Radar speed detectors

[tolbs17]

Due to the high number of crashes, the city added these radar speed detectors. They are on 24/7 and if you go above 45, it will say "SLOW DOWN"! I wonder if there are any more of these. Not school zone speed detectors.

https://goo.gl/maps/xx2TG83Te46CuHed7

These are not temporary. They are permanent.

We will be seeing more coming...

There is no camera on them so idk if you would even get a ticket for running them.

[webny99]

I'm not sure I'd call that a "speed trap". First of all, 45 mph looks like a perfectly reasonable speed for that road.
And second of all, the sign isn't doing anything other than telling you your speed, and yet people tend to way overreact and slow down for them, which does absolutely nothing except inconvenience yourself and disrupt other traffic. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

These are just paper tigers to make you think someone is watching when they're not. A "speed trap" is live cops waiting to ambush you from sight unseen.

[1995hoo]

I've certainly seen the sort of thing tolbs17 posted quite a few times. I wouldn't consider it a speedtrap unless a cop were nearby. When I was tolbs17's age, however, I would have tried to set the high score for that sort of sign.

Something I'd consider more annoying, if it weren't justified in the particular location, is the following situation on Taylor Run Parkway in Alexandria, Virginia; this is not something I recall having seen elsewhere, either. In the GSV image linked below, notice the warning sign on the right that the traffic light ahead will turn red if you're speeding. It's a mid-block traffic light and the speed limit is 25 mph. The first time I went that way, I decided to test it out and sped up to 35. The light (which you can see in the distance in the GSV image) did indeed turn red and I had to stop. The last time I was on there, I set the cruise control at 25 mph because I was aware of that light. The obnoxious SOB behind me with Maryland plates didn't like it that I was going 25 and didn't like that I didn't speed up when he tailgated me, so he floored it and passed over the double yellow line. That, of course, made the light turn red, so the stupid SOB ran the red light while I got stuck. (He then wound up directly in front of me at the next red light down the end of the block. Asshole.)

Having a midblock light there and trying to control drivers' speeds is fairly reasonable because it's a residential area and there's a park with a playground, basketball courts, and a softball field to which people would be crossing the street.

https://goo.gl/maps/wtPZ8hQSjBxUwE2f7

[tolbs17]

If they are not speed traps, then I retitled this thread.

We have red light cameras, but not speed traps

Anyways, could any of these devices work on I-485 in Charlotte? The news certainly caught a lot of speeders there. There was talk to lower the speed limit on a section back down to 65 mph but that never happened.

[SEWIGuy]

I drive past two of these things every day on my way to work.  They are both located on relatively busy streets that go through residential neighborhoods.  IMO they seem effective - better than wasting a cop's time either just sitting there or actually enforcing the speed limit. 

[Mapmikey]

I've certainly seen the sort of thing tolbs17 posted quite a few times. I wouldn't consider it a speedtrap unless a cop were nearby. When I was tolbs17's age, however, I would have tried to set the high score for that sort of sign.

Something I'd consider more annoying, if it weren't justified in the particular location, is the following situation on Taylor Run Parkway in Alexandria, Virginia; this is not something I recall having seen elsewhere, either. In the GSV image linked below, notice the warning sign on the right that the traffic light ahead will turn red if you're speeding. It's a mid-block traffic light and the speed limit is 25 mph. The first time I went that way, I decided to test it out and sped up to 35. The light (which you can see in the distance in the GSV image) did indeed turn red and I had to stop. The last time I was on there, I set the cruise control at 25 mph because I was aware of that light. The obnoxious SOB behind me with Maryland plates didn't like it that I was going 25 and didn't like that I didn't speed up when he tailgated me, so he floored it and passed over the double yellow line. That, of course, made the light turn red, so the stupid SOB ran the red light while I got stuck. (He then wound up directly in front of me at the next red light down the end of the block. Asshole.)

