Sign me up. Citizen militia against speeders

[RAMd®d]

I know a guy that brought suit for harassment against cops targeting him for traffic violations.

And was it founded or unfounded? Anybody can sue. And in fact, one tactic is for a suspect to accuse a traffic officer of harassment to beat a ticket. Did you see any of the instances?

I've got an anecdote for you-- I used to live in a neighborhood that had one kid who liked to speed through the streets. He liked to hit the corners hard and burn rubber down the streets. He would deliberately scare kids out playing. The whole family should have all been PTS'ed but that's not really legal.

Anyway, complaints to the parents, mad fathers yelling at the kid and his father, and lots of calls to the police didn't do much. Finally, the city sent a cop down to patrol the neighborhood. There was really only one thing to watch for- this kid. He racked up a few tickets and lost his license. He still drove, got caught, and cost the folks some cash.

They made a claim of harassement to the police and the local newspaper. The paper went with police harassment and "alleged" traffic violations, but not "alleged" harassment. Wonder why. That was followed by several letters to the editor detailing how this kid and his family made life miserable for the 'hood, and the story faded away.

Eventually the kid did too. Anecdotal, indicative of one incident.

And then there was a guy I knew who had his truck windows tinted. I told him they were illegal, he got two cites for them (he and his wife were awarded), and has been a cop Hater ever since. Also anecdotal.

Spend anytime in court watching people "defend" themselves against a speeding ticket (or any traffic violation) and you learn two things- people regularly break traffic laws and then they lie about it, far and away more often than police lie about traffic violations.

I hear people tell stories all the time about how they were "victimized" by police. Yes, it happens somewhere. But I've never heard a first person story that didn't peg the BS meter.

I've said it at dealmac, and I've said it here- I'd love to have Draconian traffic enforcement. I don't know where you guys live, but it couldn't hurt around my neck o' the woods.

[BigGuynRusty]

[quote Robert M]I wonder how difficult it would be to rig a camera to one that takes a snapshot every once in a while. Then, an officer who is a desk jockey can scan through them and issue out warnings with a copy of the picture in a timely manner.

Robert
They already have them, they work great!

BGnR

[AAA]

Unfounded. Rogue/vindictive cop(s).
Don't have to go to court to see that 90+% of speed limits are below what people drive.
I agree, draconian laws would raise awareness.
I always thought it odd that a product is allowed to be sold that breaks the law. That is, why sell cars that can go 85 mph? Except to legal speeders, such as our valued LEOs.

[M A V I C]

What bugs me are the residents who try to enforce their own speed limits. For example, I know some friends in one area that's unincorporated. That county's law is that the speed limit is 50MPH if it's not posted anywhere. Well, this area doesn't have any signs. So I drive ~35 and people get pissy and think it's too fast. I've heard neighbors even say they'll throw rocks at cars doing over 15MPH.

They freak out because their children play in the street. If they actually cared about not having their children run over the in the street, they should get a speed limit sign put up, a caution sign or two or they should move to some area that has more room for the kids to play in a safer area.

Then you have parents that buy those green person-shaped things that hold a flag. Those are apparently to signify that the parent wants you to drive even slower through that area. Sorry, they don't have the authority to impose a different speed limit on me. If it's 35 in that area, they can't ask me to drive any slower. I've seen them shout sometimes - mainly because I couldn't figure out what the heck the green thing was so I didn't slow at all (still not speeding.)

Anymore I may slow if I think I need to, but otherwise I just drive the speed limit and watch carefully.

[AAA]

Yeah, I am aware of that 'if no speed limit is posted' law. My sister's family lived in one of those areas. A guy was probably marginally exceeding the "default 55 mph" (two-lane, residential area) when he struck and killed my nephew.

The LOWER speed limit signs went up the NEXT F'n DAY!

[Racer X]

[quote M A V I C]
They freak out because their children play in the street. If they actually cared about not having their children run over the in the street, they should get a speed limit sign put up, a caution sign or two or they should move to some area that has more room for the kids to play in a safer area.
quote]

or they could watch their kids. If your kids aren't old enough to watch out for their surroundings and recognize danger and take appropriate action, they shouldn't be allowed to play outside without supervision.

[Bill in NC]

Why get upset about this?

No civilian has the authority to issue citations.

Warning letter?

Goes in the shredder.

[Robert M]

Bill,

The civilian doesn't but the authorities will have it in their records. Imagine you've gotten several warnings. You get a ticket for speeding. The court looks into your record and sees them. Think the judge will be lenient and/or allow you to plea to a less serious violation? Maybe but not as likely. I can easily imagine him/her saying, "I see you have some warnings. Guilty. Next case." Who needs the agita?

Robert

[OWC Jamie]

A while back many on this street complained about the speed of cars. Residential neighborhood.

Police set up a speed trap for a day.

Guess who got tickets ?
:-)









(yes, a great many of those who complained)

Police dept. also decided one day lowering the 35mph to 25 mph (new signs) would make for great revenue.
The Town was sued.

[space-time]

[quote AAA]...I always thought it odd that a product is allowed to be sold that breaks the law. That is, why sell cars that can go 85 mph? Except to legal speeders, such as our valued LEOs.
speed limits are not set in stone. They change. So why sell/buy a car that will do a max 85 when the limit might change in the future?

what if you do have an emergency (like an idiot stalkingyou), and you want to speed up to get to a police station ASAP?

pedal to the metal. autobahn.