I was tooling around Google Street View and found a FHP car sitting in a great location for catching an unsuspecting motorist. Is this the case with this location? I haven't been here in many years.
SR 834 & SR 869 in Broward County.
http://www.google.com/maps?q=12688+West+Sample+Road,+Coral+Springs,+FL&hl=en&ll=26.272925,-80.296454&spn=0.0021,0.004128&sll=26.272944,-80.296583&sspn=0.067497,0.132093&oq=12688+West+&hnear=12688+W+Sample+Rd,+Coral+Springs,+Broward,+Florida+33321&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=26.272926,-80.296561&panoid=dgQCl5Ui2GQGreAyRurOPA&cbp=12,82.38,,0,0 (http://www.google.com/maps?q=12688+West+Sample+Road,+Coral+Springs,+FL&hl=en&ll=26.272925,-80.296454&spn=0.0021,0.004128&sll=26.272944,-80.296583&sspn=0.067497,0.132093&oq=12688+West+&hnear=12688+W+Sample+Rd,+Coral+Springs,+Broward,+Florida+33321&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=26.272926,-80.296561&panoid=dgQCl5Ui2GQGreAyRurOPA&cbp=12,82.38,,0,0)
That looks like a cop car sitting in a shady spot under an overpass. Maybe he's having lunch or writing up a report. Or maybe he had just released a car that he stopped previously, or maybe there was a car accident there that has been cleared.
We would need to know the speed limit of the road to determine if it was a possible speed trap. Personally, my definition of a speed trap is when a cop is hiding on a road where the speed limit is set too low. A speed trap isn't everytime one sees a cop car. In this case, with the cop in such plain view (even considering the shadow of the overpass), I'm inclined to say it's not a speed trap.
In the past, Florida Highway Patrol liked to use those locations (underneath SR 869) to catch toll booth runners, since those exits are unmanned and there was no barrier to prevent you from skipping it. Now that SunPass has more or less alleviated that problem, and he's not in a position to see a blue light warning of a toll violation...our officer in question is probably looking for stoplight/sign runners, or looking for a shady spot to get some work completed.
Having local knowledge of the area, it's probably one of the worst places to actually find a speeder!
Knowing a thing or two about traffic enforcement he is in a perfect position to come up on someone that would have never saw him. If someone was coming off the ramp onto Sample Rd and then violate a traffic infraction, he would be on them without the violator ever knowing it. So I see speed enforcement is probably out of the question then per the above comment.
This should have been a this is where they hide post then.
Quote from: Avalanchez71 on June 24, 2013, 10:56:09 AM
violate a traffic infraction
In other words, obey the law?
I guess if someone came off the ramp onto Sample Road at a high rate of speed (which is possible, since it doesn't merge with the through eastbound traffic), the officer could catch that driver completely unaware.
Quote from: formulanone on June 24, 2013, 09:34:26 PM
I guess if someone came off the ramp onto Sample Road at a high rate of speed (which is possible, since it doesn't merge with the through eastbound traffic), the officer could catch that driver completely unaware.
My thoughts exactly.
Do cops still actually give speeding tickets? Outside of Waldo and Starke in northern Florida, I do not see vehicles pulled over like you did back in the day.
If he is using to perform speed patrol, he's not very well hidden, and isn't on what looks like a decent straightaway where a passing vehicle can really pick up speed. I'd have to agree with those who believe he's parked his scout car in a shady spot for some other reason.
Quote from: roadman65 on June 28, 2013, 08:02:56 AM
Do cops still actually give speeding tickets? Outside of Waldo and Starke in northern Florida, I do not see vehicles pulled over like you did back in the day.
Sure they do. Most weekends there's speed traps set up on I-5 around Lynnwood or Edmunds, pegging people for 70 in a 60.
I've never been caught in that one, but I got one a few years ago on the I-5 express lanes in downtown Seattle early on a weekend morning when there was no traffic.
Quote from: roadman65 on June 28, 2013, 08:02:56 AM
Do cops still actually give speeding tickets? Outside of Waldo and Starke in northern Florida, I do not see vehicles pulled over like you did back in the day.
Just go to Wisconsin to see that.
Quote from: Big John on June 28, 2013, 01:52:41 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on June 28, 2013, 08:02:56 AM
Do cops still actually give speeding tickets? Outside of Waldo and Starke in northern Florida, I do not see vehicles pulled over like you did back in the day.
Just go to Wisconsin to see that.
Kenosha County is enough for most Illinoisans. I set the cruise at 65 through there.
Florida must of gone soft then. I have not seen a speed trap on a regular basis in years! You ride on I-4, one of the most dangerous highways in our region, and very rarely do you see a routine stop anymore. If a patrol car is off the side with his lights on, its usually to assist a disabled motorists or to investigate an accident. Heck, we all know that most law enforcement gave up on red light runners decades ago, that is why we have the cameras now.
Quote from: roadman65 on June 28, 2013, 03:23:27 PM
Florida must of gone soft then. I have not seen a speed trap on a regular basis in years! You ride on I-4, one of the most dangerous highways in our region, and very rarely do you see a routine stop anymore. If a patrol car is off the side with his lights on, its usually to assist a disabled motorists or to investigate an accident. Heck, we all know that most law enforcement gave up on red light runners decades ago, that is why we have the cameras now.
I fail to see how this is a problem.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 28, 2013, 03:28:33 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on June 28, 2013, 03:23:27 PM
Florida must of gone soft then. I have not seen a speed trap on a regular basis in years! You ride on I-4, one of the most dangerous highways in our region, and very rarely do you see a routine stop anymore. If a patrol car is off the side with his lights on, its usually to assist a disabled motorists or to investigate an accident. Heck, we all know that most law enforcement gave up on red light runners decades ago, that is why we have the cameras now.
I fail to see how this is a problem.
It is not. I am only just saying that I have not seen a speed trap where I live in a while, and I was amazed to here that outside of the area I live they still have them. I am actually quite relieved that they are still around, as sometimes in today's society the way so many negative talking folks around, you sometimes begin to question your own sanity LOL!
The word on the street with the district that covers the Orange Co area is too busy to be proactive. They run from wreck to wreck call and they do not have time for running radar.
Florida, soft!? Except New York City (which is second to none), I have not seen cop cars anywhere with greater frequency than in Florida. Between FHP and County Sheriffs there is a very visible presence of police throughout the state. Now, the majority of the cop cars you see will not be live speed traps, but they are there, so it keeps you on your toes.
The section of Florida's Turnpike between Fort Pierce and Kissimmee seemed particularly heavily patrolled the day I drove it, and there were no shortage of cops on I-95, either.
The Florida's Turnpike is Troop K which is separate from the other Troop.
And FHP has really stepped up their enforcement on the Turnpike, which is ridiculous for a toll road which features two 45-mile stretches with absolutely no exits nor cross-traffic.
Obviously, I spend more time in Florida than elsewhere, but the Sunshine State definitely has no lack of speed traps, although some rural regions have far less than others. Larger metropolitan areas may not have as many "traps", but that doesn't mean they aren't at a stop light, during the natural motions of a patrol route.
Quote from: formulanone on June 29, 2013, 12:02:08 PM
And FHP has really stepped up their enforcement on the Turnpike, which is ridiculous for a toll road which features two 45-mile stretches with absolutely no exits nor cross-traffic.
Not ridiculous if your goal is to write tickets and make money.