Caught speeding - make a run for it?

spdnomo wrote:

> Some time ago I was driving cross country from the west coast to the east
> coast. While I'm normally a pretty safe driver and observe the speed
> limits and the rules of the road, this time I found myself in one of those
> <don't know what to call them>

"Convoy"?

> that you sometimes encounter when driving long distances when everyone
> around you is going pretty fast and the cars coming up behind you pretty
> much force you to keep up the pace or get run over.

Kind of reminds me of the I-80/94/294 corridor in the Chicagoland area.
(There's been some construction there lately, both in Indiana and Illinois,
but I remember having gone through there at times [during non-peak traffic
hours] when the average speed was something like 85.)

> We were all doing over 90 mpg

90 mpg??? I've never even had a bike that's gotten gas mileage much more
than even half that good.

> on the interstate in the middle of nowhere.

Sounds like Texas to me.

> I'd say the fastest ones must have been going over 100, as they were
> blasting past me and I was doing about 95. Anyway, I stayed on the right
> lane and tried to fall back a bit planning to slow down and get below the
> speed limit where I'm comfortable. I made it to the back of the pack and
> fell behind

There's your mistake -- you dropped out of the "rocking chair".

> but didn't slow down soon enough and a state trooper hiding behind a good
> spot nabbed me.

I saw this in Australia one time. There was a copper hiding behind a clump
of bushes just off the left side of the highway (in Australia, you keep left
as they do in England). This was on the Hume highway, just south of Wodonga
(Vic), and the speed limit was 110 kph. Some bloke blasted past me doing at
least 150, and straightaway the copper went right after him. (And with a
Holden Monaro with a Chevy 350 under the hood/bonnet [sold in the U.S. as
Pontiac GTO's], he didn't have any problem catching him.)

> I panicked and quickly slowed down to the speed limit.

Another mistake. This tells the cop that you know that you're speeding.

> It took him a long time to catch up with me since he had to start from 0.
> I noticed he trailed me for a long while keeping a pretty good distance
> from me for oh I'd say a couple miles before he finally went in for the
> kill. Of course I got the old "give me a good reason not to throw you in
> jail right now" and ate a good sized portion of humble pie.

What for? I would ask him why he went after me when I was going SLOWER than
much of the other traffic (to which he would retort "I caught you, I didn't
catch them").

> In the end he let me off with a ticket.

Which is all that he was going to do in the first place. All the rest was
just histrionics.

> It was pretty expensive,

Then it must not have been Colorado, where I once had to pay only $53 for
doing 92 in a 75.

> and involved pleading guilty to a criminal traffic offense by mail from the
> east coast.

What's a "criminal" traffic offence? In Australia, traffic infractions are
simply offences that generally do not rise to the level of a crime.

> All this got me to thinking: what would have happened if instead of slowing
> down I had just kept on going.

If you would have gotten caught, you might have been charged with attempting
to elude.

> He would have never been able to catch up me with, since I was going over
> 90 and he was stopped when I passed him.

It depends on how long he pursued you. If he dropped off the pursuit (losing
sight of you), AND you dropped down to the speed limit, you probably would
have been in the clear.

> Would he have put out a BOLO or an APB on me or something?

Probably a BOLO. But any other officer catching you would have to catch you
in the act.

> Would I have been intercepted by a dozen troopers and helicopters/ the
> works further on down the interstate?

Unlikely. They probably wouldn't have a helicopter in position, nor that
kind of manpower out in the sticks.

> Was I better off slowing down like I did and letting him catch up to me or
> should I have made a run for it and then slowed down once I lost him?

That would be a roll of the dice. If you can duck into a rest area or jump
off the interstate AND get out of and away from the car before he can catch
up to you, AND where he loses sight of you in the process, then perhaps you
stand a chance of getting out of the jam. But if he has a dash camera that
was able to record your tag number as you went by (or even a picture of you
driving the car), then you're had.
--
Theodore A. Kaldis

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:39:38 GMT, "Theodore A. Kaldis"
> wrote:

>> that you sometimes encounter when driving long distances when everyone
>> around you is going pretty fast and the cars coming up behind you pretty
>> much force you to keep up the pace or get run over.
>
>Kind of reminds me of the I-80/94/294 corridor in the Chicagoland area.
>(There's been some construction there lately, both in Indiana and Illinois,

Lately? You mean like the last forever?

