Speeding ticket
03-29-2008, 09:25 PM
#11
Registered member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,807
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Speeding ticket
Is there an unwritten law of just how fast you can go on the highways around here and not get a ticket? Driving speed limit is clearly not safe- I'm not about to risk my life driving 55 on 64! Traffic seems to flow about 65-70 and I always figured that was safe from both a safety and ticket standpoint, until one morning driving around Indian River, BAM, car behind me flicks on his lights, and I get a ticket for going 70 in a 55. I couldn't believe it. I mean, not much I can do- I knew it was 15 over, but still, that's the typical speed of traffic, why should I be singled out? Is there some magic number the speed traps are set at where below it is "safe driver, let him be" and above it is "ticket the mofo"?
03-30-2008, 06:31 AM
#14
Registered Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Williamsburg, VA/Richmond VA
Posts: 2,917
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Speeding ticket
Is there an unwritten law of just how fast you can go on the highways around here and not get a ticket? Driving speed limit is clearly not safe- I'm not about to risk my life driving 55 on 64! Traffic seems to flow about 65-70 and I always figured that was safe from both a safety and ticket standpoint, until one morning driving around Indian River, BAM, car behind me flicks on his lights, and I get a ticket for going 70 in a 55. I couldn't believe it. I mean, not much I can do- I knew it was 15 over, but still, that's the typical speed of traffic, why should I be singled out? Is there some magic number the speed traps are set at where below it is "safe driver, let him be" and above it is "ticket the mofo"?
But not knowing the judges is a good thing. Well that's unless your a cop, lawyer, or work with the court system.
03-30-2008, 06:55 AM
#15
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Speeding ticket
Is there an unwritten law of just how fast you can go on the highways around here and not get a ticket? Driving speed limit is clearly not safe- I'm not about to risk my life driving 55 on 64! Traffic seems to flow about 65-70 and I always figured that was safe from both a safety and ticket standpoint, until one morning driving around Indian River, BAM, car behind me flicks on his lights, and I get a ticket for going 70 in a 55. I couldn't believe it. I mean, not much I can do- I knew it was 15 over, but still, that's the typical speed of traffic, why should I be singled out? Is there some magic number the speed traps are set at where below it is "safe driver, let him be" and above it is "ticket the mofo"?
03-30-2008, 07:03 AM
#16
Clutch Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: 703 & 757
Posts: 502
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
03-30-2008, 12:47 PM
#18
Registered member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Chesapeake, VA
Posts: 591
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Speeding ticket
No one is being singled as "ticket that mofo", unless of course you are driving like an ass, then you are doing it to yourself. The cops and troopers are not always running radar, that is why you can go 70 sometimes and others you will get the ticket. Just because it is common for someone else to break the law and get away, does not make you exempt from the law.
I don't drive like an ass, and I don't drive at unsafe speeds. But every other year or so, I get a ticket for driving what's a reasonably safe speed (in this case, 70 on a 6-lane limited access freeway where that's right around the 85th percentile.) I don't fight it when I'm ticketed- I knew full well what I was doing and just suck it up and pay my road tax, but I still get pissed about getting ticketed for driving a reasonable and safe speed. For the record, I've set my cruise control at 65 after that ticket, so don't act like I'm trying to justify driving like a maniac. Yes, I'd prefer to cruise at 80-90 when traffic is light, but I can't afford that, so I stick to 65.
I'm curious about calibration, too- the speedo in my new car is reading 3mph faster than my wife's car at highway speeds, so one (or both) of them is wrong. Would be nice to know for sure.
Last edited by sjfehr; 03-30-2008 at 12:56 PM.
03-31-2008, 05:14 AM
#20
teamULTRASPEED
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Great Bridge, Chesapeake
Posts: 6,252
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: Speeding ticket
I wouldn't bank on the officer or Trooper not having his or her calibration. Any officer that paces cars with his patrol vehicle to write speeding tickets "lives and dies" by the car calibrations. Sure there's a chance, but if thats your defense..it's a long shot at best. I have every calibration from every cruiser I have ever driven. I have ten years with VSP. The code of Va requires the patrol vehicle to be calibrated once a year. Each calibration is good for a year via the code, but most departments do it twice a year.