Having a midblock light there and trying to control drivers' speeds is fairly reasonable because it's a residential area and there's a park with a playground, basketball courts, and a softball field to which people would be crossing the street.

https://goo.gl/maps/wtPZ8hQSjBxUwE2f7

US 29 in Charlottesville had signs on stoplights that said what their timing was set to in m.p.h. I can't remember if they would turn red early for a speeder.  Predates GMSV era.

[jmacswimmer]

Allow me to post an example from within North Carolina's borders: NC 12 passing thru Duck, where the speed limit lowers from 45 to 35 to 25 passing thru town.

What was different about these Duck detectors from others I've seen (where your speed simply flashes if you're going too fast), is that driving too fast caused the display to flash blue & red.  It certainly got my attention the first time I saw it during a recent trip to the Outer Banks.

(Worth noting that there was also a heavy presence from the Duck police during the days I was down there.)

[webny99]

Anyways, could any of these devices work on I-485 in Charlotte? The news certainly caught a lot of speeders there. There was talk to lower the speed limit on a section back down to 65 mph but that never happened.

These are usually used to slow traffic in dense urban or pedestrian-heavy areas where speeding is an elevated safety hazard. They can also only monitor one lane at a time. So the short answer is no, a six+ lane wide freeway would be the absolute last location where these would ever be placed.

[1995hoo]

....

What was different about these Duck detectors from others I've seen (where your speed simply flashes if you're going too fast), is that driving too fast caused the display to flash blue & red.  It certainly got my attention the first time I saw it during a recent trip to the Outer Banks.

....

I saw the flashing blue and red lights on a "Your Speed" portable display the police set up on the 25-mph street leading out of our neighborhood a few years ago. The flashing lights looked quite strikingly like the lights from a cop car. I usually set my cruise control at 25 on that road too (partly to annoy the speeders, partly because there are little kids around who will run out into the street chasing a ball without looking), so I never triggered that display, but I regularly saw other people triggering it at speeds above 35 mph.

[tolbs17]

Speed cameras are banned in NC as far as I know when looking at this

https://blog.photoenforced.com/2022/01/which-states-allow-speed-cameras.html

[skluth]

This one has been in Palm Springs since I moved here almost four years ago. I've never seen anyone pulled over for speeding here. It does seem somewhat effective at slowing drivers down as I've witnessed most drivers slow down when it starts flashing. I've also seen these devices in several other locations some semi-permanent and some attached to small trailers that move around where needed. I like them so they don't bother me.

[tolbs17]

Question - are school speed detectors more effective than just regular speed detectors or more so, "real speed traps"?

[US 89]

I usually set my cruise control at 25 on that road too

Lucky you. My car won't even let me set cruise for anything below 30.

[1995hoo]

I usually set my cruise control at 25 on that road too

Lucky you. My car won't even let me set cruise for anything below 30.

I mean, I might be doing 26 mph instead–I'm not sure whether my cruise control won't engage below 25 or whether it won't engage at or below 25. Doesn't really matter. It certainly annoys the hell out of certain people in our neighborhood who like to think they're in a hurry and are more important than the rest of us.

[Rothman]

I've certainly seen the sort of thing tolbs17 posted quite a few times. I wouldn't consider it a speedtrap unless a cop were nearby. When I was tolbs17's age, however, I would have tried to set the high score for that sort of sign.

Something I'd consider more annoying, if it weren't justified in the particular location, is the following situation on Taylor Run Parkway in Alexandria, Virginia; this is not something I recall having seen elsewhere, either. In the GSV image linked below, notice the warning sign on the right that the traffic light ahead will turn red if you're speeding. It's a mid-block traffic light and the speed limit is 25 mph. The first time I went that way, I decided to test it out and sped up to 35. The light (which you can see in the distance in the GSV image) did indeed turn red and I had to stop. The last time I was on there, I set the cruise control at 25 mph because I was aware of that light. The obnoxious SOB behind me with Maryland plates didn't like it that I was going 25 and didn't like that I didn't speed up when he tailgated me, so he floored it and passed over the double yellow line. That, of course, made the light turn red, so the stupid SOB ran the red light while I got stuck. (He then wound up directly in front of me at the next red light down the end of the block. Asshole.)

