Rick Lee

I got nailed by instant-on while on my bike, doing 77 in a 65 zone on the PA Tnpk. I was the only vehicle on the road and endangering no one. They just want your money. It's like the old highway men. Sometimes you get robbed when on a journey and just have to pay. Nothing at all to do with safety or justice. Luckily, since detectors are banned in VA, the cops use rather easy-to-spot equipment, rarely use instant-on or laser and my X50 has paid for itself many times.

cmoss

Note: If you drive the speed limit you will not get a ticket. If you drive over the speed limit expect tickets. Stopping people from speeding IS keeping people safer.

i.e. buck up and accept responsibility for speeding.

luke-44

Let me be the first to take exception to that. The cause of most accidents is related to driver inattention, dui, following to close, cell phones, putting on makeup while driving, etc, etc, etc. Speeding is not the major issue...

Rick Lee

Are you kidding me? WHen I was resetting the readiness codes on my 993, I had to drive between 50-60mph for 15 min. under 3k rpms. I did this on the hwy., where the speed limit was 55mph. I was THE MOST DANGEROUS car on the road. I was sure I was going to be pulled over, even though I stayed in the right lane the whole time. Going the speed limit when everyone else is going at least 20 mph over that is dangerous. Speed limits have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with revenue, either from tickets or from the feds.

Martin S.

"I just want to avoid chicken-isht tickets, like 85 in a 65. Is that "fast"?"

No, that is just cruising in 6th gear on cruise control..."fast" to me is 120 and over....

Raptor

Gunner on 17 by Hamilton this morning facing Southbound traffic.

Falcondrivr

What a load of bull****. Are you a cop?
I was traveling in Montana on a regular basis back in the late '90s when the speed limit was "reasonable and prudent." I blew by several cops going 120+ on many occasions. Always in an obviously newer, high performance vehicle. They never looked twice.
It is not well publicized, but the accident rate in Montana actually went DOWN during the years that the speed limit was not in place.
http://www.hwysafety.com/hwy_montana_2001.htm

Now Montana is hardly the 405 in LA County, and I'm not advocating unlimited speed on congested roads. But reasonable and prudent speed endangers no one. Getting tickets for it is only to fill the budget of the governing municipality.

Reynard38

Why in the hell do you drive a Porsche? Go get a Camry and save yourself a load of $$. Just remember to stay out of the left lane please.


I use a V1 and a Escort Laser Shifter. I don't speed over the crest of hills, and I slow going under overpasses. I also watch my mirrors. Both these aids have saved me several times, but common sense and a good pair of eyes is your best weapon against Johny Law.

jimhsu

cmoss,

you are dead wrong about "not speeding = no ticket."

I had a ticket issues for 51 in a 35 zone. I was doing 35 because I know this is the classic 8-lane, 35mph limit speed trap in Seattle, and still got the ticket. Note the oh-so-precise "51 mph" or 16mph above, and when I looked it up there is a $60 difference for the fines between 15mph above limit and 16 mph above limit. So I was just conveniently nabbed going 51....or was I??

When I looked at all the bull**** (sorry: no way to tame down my contempt here for the cop who wrote that specific ticket) on the ticket report, and did some junior-high math calculations, it turned out all the stuff he wrote on it, including "spotted at 657 feet away" and "laser lock at the intersection of 2200 block," all that info was completely made up:

he would have had what amounted to 0.8 seconds to visually spot me, aim his laser, pull the trigger, and then get a lock. 0.8 seconds. Either time stood still for this Robocop or he made up the whole thing as to where I was and how fast I was going.

There is no video, no eyewitness, so it's his words against mine. When his own words on the traffic report cannot possibly be true....what does that make his accusation against me?! So I went to court, requested for this Robocop to show up, so I can have him demonstrate his quickest draw in the West for us in court, and he conveniently forgot to show. Ticket dismissed.

I have no respect for the whole traffic cop / city fund raiser system since that time. You can believe in it and be the guy who drives 35 in an 8-lane expressway (the quintessential speed trap in Seattle where I was supposedly nabbed, in my Camry), and you'll still get pulled over.

