View Poll Results: Reality Check...
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Reality Check...
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 64
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From: Arlington
Reality Check...
I posted this originally as a reply to a previous thread, but this is too important to overlooked - it needs to be it's own thread and it needs to be addressed.
OK - it's reality check time....
Something desperately needs to be done about our speed limits and the enforcement of them. I have found that our speed limits are being set and enforced soley for the purpose of generating revenue. In addition to that, profiling is occuring; this is another serious matter.
Cops know when the speed limits are too low, and they "conveniently" set up their speed traps in those areas. In addition to that they do in fact target sports cars. Which makes NO sense. Tell me how it's logical to pull over the car that's MADE FOR SPEED out of a pack of cars that are all speeding. Somebody tell me how that makes ANY SENSE!
Do I think traffic cops are assholes?... YES, I do. And YES, that's a stereotype...but how does a stereotype come to be?? It comes to be via repeatable actions by one group of people. So, yes - it's a stereotype - and it's well deserved, BY DEFINITION.
Now, you can't blame the cops for setting up speed traps - they are just doing their job. And their job is indeed to fill their QUOTAS. And don't ever ever ever believe that cops don't have quotas for traffic tickets. They do and that's a F-A-C-T. How do I know?:
1) My fathers friend is a cop
2) I know a woman who is married to a cop in Loudon County, Virginia. She told me flat out that he has a quota, and she told me that if a cop ever tries to tell you that he doesn't, he is 100% full of sh^t. Now, take a guess at what his QUOTA is... come on, take a guess.... give up? This cop, a Loudon County, VA cop has a quota of.........you ready?..........150 tickets PER WEEK!!! That's no lie. This woman said that her husband comes home with hand cramps all the time from writing tickets in an attempt to meet his quota.
Now - what you can blame the cops for is where they choose to set up their traps, who they choose to pull over and where they draw the line for 'speeding'. Don't tell me that the cops actually believe that the posted speed limit is what's 'reasonable'. They know it isn't, but they can't say that of course. Where they are wrong is when they pull you over for going 10 over and then try to get you to buy into the idea that you were driving 'unsafely'. PUHlease...
Anyway, the point is that speeding tickets should be issued because someone is driving too fast for the road they are on and the traffic they are in. NOT because there is a quota to be filled so the towns/counties can make money. And speed limits should be set for what's safe and yet keeps traffic moving at a reasonable pace. Come on... don't tell me that 55 is appropriate for most of today's highways. Gimme a break. And even 65 is a bit low for most highways. It's funny how cops never set up traps on a rainy day, or a foggy day - when people should actually be driving slower than usual. They choose the nice sunny days and the nice open piece of road at the bottom of a hill for their speed traps. HOW CONVENIENT. If they were really out there "protecting our safety" they would set up on days and in areas when/where it truly is unsafe to drive 'fast'.
Bottom line is - they have no right to target one group of individuals, especially when those indviduals' cars are MADE FOR SPEED. Yes, if the sports car is the one driving "unreasonably" faster than everyone else... fine. But there is no correlation between someone doing 75 in a 55 on some straight stretch of highway on a sunny day and the probablility that he will cause an accident.
Remember, it's not just the cost of the ticket that is at stake here (that's not such a big deal), it's the fact that:
A) your insurance could sky rocket (or your insurance company could drop you)
and
B) get 'picked on' enough and you could lose your license.
They do it right on the Autobahn.... different cars have different speed limits.. and different sections of the highway have different speed limits (some have no limit, some have a limit set - depends on that section of road you are on).
It's about time we cut the crap and get real about this, please take a look at this organization:
http://www.motorists.org/
These guys are basically our "back" on this issue. Read through their website. I signed up to be a member (about $35/year). For example, these people are the folks that lobbied on the Hill to get the national 55mph speed limit lifted - which allowed for states to up their limits to 65.
Jeff
OK - it's reality check time....
Something desperately needs to be done about our speed limits and the enforcement of them. I have found that our speed limits are being set and enforced soley for the purpose of generating revenue. In addition to that, profiling is occuring; this is another serious matter.
