Ed Bighi

Jim, since you live in Utah, you know that some places out in the desert are great for opening up. But at least here in Arizona, things are starting to change. Once in 1997, I had my SC at 2 clicks under redline for then entire distance of El Paso to Tucson. That was constant. Never diping the needle below 6K. The road was deserted. Needless to say, I go got to Tucson in probably less time than it would have taken to board a jetliner, do the flight, get out and get your suitcase. I just drove the same section of road three weeks ago, and the scene was different. More cars and more cops. It just wasn't the case only a few years ago. Nowadays, I just have to enjoy those few places where I know there are still no cops. Southern Utah is still good. I have started to take it easy. That is because I have 13 points that was reduced to 8 on my AZ license and another 12 and over 200 hours of traffic school completed in Florida, where I used to live. So I no longer do the one or two hour constant runs at redline any longer. But when I am out in the middle of nowhere, and see nobody around, it's full speed in 5th. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

jet911

Ed,
Glad to hear it (i.e., you take advantage when applicable)! Southern Utah is starting to become sort of non-friendly as well. I was stopped a year ago by a "Friendly" HWP off duty young guy who gave me a hint about the way things are going south of Nephi down to St George. BTW, my RD was on the entire time, however he never did hit me with radar (I was following him at between 85 - 90 mph) down I-15. He pulled off, circled back on and came after me. He was cool. He told me that he understood how tough it was to keep my car within reasonable speed, and how hard it was to keep his performace HWP car speed down. He told me that his car would do 160 mph. Anyway his hint was that there were mostly "unmarked" HWP cars in that part of the state, due to the drug traffickers and the I-15 international speedway (ha, ha!) Also, he did not even give me a warning ticket, just a verbal. I did thank him for his advice! Anyway, good to here you still like to run her up once in a while, however if you venture into Southern Utah, be careful!

Regards,
Jim
'86 911

1FastRedSC

I am 19 years old and when i first recieved my liscence, my second none "learner" vehicle was an 87 951, guards red on top of that. So i can honestly say that i have all of you beaten when it comes to tickets at 17 with a red porsche. I wasn't even 19 years old yet before i almost lost my lisence in NJ (1 point away from 12). I had a radar detector, a cobra, and all it was good for i found out was detecting a radar after i'd been nailed already. But i will say this, the price you pay for a radar detector does directly effect the quality. My friend with an 84 944 n/a at the time speed more than i did and had no more than 2 points in his first two years of driving. And the difference was that he paid 300 for a escort passport, and that thing was incredible. It picked up police vehicles that were literally 1-2 miles down the road on the average depending on near by interference such as trees on a back road. That's something to consider. BTW, one of the near by town's court house knew me by my first name, just to give you an idea!

Ron_H

I must get back into this!
Jet911:
You say that "at those speeds your eyes are peeled and very focused on what's ahead". That IS the point. <img border="0" alt="[soapbox]" title="" src="graemlins/soapbox.gif" /> I'll bet you are also focused on everything else around you as well, and about as far from asleep as you can get. Did you realize that only 8% of accidents occur over 60 mph? The "powers that be" realize that. We all need to get real. Cruizing along at the
speed limit" thinking you and everyone else is safe because of it is absurd. Time for some personal responsibility: the speed limit and laws are not going to protect you. As Smokey says: Only you can prevent forest fires. How long are we all going to take this INSULT to our intelligence? The powers that be make a pretty nice living keeping everyone else believing they only need to live up to 30% of their ability, though it causes atrophy. If it is unsafe to drive at 80 - 90, how can the CHPs in their cruisers, while they are weaving in and out of traffic on the freeways, do it safely, while someone in a 928 or Ruf Porsche, probably with training not be safe at 67mph??
Do we appear to be morons?? Are the autobahns littered with horrendous wrecks?? Speed is relative, and different drivers in different machines will find their relative levels of comfort and performance. Speeds are deliberately set low in many cases and then policed to the monetary benefit of "the powers that be".
Such is life in the land of infantality!!
I don't mind admitting that under certain conditions I have driven for extended periods at triple digit speeds in autos designed for those conditions and triple digit speeds. Peer pressure be damned. I am responsible, not the speed. How much longer are we prepared to tolerate this crap? Pardon me while I go sit on a block of ice and cool off. Whew! Just stay out of the left lane, please, because I am not sightseeing or fantasizing about fairyland. Argh!!! <img border="0" alt="[byebye]" title="" src="graemlins/wave.gif" />

jet911

Ron - Right on!

I agree 100% with you, especially about the CHP weaving. The problems we have here in the good old USA and why our highways will never be autobahns (even though many of our highways could handle those speeds with ease) are that: 1. Most drivers don't know "how" to drive at 65 much less at 100. 2. Most drivers think their Hondas, Fords, trucks and SUVs can be driven at safely at 100. 3. Most drivers don't know "how" to drive at 65 much less at 100. 4. Too many drivers are camped in the left lane. & 5. Most drivers don't know "how" to drive at 65 much less at 100. And to quote you "Just stay out of the left lane, please, because I am not sightseeing or fantasizing about fairyland," I'm driving...

Regards,
Jim
'86 911

Tom

Finally the insurance companies enjoy their license to steal and will never willingly give it up.

Ed Bighi

Here is my take on driving at close to the speed limit. Three weeks ago, while driving coast to coast, I decided for the first time in my life to drive the whole way within the speed limit. I lost count how many times I almost fell asleep. The boredom was unbelievable. Nothing would help. I tried to look at the scenery, messed around with the radio, etc... Again, nothing would help. I also lost count of how many times somebody would pass me and I never saw them coming. I had no situational awareness of any kind. But sadly, that is the robot the government wants you to be. I personally feel that driver licenses should be awarded to those that complete training in the likeness of private pilot training with spin recovery techniques and the like. After that, we should be trusted. We are becoming a land that decides everything based on the lowest common denominator. And this isn't just about driving. Frankly, I am sick and tired of it. For some interesting views and colorful comments on the subject, a book by Brock Yates called "Cannonball" makes some intersting reading. He was absolutely correct in his take of the dumbing down of America. I personally feel freedom is a feeling, not a reality. And in the land of marketing, if you pound an idea long enough, people will believe it is true.

Ron_H

Tom, Ed and Jet911:

AMEN!

Ron_H

Here is one way to effect change:

<a href="http://www.motorists.org" target="_blank">http://www.motorists.org</a>

That will direct you to the National Motorists Assn website, which offers assistance with these issues and information on how to prevail against unfair citation charges. Membership is a bargain.
Happy trails to you. <img border="0" alt="[bigbye]" title="" src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" />

Tim K

AGENT 325

I don't know what it is like fighting tickets in the States (I'm Canadian), but if you take a little initiative, you'd be surprised what kind of situations you can get yourself out of. I've gotten out of 5 of my last 7 tickets (not all speeding). One thing that you can try is to ask to see the calibration paperwork for the radar (if it was radar) that your guy was using, so you can check if it was up to date. If it was not, you may be off the hook. I've heard that something like 80% of the time they are behind. If we get pinched using Radar Detectors in Manitoba we get slapped again. Good luck.