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#11
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>> Anytime you suspect you are in a construction zone, you will want to >> be sure >> you are following the rules for that section of roadway. Usually, you can >> tell if you are in a construction zone, but not always. This is >> especially >> true when construction projects are just getting started, the guys can >> come >> along and plant a sign that creates the construction zone, but they >> haven't >> moved in the equipment yet so you don't see that construction is >> underway; >> of course the cops are dialed in on the signs that are posted and they >> will >> take advantage of the lack of equipment to get you speeding. > > > I find it rather appalling that people seem to think that it's okay to > break the law as long as they don't get caught. It's not the police's > responsibility to see that you obey the law. They just clobber you if > they catch you. It's YOUR responsibility to obey it. Sheesh! What I find appalling is the fact the the police are mainly interested in writing out tickets and collecting profits from fines, NOT in public safety on the roads. I can rip at twice the speed limit in a residential neighborhood, with kids playing nearby and a school down the road, and there will *never* be a cop there to bust my ass. No, the cop is out on an empty stretch of wide open country road, with a speed trap hidden behind a tree, ticketing people that went 5-10kph over the 80kph speed limit, because that is the more *profitable* activity. I agree one should obey the law, but that's hard to justify when the law has been turned into a mockery of itself by the very people that are enforcing it. |
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#12
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Peter Bozz wrote:
>> California ALWAYS doubles the fines in Construction Zones, >> especially on the freeways and other regional routes. They may not >> double the fines for work on city streets, but they will for work on >> county roads. This is standard practice around the US. CA fines are probably the highest though. > Just for the fun of it, I'm interested in how much the fines are in > California (or the States for that matter). Here in the Netherlands, I > got fined for going 13 mph over the speed limit. Usual fine is EUR 90, > but since it was a construction zone (something I had failed to > notice, on account of there being no equipment, workers, or any > additional road signs to underscore that fact), the fine was raised > to EUR 145. (It wasn't DOUBLED, I admit. Lucky me.) > > How does that reflect the amount you have to pay in the States or the > UK? It's been a long time since I got a speeding ticket, but IIRC it's about twice that in CA -- maybe $300 -- for a similar ticket. Double that of course in a construction zone. > Oh, yeah, we don't even have a points system for our licenses. Pay up > and be on your way. Great for the individual offender, useless for > improving safety on the roads. Well, I guess it does nothing to discourage repeat offenders. We can avoid points on our license by going to traffic school. You can only do it once every couple of years, though. If you get another ticket within a year, you're stuck with the point. Most people do it to avoid higher insurance rates that may (or may not) come with the points. It depends on the insurance company. Matt O. |
#13
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>>Just for the fun of it, I'm interested in how much the fines are in
>>California (or the States for that matter). Here in the Netherlands, I >>got fined for going 13 mph over the speed limit. Usual fine is EUR 90, >>but since it was a construction zone (something I had failed to >>notice, on account of there being no equipment, workers, or any >>additional road signs to underscore that fact), the fine was raised >>to EUR 145. (It wasn't DOUBLED, I admit. Lucky me.) >> >>How does that reflect the amount you have to pay in the States or the >>UK? > > > It's been a long time since I got a speeding ticket, but IIRC it's about twice > that in CA -- maybe $300 -- for a similar ticket. Double that of course in a > construction zone. Ouch! That's pretty tough. But I guess the chances of getting caught are lower than here, where it's all fully automated: police place a speed camera that takes a snapshot of the rear of the speeding vehicle. Those cameras are capable of several snapshots a minute, maybe 60 per minute. The film is developed, and a notice is sent to the registered owners of the offending vehicles. When you own the capability of catching 60 offenders a minute from the comfort of your warm squad car, your overall costs in terms of time and resources are much, much lower than when having a police officer flag down and ticket each offender in person. Make the fines affordable, don't subtract any points from drivers' licences, and most people won't even bother showing up in court and wasting theirs, the police's and the judges' time. It's all handled very quickly and efficiently, and the cash, it doth flow rich and creamy. >>Oh, yeah, we don't even have a points system for our licenses. Pay up >>and be on your way. Great for the individual offender, useless for >>improving safety on the roads. > > > Well, I guess it does nothing to discourage repeat offenders. No, it doesn't. Which often makes me wonder, does the government *really* want our roads to be safer, or do they simply lack the capacity and desire to deal with the hassle of properly prosecuting offenders? > We can avoid points on our license by going to traffic school. You can only do > it once every couple of years, though. If you get another ticket within a year, > you're stuck with the point. Most people do it to avoid higher insurance rates > that may (or may not) come with the points. It depends on the insurance > company. That's even harsher than the fine itself. In the Netherlands, the insurance rates are not related to the driver's history of traffic infractions and violations. Again, less hassle for all parties involved (read, police and courts), so people are very quickly simply inclined to pay up and get on with their lives. It's the ultimate cash cow. |
#14
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Nothing SoCal about it. UK motorway speed limit is the absurdly low 70 mph.
