Avoiding tickets

[Scott5114]

As a side note, are there any places where cop cars sit empty on the side of the road as means to slow motorists down? I remember there used to be on I-10 around Metairie, LA years ago. I don't recall seeing it the last time I drove down through there in October.

There is a (the?) McClain County sheriff who lives on OK-74 in Goldsby. He seems to make it a point to back his cruiser(s) up into the driveway when they are not in use so as to make people not familiar with the area slow down.

[KEK Inc.]

I got close a couple of times.  In general, I go 5-10 over or basically the flow of traffic.  Honestly, being the fastest on the road is too risky.  I'm also a teenager, so I'm a natural target from the get-go.  

The fastest I've gone was 87 MPH on I-280 near Los Altos Hills.  I rarely see cops North of CA-85 on I-280, and I was actually going the flow of traffic.  

Anyways, in Oregon, all government plates are yellow, so they're pretty easy to spot.  In the Portland Metro area, they usually patrol the freeways in motorcycles and hide on the onramps.  In California, I notice CHP tends to camp out on onramps as well, and they rarely use unmarked vehicles.  Chargers are starting to become more popular in California, but black Crown Vics are still the primary cars to look out for.  Washington State Patrol uses white Chargers and Crown Vics, and they tend to use a lot of unmarked vehicles that are either blue or beige.  Their license plates have an XMT.  In my junior year of high school, I would go 85 MPH on I-205 everyday, but I stopped in my senior year.  Now, I barely do 70.  (Speed limit 60).  

I should have been pulled over in Southern Oregon.  I was doing 75 MPH on a 55 zone on US-101, and a cop barreled behind me.  I pulled on the e-brake a little bit all the way down to 50.  Fortunately, the cop passed me and joined a bunch of other cops around a van with a bunch of drugs.  Needless to say, I got lucky.  Also, on I-80, I started to speed up from 45 to 70 after I found an open lane in traffic, but a cop immediately jetted out of an onramp when I was going about 67, so I slowed down (I actually used my brakes).  He followed me a bit, probably noticed the Washington license plate and changed lanes.  I notice different state patrols tend to avoid pulling people over from other states, unless the violation was significant.  

I'm a fairly inexperienced driver, since I've only driven for a little over a year, but I'd definitely watch out for tinted windows, antennaes, and special government plates.  Most cops drive American cars, and common cruisers include Crown Victorias, Dodge Chargers, and Chevy Impalas.  Often, Ford Explorers are used.  CHP does use BMW motorcycles, but typically, I'd advice caution to any motorcyclist behind you, as they may be a cop, particularly if the helmet is white.  Avoiding the left lane is smart, and make sure someone is behind you when you pass a slow vehicle.  

Anyways, I have yet to get a ticket or even pulled over for that matter.  I probably won't be driving much in college, but I won't be surprised if I get a ticket soon enough. 

[agentsteel53]

The fastest I've gone was 87 MPH on I-280 near Los Altos Hills.  

a hell of a road.  Amazing construction for 1962 - gotta love those 100mph sweeping curves.  (And yes, I've made it from the 880 in San Jose to the 101 in San Francisco averaging 106 mph.)  You definitely need to go a tad faster than 87! 

I notice different state patrols tend to avoid pulling people over from other states, unless the violation was significant.  

nah, the exact opposite is true.  Who from all the way across the country is going to hop on a plane and come back to Deer Tick County to contest their ticket?  Out of state plates are free money! 

[KEK Inc.]

The fastest I've gone was 87 MPH on I-280 near Los Altos Hills. 

a hell of a road.  Amazing construction for 1962 - gotta love those 100mph sweeping curves.  (And yes, I've made it from the 880 in San Jose to the 101 in San Francisco averaging 106 mph.)  You definitely need to go a tad faster than 87! 

I notice different state patrols tend to avoid pulling people over from other states, unless the violation was significant. 

nah, the exact opposite is true.  Who from all the way across the country is going to hop on a plane and come back to Deer Tick County to contest their ticket?  Out of state plates are free money! 

Eh, no thanks.  I don't want to lose my license when I'm only 17. 

I thought it's impossible to win in traffic court if you're a local. 

[agentsteel53]

Eh, no thanks.  I don't want to lose my license when I'm only 17. 

I thought it's impossible to win in traffic court if you're a local. 

I dunno, I've never been to traffic court.  I should've gone when the speed limit sign was clearly knocked down and rendered unreadable - but, again, why would I bother springing several hundred dollars on a plane ticket just to return to sunny Unspeakable Goat County?

the easiest way to get out of a ticket is right there on the spot before the officer writes you one.

[Brandon]

Here in the Midwest, where the gound is fairly flat, and the freeways fairly straight, I can see them pretty well when they sit in the median at that distance.

in the Midwest, yes, but in a lot of places they are just past the next hill. 

also, even on flat ground, a motorcycle cop behind an overpass column is very effectively hidden. 

