Anyhow…

Like a previous poster wrote – speeding over short distances has never netted me any real time. 10 minutes city to city maybe so the older I get the more likely I am to cool it. Frankly I have better things to do with $250 and higher insurance costs.

When I have felt like I needed to speed – I have always drove the speed limit until some brave soul passed me. Then I hang back a couple of miles and pace them at the higher speed. I have witnessed about 5 or 6 of these “Rabbits” (I call the car I’m chasing a rabbit) get pulled over. Once the officer didn’t hit the lights until he past the rabbit and was beside me. I pulled over b/c I thought I was caught!

Another version (2nd method) is to simply do this with a radar detector. Has worked very well except I got my one speeding ticket this way. I was “chasing” a knot of rabbits on I-81 in VA going south one day. I let them get too far ahead (they were running about 80 mph) and we were traveling through some hills. They apparently got off the interstate somewhere leaving me alone running about 80 mph. I came over a hill and there was VA’s finest shooting radar in my direction. Instant on of course. My radar detector which usually would beep faster and faster as I approached a radar gun skipped all that and went berserk. I just pulled over and hid the hardware. Took my ticket and went on.

Really there is a place for everything. Dense traffic or country highways with blind hills and driveways isn’t the place to go fast. Empty rural highways where you can see for miles with big road shoulders – lay on the steam.

I miss being able to get on the Autostrada and run 100 mph for a few hours in my 1984 Rabbit Convertible. I tried it here (TN) for fun and frankly the American driver doesn’t know what to do with themselves when a fast car catches up with them around here. If I flash my high beams at them there is a 50% chance they are going to get pissed off and hold on to that left lane b/c they can. A flashing left blinker in the left lane means squat (useful in Italy).

A good number of the cars are best left running at 70 mph because they are not capable of running any faster safely due to either equipment or driver deficiencies. An SUV or minivan running 90 mph? No thanks… Give ‘em some space to crash everybody!

So I’ve learned to be patient.

What I WOULD like to see is slower commercial traffic. A 60,000 lb truck running 80 mph is dangerous for everyone around it. I’d love to see them restricted (computerized) to 65 mph. Let them have full power to climb hills but speed limited to 65 mph or lower. I’ll pay the slightly higher costs at the store if that is what it would mean. I’d also like to see the bumpers under the trailers that the Italian truckers were required to have. These were large plastic or fiberglass bumpers that kept anything front going under the trailer. I think if the American fleet of vehicles begins to shrink (high fuel costs) this would be doubly good.

I’m still not sure it has.

I can pick out which traffic lights run radar with their photo systems, and the construction people practically bathe in it.

The cops? Not so much. I’ve only encountered one with constant-on radar, and I’m pretty sure he left it on by accident. With most of the signals I get in K and Ka band, I can never find the cop, so I assume they’re erroneous.

The one thing I have learned from the Escort is first, how few cops there actually are, and second, how many just sit and do nothing. Nearly all the cops I pass on the side of the road never trigger the detector. I submit that my dark green Malibu isn’t a cop-magnet, but I drive it fast enough that I assume a cop would tag me if he was paying attention.

The ones that are out for tickets shoot laser. I’ve had a handful of those alerts, usually on the outskirts of a city, and they’re terrifying. The detector goes apeshit, and from what I’ve been told, the laser unit has nearly instant-read capacity. If that’s true, the detector has no point. But, I’ve also never been pulled over after a laser tag, so it’s either picking up a bounce, or the 20 MPH I drop in two seconds puts me just under the wire.

I’ve evaded more tickets by paying attention than the Escort has netted, but at this point, I wouldn’t do an extended roadtrip without it, even if only for psuedo-peace of mind.

The only redeeming factor in all this is that everyone seems to be driving faster. A cop friend informed me that on I-85 in Georgia, they don’t start paying attention until you pass 85 MPH. That’s 30 over.

