Speeding Tickets...

[LBTC]

Kelownagirl, it's interesting. I think the 10km over concept is purely Canadian.

Friends were up from Washington state one time and asked "what do those numbers on the signs mean?" He was trying to point out that he didn't see *anyone* doing the speed limit or under, at least outside of any city, once he got into BC. I do think it's cultural to whatever location you are driving in, so it's a good idea if you travel to find out what the highway speed enforcement is like in the area.

I set the cruise to 10km over and have not been stopped for speeding. Truth be told, in my old hometown, there were several locations in town where I would be passed by the police when I was doing 10km over....and they were not going to an emergency.

All that said, whenever possible, I let DH drive. I get way to stressed out when I'm driving.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Mr. Bloom]

Kelownagirl, it's interesting. I think the 10km over concept is purely Canadian.

In the US, it's common for folks to set a limit that is 8mph to 10mph over the posted speed on the highways...the rationale is that police don't care.

I will never drive to a point of feeling unsafe...but I will commonly exploit the 10mph practice in a rural area. When I go through towns, I meticulously check my speed.

Hang on a second.....I never said I used feminine wiles (is that the word?)

Silver is a very careful driver...which makes it more ironic that she's been pulled over more than me.

For the record (and domestic tranquility), I never said that Silver used "feminine whiles"...

[lph]

In Norway almost everybody drives 10-15 km over the speed limit.

I'm taking my drivers license now and just learning to drive (no exciting reason, just never got around to it before and didn't have a car), and I try to stay about 5 km above the limit. Fast enough to keep up with traffic, slow enough that if I'm stopped the police won't make a huge fuss. Driving AT the speed limit is downright dangerous, as everybody tries to pass you and you cause huge queues.

[East Hill]

I don't know if it makes any difference to anyone, but the speed at which roads are travelled can be influenced by a couple of factors. The first of course, is the spped for which it was engineered to be travelled.

But scarily, in certain states (California for one), if the average speed on a road creeps up over time, the state (or county, I forget which), will adjust the speed upward when approximately 85% of the motorists are exceeding the speed limit.

So, if you started off with a road that was posted at 30 mph, but 85% of the motorists drive at 45 mph, the posted limit will be revised to reflect a higher posted limit (if the engineering of the road permits). I would imagine it can set off a vicious cycle, only stopping when the engineered conditions no longer allow for a higher limit.

That probably doesn't help get anyone over their fear of travelling on the road because drivers already go too fast, eh?

East Hill

[Brandi]

My Dh swears all cops are after him. if they are they have only gone after him three times in the 20 years I have known him. And two of those times he was breaking the speed limit. The third time which was a few years ago we got pulled over with two other cars. And in a double fine zone. My dh was going to fight that one. But the judge let him do traffic school (which he did on line). Well we got a radar detector after that $450 . traffic ticket. In california they are not illegal. He actually drives better now. And every time it beeps we slow down and play find the cop. It makes long drives a little funner. But some times it beeps and we don't know why.
Knock on wood but I have never even got a parking ticket!

[silver]

Brandi, Mr. was using a radar detector last Saturday. It's a good one, I think. It hadn't made a peep, until the policeman zapped him with instant on. The policeman was actually traveling in the same direction as us, ahead of us and we'd just come into his sight and vice versa. He pulled over and when we passed flashed his lights, but we knew when he pulled over.

I also wonder if the fact that Mr. has the radar detector on the windshield makes him more likely to get a ticket rather than a warning.

[Brandi]

Yea I know what you mean about that. i am a little worried when a cop drives by me and see's it in the window if he would pull me over. I never have it plugged in though.

[Tuckervill]

I got stopped a lot when I drove my red Beetle. Only got a ticket when I happened to be going 80 in a 55 (I had just passed someone on a two-lane and hadn't slowed down, yet). They can't let that kind of speeding go.

The other times I got warnings only. This is what I do: I make it easy for the officer to see inside the car, and I don't make him ask me for my license or insurance card.