Motorcycle cops are so rare that you're more likely to get struck by lightening here.  Midwestern police forces use them for parades, large groups, and areas where they have massive traffic congestion in decent weather.  No cop here wants to be on a motorcycle when it is,
90F and a dewpoint of 75F
-10F and a windchill of -20F
a blizzard (common in the winter)
a thunderstorm (average of one to two a week here)

Nor can a motorcycle be used effectively for DUI arrests or drug busts (common in my area on both I-55 and I-80).
They're only good for a few areas of the country consistently, and this isn't one of them.

[Brandon]

As a side note, are there any places where cop cars sit empty on the side of the road as means to slow motorists down? I remember there used to be on I-10 around Metairie, LA years ago. I don't recall seeing it the last time I drove down through there in October.

The ISP tried doing this about 15-20 years ago.  It worked for the first couple of weeks.  Then people wised up when they never saw the car move and that it got a layer of dust on it.  Needless to say, the tactic went by the wayside.

[corco]

nah, the exact opposite is true.  Who from all the way across the country is going to hop on a plane and come back to Deer Tick County to contest their ticket?  Out of state plates are free money!  

I live some of the year in Valley County, Idaho, which is kind of a hick county, and it's really no secret at all that we target people from out of county (namely Ada and Canyon within Idaho, so 1A or 2C plates) and out of staters. We want the California money, and if the cops harassed the locals, the locals would get pissed and have the cops ousted. Locals tend to only get pulled over when they're actually doing something unsafe (ten over on a wide open road in broad daylight is not unsafe) that puts other cars in serious danger (so near accidents caused by inattentiveness or whatever).

This especially holds true in the winter. The general assumption is that if you have V (Valley County), 2A (Adams), or I (Idaho) plates you know how to maneuver a vehicle in snow, but if you have any other license plate you're probably retarded and will end up in the ditch within a mile, so those folks tend to get pulled over at far lower speeds than the locals simply on the grounds that it is assumed they don't have any idea how to drive on bad roads. As a teenager, it was easy to capitalize on this- we'd borrow my friend's dad's F-350 and drive around pulling people out of the ditch in the winter, charging $50 to tourists and offering the service free to locals. In five winters, we made $2000 and gave out exactly three free tows, so there's probably some merit to the profiling. This isn't to say that everybody who doesn't live in the mountains is an idiot in snow, but a whole lot of them are.

The clincher on that is that a lot of local residents know all the police officers- I know most of the cops, enough to the point that I wave at them when they drive by, and it's harder for a police officer to give somebody he actually knows a $200 ticket for dubious reasons. Giving a ticket to some jackwagon with California plates- no problem!

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Here's how I avoid tickets:

I drive the limit.      

[agentsteel53]

The ISP tried doing this about 15-20 years ago.  It worked for the first couple of weeks.  Then people wised up when they never saw the car move and that it got a layer of dust on it.  Needless to say, the tactic went by the wayside.

I certainly would have no idea!  I am not Rain Man; I cannot keep an internal running log of "the police vehicle at mile 13.62 on Illinois state route 119 is empty", seeing as I may pass by it precisely once in my life.

[agentsteel53]

Here's how I avoid tickets:

I drive the limit.      

hopefully not to the point of holding up traffic.

[Bryant5493]

I've had two speeding tickets, both of which were, of course, my fault. Both were over three years ago when I first started out driving.

Now, I pay attention to the surroundings; don't stick out; and don't drive like a maniac.


Be well,

Bryant

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Here's how I avoid tickets:

I drive the limit.      

hopefully not to the point of holding up traffic.

Unfortunately, that probably does happen every so often, but I stay to the right as much as possible. I don't have the money to even risk getting picked out at this point.

[agentsteel53]

Unfortunately, that probably does happen every so often, but I stay to the right as much as possible. I don't have the money to even risk getting picked out at this point.

better than being in the left lane, but at the same time, if the posted limit is 70 and everyone's doing 80, you're actually being a road hazard doing 70.  Perverse but true.  Welcome to the mystical world of speed limit enforcement.

[Bryant5493]

Unfortunately, that probably does happen every so often, but I stay to the right as much as possible. I don't have the money to even risk getting picked out at this point.

better than being in the left lane, but at the same time, if the posted limit is 70 and everyone's doing 80, you're actually being a road hazard doing 70.  Perverse but true.  Welcome to the mystical world of speed limit enforcement.

I had a friend who was driving 60 mph in the left lane of I-75 in Monroe County, Georgia -- just north of Macon. The posted speed limit's 65, but most traffic's going 80, at the very least. She was quite oblivious to traffic passing us on the right.