It seems like every state cop in NY state leaves their Ka band on constantly. I pick them up on my Escort from over a mile away. It makes my life a lot easier driving through through NY to the Canadian border

As part of my job, I am required to take a driver’s safety training course every other year. Thes courses are typically taught by a retired CHP officer. These guys patrol California’s highways with what seems to be the main purpose of handing out speeding tickets and stopping drug trafficking. During one year’s training, the retired officer started talking about radar detectors and how useless they were with modern radar units (and of course laser units). He said his favorite thing to do was leave his radar unit on constantly when he stopped for lunch at this restaurant located at the top of a hill next to the freeway. That way, he said he knew their would be few speeders as the radar detectors would be squawking away. When he wanted to actually catch speeders, he would use the instant on mode and pick out cars that he judged to be speeding then just confirm it with the radar.

As we all know, most-though maybe not all-police officers will allow a little upward creep above the posted speed limit depending on the location and road conditions.

Timothy McVeigh was caught on a traffic stop, so I wouldn’t accuse the police of not going after “real crime” just to fill the coffers.

Using that argument, the police would also catch more criminals if they could bust into any house and search it for no reason.

Now, this parking lot was next to the Electrical Engineering department — add a couple of 19 year olds with some surplus government low power X-band microwave transmitters and an antenna and you might see where this was going.

The cop would get the thing all aimed down the road (the receiver horn hung on the car window, and the cop sat inside to read the display). We’d hang the antenna out of the window, pointed at the radar receiver, and when cars would come down the road, we’d pulse the transmitter on and off. The cop would inevitably get out of the car, check the horn positioning and get back in. We’d do it a few times until he usually and left.

On the other hand, I honestly feel like I’m a safer driver when I speed. I’m much more focused on the road, the car, other cars, etc. If I’m in traffic and forced to drive the speed limit, it’s very easy to zone out and not pay attention to what’s going on, especially on long trips

I don’t know about the “fake call girls” story, but I can’t tell you that many of the major drug busts my brother is involved in begin with a traffic stop. The people are often just the “lower level” operators, but can lead to the major players.

Timothy McVeigh was caught on a traffic stop, so I wouldn’t accuse the police of not going after “real crime” just to fill the coffers.

But highways are a different story. Going from Toronto to Montreal in 4hrs45 mins is a huge time saver.

It seems like every state cop in NY state leaves their Ka band on constantly. I pick them up on my Escort from over a mile away. It makes my life a lot easier driving through through NY to the Canadian border

The city could bring in millions of dollars per month if they so desired. At the beginning and end of the school year, it’s printed in the newspaper in advance that the city police will have an increased presence and theirs always some thin reason. During this time, they really bring in the money. I see it as just another form of taxation.

Another favorite pastime of the local police is hanging out on Craigslist posting false escort ads and busting people looking for some companionship. Never mind the real crimes going on. Tickets and fake call girls are where the easy money is at.

Australia are already planning to trial this…

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=78950

IOW, speeding really doesn’t save much time – a minute or two. Unless of course you’re drving from NY to CA, then speeding could save several hours.

I have no sympathy for speeders because mostly it’s a useless activity which isn’t saving any significant amount of time.

Two words: 800 words.

Until get close enough to take up most of their rear-view mirror. Then they slide over into the other lane to let you by. :)

Two lane roads can be another matter.

Drive something that looks like a cop car.

I used to drive a 92 Chevy Caprice Classic back when most departments were driving the same. Never got bothered. If I start having trouble again I’ll be shopping for a Crown Vic in one of the popular unmarked car colors.

I agree that speed isn’t the cause of many accidents. However, doesn’t greater speed make a given accident more severe? I don’t necessarily like radar enforcement, but I don’t really see an issue with it. If the speed limit is 70, I’ll do 70 or risk getting a ticket.

Personally, I think the speed limits themselves need to be studied more. There are many roads where the limit is too low, and a few where it is too high (at least in my experience).

How would you handle setting a speed limit for someone driving a 2007 Porsche Cayman versus someone driving a 1972 Ford LTD with blown shocks and cheap tires? What about people of different ages?

I do agree that the accuracy of these devices should be studied and improved, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to do away with them.