when we were driving to florida from nebraska 5 of us in a monte carlo talk about crowded. all the way through alabama you would come up over a hill and bam there was a cop on the shoulder waiting for to go by. But the weird thing was they weren't clocking as you came over the hill it was after you had passed them. this always gave us enough time to slow from 90 to 70 and the radar detector would go crazy.

 

sounds like they were just giving you a friendly warning to slow down....i have had cops pull up behind me, turn on there lights, and when i pull over, go around me, turn off there lights and go on there merry way. asked a cop friend about this and he said that unless you are being stupid and running away from the flow of traffic, they would do that just to slow you down.

 

I don't know about Alabama but here in GA they can't shoot if you are coming off a certain grade incline.

Crud..that's not much of a 100th post. Forgot I was on the line. Oh well...have to save up for 500.

 

Arizona has been doing the UC cars for a long time, but if you keep you eyes out you could always spot them and I do. They always have illegal window tint and three ants. on the rear deck. They have LTD, Camero, Thunderbirds, Expedition, Tahoe, Lumina, and others.

I only go 5 over and when in a construction zone it is dead on the speed. We, like in California, have a law where fines are doubled in construction zones and the cities are really using it.

I agree with David (Argo), I really hate people that do not know how to drive or abuse their rights. Coming back from California this last week I had to pass seven people on the right, because they flat out refused to get out of the left lane. There was one person that I know stayed in the lane for 20+ miles.

FYI - While driving to San Diego on I-5 I looked to the left to see a Border Patrol Chopper crusing with me. I waved and he went on to the next car.

 

Im form Louisville, and i have seen all kinds of stuff.
Acting like power company works up on a cherry picker next to a telephone pole radaring cars.
I once seen a Toyota MR2 undercover with someone pulled over, lights flashing the nine yards.
Rumor has it Louisville police can use seized cars form drug busts ect.
One thing i know is true is that they are as crooked as a dogs hide leg. I dont trust ANY of them.
Next time any of you get pulled over there tell them Byrddog says hi.

 

If you live locally to the area where they use the bucket truck scheme, or the overpass scheme, fight the ticket. It is illegal for the RADAR unit to be in a different plane as the vehicle it is clocking. Most folks don't know this but you can fight it and win. Also, a dirtier trick to win is to keep appealing untill the PD no longer sends the officer to court to fight the ticket. This is useful for keeping points off your license. You can appeal, just like any other ruling, so take advantage of it. A clean driving record is of the utmost importance for good insurance rates. Also, if TWO officers cite you (one with RADAR radio's another to get you) they must BOTH show up for court or the ticket should be dismissed. Besides, IMHO, if the Officer can't see that you are driving dangerously (weaving, cutting people off, etc) he shouldn't be allowed to cite you.

 

I beg to differ sir. About two years ago I got clocked at 60 in a 45 on my Buell. It was 6AM and about 25 degrees.(F). I was coming down after crossing Lookout Mountain. I take a "shortcut" over the mountain to catch I-59 to go back to La. now and then. I was the only thing on the road. GSP was shooting radar and I don't know how he did it, but his lights were already on when I came up on him. Aside from the fine, the worst part was taking off all my gear so he could match my face to my license. I had about 6 layers of clothing on. I did break the law, so I'll pay it but what gets me is the stuff that seems 100 times more dangerous than that and they NEVER seem to enforce it. For example I-75 in this area has a bad problem with the big trucks tailgating. They only have two lanes available (truck lane restrictions) so I understand the frustration of staying right and passing left, but only to be blocked by a car that should be in the right lane. I know this will probably rub somebody the wrong way, but in my opinion, 75,000 lbs. on air brakes, re-caps, and no sleep is like someone pointing a gun at me. If you're not that kind of driver then it doesn't apply to you. I have been on the road and seen this happen right in front of a GSP car and they would rather catch a speeder than "serve and protect". I also had a big truck fly past me in the same area one day that DID get pulled over. I had seen this guy riding bumpers and pushing his way through traffic, so I felt he deserved it. About 10 miles down the road, the same truck flew past me again! Figure that math- at 60 mph that would be ten minutes lead I had on him. From a dead start and at least 2 minutes with the trooper, to catch me and pass me in ten miles this guy had to be in triple digits on the speedo. This was about 3 PM in moderate traffic.
I once heard that speed is not based on your rate of travel, but rather how many decisions per second the driver must make. In other words 200 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats is not nearly as fast as 35 in the front row of the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Next door to me in Chattanooga there is a zone of "perpetual construction" that was marked at 45mph for about two years. I dare anyone to try to drive 45 in the midst of 80mph traffic. The physics just don't work. What makes it worse is that they had almost no enforcement of speed limits in that area. So choice # 1 is to be the only one obeying the speed limit and get run over, choice # 2 is to move at the same pace as the other traffic (much safer IMO) and take a chance on a ticket. If they would enforce the speed limit then they make choice # 1 a safe choice, and make #2 a legal act.
So there's the griping part, how about a solution? I propose that the left-most lane of any multi-lane road be assigned NO SPEED LIMIT. Anyone can drive anything in that lane at any speed you desire, BUT- if you get hit in the **** then it's your fault period. Anyone obstructing traffic should be beaten with a "slower traffic keep right" sign and they should be struck with the sign once for every syllable on the sign.

