CP

Hi,

Today about 12 noon, I drove from San Ramon to Santa Clara. On 38 miles of south bound freeway when the mid-day traffic was quite free-flowing, I saw 6 cops (3 bikes, 3 cruisers) sitting by the road side with radar guns trained on the traffic. Four were in groves of trees sitting at bottom of down-hill grades shooting up-hill.

I am now a VERY conservative driver, rarely going above 70 MPH and always on the right lanes, so I have no issues with these finest by the road-side. However, my devious little brain could not resist but wonder: are they there to make sure the freeway is free-flowing, and the drivers are safe, or that some un-named state department could use all the 'voluntary contribution' the public will offer?

I'm telling you, I'm fast loosing my desire for open road adventures. Good thing we did our epic Dallas drive this last spring.

Please be safe out there.

CP

AOW162435

$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Pure & simple.


Andreas

Bill Verburg

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$4

It's happening everywhere. My little town has always been a very laid back, hands off place. A cop was as likely to just make slowing hand motions as stop and ticket.

This summer they have set up regularly on the main secondary road through the town w/ 2 - 4 car teams. They have radar, laser and licence plate scanners, all going constantly, they generally have 4-8 customers at any given instant. This is in addition to 2 - 3 car saturation patrols on other major secondary roads handing out tickets as fast as they can write them. The town doesn't usually patrol the interstates because the State Police w/ all the excess personel hired because of 9/11 have their own saturation patrols going on there.

JM993

Were you on the 680? I've seen the same thing there. Unfortunate that these guys don't spend their time doing something that's actually useful to the public.

Seems as though I better buy a V-1 for all my cars

Pong, don't give up all hope. If you want to another epic drive, the roads of central and northern Idaho are some of the best. Pretty much zero enforcement there in my experience.

jimbo3

I got nailed a couple of weeks ago for 60 in a 45. Single lane freeway off-ramp, 60 feet wide, walls on both sides, no other merging lanes, never an accident on that stretch of road. I was keeping up with light traffic and got nailed 100 yards after the "45MPH" sign. Cop asked only one question ("Is the address on your license current?") and didn't even bother asking for proof of insurance or registration. His was one of three squad cars working the trap. (Meanwhile, we still have major problems with red light runners, but they must be harder to catch in volume and generate less $$ per hour.)

$185 ticket and 3 points, but had an attorney "fix it", er, I mean "adjust it" with the court for a total cost of $155 and no points.

air eater

I've been in Arizona for nearly 30 years and up until this past year 10 over the speed limit didn't even get you a warning ticket.
NOW, with the state budget deficiet, our liberal woman governor decided to put 20-30 portable photo radar units around the state to make up for her **** poor leadership.
Thankfully, someone is challenging her **** tactics and taking the issue to court. They had to put this blatent revenue generating tactic on hold until the court decision.
Arizona used to be such a great place to drive fast.

cabrio993

It's 10% law enforcement and 90% revenue generator.

I have a friend that is an officer and he says that 1) there are quotas that they most fill per month and 2) writing tickets is well looked by superiors and it helps in career advancement within the force.

jackb911

Same thing around here. No question, it's all about revenue generation.

It sickens me to see 'local' cops shooting radar on interstate highways. Shouldn't that be the domain of the state highway patrol?

Then there are the red light cameras...yet another revenue generating tool for city and county governments.

CP

Joe,

It was 680 south bound. But it is the same on local streets as well. We as a family are very tame drivers. In the last 24 months, all 4 of us were nabbed one way or the other. Cops are EVERYWHERE, writing tickets that is.

The local (SF, Oakland, San Jose) murder rates are through the roof, and very little reports about arrests. Oakland had 17 'invasion, take-over' type robberies in restaurants, nail salons, etc. and they just made the first arrest. Yet not making a full stop at a stop sign will get their attention every time.

CP

Bruce SEA 993

Sounds like the rest of the states are catching up with Washington...we have been like that for as long as I have been here...20 years. It sucks and I hear your pain!

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Same for Oregon,.........

There are large numbers of radar, laser, photo-radar, red-light cameras in this place, mostly for local revenue generation as the state coffers are insufficient for all the municipal projects that are underfunded.

V-1's are not very useful with the current popularity of laser and the "Mk I Brain" is the most important tool for ticket prevention.

air eater

Out of the local rag today:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Police in Scottsdale say they've arrested a man driving a photo-enforcement van on suspicion of drunken driving. Sgt. Mark Clark said the van owned by Scottsdale-based Redflex Traffic Systems was spotted driving erratically by a citizen Saturday evening.

Clark said in a statement released Tuesday that the witness reported the driver had hit the curb twice and nearly caused a crash.

A Scottsdale officer caught up with the van, saw it weaving and made a traffic stop.

The driver was identified as 53-year-old man. He reportedly failed field sobriety tests and was booked and released on an extreme DUI charge.

A Redflex statement says the man had undergone a background check that came back clean. He has been fired.

cabrio993

If you think this is bad enough, just wait for OBD III. If EPA and DOT have their way, we'll see OBD III cars in the next few years on our roads.

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may/obd_iii_new.cfm

This will eliminate the need for regular inspections as the DOT would be able to scan live data from vehicles on the road. The data will be received by antennas placed alongside major metropolitan areas roads. The ODBIII transponder in the car will relay all kind of information to the DOT, readiness status, current emissions failures, airbag status, and you guessed it, driving speeds.

Here is the patent information for those technically inclined to know how it works:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6225898.html

So, I guess that you would see a reduction of cops on the roads writing speeding tickets, you'd get them automatically in the mail.

Another reason to keep our 993's!

JM993

Absolutely. And to make matters even worse are the (even more) ridiculous speed limits in OR. Interstate 5 is 65mph whith lots and lots of "construction zones" with lower limts and double fines (funny how I never seem to catch the construction crews working...) And Route 97, my favorite north/south route through the state is only 55mph.

Like I said, ID and MT are where you want to be.

FlatSix911

Pong, funny thing - I got pulled over this morning by one of Los Altos finest.

Short story - I am on Foothill turning right onto Homestead at 9 AM following a line of soccer moms and he lights me up and also hits the sirens in front of Star-whats and Pee-ts.
I immediately pull to the side of the road and assume the position - hands on wheel and window down.
He walks past my open window and inspects the front of my car, then slowly returns and asks why my front plate is covered.
Not sure what he is talking about, I ask if my front plate is OK and he replies that it a violation to have a clear cover - "Nothin but Air" he says....
Yes Sir Officer, will do - right away...
How about the rear plate - "Nothin but Air" he says....
Hmm...what about the registration elves... they steal the stickers in the dark of the night....glad I did not say that out loud.
After checking license, registration and insurance to determine my Felon status, I receive a stern warning about the dangers of packing a protected front plate.


The only rational explanation must be the desire of Law Enforcement to maintain a unobstructed view of the front plate for photo radar in this area.
Score another victory for revenue collection....