If it's night time, I turn on all the interior lights, turn off the car, and if it's not cold, I roll down all the windows. After I do that, I keep one hand on the steering wheel and throw my purse up on the dash so they can see what I'm doing as they approach. I hope to have my license out and in my hand out the window before he gets there (I've never been stopped by a female officer). When gets there, if I haven't gotten it yet, I ask if I can get my insurance card out of the glove box.

By then, they're usually so disarmed and not feeling threatened, that they laugh and joke with me, and usually end up giving me a warning.

I got stopped in OK last summer, while driving dh's pick-up (red). I had the cruise set on 80 and I was in a 70. I didn't see him until it was too late, and I never slowed down. He finally caught up with me, and his first question was "How many speeding tickets have you had in the last 3 years?"

I looked him in the eye and said, "None." Pointed at my husband and said, "He has lots!" Laughing, the officer said, "Are you sure? Because even I'VE had ELEVEN in my life!"

"Nope, none, " I said. "OK." Then he went to his car with my cards. In the meantime, our son asked, "how many tickets can you get before they take you to jail?" We thought about it a while, and I said, "Apparently you can have ELEVEN and still be a state trooper!"

When the cop got back with my *warning*, I related the question and the answer to him, and we all had a good laugh.

I think it's important not to be nervous, and to talk to the guy like he's a human, and make his life easier. And never lie to a police officer.

Karen

[Mr. Bloom]

I don't know if it makes any difference to anyone, but the speed at which roads are travelled can be influenced by a couple of factors. The first of course, is the spped for which it was engineered to be travelled.

But scarily, in certain states (California for one), if the average speed on a road creeps up over time, the state (or county, I forget which), will adjust the speed upward when approximately 85% of the motorists are exceeding the speed limit.

So, if you started off with a road that was posted at 30 mph, but 85% of the motorists drive at 45 mph, the posted limit will be revised to reflect a higher posted limit (if the engineering of the road permits). I would imagine it can set off a vicious cycle, only stopping when the engineered conditions no longer allow for a higher limit.

That probably doesn't help get anyone over their fear of travelling on the road because drivers already go too fast, eh?

East Hill

East Hill, I see what you're saying...but what about Europe? I've driven the autobahn at 2-3X the speed as US roads and felt much safer than doing 55 on a US Interstate. I think this supports speeds approaching the engineering limits, not the arbitrary speed limits.

Of course, the standards to get a license in Europe are much stricter and the traffic laws are meticulously obeyed (at least in Germany where I've driven)

[lph]

I hope to have my license out and in my hand out the window before he gets there (I've never been stopped by a female officer).

Thread hijack for an appropriate joke (told to me by one of my blonde girlfriends who excel in blonde jokes):

A blonde woman is pulled over for speeding, and when the police officer approaches she sees that she's blonde too. The blonde cop asks for her driver's license.

The blonde driver asks, "What does a driver's license look like?" as she searches through her purse.

The blonde cop says, "It's a little thing with your picture on it."

The driver pulls out her powder compact, opens it, looks in the mirror and hands it to the officer.

The blonde cop looks in the mirror, hands it back to the blonde driver and says, "Why didn't you tell me you were a police officer too? We could have avoided all this!"

(btw, excellent post, Karen )

[silver]

When i'm pulled over, I keep both hands on the steering wheel so that the policeman can see them. I keep my windows rolled up until I can see the policeman and see that he has appropriate badge and appears to be authentic. I once lived in an area that had someone impersonating an officer and apprehending women. Only then do I roll down the window and get the info that he wants. I don't want them to think that I'm looking around for a gun or trying to dispose of drugs or something.

Twice I've had trouble finding my license. The first time, I had tried to find it for something else and couldn't so I picked up my wallet thinking that it wouldn't be there and thinking I would have to say...."Oh, dear....I can't find it"....but then I found it.......

The second time, I had a bunch of junk in the car and couldn't find my wallet. I got a bit frazzled and stopped looking to try to calm myself. And then just went right to it. Someone's looking out for me.

[East Hill]

East Hill, I see what you're saying...but what about Europe? I've driven the autobahn at 2-3X the speed as US roads and felt much safer than doing 55 on a US Interstate. I think this supports speeds approaching the engineering limits, not the arbitrary speed limits.