Cops know when the speed limits are too low, and they "conveniently" set up their speed traps in those areas. In addition to that they do in fact target sports cars. Which makes NO sense. Tell me how it's logical to pull over the car that's MADE FOR SPEED out of a pack of cars that are all speeding. Somebody tell me how that makes ANY SENSE!
Do I think traffic cops are assholes?... YES, I do. And YES, that's a stereotype...but how does a stereotype come to be?? It comes to be via repeatable actions by one group of people. So, yes - it's a stereotype - and it's well deserved, BY DEFINITION.
Now, you can't blame the cops for setting up speed traps - they are just doing their job. And their job is indeed to fill their QUOTAS. And don't ever ever ever believe that cops don't have quotas for traffic tickets. They do and that's a F-A-C-T. How do I know?:
1) My fathers friend is a cop
2) I know a woman who is married to a cop in Loudon County, Virginia. She told me flat out that he has a quota, and she told me that if a cop ever tries to tell you that he doesn't, he is 100% full of sh^t. Now, take a guess at what his QUOTA is... come on, take a guess.... give up? This cop, a Loudon County, VA cop has a quota of.........you ready?..........150 tickets PER WEEK!!! That's no lie. This woman said that her husband comes home with hand cramps all the time from writing tickets in an attempt to meet his quota.
Now - what you can blame the cops for is where they choose to set up their traps, who they choose to pull over and where they draw the line for 'speeding'. Don't tell me that the cops actually believe that the posted speed limit is what's 'reasonable'. They know it isn't, but they can't say that of course. Where they are wrong is when they pull you over for going 10 over and then try to get you to buy into the idea that you were driving 'unsafely'. PUHlease...
Anyway, the point is that speeding tickets should be issued because someone is driving too fast for the road they are on and the traffic they are in. NOT because there is a quota to be filled so the towns/counties can make money. And speed limits should be set for what's safe and yet keeps traffic moving at a reasonable pace. Come on... don't tell me that 55 is appropriate for most of today's highways. Gimme a break. And even 65 is a bit low for most highways. It's funny how cops never set up traps on a rainy day, or a foggy day - when people should actually be driving slower than usual. They choose the nice sunny days and the nice open piece of road at the bottom of a hill for their speed traps. HOW CONVENIENT. If they were really out there "protecting our safety" they would set up on days and in areas when/where it truly is unsafe to drive 'fast'.
Bottom line is - they have no right to target one group of individuals, especially when those indviduals' cars are MADE FOR SPEED. Yes, if the sports car is the one driving "unreasonably" faster than everyone else... fine. But there is no correlation between someone doing 75 in a 55 on some straight stretch of highway on a sunny day and the probablility that he will cause an accident.
Remember, it's not just the cost of the ticket that is at stake here (that's not such a big deal), it's the fact that:
A) your insurance could sky rocket (or your insurance company could drop you)
and
B) get 'picked on' enough and you could lose your license.
They do it right on the Autobahn.... different cars have different speed limits.. and different sections of the highway have different speed limits (some have no limit, some have a limit set - depends on that section of road you are on).
It's about time we cut the crap and get real about this, please take a look at this organization:
http://www.motorists.org/
These guys are basically our "back" on this issue. Read through their website. I signed up to be a member (about $35/year). For example, these people are the folks that lobbied on the Hill to get the national 55mph speed limit lifted - which allowed for states to up their limits to 65.
Jeff
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 18,759
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From: Wheeler Army Airfield, HI
I think you will find that just as on all the other threads with this topic that some people here will agree and others will disagree. This same theme that has already been worked over many times.
I guess my question is what are you trying to accomplish with this? Are you trying to get a petition together or something?
I guess my question is what are you trying to accomplish with this? Are you trying to get a petition together or something?
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Arlington
Exposure is what I am aiming for. The organization I listed does good things and is in agreement with this opinion, the NMA provides us a good start to actually making headway.
Jeff
Jeff
