Speeding Tickets ...and what cops say...your best story

[DB6]

I know exactly where that is it. Popular spot for radar/lidar since lots of people don't watch their speed coming down the hill. I'm guilty of that too, was through that area yesterday and hit 70 before realized I was going too fast :-)

 

Yeah I know that spot too.

 

I think what really burns me is the fact that the whole deal with speed enforcement and limits were always justified as being in the name of safety as "speed kills" when in fact most of us drive at speeds that are safe and as the conditions allow, ie we regulate ourselves, therefore it would make sense that speed traps are positioned at accident black spots where there is a known and proven danger of accidents via speeding but sadly I think we all know this is far from the truth; seems that speed traps are set up where the conditions are indusive to driving quicker than a posted limit and that the ticket is just a source of revenue.One would also believe with such high levels of enforcement (coupled with often ludicrously low speed limits) in the USA that the levels of deaths and accidents would be amongst the worlds lowest instead of one of the highest.

I have driven in many countries and I have to say that the general level of driving in the states is very poor with driver skills,ability and common courtesy lacking.

Maybe if the lawmakers saw fit to have a yearly safety inspection on cars over 3 years old for basic road worthyness, eg, lights, brakes, steering, tires etc instead of being obsessed with emmissions; perhaps if the drivers test spent a lot more time with a driver on the road instead of concentrating on the indoor skill of identifying the diference between obscure and confusing road signs, ah well just my ramblings.

I think as time moves on the states will see a massive increase in the use of cameras as they give an even greater return on the $$ , Geiko has been donating new cameras to the city of Phoenix (amongst others) for a while, in the name of road safety and with the backing of MADD, seems like they might have vested interests to benefit themselves too.

Plus, sadly the camera has no passion for cars and zero discretion.

On a lighter note I saw a car with the buper sticker D.A.M.M. drunks against mad mothers...lol, I don't think I would have the balls to drive around with that one on the back of my car.

[Alaskossie]

There are some good due-process arguments against speed cameras.

 

The company providing the cameras has a financial incentive in getting as many convictions as possible, and at the highest fines; the company has a contract that grants it a fixed percentage of revenues from fines, etc. (If the city just bought the cameras outright and then ran the program itself, this undue financial interest would be eliminated; but that rarely happens). Thus a private financial incentive is injected into what should be a pure public safety matter.

 

When Anchorage had speed cameras in school zones, the people running the cameras were not even certified law enforcement officials. As a result, a local ballot initiative was passed which prevents anyone other than certified law enforcement officials from issuing traffic tickets (and even parking tickets).

 

(Another unforeseen problem was that sometimes, the violation photo showed a fellow driving around during the day, with a female front-seat passenger who was not his wife.... no doubt this led to some marital discord at home, and some additional resistance to speed cameras....!)

 

For starters, anyone nailed by a speed camera who wants to fight the ticket should demand to review a copy of the contract between the city and the camera company.

 

With red-light cameras, there is often a clause in the contract between the city and the camera supplier that specifies the length of time the yellow caution light will show, and prevents the city from lengthening the yellow caution period during the life of the contract -- this is a deliberate, inexcusable attempt to boost the number of red-light violators, in order to guarantee a revenue stream to the camera supplier. This is outrageous. The sole municipal incentives should be to reduce accidents, and reduce the incidence of red-light runners -- not to assure a revenue stream.

 

Pat Bedard of Car & Driver Magazine has had several good editorials regarding speed cameras over the years. Anyone interested should look them up.

 

Alaskossie

[wallisek]

Speed traps don't always exist though depending on your county / city. An example was one department I was with, there was no such thing as a "speed trap" and there was no such thing a quota. The city did not dictate how many traffic stops and citations each officer did each month. If there was, I probably would come in dead last. Lots of traffic stops, very few citations. Many of us were very "lax" on speed citations. You usually had to be grossly over the speed limit or driving like an idiot to receive that yellow copy. As for the bad drivers, yes they are everywhere unfortunately. Been to around 2/3 of the individual States and IMHO Oregon drivers are the worst. And yes there are some cops that are real jerks (in the sense they give zero warnings and write everyone a ticket). Of course that is my opinion and whether or not they issue a citation is at their discretion.

[Jeff7]

Speed traps don't always exist though depending on your county / city. An example was one department I was with, there was no such thing as a "speed trap" and there was no such thing a quota. The city did not dictate how many traffic stops and citations each officer did each month. If there was, I probably would come in dead last. Lots of traffic stops, very few citations. Many of us were very "lax" on speed citations. You usually had to be grossly over the speed limit or driving like an idiot to receive that yellow copy. As for the bad drivers, yes they are everywhere unfortunately. Been to around 2/3 of the individual States and IMHO Oregon drivers are the worst. And yes there are some cops that are real jerks (in the sense they give zero warnings and write everyone a ticket). Of course that is my opinion and whether or not they issue a citation is at their discretion.

 

 

 

God Bless ya...

 

Tell DB6 when and where you are on duty...lol.

Gota love a cop that loves cars .

[DB6]

Speed traps don't always exist though depending on your county / city. An example was one department I was with, there was no such thing as a "speed trap" and there was no such thing a quota. The city did not dictate how many traffic stops and citations each officer did each month. If there was, I probably would come in dead last. Lots of traffic stops, very few citations. Many of us were very "lax" on speed citations. You usually had to be grossly over the speed limit or driving like an idiot to receive that yellow copy. As for the bad drivers, yes they are everywhere unfortunately. Been to around 2/3 of the individual States and IMHO Oregon drivers are the worst. And yes there are some cops that are real jerks (in the sense they give zero warnings and write everyone a ticket). Of course that is my opinion and whether or not they issue a citation is at their discretion.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

So I am just going to pay the damned thing but on the back of the ticket are a few options , guilty or no contest, or not guilty;the way I read it no contest lets you plead your case in a letter with the judge having the option to lower or raise your fine as he sees fit, like rolling the dice... whereas if I plea guilty it is fixed at the Base Fine amount...am I getting that right?

[wallisek]

Regardless which you choose it's still up to the judge.I always thought "no contest" was kinda silly because it's like admitting guilt without saying the words "i'm guilty". Instead of paying the fine, you can always show up in court and ask the judge to reduce the fine. Never hurts to ask, just be polite about it. I saw reductions quite a lot in my municipal court, the judge was usually nice about reducing fines. That of course depends on your judge too. There is always the chance of the officer not being able to attend court and in that case you win by default. I've missed court a few times do to conflicts or last minute calls. I'm sure that made the defendant happy.