Traffic usually moves at about 85 mph (bumper-to-bumper in the rush hour) and I am not aware the police coralls (spelling?) cars en masse. It is strongly rumoured that the British police favour a rise in the limit to 80/85 mph. Most of western Europe has a limit of 120 - 130 kph. In Germany the guide speed (where no limit imposed) is 130 kph. DAS -- For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- "Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message ... [...] > > Right or wrong, speed laws are widely ignored in southern CA. Late at > night, > the freeways are pretty much a free-for-all. There are enough drunks and > seriously reckless drivers to keep the cops busy, so the average speeder > is > unlikely to suffer consequences. [..] |
#15
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Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
> Nothing SoCal about it. UK motorway speed limit is the absurdly low 70 mph. > Traffic usually moves at about 85 mph (bumper-to-bumper in the rush hour) > and I am not aware the police coralls (spelling?) cars en masse. > > It is strongly rumoured that the British police favour a rise in the limit > to 80/85 mph. Why do the police want this? I'm asking, because experiments in Holland revealed that *lowering* the speed limit from 120kph to 80kph on freeways during rush hour or on busy sections of roadway, *improves* overall traffic flow and reduces the number of traffic jams and congestion situations. Of course, this goes against common sense, which says that going faster *is* actually faster overall for everybody (which is why nobody maintains the speed limits on those sections of highway where the speed limit has been lowered to 100kph). To be fair to Dutch commuters though, most do keep to the 120kph limit when that is in effect. I guess 120kph is a "psychologically good" speed that people are happy and comfortable with. > > Most of western Europe has a limit of 120 - 130 kph. In Germany the guide > speed (where no limit imposed) is 130 kph. > > DAS |
#16
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"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message ... > We can avoid points on our license by going to traffic school. You can only do > it once every couple of years, though. If you get another ticket within a year, > you're stuck with the point. Most people do it to avoid higher insurance rates > that may (or may not) come with the points. It depends on the insurance > company. In Denver and other surrounding towns you get an immediate 50% reduction in points if you pay your fine within 30 days. If you have a 6 pointer, which requires arraignment, you go to court and the judge's first offer is a 50% reduction in points if you plead guilty and avoid trial.....and of course pay the fine on your way out the door. After all that you can still get additional reductions in points by attending driving school. I got a 6 pointer a couple months ago...85 in a 55...and they sent me to night court. I was in there with the dregs of society, which I guess is a comment on what they think of high dollar speeders :^)...but by the time they called me up it took 2 minutes to record my guilty plea, accept her offer, pay the fine, and walk out the door. Oh yeah with regard to fine amounts....mine was $ 245.00 including arraignment free, court costs and innocent victims fund. I imagine in Cali that same fine might approach $ 500 to $ 600. But no matter which way you cut it, with the immediate and standing offer to cut points in half, without ever reviewing your driving record, it is clear that tickets, at least in Colorado, aren't about making the roads safer but rather making money for the local municipality. A person who would otherwise lose their license at 12 points would still be on the road until they violated laws to the tune of 24 points. I guess a city ***should*** want to keep the repeat offenders on the roads though, as it improves revenue :^) |
#17
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Peter Bozz wrote:
> But I guess the chances of getting caught > are lower than here, where it's all fully automated: police place a > speed camera that takes a snapshot of the rear of the speeding > vehicle. Those cameras are capable of several snapshots a minute, > maybe 60 per minute. The film is developed, and a notice is sent to > the registered owners of the offending vehicles. When you own the > capability of catching 60 offenders a minute from the comfort of your > warm squad car, your overall costs in terms of time and resources are > much, much lower than when having a police officer flag down and > ticket each offender in person. Make the fines affordable, don't > subtract any points from drivers' licences, and most people won't > even bother showing up in court and wasting theirs, the police's and > the judges' time. It's all handled very quickly and efficiently, and > the cash, it doth flow rich and creamy. This makes sense. A lot of little slaps on the wrist is probably more effective in training the driver population than clobbering them on the head once in awhile, but letting them get away with murder in between. But the public has fought hard against these cameras in the US, and not without reason. Frankly I think the privacy issue is a bit of a stretch -- those people are simply looking for an excuse, or they're paranoid. The big risk is that cameras will be used as speed traps, merely to generate revenue. This terrorizes the public and creates resentment for the law, but does little for safety. CA has good laws to prevent speed traps, but the rest of the country doesn't necessarily. The other thing these cameras are great for is stopping people from running red lights, which in CA is completely out of control. There are two or three of these cameras operating in all of southern CA. They ought to be standard issue at all major intersections, but the public won't allow it. IMO, northern Europe is where the state of the art is in traffic engineering and management. The US is stuck in the 1950s. In fact, most states are still catching up to that. Matt O. |
#18
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Matt O'Toole wrote:
