… of either the return of Spring, or the waning of the pandemic, is the re-emergence of radar speed traps. I would undoubtedly have been snagged twice this week if not for my Valentine-1 radar detector.
Be careful out there!
Good. I usually feel cops have better things to do than sit under a bridge running radar, but ever since the pandemic closures, I’ve seen a ridiculous number of people doing triple-digit speeds almost every time I drive. And they’re very aggressive and dangerous about it if you happen to be in front of them.
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Overall, I agree with you, but the speed traps that I have encountered this past week were all on our straight-as-a-die country roads that have the bizarrely-low speed limit of 30 mph. Nobody seems to be able to provide an answer as to why perfectly straight roads–with clear sight lines of at least 1/4 mile, and no houses or driveways–have a 30 mph speed limit. I think that only likely reason is for revenue.
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The speed traps here is SWFL have been back since last summer. Not that anyone pays any attention!
9 mph over (so 79 mph) is the prevailing speed. That speed won’t get any attention. People do drop to 50 across all 3 lanes with a trooper to the side with lights flashing.
Quite possibly. In my state it’s unlawful for a municipality to set the speed limit lower than state statutes mandate outside of an “urban district,” which is defined as a 1/4 mile or greater stretch of road with structures spaced less than 100 feet apart. But that doesn’t stop some cities from doing it anyway, to give their cops a place to meet quotas.
Honestly one of the problems is that traffic ticket revenue gets funneled to police departments, which gives them an incentive to ignore less lucrative but more serious crimes, such as red light running, in favor of concentrating on pulling over speeders.
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+1
Absolutely!
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I never have a problem because I always obey all speed limits (aha ha ha ha 
) I haven’t been out on the road enough to really notice but I have noticed the city police seem to be all over the place now. I didn’t know they had that many cars. Coming back from Menards though there is a hill coming into town where we go from 60 to 40 going down the hill. Nobody can get to 40 unless you anticipate the change and start a half mile before and slow down or hit the brakes. I’ve only seen a police car are the bottom of the hill a couple times though. The do seem to like to sit at the bottom of hills though like the one by the compost site.
How can we defund the police if they make their own money? 
How long until this post is erased, joke or not? It is a joke, BTW, Carolyn.
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You may have something there. A triple play. Squad had three cars pulled over and they didn’t look happy. When I came back through there were three squads and three cars so maybe share the wealth. Of course I was going up the 40 mph hill at 50, and a patrol was going down the hill. Left me alone though, so missed one.
There are about 120 speed and red light cameras in Wash. DC.
Since they are triggered at 11 mph over the limit I normally aim for 5 mph over and pay them no mind.
It’s sort of amusing to see speeders hitting their brakes as they approach the well known locations.
I hate those things. In Minnesota they were outlawed. In Norway I was warned about them. Speed limit was like 50 kph and no one said anything about a margin of safety. You wouldn’t know you got nabbed until turning the car in or later.
In NJ, they did away with the red light cameras after a group (AAA??) proved that there were more rear-end collisions at intersections with red light cameras. The biggest problem was that they were totally under local control and the operation of some of them was… let’s just say… questionable. So, the state ordered all of them to be removed.
While we have some of the “Your Speed Is” devices, those don’t (yet) contain a camera, and to the best of my knowledge we don’t have any speed cameras in my state.
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Dichotomy: notice that we are here beating up the traffic police, when at the same time we love the police that stop armed robberies and looters and rapists. This is exactly why there is a strong call for separating the two groups, so that each gets exactly the reaction that they deserve…and the funding.
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Traffic police are irritating. Sure, sit in the shade, reading a newspaper while waiting for their radar to beep.
On the road, will pass on the right of someone driving 10 MPH below the speed limit.
Around here the police are the police. No separate traffic police. The Highway Patrol though is mainly traffic enforcement but also back up locals when needed. They aren’t really “state” police.
When we have traffic calming efforts like speed cameras, it is usually for a reason: school zones, road work, or known dangerous intersections are a few of the reasons. They don’t bother me in MD anyway.
DC is another story. I was on DC295 driving about 70 in a 50 zone, headed to my BIL’s home in the Norfolk area. His son had just hung himself, and I hoped to see him alive one more time. I wasn’t thinking about speed limits, of course. Sure enough, I got that speed camera ticket from my best ol’ best friends, the DC Police. They didn’t know, and they didn’t care. I was speeding on an empty road with no construction. I paid the bill and still think they can go to hell. I’m glad I was speeding and don’t care what they think. Rant over. I didn’t make it in time, btw. TMI?
Clarkson talks about driving that Porsche 928 at 170mph to see his dad alive one last time. Fairly sure he would have told any court in the land to go to the same place.
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Well this is getting weird. Second day in a row the Police nabbed a kid driving his 4 wheeler on the road. Looked young. I think he might be in trouble. Reminded me years ago we bought a building lot 3 blocks away and I wanted the kid to be able to drive the mower over to cut the grass every so often. Not wanting him to befall the same issue I had as a kid, I checked with the Police on whether it was ok to run the lawn mower on the street for 3 blocks. I got a lot of hemming and hawing but no firm answer. So I’d load it on the trailer and drop it off for him until the neighbor said to just drive it over their lawn. Kids can drive tractors, seems like a mower and maybe ATV should be the same. Of course I know Y’all don’t agree.
Someone must have complained. How would the police know otherwise?
Depends on State laws, in Washington state it’s possible to legally drive a 4 wheeler on the road but first you have to get the dealer to sign a declaration that it has all the safety equipment and lighting to be road legal, even after that you’re at the mercy of the city or county if you can take it on the road, providing you have a valid driver’s license and insurance.