Any police officers here?

[70]

Plus while I was in college I knew most of the campus and local officers, and they showed me that things like that can be done.

What did they show you?

It picks up the biggest object in the range of the radar. A trained police officer can distinguish the difference between what car is giving the signal...

Just because you got pulled over you think they rigged it? Did you get a ticket?

 

[70]

Laser/LIDAR use is VERY rare, nearly all areas use radar.

Not really. Almost every department in the Denver Metro area uses both...

In order to be certified however, the officer has to judge the speed of the vehicle before using the radar. They have to be within three miles per hour (plus or minus) twenty times in a row.

The radar/LIDAR simply confirms the officers best guess...

 

[70]

Construction workers block off traffic to protect themselves.

Standing in traffic is just suicide. If you accidentally hit one of them and they tried to sent you to jail, it would be entrapment.

You need to learn what entrapment is...

 

[70]

My village police uses a tuning fork to calibrate the gun before their shift. Couldn't they just use a different fork at the time of the stop to make it read whatever they want?

No...There is one tuning fork for stationary radar and two for moving radar.

The stationary fork is usually 35 mph. The seocnd one for moving is 65 mph.

The gun has to be set in a test mode to "see" the tuning forks.

 

[70]

...(snip)
Fun Fact: Statistics show that cars going under the speed limit have a higher chance of getting in wrecks than cars going over.

The reason is becuase the slow cars are hti9 by the morons going way to fast and not paying attention to what they are doing...

Speeding laws were originally designed as precautions to keep cars going what was safe speeds for those cars to drive. Though the safety features of cars have evolved to allow safe, relatively quiet travel at 100 mph (without the engine exploding, and the floors falling out ) the old 55 mph limits are more or less now just used to give people tickets to increase state revenue. (If you have any better reason to explain "quotas" I'd like to hear it, 'cause I'd rather deal with a viligante system than bored cops w/ quotas) Safety became economics. Law became a b*tch.

Yes, there are cool cops around, we just don't meet em very often 'cause they're not the ones who pull you over for not physically turning your head both ways before proceeding at a yield sign at 3 in the morning.

The original 55 mph was based on gas mileage ratings. The 55 speed limit was the best speed in older cars when the national speed limit was introduced. Since then the States have regained control of posting their own speed limits and most do so. They are usually higher than 55 now-a-days except for places where there is heavy traffic where 55mph is still safer than higher speeds based on braking distances and the fact that people do not give enough room for braking.

All tickets are revenue generators. Everything a PD does to enforce traffic code is for both safety and to generate revenue.

 

[mp5]

The reason is becuase the slow cars are hti9 by the morons going way to fast and not paying attention to what they are doing...


If that was the case, wouldn't those traveling slow and those traveling fast have the same accident rate, since one of each was involved in the accident.

It was a couple of years ago, but Car and Driver ran a story about various accident rates versus insuarance cost and as a group radar detector owners were the safest drivers per 1,000,000 miles driven and people over the age of 65 were the worst, just edging out drivers under 21. Despite those statistics, speeders and drivers under 21 paid on average 2.5 times what those over 65 paid.

 

[mp5]

Problem on the road today:

It is NOT safe for a full size SUV to be travelling at 85 MPH. Granted they can go that fast without the engine exploding and the floors falling out...but they cannot maneuver to avoid say a car going 55mph. Additionally, wheras truck drivers are schooled in how to handle a large vehicle in an emergency situation, soccer moms and other SUV drivers are not. Add to that people talking on their cell phones, reading the newspaper, watching porno on their LCD screens, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, and then you start to realize that no one is safe on the road at 85MPH.

I seriously think there should be a seperate license for vehicles over a certain hieght or weight. I also think a road-course refresher and written test is necessary instead of just a silly eye exam when you go to renew your license. But that's just me.

I totally agree. I think there should be different speed limits based on vehicle charateristics. There is no way that a semi traveling 65 is as safe as a suv traveling 75 or a sports car traveling 85 provided drivers had some sort of driver training. But in order to have such a system there would have to be strict adherance to "drive right, pass left" which seems to be a lost concept in this country.

Germany requires all drivers to take and pass a high speed driving course that costs in the range of $1500 before they are issued a license. In addition, if speed is linked to the cause of an accident, they can revoke your license and require you to retake the course. And, in the areas of the autobahn that still have no speed limits, they have a lower accident rate then we have on our interstates. I am totally infavor of having similar requirements here in the states. For one thing it would make our highways safer. In addition, it might help with urban sprawl since those that don't want to spend that kind of coin to get a license would choose to live close to their job. This might help bring an influx of capital spending in our urban areas which is sorely needed. And, it might even encourage people to buy good handling cars that get better gas mileage than suvs helping to reduce our dependacy on foreign oil. I see no downsides to such a requirement.

 

[70]

^^^


Yep. The biggest reason we have so many crashes in the States is because of the sheer lack of real driver training for beginners.

Driver's ED is a joke and most parents teaching their kids learned from their parents. Driving technology has a come long way and pumping brakes (something I was told by my dad, who was told by his dad) is completely wrong today...

 

[DooMer_MP3]

Agreed, Stutters. Defensive driving courses should be mandatory. They teach you to analyze situations that are far away, or situations that are possible to happen and allow you to react much better. Also, people drive like complete fools, forgetting simple rules like "drive right, pass left".