> Peter Bozz wrote: > >> But I guess the chances of getting caught >> are lower than here, where it's all fully automated: police place a >> speed camera that takes a snapshot of the rear of the speeding >> vehicle. Those cameras are capable of several snapshots a minute, >> maybe 60 per minute. The film is developed, and a notice is sent to >> the registered owners of the offending vehicles. When you own the >> capability of catching 60 offenders a minute from the comfort of your >> warm squad car, your overall costs in terms of time and resources are >> much, much lower than when having a police officer flag down and >> ticket each offender in person. Make the fines affordable, don't >> subtract any points from drivers' licences, and most people won't >> even bother showing up in court and wasting theirs, the police's and >> the judges' time. It's all handled very quickly and efficiently, and >> the cash, it doth flow rich and creamy. > > This makes sense. A lot of little slaps on the wrist is probably > more effective in training the driver population than clobbering them > on the head once in awhile, but letting them get away with murder in > between. > > But the public has fought hard against these cameras in the US, and > not without reason. Frankly I think the privacy issue is a bit of a > stretch -- those people are simply looking for an excuse, or they're > paranoid. The big risk is that cameras will be used as speed traps, > merely to generate revenue. This terrorizes the public and creates > resentment for the law, but does little for safety. CA has good laws > to prevent speed traps, but the rest of the country doesn't > necessarily. > > The other thing these cameras are great for is stopping people from > running red lights, which in CA is completely out of control. There > are two or three of these cameras operating in all of southern CA. > They ought to be standard issue at all major intersections, but the > public won't allow it. > > IMO, northern Europe is where the state of the art is in traffic > engineering and management. The US is stuck in the 1950s. In fact, > most states are still catching up to that. > > Matt O. I have seen a lot of cars just rolling though a red light like it wasn't even there. I was almost a "front row seat" whiteness to a Dodge Ram running a red and clobbering a Honda civic that was making a left turn on a green arrow. If that Civic was going two MPH faster, I would have been giving a statement to a traffic officer. One thing I really don't like about the cop-in-a-box red light traps is my motorcycle. It is too small to trip the loops in the ground, so I will be sitting there for three or four cycles of the signal before ether someone in a care comes up behind me and trips the loop, or I just blow it off and run it since no one has gone though the signal for the past five minutes. If I didn't have better things to do. I would get a stopwatch and time how long I can sit at a red light on my motorcycle before it turns green for me. |
#19
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"Trey" > wrote in message ... > Matt O'Toole wrote: > One thing I really don't like about the cop-in-a-box red light traps is my > motorcycle. It is too small to trip the loops in the ground, so I will be > sitting there for three or four cycles of the signal before ether someone in > a care comes up behind me and trips the loop, or I just blow it off and run > it since no one has gone though the signal for the past five minutes. If I > didn't have better things to do. I would get a stopwatch and time how long I > can sit at a red light on my motorcycle before it turns green for me. I know a guy that had that problem on the best route home from his work -- it's a very, very little used light, mostly there for when the nearby factory lets out, and it happens only sometimes that it won't trigger. Anyway once it did not trigger, and he waited and waited once and finally went through, and was seen and ticketed. He fought it, and in court it came down to the fact that he had been that road before, knew it did this sometimes, therefore he should have picked another route or waited. The ticket stood. -Russ. |
#20
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"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message ... > Vernon Balbert wrote: > > > I find it rather appalling that people seem to think that it's okay to > > break the law as long as they don't get caught. It's not the police's > > responsibility to see that you obey the law. They just clobber you if > > they catch you. It's YOUR responsibility to obey it. Sheesh! > > I find finger-waggers appalling. > > Right or wrong, speed laws are widely ignored in southern CA. Late at night, > the freeways are pretty much a free-for-all. There are enough drunks and > seriously reckless drivers to keep the cops busy, so the average speeder is > unlikely to suffer consequences. > > I'm not sure the current practice of broad-brush construction zones is wise, if > it leads to the masses ignoring well-intentioned laws. > > Matt O. > > I'm with you, except for the last part about the construction zones. I drive from Riverside into San Diego, and back, daily. And, I am here to tell you that if you are doing 80, you are going too damn slow for the traffic. Too fast for the law, but too slow to survive. Speeds in CA are very high, 85 or 90 is "normal" on many stretches of freeway, speed laws be damned! I am not suggesting we throw the laws out and create a giant free-for-all out there, but there is Traffic Theory and Traffic Reality. I just told you of the reality. As for construction zones, it is good and proper to double the fines for violations in construction zones. Mostly because, if cars CAN do 85, it wouldn't be a construction zone, and since it is a construction zone, the lanes are narrower, the walls are closer, and there are pedestrians within 20 feet of the cars speeding by even if they are separated by a wall. If a car hits the wall and bounces off back into the traffic lanes, it can take out several other cars, any one of which could take out the guys trying to make the freeway wider. |
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