Where Are Speed Traps Located?

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

MikeM_203 — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 04:11:11 GMT

In reading the above posts, it seems only a few people on this site have any concept of freedom. Most of you hold to the notion that laws "for our own good" are valid and should exist in a free country...despite the fact that they are preventative laws that don't punish crime, but rather behaviors that could POTENTIALLY lead to a crime. This isn't much different than an Orwellian world where thoughts are punishable.

Let me be clear: speeding (which is itself a relative word) is not the brightest thing to do, but it's NOT a crime. Driving over some imaginary number placed on a little metal sign alonside the road by some bureaucrat is NOT harming any person or damaging anyone's property. So-called speed limits should be recommendations of safe travel, NOT punishable restrictions on behavior.

And speeding is NOT the primary cause of accidents...driver inattention has been shown to be the number 1 cause of accidents. As I stated in an earlier post, preventative laws (a.k.a. victimless crime laws) are a slippery slope. Once started down that road, the government can legislate against ANYTHING it deems as "unsafe".

Think about it...most everything we do can be unsafe if not done carefully. Should eating a greasy hamburger be a punishable offense? No?!?! Why not? Such foods have been "proven" (according to established AMA science) to lead to heart disease...which leads to expense to the community as a whole via increased health premiums. So why can't we write a law against unhealthy foods...or sky diving...or smoking...or, hell, why worry about speed laws at all and just illegalize cars period?!?!

I hope some of you are starting to see the point. Victimless crime laws have no business in a free society. They serve only to punish natural human behaviors and reward the government for writing the unconstitutional laws in the first place

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

deadhead30 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:52:14 GMT

I agree wholeheartedly that the speed traps and low speed limits are there SOLELY for the purpose of rising revenue, not for our "safety". But, perhaps we'd be wise to drive within the posted speed limit instead of speeding and trying to not get caught. That way, we can be safe AND not be forced to pay for a speeding ticket! That sounds like a win-win to me.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

amacd55 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:41:37 GMT

Why do we need to know the position of speed traps unless we are speeding? Are you suggesting that it is a good thing to break the speed limits? Are you even hinting that it is OK to break the law? Shame on you! Driving at the speed limit should be less stressful than zooming in and out of traffic trying to save 6 seconds per 20 miles traveled. Of course it is not if everyone else is going the speed limit plus 20 and tailgating with the mistaken impression that they are the good guys. Please do not add your endorsement to the idiots on the road.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

jmay — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:18:17 GMT

Dangerous driving is what kills. If I speed or roll through a stop and I'm responsibly taking account of the conditions and other driver's positions and relative speeds, it will not cause an accident. If our government was worth anything we would see some leadership rather than just restrictive legislation. What I mean is why are we settling for 70 MPH still? Cars are much safer in terms of handling and crash protection at that speed than they were 40 years ago, yet we still settle for these low limits. Most cars now have anti-lock breaks, airbags, active restraint systems. With new technologies like active suspension, collision avoidance, lighter and stronger body frames, we should be pushing for higher speed limits. New highways should be planned and rated for 100MPH speeds. My great grandmother had to settle for horse and buggy speeds. I hope we don't consider ourselves to have peaked as a society and settle for 70MPH. I hope my great grandchildren can travel as safely at 150 MPH as we do today at 70MPH.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

plato_203 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:27:32 GMT

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re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

MikeM_203 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:50:50 GMT

Another problem with all the speed laws/speed traps/cameras, etc. is that it's a symptom of the trap the entire country is falling into. Americans (or at least our government) seem utterly convinced - despite all evidence to the contrary - that the more laws they create, the safer (more "secure") we will all become.

This is a simple question: Will we ever legislate away accidents? Is it possible?

The answer is equally simple: It's about freedom. And living your own life.

The government does not own us (or our property) no matter how much they'd like to think so. Therefore, laws such as seatbelt laws, speeding laws, helmet laws, gambling laws, suicide laws, drug laws, etc. are unconstitutional and downright unethical. WE ARE NOT PROPERTY OF THE STATE. Creating law "for your own good" is nonsense. It's merely a revenue-generating activity for the government that panders to the uneducated voter who wants politicians who are "tough on crime".

Do these laws save lives? Maybe yes, maybe no. But that's not supposed to be the point in a truly free country. The fact is that to truly be free, people will do things that you disagree with (gasp!). They will say things that will offend you (double gasp!). That's the price of freedom.