Of course, the standards to get a license in Europe are much stricter and the traffic laws are meticulously obeyed (at least in Germany where I've driven)

Yes, that actually accords with what I've said! The autobahn are engineered for those speeds. They also don't allow bikes!

Sometimes the arbitrary speeds aren't so arbitrary, if you know why they're there. I remember growing up where one of the speed limit signs was posted for 17? mph on a curve. It had something to do with the fact that drivers noticed it because it was an odd number, and would slow down. Apparently a lot of people had had bad accidents at that curve, and yes, it was an arbitrary speed, but for a reason. Same with your side streets--how fast can you go and then stop on a dime when a child runs out in front of you? You don't want to go so fast that you can't stop in time. Even though the streets could be engineered for much faster speeds, would you want to go faster?

Sometimes I think that the last question is purely rhetorical. Obviously a lot of people do want to go faster, even if it's possible to kill or injure a child by doing so.

East Hill

[Deanna]

I work for a company that made radar detectors. Thankfully we're getting out of the business --I could tell you some horror stories about drivers out there. I don't know if cops are more likely to ticket you if you have one--they generally have picked you out for speeding way before you are close enough for them to see if you have one and only use the radar/laser to get a speed reading without having to pace you.

Regarding 8-10 mph over posted speed limits, that may have been safe before the days of cell phones. Too many drivers are driving distracted to be speeding at the same time. We very recently had an accident on the freeway near my office where a driver was doing 70 mph (only 5mph over the 65 speed limit) who was "distracted" and didn't see the stopped traffic ahead in time to hit his breaks. He slammed into a car, killing 4 of the 5 passengers when their car went up in flames and sending a 4 year old boy to the hospital with severe burns. If that doesn't make you think twice about speeding, I don't know what will.

[Blueberry]

Regarding 8-10 mph over posted speed limits, that may have been safe before the days of cell phones. Too many drivers are driving distracted to be speeding at the same time. We very recently had an accident on the freeway near my office where a driver was doing 70 mph (only 5mph over the 65 speed limit) who was "distracted" and didn't see the stopped traffic ahead in time to hit his breaks. He slammed into a car, killing 4 of the 5 passengers when their car went up in flames and sending a 4 year old boy to the hospital with severe burns. If that doesn't make you think twice about speeding, I don't know what will.

Sad to say, but I wonder if the result would have been different had he not been speeding. I seriously doubt it. It's more a problem of distracted drivers and less a problem of speed, I think. We have some roads here where the speed limit is 70. So, he would not have been speeding. I agree it's a tragedy - I'm just not sure the 5mph speeding was to blame.

On some roads I drive, my choice is speed or be rear ended. I'll choose speeding. I choose not to drive with a cell without a hands free device (not regulated here). I don't drive if I'm extremely tired (again, my choice). And yes, I almost get run into by 10 bad drivers each day. Dunno how we fix the "bad driver" problem.

lph - the joke is hilarious!

[chickwhorips]

that is scary deanna. when i went back to phoenix to visit, i was terrified of driving anywhere, specially on the freeway. you have to keep up with the speed of traffic or get run off the road. sadly, i use to be one of those drivers weaving in and out of traffic going the speed of.... well whatever.

i've been pulled over twice for speeding.
once when i was 18 i was going out the beeline highway in mesa, az just going for a ride to get away from my parents because we were fighting. i had the cruise set and all of a sudden there was an officer behind me. he was very nice to me, specially since as soon as i rolled down my window i busted out crying because i was afraid my dad was going to kill me. i think the poor guy didn't know what to do.
next time i was 19. i was going 85 in a 55. oops. the officers pulled me over intent on charging me with criminal speeding. again terrified by the thought of my dad, i started to cry, and they let me go to driving school for it. which actually i highly recommend. i learned lots of legal things i could do that i never knew about!

since then, i've done better (or haven't had an officer around). now living up here there are no speed limits, fastest i go is 35 mph, and that's fast. when i get into the city its scary. there are speed limits, people, stop lights, traffic and your occational moose.