Wellardmac

Okay, I'm going to take the risk of reigniting strong feelings from other recent discussions, but I have a question and I'm dying to get insight from CT residents.

I drove through CT yesterday and today on I-84 - the road was crawling with state police and my laser detector was going crazy all through the state.

I used to drive through CT every other month and have never seen this before, but have not been through the state since late last year. They seem to have stepped up traffic enforcement to a level that I've never seen anywhere else - anyone would think that they were looking for a serial killer - what's the deal?

I really lost count of how many people I saw pulled over. In driving from from border to border I hardly went more than 5 minutes without seeing a patrol car, or a car pulled over.

Was that normal, or was I just lucky? It got to the point where I almost pulled the plug on my radar detector, as the laser warnings were driving me nuts.

944kid

I-84 is spazmatic at best over in Orange County, NY. I traveled it for three years to get to BOCES and there were days you could see three in a row, perhaps 8 in a half an hour; then there were days you could not see one.

Maybe you have some kind of "crack down" going on, like when NYS had some stupid **** in August to crack down on speeders. Makes me sick...they could be out fighting real crime.

That's okay, my two tickets can pay their salaries...along with other motorists I'm certain.

Wellardmac

Yeah, well, what I saw yesterday and today was ridiculous. Seriously, on several occasions two patrol cars were pulling one car over. This was the biggest campaign I've ever seen anywhere. I was appalled at how much manpower they had deployed. I saw marked patrol cars pulling people over and my laser detector was going crazy from unmarked cars. It just wasn't worth it to go over the speed limit. My passenger was totally freaked out by the laser detector going off all the time.

... must admit that they had a very nice unmarked blue camero that pulled one poor guy over.

The sad thing is that most didn't have radar detectors, so were not as cautious as I was and that just allowed them to keep pulling people over. I sat there doing 3-5 over the speed limit and watched everyone scream by and allow the patrols to keep onn taking their pick of cars. I'm glad that I was in a POS Buick Lacross rental, rather than my P-car.

944kid

Yeah seriously, it does get rediculous on that highway. They don't even hide sometimes, they just sit in the no U-turn area and wait. When me and my friend Dave drove out to school we saw a state trooper facing the other traffic, and turned around facing his backseat with a radar gun. We were making fun of his *** the whole day!

Not to mention the "patrolled by air" signs when neither he nor I have EVER seen an aircraft, other than the ones for Stewart Int'l.

You gotta laught at it sometimes!

Wellardmac

Yeah, well, I'd expect them to sit there in the center lane. It was just the sheer number that surprised me. I wish I'd kept a count, but it took me a while to figure out that the road was swarming with patrol cars.

944kid

True, then again, my silver Mitsu garners less attention than your P-car!


I need to make the name match the DD.

Wellardmac

Well, as I said, thankfully I was in a rental, as this was a business trip and I wasn't in the mood for adding 650 miles into the p-car for a campus recruiting trip.... plus having a corporate recruiter show up in a Porsche tends to send the wrong message to the kids that you're trying to recruit.

...it was bad enough that I forgot to remove the photo of a Gemballa from my desktop before giving a presentation.

russwright

I drive CT I84 from Waterbury to Danbury twice weekly at "rush hour" and in general there is so much traffic that it is impossilble to exceed about 75. I have not seen the extensive enforcement you describle. It must have been special for some reason. But CT state police do have a number of very unmarked cars that are out there.
russ

Wellardmac

Yeah, Danbury through Waterbury must be the nastiest section of road for backups. The road has some of the worst designs for traffic flow - it's almost as though they want traffic snarls.

When we were in-process of relocating to PA I used to drive home to Mass every Friday night (for 4 months!) and I'd dread the CT stretch - At least I got to know the drive very well and can still do it in my sleep.

Wellardmac

Nope, they are only illegal in DC and VA

http://www.radarbusters.com/landing/...onnecticut.asp

MoneyBiz

it's state police not highway patrol, If u get a ticket and mail it in then you don't get points... I got pulled over on 95 going toward NY coming back from the casinos many times. They use laser and I think radar as well... Oh and they say that u can get locked up for going over 85 or 90 I think. I'm not sure how many no point tickets u can get as am out of state driver before u get ur privileges taken away in CT...

42empress

Were you running a V1. Mine goes off constantly. I need to send it in. In this state, the speed traps on the interstates are all Laser. You will find some resident troopers working the back roads sitting on the side or around a corner or over a bend still using Ka with it one most of the time. I have not seen a plane in 15 years. Usually they give you 70-72 mph. There are enough people over 80 and they know it. Theyshould have all the troopers working I95 from New haven to NY. It can get crazy with the road racers out there.

Wellardmac

Nope, I was using my Bel RX65. The alarms started after I joined I-84 in Hartford (from I-91) and continued until I crossed over in NY. There were patrol cars everywhere. At least I now know that they use laser in CT. Unfortunately, I wasn't getting false alarms, just lots of laser hits in the area.

If I'd known that they gave me up to 72mph I wouldn't have been so paranoid. Logic tells you that as long as someone is driving faster than you, then you should be okay, but when there are so many patrol cars around conducting a duck shoot and your detector is going crazy, then it's best to be paranoid.

MoneyBiz

my v1 used to go off so much on 95 I shut it off and took it out...

aben8057

CT police...no problems with them...