Be well,

Bryant

[corco]

I had a friend who was driving 60 mph in the left lane of I-75 in Monroe County, Georgia -- just north of Macon. The posted speed limit's 65, but most traffic's going 80, at the very least. She was quite oblivious to traffic passing us on the right.


Be well,

Bryant

I've found that a lot of people who do that aren't even oblivious, they just don't care- they fail to distinguish between "clogged suburban arterial" where passing on the right isn't a big deal and lane position doesn't really matter and "quasi-urban interstate" where lane position is very important and don't see a significant difference between these situations. These people are idiots

[agentsteel53]

"clogged suburban arterial" where passing on the right isn't a big deal

maybe if people used freeway-style lane discipline on the arterials as well, they'd be a bit less clogged!

[The Premier]

I've found that a lot of people who do that aren't even oblivious, they just don't care- they fail to distinguish between "clogged suburban arterial" where passing on the right isn't a big deal and lane position doesn't really matter and "quasi-urban interstate" where lane position is very important and don't see a significant difference between these situations. These people are idiots

This is the sad part when you don't have a keep right-pass left law. I see this too often on I-76, especially when you get to three lanes. The reason for this: the Central Interchange, which is nearly 4 miles ahead.

Even if they are going to I-77 SB (which is a left exit), that in itself is NO EXCUSE to just hang in the left lane going 55 to 60 (60 is the speed limit for cars, 55 for trucks) or even lower. Add in a semi truck, even if they are passing, and it is a mess.

The Ohio Turnpike has a sign informing trucks and slower vehicles to stay out of the left lane. This is something ODOT will have to do to prevent this mess. There are two signs that I created to inform motorist on I-76, and on any freeway in Ohio in general:




The first one is posted on overpasses reminding traverlers that the left lane is for PASSING ONLY. The second is the sign based on the ones used in Florida to inform trucks to stay out of the left lane.

[corco]

I would LOVE to see giant overpass style signs exactly like that posted on interstates all around the country. Something about a giant overhead yellow sign is more meaningful then a little "Keep Right Except to Pass" sign posted on the left side of the road- I suspect that would be far more effective.

[The Premier]

I couldn't agree more.

[agentsteel53]

I would LOVE to see giant overpass style signs exactly like that posted on interstates all around the country. Something about a giant overhead yellow sign is more meaningful then a little "Keep Right Except to Pass" sign posted on the left side of the road- I suspect that would be far more effective.

I would LOVE to see the law actually enforced.  Unfortunately, cops sit by the side of the road, half asleep and looking at donut porn, until their radar detector beeps because it's been set to trigger on anyone going, say 90.  So someone crawling by doing 55 in the left lane is, literally, under their radar. 

it would be excellent if those going 15 under the limit were prosecuted just as vigorously as those going 15 over the limit.  Excessive speed differential is a two-edged sword.

[KEK Inc.]

I would LOVE to see the law actually enforced.  Unfortunately, cops sit by the side of the road, half asleep and looking at donut porn, until their radar detector beeps because it's been set to trigger on anyone going, say 90.  So someone crawling by doing 55 in the left lane is, literally, under their radar. 

it would be excellent if those going 15 under the limit were prosecuted just as vigorously as those going 15 over the limit.  Excessive speed differential is a two-edged sword.

Any big speed difference is a potential danger on the road, really.  From what I've heard, that's why the national speed limit (55) was so dangerous, since some people still went 70, while others went 55. 

Anyways, am I the only person who goes to the left lane when there's someone on the shoulder?  I always change out of the right lane (unless there's heavy traffic in the other lane) if there's a car on the shoulder, yet no one else does that.

[agentsteel53]

Anyways, am I the only person who goes to the left lane when there's someone on the shoulder?  I always change out of the right lane (unless there's heavy traffic in the other lane) if there's a car on the shoulder, yet no one else does that.

I do it politely, but not religiously.  Some truckers do it without thinking - woe to anyone who may be in the left lane when they decide that the car that's been parked on the right shoulder since the Nixon administration (complete with glaring orange parking ticket taped to the rear window) is suddenly to be given a wide berth because you never know, THIS could be the day that someone's actually changing the tire.

[corco]

Anyways, am I the only person who goes to the left lane when there's someone on the shoulder?  I always change out of the right lane (unless there's heavy traffic in the other lane) if there's a car on the shoulder, yet no one else does that.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Depends on the situation. I tend to do it moreso lately since the whole "change lanes for stopped emergency vehicles" thing went into effect, and I don't want to risk there being an emergency vehicle there that I don't see.

I usually do though on wide open freeways- not so much in the city.

[bugo]

Anyways, am I the only person who goes to the left lane when there's someone on the shoulder?  I always change out of the right lane (unless there's heavy traffic in the other lane) if there's a car on the shoulder, yet no one else does that.

No.  I get over when I can.  I've sat on the side of the road and had cars fly by me and I know how badly it sucks.  So I try to get out of the way.