I was pulled over years ago for speeding and reckless “driving”; and rightfully so. The cop did not give me a ticket. I guess he thought I wasn’t that much of an endangerment to others riding a bicycle.
No what’s bad is if you get a ticket while driving a car, and the officer who gives you a ticket is riding on a bicycle.
You jest, but when a cop and on patrol during Haloween, I rode my bike around the neighborhoods in uniform and reported speedrs to fellow officers in cruisers on more then just a few occasions. In neighborhoods, it was a huge advantage patrolling this way. Besides, I had a “costume” ready made and carried a bag on the rack for the candy I would “trick or treat” with those I knew. I had more fun working this way than the kids. Errr, other kids I guess, is what I should say. In the years we did this, vandalism complaints seemed to drop.
“No what’s bad is if you get a ticket while driving a car, and the officer who gives you a ticket is riding on a bicycle”.
katidad79–My late father, who was born in 1904 told about his neighbor who was “speeding” in his Jackson automobile and was pulled over and ticketed by a policeman on a bicycle. This was somewhere between 1910 and 1915.
I can’t say I have much experience with being pulled over and I’ve never gotten a ticket. I have been pulled over once. I was going 6 over around a curve where the speed limit drops from 65 to 55. I was passing an RV on a 4 lane interstate. I signaled waited three blinks, merged into the left lane and left plenty of room between myself and the RV before signaling and merging back. I was told I was speeding, didn’t have a front license plate, and didn’t signal soon enough. I asked how fast I was going and cop replied 61mph, I asked how soon should I have signaled and he replied three to for flashes, I replied that I thought I had waited 3 blinks/flashes, I asked if it was required to have a front plate in that state and he replied no but it is required in WA (which is where I’m from). I was speeding and I didn’t have a front plate so I can agree that I may deserve a ticket but I started counting how many people signaled in front of me when merging and counted 9. 9 people used their signal in 200 miles. Just pointing that out.
What I should have gotten a ticket for…Driving 120+mph for 70 miles. my excuses : the road was straight and through a valley that you could see where it came out of the mountains behind me and where it went into them on the other side. There were no turns or spots you couldn’t see. I got passed by a cop then a pickup at that speed. My mom was sleeping in the passenger seat. I never told her lol. I also have never driven that fast ever again.
Clearly the police in the state of Washington are lazy.
When the light on the dashboard is lit, your signal is not. You might very well not have flashed your signal 3 times.
I usually commute by bike. I only live two miles from work. There’s no point in driving two miles. I was riding through a school zone and saw one of those ‘Your Speed Is’ devices. I wondered if it would pick me up. Just for kicks, I pedaled as fast as I could and the speed indicated 21mph. A Military Police Officer was right behind the device and pulled me over for speeding in a 10mph school zone. Worse, my boss, the Law Center Officer in Charge was dropping his kids off at the school and saw me, the Legal Assistance Noncommissioned Officer in Charge getting pulled over for speeding in front of a school. I didn’t get a ticket, but no one in the JAG Office was spared the story.
I suspect the crux of the story was “Only 21 miles an hour!” 
Screw speeding. Go get those texters.
This may be unpopular, but I like the idea of speeding tickets (even being the recipient of one). To me the system seems logical. Those who necessitate the presence of the traffic cops are the ones who pay their salary.
In my humble opinion, justifying speeding does not always make sense. To say to oneself, “I am a good driver, no tickets, no accidents, I can drive this speed no problem” could mean that you are assuming many things. You are assuming everyone else will drive safely and predictably, everyone else will watch out for you. You are assuming some idiot wont cut you off and “cause” an accident. You are assuming everyone else will not roll through a stop. You are assuming that pedestrian sees you or “that guy wont go”. You are assuming your speeding is not distracting or startling other drivers. Just a guess, just thinking out loud.
At work, some kids were complaining about their speeding tickets and unanimously agreed the idea of tickets were stupid and should be done away with. I said, if there weren’t tickets, you wouldn’t be here to complain about cops because you would have been killed in a car wreck years ago.
Based on some stories, it seems there’s a lot of room for improvement. Personally, I haven’t had a single experience with police officers that I’d consider negative. Maybe I’m just lucky?
“Those who necessitate the presence of the traffic cops are the ones who pay their salary.”
No. We all pay their salary. Ticket revenue is gravy which our masters in City Hall or the Statehouse will waste away.
I hear you “Littlemouse”. Maybe we could just privatize police departments so their entire salaries were based upon their law enforcement action. They could then pick and choose to help only those who could afford or were willing to pay the bill. The rest of us, to save a little tax money that gets wasted away could just enforce our own road rules, do our own criminal investigation when wronged, pick up after our selves after accidents etc. as we saw fit. I think we used to do that some time ago.