So here's a common sense solution: Instead of creating and enforcing all these victimless crime laws (laws which punish behavior that MIGHT lead to a crime), let's punish ACTUAL crime. We punish speeding because that behavior COULD lead to an accident...that is, it could LEAD TO injury/damage of person or property (a real crime). That's nonsense! However, if a person is in an accident and are found to have been acting negligently, let's punish that actual crime. Preventative law is a slippery slope that has no place in a system based upon freedom.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Witch Doctor — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:34:12 GMT

Pretty good insurance against tickets: put this on your rear bumper: "support your local police" and "pay raises for police".

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Aman — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:27:04 GMT

A motor vehicle is in a way a weapon of mass destruction. LORD! What fools these mortals be.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

surrealia — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:26:34 GMT
Now I'm really confused. In the same newsletter you posted an article about destroying your car by driving too fast which taught you to slow down, and another article teaching us how to fight tickets and evade the law. Well, which is it? Slow down and be safe or do whatever we want and then trick the system so we don't get in trouble for it? I vote for slowing down in every single aspect of life. Speeders always think they are in control. But no matter how much control you think you're in, you cannot predict the actions of other drivers. When you speed you do not have time to respond to something you don't expect. More importantly, even if you don't actually cause an accident, the fear you evoke in others when you're speeding by in your giant vehicle raises blood pressure, cortisol and every other stress marker compounding the stresses we already have to deal with - sending people to the pharmacy for more drugs to control those effects. Speeding is selfish. Rolling through stop signs is selfish. If you can't even slow down when your driving a vehicle that could destroy another life, how could you possibly subscribe to the ideal of a healthy, peaceful life? Just leave earlier and slow the heck down! You are not invincible. You are responsible for every life that shares the road you drive on.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

lordbasil — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:26:18 GMT
The latest craze is the camera ticket. They photograph you speeding and mail the ticket to the address listed on the license plate data base.

The problem is it is engineered to make you run a red light even if you are doing the speed limit. It used to be a yellow stayed on for 5 or even 7 seconds. Now it stays on by contract with the company doing the camera for a maximum of 3.5 seconds.

Even the state patrol says keep a distance of one car length for every 10 miles of speed. This means 3.5 car lengths at 35 miles an hour. If you are within 30 yards of a light, you do not have the reaction time to avoid running a red light! That is where the state and the company(OHIO) gets people.

I thought this relevant because speed traps are legal highway robbery. If you have a posted 25 mile an hour zone surrounded by 35-40 mile an hour areas it is very easy to get caught in a speed trap yet municipal law(state law) is 25 mile an hour. No one on a four lane highway does 25 miles an hour.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Birdlady — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:28:32 GMT
Here are few things to think.

Police officers generate usually 5+ times their yearly salary in tickets a year. Alex Jones(radio host) says on average they generate $300,000 in tickets a year. So why aren't the officers getting paid more? Most places have quotas so they are only there to harass you, not to keep you safe.

Cameras that catch speeders are part of a nice Police State we are working on in America and across the globe. They have been caught lowering speed limits temporarily and shortening yellow lights to increase tickets. The whole idea behind using cameras is unconstitutional as far as I know. A police officer must SEE you commit the violation in order for a ticket to be valid. That's how you can beat most of those tickets. You can't ticket a car's license plate. You must ticket a person in the United States and those cameras cannot prove who was driving.

In a few years when you get pulled over, you will have to swipe your national ID card to see how much your ticket/violation will cost you based on income. Doesn't that sound like fun?

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Bridestein — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:55:36 GMT
When I got a speeding ticket, I was able to take a CPR class instead of traffic school. This was definitely worth it because I'd been wanting to learn anyway, the class is not nearly as long and the ticket doesn't go on your record. You do still have to pay the fine.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

mmc88121 — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:14:18 GMT
The best way to avoid speeding tickets. Don't speed. It saves lives also

Mary

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Arrowwind — Tue, 22 May 2007 17:31:40 GMT
How about just going the legal speed limit? It will save lives and possibly keep you or someone you care about out of the hospital.

I am perplexed that such a thread exists that insinuates that breaking the law when it comes to driving safety and getting one over on the man exists on this forum.

re: Where Are Speed Traps Located?

Ray Esther M — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:52:12 GMT
Here in the UK we also have lots of speed cameras. Where we live in West Wales is quite rural, at the last county census the human po was 78,000, sheep pop. 4 1/2 million! We still have speed cameras here even though our main routes have only one lane in each direction. However, each week the places where they are going to have mobile cameras, is adcertised in the local paper.

Perhaps though, if you had worked with rehabilitating children, as I have, who have been knocked down by a speeding car, you would ask, why don't people obey the speed limit signs.

I can guarantee that this is the easiest way to avoid the stress, cost hassle etc of a speeding ticket, obey the speed limit. I have been driving now for 32 years and never had a ticket. I average around 25 - 30,000 miles a year, and I have never been late for an appointment. It's all about planning!