Announcement

Collapse

Civics 101 Guidelines

Want to argue about politics? Healthcare reform? Taxes? Governments? You've come to the right place!

Try to keep it civil though. The rules still apply here.
See more
See less

Flashing lights to warn of speed traps

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    Originally posted by Raphael View Post
    If the purpose of the Speed Trap is to slow traffic down for safety etc. then flashing your lights (or using the digital equivalent: Waze) then you are actually helping as it reduces the speed people are travelling along that section of road at.

    On the other hand if speed trapping is purely for revenue gathering (and it should never be) then can I see why they would object to you warning fellow motorists.
    ^^^ That

    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

    Comment


    • #32
      Speed traps can be a problem, when everyone crams on their brakes. Then again, visible deterant (where the cop is visible in the meridan) can be just as bad. For some reason, morons in MA&CT think they have to do 5 under, or even less, when the cop is sitting there in plain view. I bet half the time they are on break when they are doing that... Yet traffic hauls down in a hurry.

      I find it really sad though the number of people who don't see the traps. I drive the same commute every day, and I know the typical traps. You'd think all the others would too. Yet I see very few brake lights as we go by... I can't tell if they didn't see the cop, or if the drivers just know where the "real" limit is. A simple tap on the brakes would be nice.

      I dunno about traps. IMO they are usually about revenue generation. I don't drive much in other states, but up here if you want to drop speeds you park a cop there, in plain sight, and traffic slows down. You will get the dumb ones, the smart ones slow down. But I'm not sure that tickets have had much of an impact on changing individuals behavior. Most people I know just accept that they will get caught every few years; they just think of it as another cost of driving.
      No Silicon Heaven? Preposterous! Where would all the calculators go?

      Comment


      • #33
        Can they prove that is why you were flashing your lights?
        That's what
        - She

        Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
        - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

        I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
        - Stephen R. Donaldson

        Comment


        • #34
          Originally posted by Bill the Cat View Post
          Can they prove that is why you were flashing your lights?
          No more than when an officer claims he saw you run a stop sign or red light. You get a citation, and it's up to you to prove your innocence -- your word against the citing officer's word in court.
          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

          Comment


          • #35
            Originally posted by David Hayward View Post
            You all might like to look at Item 12 of this British Parliamentary Report: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEED AND CASUALTIES:
            "Hit by a car at 40 mph, nine out of ten pedestrians will be killed.

            Hit by a car at 30 mph, about half of pedestrians will be killed.

            Hit by a car at 20 mph, nine out of ten pedestrians will survive."

            Of course, if Americans are as fat on average as often reported, perhaps they roll with the blow better?
            soo.... the solution is to not hit pedestrians!

            Comment


            • #36
              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
              No more than when an officer claims he saw you run a stop sign or red light. You get a citation, and it's up to you to prove your innocence -- your word against the citing officer's word in court.
              That's different. Running stop signs isn't a normal part of driving. Driving with your lights on is.
              That's what
              - She

              Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
              - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

              I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
              - Stephen R. Donaldson

              Comment


              • #37
                Originally posted by Bill the Cat View Post
                That's different. Running stop signs isn't a normal part of driving. Driving with your lights on is.
                We're not talking about driving with lights on -- some companies require their employees to do that 24/7 for safety. We're talking about flashing your lights in an apparent attempt to warn other drivers of speed traps. All I'm saying is that the only way to "prove" that somebody flashed their lights is the same way to "prove" you ran a stop sign or red light, absent video. It's up to the testimony of the arresting officer.
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by Paprika View Post
                  Are you willing to admit two things: that many people intentionally surpass the speed limit unnecessarily for convenience, that is, break the law in pure selfishness, and that most of such intentional speeding is habitual? If so, my point loses none of its force.
                  I'm quite happy to admit that most people speed because they can't be bothered sticking to the limit.
                  As I said though if the point of speed traps is to actually get people to slow down then the best solution is not speed traps but Speed Averaging Cameras. According to friends of mine who still live in South Africa, they have been very effective in getting people to stick to the limit.

