gotta jockey for that pole position!


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OK, I am going to be a party pooper. :p What is the need for speed? There is usually a speed limit set on most roads for whatever reason. I often get passed in the 45 zone by people doing 55 or 60. Guess what? Most of the time, I catch up with them at the next light. Yeah, I know, what's the fun in that? How about a little self control?
 
I agree, I am not a real 'speeder' either and this section of road is or should, be marked at the state speed limit, as there are no buildings or people any where near that section, so folks just naturally start to get up to the state speed limit which you can see the sign just a little bit past where the cop was perched, pretty lame but I'm sure it builds up the funds a LOT from sitting there.

[video=youtube;55I5vuVKMfU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55I5vuVKMfU[/video]

;)
G2
 
Ahhhh, speed traps. One of the more famous ones is down in Texas on I-35 (Central Texas), small town (can't remember, Selma perhaps?) the interstate cuts through city limits. Seems they got a lot of their city revenue from the interstate drivers. Been a long time since I was through there, but it was famous. That was back in he 55mph days and nobody wanted to drive at 55 on Texas interstate highways.

I haven't gotten a speeding ticket in a long time. But it could happen tomorrow.

My most illustrious one was in South Dakota south of Bismark ND. I rented a Toyota MR5 (this is a long time ago) for the weekend to head to the Black Hills with my wife. Loved that little car and it seemed to have a mind of its own when it came to speed.... I was cruising at about 100 or so (speed limit 55mph) and passed a cop on the highway. He ignored me, it seemed... I slowed down for a while and the speed kept going up. Like I said the car had a mind of its own.... Next cop was driving toward me and did a Uey and pulled me over at over a 100mph. He wrote me a ticket for 65. It was a lot of fun driving that little car for the weekend. ;)

Another time.... near the infamous Smoky Mt Knife Works (or heading there)... speeded up with little truck to make the hill going from I-40 toward Sevierville TN. Guess what, just at that moment a cop was planted picking off a lot of people doing the same thing. I attended court of that one and it was dismissed, but it still cost court costs. The whole point... make money. It certainly wasn't public safety. After 10 years, I think they finally finished construction on that highway widening out to 4-lanes+. In the summer, it still is pretty much a 20 mile traffic jam beginning near I-40.

Was heading home on the 4 lane near my home.... school zone that was inactive but speed limit was 45mph..... I was (I thought) following traffic at about 55 mph.... might have been going 60. I look behind me and there is a motor cycle cop with his lights flashing.... comes up behind me and I wonder if he is following me? So I point at myself so he could see the gesture.... he jerks his hand up and motions hard for me to pull over..... still chuckle about that one. Officer > Where are ya headin' in such a hurry? ans... home. He gave me a warning. They pull over a lot of drunk drivers in the late evening in that stretch as they don't slow down from 50-55 to 45 mph.

I typically don't really speed from my point of view, but I tend to push the 5-7 mph over the posted speed limit. Legally, I'm a speeder.
 
I tend to speed a bit. Usually 5-7 over, without even doing it on purpose. That's just what usually feels "right" to me. I do keep it slow in neighborhoods though.

I can't recommend a radar detector enough. The cost of one or two tickets usually pay the price of admission. But don't skimp on a cheapy, and yeah, the good ones cost. Valentine 1 or Esort are the only ones worth considering. Personally, I run a V1 and can't recommend them enough. The arrows seem gimmicky until you get used to them, and after that, they're indispensable.

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Sorry to hear you got caught in one of those "speed change" areas. We have several in our area, 65 to 55 to 45, there's always a police pickup somewhere and he usually has a rental car pulled over. Out here it's a big part of there budget, I think!

My last speeding ticket was in NJ, on a Sunday morning, I was at a light, police behind me, I accelerated to about 47 in a 45 and the lights went on. He was arrogant and plain nasty. I went and met with the prosecutor and got it knocked down and just paid a fine. He and another officer that was there asked me about my experience, apparently the officer is a PIA. We all laughed but I had to write a check!
 
22, yes, the town you are thinking about is Selma.

SOME of the notorious speed traps of a few years ago have backed off, Selma included.

Part of it has been due to bad publicity but a big part was a state law that was passed that restricted how much money a small town could "make" via traffic fines. I don't remember the specifics but the limit is some per centage of overall town income. Anything over X% has to be turned over to the state. With no incentive to write more tickets, the ticket totals went way down in some places.

The smalll town near me is claimed to be a speed trap because of the number of tickets they write, but that is simply a result of human nature.

Unlike most true speed traps with rapidly changing speeds and a cop waiting just inside the lower speed sign, our town has these 5/10 mph incremental drops at decent areas. In the "downtown district", the limit is 35. The cop is always (when actually on duty - we're one step above Barney) sitting at the 35 to 40 transition heading north, watching the folks headed north through town.

The Chief told me they usually only stop the ones going 50 or more through the 35. He said somedays they write so many tickets of 60 or more, that they don't have time to stop the slow speeders.

The 35 (coincides with a 30 mph school zone during high kid transit time) is centered on the intersection of the state highway through town and a major FM road. The zone also includes the high traffic businesses - bank, feed store, post office, 2 convenience stores, donut shop, nursing home, 3 vehicle repair shops and a restaraunt), so it's not like a hidden slow spot. It's also the prime east-west transit corridor between the city park, all the schools and where most of the students/kids live.

There is absolutely no reason anyone should still be going 50+ 3/4 of a mile passed the 50 sign with 45, 40 and 35 signs every 1/4 of a mile, but they do and those folks get 95% of all tickets written in the town.

Marcus says when he's at the end of 1/8 mile 35 and someone has had 1-1/2 miles to slow from 65 to 35 and they're still doing 55 to 70, he doesn't have to work hard at traffic court. :D
 
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