“Ticket revenue is gravy which our masters in City Hall or the Statehouse will waste away.”
Actually in my community the vast majority of revenue generated by tickets go to the schools. Hardly “wasting it away”
I think all I’m saying is that the speed limits are very very arbitrary and not really based on safety much. Some folks think that going 31 in a 30 is a crime and warrants a ticket. Others think 30 is a guide and 35-40 might be ok if no traffic. 55 was once the limit but now 70 is. So what changed as far as safety? So why not 30 instead of 70 on a freeway to be perfectly safe? I’m just saying the safety arguement for slightly speeding is often bogus. Reckless driving, texting, inattentiveness, running red lights, and so on is another matter and clearly a safety issue. We just seem to be fixated so much on speeding. In my town, using a BB gun in town is a felony. Figure that out. As kids we used to run around with BB guns all the time. Just think we need to let up a little.
In NJ, there are speed limit signs on white backgrounds and on yellow backgrounds. The yellow signs are “suggested” speeds for curves. No ticket for going over, but if you get in an accident, the limit on the yellow sign is what goes on the report (and the ticket). I only just learned this a few weeks ago, and I’ve been driving here since 1955.
“I hear you “Littlemouse”. Maybe we could just privatize police departments so their entire salaries were based upon their law enforcement action.”
I don’t know what you think you thought I said.
“Actually in my community the vast majority of revenue generated by tickets go to the schools. Hardly wasting it away”
Sounds like ticket revenue goes into the general fund and they TELL you it goes to the schools. What percentage is “the vast majority”?
“In my town, using a BB gun in town is a felony. Figure that out.”
That’s called an ordinance limit. BB guns have been weapons of war since the 1600s. Excessive, yes. Incomprehensible? No.
" Some folks think that going 31 in a 30 is a crime and warrants a ticket."
----- It's not? ???????
let’s face it. Some people believe that one MPH is not really braking the law so it should be ignored and someone else will say it is 2 mph… Somewhere it has to stop or 70 mph will be OK in a 30 zone.
You may well question that 30 mph limit, but it is not to you to say. It is for -us- to say.
I would guess they guy that stole my circular saw was OK because it was a cheap saw, but it was my saw and not his.
We have laws, some good and some bad. If you disagree with the law there is a procedure and you can change the law if enough people agree with you.
" Some folks think that going 31 in a 30 is a crime and warrants a ticket."
----- It’s not? ???
It may be a crime, but it’s unenforceable. There’s no way it SHOULD hold up in court.
A vehicles OD usually isn’t that accurate (even the ones with digital read out). Now you get up to 5mph over…then I don’t think you’ll ever win that in court. Most towns give a 5mph leeway in a 30mph zone or even a school zone of 20mph. Highway…it depends on where and what time of day. In a 65 zone on I93 in MA…75-80 is the normal traffic flow (when traffic is moderate). Cops won’t pull you over unless you’re weaving in and our or traveling above 80…H*LL…I’ve been passed by cops going much faster them my 75mph…
NY on I90…the troopers will give you a ticket doing 72 (I know from personal experience).
Littlemouse…sorry if I miss interpreted what you said. I feel that the police in no way should keep or benefit from money from fines. I really don’t thing the municipalities that hire them should benefit either.
Any monitory incentive is one step closer to moving law enforcement into privatization which I would oppose. Even putting it into the general fund for a municipality doesn’t seem right. Charitable donations…I could live with. Especially those affected by the offender.
That is true to some extent @littlemouse. I agree that we all pay for law enforcement of course. But there are x number of cops patrolling the roads right now. If they weren’t needed due to everyone magically obeying all traffic laws, there would be x fewer cops.
I am not a cop myself, but I strongly suspect they accrue at least their day’s pay in tickets – judging by the price! So I think the x cops are paid for by those tickets. Also I suspect the deterrence offered by ticketing reduces the number of accidents which reduces the # of responses made by the fire department, more cops, repairs (repairing buildings, freeway signs, dividers, overpasses, etc) and other people/things we all pay for (such as auto insurance). Just my theory I suppose 
Admittedly I don’t know the exact figures (and I’m too lazy to look before I leap I guess), but ticket revenues aren’t as good as they look. Many people contest their tickets in court thereby reducing revenue from the ticket (on average), sequestering the cop from work and necessitating legal proceedings. Others might opt for traffic school and/or community service to reduce the ticket. Still others might not pay at all, at least for a very long time.
I do agree though, as you say there is certainly significant waste with revenues.