                  In SA, the speed limit on the highway is 120km/h. When I was still living there if you were doing 130 you would have most cars passing you (doing 140), slowing down only where they knew the traffic cops regular speed traps were. Since I've left SA they have introduced the averaging cameras and now most people are sticking to the 120 speed limit.
                  Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                  1 Corinthians 16:13

                  "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                  -Ben Witherington III

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                    We're not talking about driving with lights on -- some companies require their employees to do that 24/7 for safety. We're talking about flashing your lights in an apparent attempt to warn other drivers of speed traps. All I'm saying is that the only way to "prove" that somebody flashed their lights is the same way to "prove" you ran a stop sign or red light, absent video. It's up to the testimony of the arresting officer.
                    How does he know you didn't simply bump your switch reaching for change in your ash tray?
                    That's what
                    - She

                    Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
                    - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

                    I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
                    - Stephen R. Donaldson

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Originally posted by Bill the Cat View Post
                      How does he know you didn't simply bump your switch reaching for change in your ash tray?
                      Not defending it at all, Bill, I just answered the question... like so many other citations based on human observation, it still boils down to the fact that the officer will write the citation (if, indeed, he feels it necessary) and it becomes a matter of "he said she said" in court. I'm wondering how many officers will actually use this to write citations based on that, and that alone.
                      The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        I don't see how there's much of any doubt that it's purely for revenue gathering. St. Louis has an unusually high amount of suburbs, and some of them happen to have tiny stretches of I-70 pass through. Guess where these departments always stick their patrol cars?
                        "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                          I don't see how there's much of any doubt that it's purely for revenue gathering. St. Louis has an unusually high amount of suburbs, and some of them happen to have tiny stretches of I-70 pass through. Guess where these departments always stick their patrol cars?
                          There's a stretch of I-295 where I live that they call the "Million Dollar Mile"

                          http://www.nbc12.com/story/17579683/...eeding-tickets
                          That's what
                          - She

                          Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
                          - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

                          I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
                          - Stephen R. Donaldson

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                            Not defending it at all, Bill, I just answered the question... like so many other citations based on human observation, it still boils down to the fact that the officer will write the citation (if, indeed, he feels it necessary) and it becomes a matter of "he said she said" in court. I'm wondering how many officers will actually use this to write citations based on that, and that alone.
                            Another thing, most people just pay the fine and go on. If they actually bother to show up at court, a lot of these things get tossed, especially if the citing officer is not present himself.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                              Another thing, most people just pay the fine and go on. If they actually bother to show up at court, a lot of these things get tossed, especially if the citing officer is not present himself.
                              Yeah, I was gonna say that. I've been told that, in some jurisdictions, there's STILL a "court cost' even if the charges against you are dismissed. I'd be surprised if that were true.

                              Also, I know one of those lawyers who represents traffic offenders in court to, for example, keep your speeding ticket from "adding points" to your driving record. One of the tactics they use is to reschedule your court appearance to a time when the arresting officer most likely will not be available to testify against you. OR, they simply make a plea deal with the district attorney -- something you could do yourself, WITHOUT paying an attorney a fee in ADDITION to court costs and fines.
                              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                                Yeah, I was gonna say that. I've been told that, in some jurisdictions, there's STILL a "court cost' even if the charges against you are dismissed. I'd be surprised if that were true.

                                Also, I know one of those lawyers who represents traffic offenders in court to, for example, keep your speeding ticket from "adding points" to your driving record. One of the tactics they use is to reschedule your court appearance to a time when the arresting officer most likely will not be available to testify against you. OR, they simply make a plea deal with the district attorney -- something you could do yourself, WITHOUT paying an attorney a fee in ADDITION to court costs and fines.
                                I got stopped by a podunk police officer near where I worked one time. I had just turned onto a small state road and there was a stop sign about 50 yards from the point I turned onto the road. I drove that every day so I knew about the stop sign. I stopped and this cop pulled in behind me and gave me a ticket for speeding. I told him there was no way I could have gotten past the speed limit in the 50 yards since I turned on the road. He gave me a ticket anyway.

                                So I went to court, told the judge what happened and they tossed it out. Just cost me the time to appear.

                                Comment

                                Related Threads

                                Collapse

                                Topics Statistics Last Post
                                Started by little_monkey, 03-27-2024, 04:19 PM
                                16 responses
                                157 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post One Bad Pig  
                                Started by whag, 03-26-2024, 04:38 PM
                                53 responses
                                400 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post Mountain Man  
                                Started by rogue06, 03-26-2024, 11:45 AM
                                25 responses
                                114 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post rogue06
                                by rogue06
                                 
                                Started by Hypatia_Alexandria, 03-26-2024, 09:21 AM
                                33 responses
                                198 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post Roy
                                by Roy
                                 
                                Started by Hypatia_Alexandria, 03-26-2024, 08:34 AM
                                84 responses
                                373 views
                                0 likes
                                Last Post JimL
                                by JimL
                                 
                                Working...
                                X