Chris

 

[laracroft]

Fast car vs slow car accidents: MY STATISTICS (not anyone else's or a survey done, just my own rotten luck)

1st accident:
I was going the speed limit, she side swiped me crossing over traffic from a stand still (16 yo female teenager, third accident she caused in a month.. why was this chick still DRIVING???)

2nd accident:
I was going under the speed limit, he crossed over two lanes of traffic just to hit me out of spite.... actually he was 70 yo, and about to kick the bucket, so he figured he would take a few more people with him when he did. (elderly male deaf and blind mofo)

3rd accident:
My car was PARKED....standing COMPLETLY and UTTERLY still... and a bus traveling about 35-40 mph down my block could not slow down in time to make his u-turn in my cul-de-sac and skimmed my *#@ month old new car (man in his middle 40's).

4th accident:
I was going 5 mph pulling out into an intersection on a green when a lady going 40 mph hit my passenger side after running a red light (middle aged woman).

My lesson and survey on all this:
I have been hit by man, woman and child of VARIOUS age ranges, nationalities and incomes. What does this tell me? There are no limits or statistics when comparing STUPID people. The only thing that will prevent an accident? Birth control for the intellectually and common sense challenged.

 

[Gbourdon]

I had court this morning. I cant get a moving violation in the next year or I go to jail for 60 days. My fine was $240. This was a really good deal.

They wanted to give me 1 year loss of license, 1 week in county, and a 2K dollar fine.

Lawyers are expensive.

 

[Shades]

The reason is becuase the slow cars are hti9 by the morons going way to fast and not paying attention to what they are doing...



The original 55 mph was based on gas mileage ratings. The 55 speed limit was the best speed in older cars when the national speed limit was introduced. Since then the States have regained control of posting their own speed limits and most do so. They are usually higher than 55 now-a-days except for places where there is heavy traffic where 55mph is still safer than higher speeds based on braking distances and the fact that people do not give enough room for braking.

All tickets are revenue generators. Everything a PD does to enforce traffic code is for both safety and to generate revenue.

4 mph was the 1st american speed limit for cars - back when cars first started driving around. When a woman drove, her husband had to walk in front of the car waving a red flag, and at night, every mile (or two, I don't remember), a flare had to be shot into the air, and the driver wait for 10 minutes if it wasn't a major highway so farmers could move their cattle off the roadway. And my US history teacher said I'd wasted my time in that class...

As far as the statistic goes, if it was because the faster people hit them, then there would be just as many fast people in accidents as slow. The study says it has to do w/ driver concentration, attitude, and average skill of drivers who drive over the speed limit vs. those who drive under.

It's a similar statistic to male vs. female drivers. Women get in more accidents, but when it comes to damage done, men do worse (more totalled cars, injuries, fatalities, etc.), hence male insurance being higher.

Slower people get in more accidents, but faster people get in worse accidents.

 

[RYuReady]

I just got a ticket, sux...

I was wondering how the officers use a radar gun. Can they only use it if they are at a standstill on the side of the freeway? I was in the second to the rightmost lane, for the whole 5 miles I was on the freeway before I was pulled over. I did not see the cop on the shoulder, or come on from the on ramp. I saw the car come from the left 2 lanes. So can I assume the cop was pacing me to find my speed? or could radar be an option too? I do not believe I was going 80 on the freeway, I was watching my tach and only went to 75. It was a hilly area so I may have hit 80 for a millisecond. Thanks, in advance.

 

[chuyler1]

They watch for the hills because they know you will speed up.

That happened to me at 3 in the morning on my way home from a movie screening (I used to work in a movie theater). I was the only one on the highway and I saw the trooper come up behind me, I was going 70-75 and didn't feel like slowing down. I wasn't positive it was a cop but when he slowed down to my speed and hid in my blind spot that kind of gave it away. Anyway, I was spending too much time looking in my rearview and didn't notice that on a hill i picked up speed to 80. His lights went on and I pulled right over. That saving grace was that 1) he knew my father, and 2) he coached me in little league baseball when I was younger. Gotta love coincedences. He walked up to the car (after running my plates) and said "how's your father doing?"

 

[laracroft]

Easier to pull someone over on the way down the hill. People are less likely to decrease speed since they usually just 'coast' downhill. We never spot someone going over the limit going up if it's steep. Most people go under the limit since the car loses power during the climb.

There are a few ways someone judges your speed. Pacing or sight is one (special schooling is required) and radar (depending on what kind). Some units only have the ability to clock you from the front or rear of a vehicle. Others, like state troopers, have units that can clock you from any direction and it only takes a second to get a signal from your car to their unit.

Good rule of thumb : You usually will not get a ticket for 5, sometimes 10 mph over the limit unless in a restricted zone. Don't LIE. There's nothing we hate more than people that don't tell the truth or try to hide something. When they pull your record and you have gotten other tickets, that tells them that you were probably NOT on the way to hospital to see your gf and was in a 'hurry'. I don't feel sorry for anyone that gets a speeding ticket unless they were harrassed by the issuing officer OR they got a ticket for 7 miles over the limit. But thats just me. DO the crime, pay the fine. And contrary to popular belief, some agencies do not get the money or have a quota for the tickets you get. The money in THIS state (can't speak for all) goes towards public education.

 

[punkhawaiian]

I guess you would have to go to a few traffic accidents where you see kids and innocent people killed to really appreciate to consequences of being stupid. Some dumb spoiled kid given a car that they don't deserve and can't handle hurting hard working people is just not right.