 

Sorry for the confusion bodabdan, I should have included the disclaimer I put in an earlier post about GA speed traps. That being that 99.9% of the anti-speed trap stuff doesn't apply to state troopers. I say 99.9% based on the OCGA I have bothered to read. There could be something that does apply to them.
As for him already having his lights on, if it was a quiet country night he might have heard you coming and been waiting

 

However he did it, it sure worked well for him. I think he had the Madame Cleo Phsychic hotline on the phone.

 

Damn skippy. The school zone nearest me.......people dont even do the 45mph limit, let alone the school zone limits. Its not patroled near enough. No city cops here, no city. But then, we dont have too many deputies either. Seems the troopers have been picking up some slack lately.

 

Here in PG We have cops hiding behind cement pillars with Radar while the car is around the corner out of site wating fer ya. A guy I know got nailed for doing 159 in a 100Km zone and got dinged fer $365. Can you say ouch? To top it off the cop wrote down '02 Ram 4x4 and he has a 2wd. So somehow they seem to be able to get on the force without being able to read but as long as they can figure places to hide with the radar it's all good. Then again here they prefer to set up speed traps rather than go get guys that are doing worse things than speeding.

 

I defeated a ticket once because of that. In PA, the information on the ticket must be 100% accurate. The officer wrote me for 75 in a 55, which was BS anyway since the cars passing me were going 75, and I was set at 60 on my cruise control. Anyway, he writes my 1994 GMC Sonoma up as a 1995 Chevy S-10, and he has my registration and insurance cards! When I went to court I showed this to the judge, and he dismissed the ticket. The best part is, that the officer got an attitude about it, and the judge asked if there were any other people in court for this particular officer, to which at least a dozen people said yes. The Judge told them that their cases were dismissed, and to see the bailif on the way out. I felt as though I scored a major moral victory that day.

 

Strict??

Unfortuantly the CHP is relying more and more on the easy money radar tickets here in northern CA. Good luck to ya out on the freeways with 200 million idiots and 5000 drunks, cuz your out on your own most of the time...most of young guys working for the CHP are hiding behind bushes on a two lane between podunk and boonieville using radar now. Easy to write a boatload of worthless 65-70 mph speeding tickets on a 2 lane highway that doesnt have a house, business or school for 25 miles ( humm, that means nothing to run ito, who are they protecting here?). They use their radars from hiding spots, while driving against oncoming traffic, all from the men in beige and blue that "dident want" radar 15 years ago!

As you can tell, I'm not now or have ever been a fan of radar, I think it makes lazy law enforcement officers that could be doing alot more good for the community doing other enforcement techniques.

Great article Argo!

 

I bet that cop was none too happy when all of the cases were dismissed. Good job on that one. The cops need to make sure that all of the information is correct on the tickets.

 

They can most places as long as they have the property owners permission


Dan