You can NOT speed and still get a ticket. It IS highway robbery.

jimhsu

By the way: here is another sure sign they're not handing out tickets to improve traffic safety in Seattle, at the exact speed trap where I was falsely accused (I live right next to it so I drive it every single day):

I NEVER SEE THEM OUT THERE NABBING SPEEDERS WHEN IT IS DRIZZLING OR RAINING. MUST BE BAD FOR THEIR LEATHER BOOTS TO BE OUT WALKING AROUND.

Rick Lee

Doesn't everyone slow down when they see a cop? If so, why do cops hide? Seems to me, if they wanted people to slow down, they'd make themselves as visible as possible, maybe wear orange vests and keep their lights flashing, while parked by the roadside. You mean they just want money? Say it ain't so.

David Ray

Oh brother, speeding is speeding. As a good attorney always says, “it depends" on who pulls you over. I've heard of guys carefully negotiating themselves out of a ticket or lesser fine and those that leave their radar detectors exposed that meant double trouble.
A radar detector may save you once or twice, maybe three times, but eventually you’ll get caught and be brought in to pay the judge.

richardew

Really! Your V1 is special. The lidar beam doesn't scatter, bounce off of things, spread out, etc. These are the properties of radar that allow you to pick it up some distance away. The only way you can pick up lidar is if they shoot you, or a car very close by you. They don't leave it on either. The aim it at a car and shoot. On my V1s the lidar is the TOP light, Ka is second from the top.

As far as speeding is concerned, it isn't the cops fault that you are speeding and get caught, so don't get mad at the cop. They don't make it a habit to pull over people who aren't speeding, but they will make mistakes. Most of us do also. As far as safety is concerned, the speed differential between you and surrounding traffic is what determines safe vs unsafe.

Rick Lee

The last two tickets I got were when there was no one else around me to possibly hurt. One was in the desert, in Valley of Fire, NV. 72 in a 50 zone, where I had no idea what the speed limit was, as there were few if any signs and absolutely no other cars. The next one was on my bike, mentioned previously. I guess my speed differential was infinite, as there were no other cars around besides the cops looking for money.

Avenger6

Allow me to bring a unique perspective to this... (At least I THINK it's unique.....) As a younger person, I got nailed pretty often for speeding. In only one case could it be seen as contributing to safety, as I was being a jackass and weaving in and out of traffic, showing off for a buddy in my V6 Capri. In all other cases, it was speed traps on open, lightly trafficed roads in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. I quickly realized that it was all pretty much a revenue generating system. Starting in 1984, I have lived big chunks of my life here in Germany, and with increasing income, the cars got faster, up to the 993 now. In all of this time, with literally thousands of miles driven at speeds in excess of 100mph, I have gotten precisely ONE ticket, that given by a radar camera. I HAVE been clocked by Polizei, or even passed them at times where I was exceeding posted limits. (Usually, it has been inattention to exact speed on my part, for example, moving along with traffic at 150kph in a 120.) Most times, as long as all traffic was moving at about the same speed and things were comparatively safe, the German cops just let it ride...sometimes giving a guy a little blip with the lights or siren as a little "pay attention" warning, but not more than that. I got stopped once last year for a little discussion, and it went like this..."Hey, I know you have a great car, and I can tell you keep it in shape. I expect that you are a good driver, too, but not everyone is. Back off a little so you have more time to react to those OTHER idiots out there, ok?"

No big deal, and it reinforced to me that patrolling and enforcement HERE really IS all about safety. Even on the "COPS" like shows that are here, these guys seem to be more interested in having a discussion (or giving a lecture if needed) about why the person was being unsafe and what the consequences might be. Sure, tickets are issued, and they can be awful costly. Licesnes are also suspended ON THE SPOT, but it is clear that the focus is safety and driver improvement, NOT revenue generation.

This attitude is one of the big reasons I keep arranging for another hitch here in der Vaterland....

(Just got word that I;ll go to STUTTGART next summer for a three-year tour..... yeehaw!)