>but I remember having gone through there at times [during non-peak traffic
>hours] when the average speed was something like 85.)

Non-peak? Not from around here are you. Except for the absolute
WORST times, 294 averages 80. Note, average is not the top end...



*************************
Dave

DTJ wrote:

> Theodore A. Kaldis wrote:

>>> that you sometimes encounter when driving long distances when
>>> everyone around you is going pretty fast and the cars coming up
>>> behind you pretty much force you to keep up the pace or get run
>>> over.

>> Kind of reminds me of the I-80/94/294 corridor in the Chicagoland
>> area. (There's been some construction there lately, both in Indiana
>> and Illinois,

> Lately? You mean like the last forever?

The last 3 years or so (maybe longer). Back in '97 - '98 I was doing
some work in western Michigan. I would fly into O'Hare, rent a car, and
drive down 294 (the Eisenhower?) to 94 into Michigan. Those are the
times I was talking about.

>> but I remember having gone through there at times [during non-peak
>> traffic hours] when the average speed was something like 85.)

> Non-peak? Not from around here are you.

No. Southern California.

> Except for the absolute WORST times, 294 averages 80. Note, average
> is not the top end ...

So it's not too different from the L.A. freeways (except they ain't
free). BTW, I hear they're going to have "open something-or-other" for
I-Pass (i.e., no tollbooths -- which is what they have on the City-Link
tollways in Melbourne [Australia]).
--
Theodore A. Kaldis

Ken Smith wrote:

> Theodore A. Kaldis wrote:
>> DTJ wrote:
>>> Theodore A. Kaldis wrote:

>>>>> that you sometimes encounter when driving long distances when
>>>>> everyone around you is going pretty fast and the cars coming up
>>>>> behind you pretty much force you to keep up the pace or get run
>>>>> over.

>>>> Kind of reminds me of the I-80/94/294 corridor in the Chicagoland
>>>> area. (There's been some construction there lately, both in
>>>> Indiana and Illinois,

>>> Lately? You mean like the last forever?

>> The last 3 years or so (maybe longer). Back in '97 - '98 I was doing
>> some work in western Michigan. I would fly into O'Hare, rent a car,
>> and drive down 294 (the Eisenhower?) to 94 into Michigan. Those are
>> the times I was talking about.

> That stretch of highway has been under continuous construction for the
> past 30 years. You always have to allow an extra hour.

To one extent or another, I suppose. Back 30-some years ago (when I was
driving truck), I would go through there quite regularly. And even
since then, I would go through there maybe once every or every other
year or so. There may have been a bit of construction here and there,
but not like what's gone on in the past few years.

>>>> but I remember having gone through there at times [during non-peak
>>>> traffic hours] when the average speed was something like 85.)

>>> Non-peak? Not from around here are you.

>> No. Southern California.

> Driving the stretch between Las Vegas and Bog

"Bog"? You have me on that one.

> on a Sunday afternoon is an adventure.

Southbound (on I-15) on Sunday, northbound on Friday and Saturday.

> It's more like the Daytona 500.

Not when it's crowded. I once got stuck in a traffic jam, crawling
along bumper-to-bumper IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT south of Las Vegas on
a Sunday evening.

>>> Except for the absolute WORST times, 294 averages 80. Note, average
>>> is not the top end ...

>> So it's not too different from the L.A. freeways

> Decency, [...]

On an L.A. freeway? Forget about it.

[stock Ken Smith rant elided ...]

>> (except they ain't free). BTW, I hear they're going to have "open
>> something-or-other" for I-Pass (i.e., no tollbooths -- which is what
>> they have on the City-Link tollways in Melbourne [Australia]).

> Translation, Ted likes to tell everyone he encounters that he has been
> to Australia, and will somehow steer the conversation in that
> direction, even when it has no reason to go there.

Pop quiz: in what direction will Ken Smith inevitably steer the
conversation every chance he gets? (For a hint, see the elided portion
from the previous post.)
--
Theodore A. Kaldis