Having a midblock light there and trying to control drivers' speeds is fairly reasonable because it's a residential area and there's a park with a playground, basketball courts, and a softball field to which people would be crossing the street.

https://goo.gl/maps/wtPZ8hQSjBxUwE2f7

US 29 in Charlottesville had signs on stoplights that said what their timing was set to in m.p.h. I can't remember if they would turn red early for a speeder.  Predates GMSV era.

Ditto for US 202 through Holyoke, MA.

[Bruce]

On I-84 in eastern Oregon:

[jeffandnicole]

...Anyways, could any of these devices work on I-485 in Charlotte? The news certainly caught a lot of speeders there. There was talk to lower the speed limit on a section back down to 65 mph but that never happened.

The police or DOT - whoever is responsible for it - will often set a max limit for the unit to display.  Above that, it'll just say "SLOW DOWN".  The reason:  1995hoo alluded to it:   Especially on a highway, motorists will often increase their speed to see how fast it will read.  If the speed limit is 70 mph, they may set it to display speeds up to 80 mph, then after that it won't provide a speed.

Besides...news organizations sometimes go overboard with their reporting on speeding.  A cop wouldn't care about a car on an interstate doing within 10 of the limit, whereas the news will report is as a crime worse than murder when someone is going 72 in a 70 zone.

[machias]

These signs are all over the place around Tucson.  Houghton Rd (erroneously marked as SR 983 in Apple Maps until recently) is in the process of becoming at least three lanes wide in each direction (from I-10 north to Tanque Verde Road) and is marked at 45 MPH, which feels slow for the area. There are quite a few of these "Your Speed" signs in each direction. Many roads of this configuration in the area have them.

[tolbs17]

...Anyways, could any of these devices work on I-485 in Charlotte? The news certainly caught a lot of speeders there. There was talk to lower the speed limit on a section back down to 65 mph but that never happened.

The police or DOT - whoever is responsible for it - will often set a max limit for the unit to display.  Above that, it'll just say "SLOW DOWN".  The reason:  1995hoo alluded to it:   Especially on a highway, motorists will often increase their speed to see how fast it will read.  If the speed limit is 70 mph, they may set it to display speeds up to 80 mph, then after that it won't provide a speed.

Besides...news organizations sometimes go overboard with their reporting on speeding.  A cop wouldn't care about a car on an interstate doing within 10 of the limit, whereas the news will report is as a crime worse than murder when someone is going 72 in a 70 zone.

Other countries are more strict with their speed limits. Especially in Europe.

[HighwayStar]

I would love to see these used in reverse. Example, when someone is doing 10 under the speed limit on a city arterial, it should flash their speed and "speed up"

[ozarkman417]

There is a national battlefield around where I live that has one of these signs, permanently. Its speed limit is 25, and rightfully so, as deer, pedestrians, and horseback riders cross the road often. I occasionally go for runs at the old battlefield, and sometimes attempt to sprint by the sign as fast as I can. My record is 16MPH. The road along which the sign is installed has a walk/bike lane, on the right side directly adjacent to the radar.

[HighwayStar]

There is a national battlefield around where I live that has one of these signs, permanently. Its speed limit is 25, and rightfully so, as deer, pedestrians, and horseback riders cross the road often. I occasionally go for runs at the old battlefield, and sometimes attempt to sprint by the sign as fast as I can. My record is 16MPH. The road along which the sign is installed has a walk/bike lane, on the right side directly adjacent to the radar.

Done that before too. 

[GaryV]

There was always an overhead VMS for the turn on I-75 near Nine Mile Rd (metro Detroit) that told people to * SLOW DOWN *. I believe that one may have been triggered by vehicle speed.

After the widening project on I-75 further north in Troy, there are conventional yellow-diamond arrow signs that have blinking yellow lights around the outside. Those seem to be triggered by speed.

But it's pretty hard to tell, because there's always vehicles going faster than the recommended speed for the bends.

[Sam]

I've noticed that some of the portable radar based speed signs used around here have license plate readers attached.