How Do You Avoid Getting Speeding Tickets?

This might be a touchy subject but I'm wondering how all of you Porsche drivers out there avoid getting speeding tickets? I don't like to drive wrecklessly by any means but, let's face it, these cars are perfectly safe at speeds that can get you into a lot of trouble. What are your recommendations for having some fun while minimizing the risk of getting caught? Personally, I don't speed on freeways or highways with a lot traffic. I don't find driving fast in a straight line to be any fun. I've avoided countless tickets by just doing that. I also don't speed too much in town. I like to accelerate quickly but then I let off. I do; however, like to speed on the twisty backroads and I've definitely been nailed a few times. Are radar detectors worth the money? On the roads where I like to rip, I can't see the police having laser set up because there just isn't enough traffic. They're more likely to catch you just by driving in the opposite direction. In this situation, they might actually work.

Take it to the track. I use a radar detector on the fun roads and cruise control on the highway.

+1 radar detector on all the time although it won't keep you safe 100% I've got three speed limit settings through PCM2. Set for 55kph, 107kph and 115kph. It'll beep each time I go past each one. Handy as a reminder. it

I asked Porsche to set my digital speedometer to read ~4 mph higher so I'm always within the limit.

You need to know your enemy and how they think.

I *try* to keep it no more than 10 over the limit. I find on the twisties...keeping it at or right above the limit is perfectly enjoyable...of course I am talking the black & white speed limit signs, not the yellow/black recommended speed signs. On the interstate...I just watch the cars far in front of me. Guaranteed someone will hit their brakes the moment they see a police car...if I see brakes for no reason, I slow down...but again...I am not usually way above the limit. For real speed - DE's at the track.

I accelerate hard, and then slow down hard to stay reasonable. I know the traps near my house. I use cruise control when on the highway. I am contemplating buying a Valentine One, but manytimes all that does is tell you when you have gotten a ticket. The best solution is to find a safe way of pushing the car to its limits. AutoX and DE's are the place to do it. larry

Quotes source post: 8370285

That's how I drive. Most Police Officers don't even look at you unless you are going 10 -15 over. I was a police officer for 11 years and out prosecutor wouldn't even fight a ticket unless it was at least 15 over.

Watch for brake lights. They'll let you know what lies ahead. Slow down going around blind turns and over hills. Watch the shadows of overpasses. At night, look for the reflective striping and emblems sitting on the crossovers Move over for the idiot running up your ***. He can have your ticket. Watch your rearview for cars coming up fast. It's either the aforementioned idiot or a Trooper. You're usually safe at 12mph over.

Don't be the fastest guy on the road.

I use a radar detector. If you use them properly, they are a great tool. Interestingly, my speedometer is 4 mph fast. I didn't ask anyone to do this - it has always been this way.

Quotes source post: 8370428

+1 Best on Highways

i drive no more than 10mph over speed limit.

Hey breakdown. I feel your pain with the new police state here in Vancouver. I run with a top of the line escort (with gps) so it's not constantly going off in town. Also use a laser jammer mounted under the front plate. All in- about $1100. Ps. I'm not a big speeder by any means but after my first ticket last year (first one in about 10 years) I felt the need to protect myself. Nailed going 76km in a 60km zone over the Cambie street bridge!

I average about a ticket every other year in 40 years of driving......all speeding tickets - over 20 in my lifetime......so.....while not great advice, my 2 cents..... Use a Valentine One......quickly turn off power when cop starts to come after you..... Keep it under 10mph to speed limit Use cruise control - (Distronic system with Mercedes is awesome as it adjusts for cars in front slowing or cutting in front) When I do get stopped, several tactics: 1) Grab a map and act like I am totally lost by pointing at the map and start rambling about where I am going - make it up - works 75% of the time 2) Act depressed, i.e. problems at home, and definitely blame a loss of attention on speed due to the wife to either male or female cop.....works every time..... 3) Ask for a simple break and ask how fast again was I going? - does work, but only 33% of the time 4) Ask to be written up for no seatbelt warning even if you have one on.....works half the time.... And don't buy a red car...........

Hit the gas swerving right then cut left and left off the gas completely. While doing doughnuts down the hwy at 140mph make sure you keep and eye on the police car. After he has braked sufficiently out of your way bring the car out of the spin facing him stopped completely and give him the finger. Then make sure your window is down so when you race by his window throw your half full beer at his windshield. This takes practice and I advise not doing it on the same stretch of road all the time. The most important thing is to make sure you are drinking beer every time you are speeding. Best thing is if you are too drunk to do the spin in front of him you can always offer him a cold beer when he walks up to the window. Gets to their heart every time.

On the highway I wait for a 'rabbit' so I can follow at a distance, but still rely on my radar detector and my own observations. No tickets for years, but 3 warnings.

There are a few web sites out there that note where the typical speed traps are by city/area-- if you are heading on a long trip in an unknown area, it's well worth an extra few minutes to chart that out. Some places even give you the highway mile markers. Like all of us, police are creatures of habit and they tend to know where the speeding hot spots are and focus on these. One town I used to live there was a "gentlemen's code" that cars going in the other direction would flash their brights twice if they had passed a cop going in the other direction. That was a beautiful thing.

Quotes source post: 8370770

Yes, but it is also illegal. They will ticket you for aiding and abetting if they catch you flashing your lights to warn the oncoming traffic. larry

Ugg. Just got a speeding ticket last week, driving in an area of town that I am not familiar with. First one in many many years. Did a little research and ordered a radar detector - an Escort 9500ix (the one with GPS). I know they are not perfect, but it would have saved me last week. Now I really can't afford to get another ticket. BTW, I took an on-line defensive driving course. Here, completing such a course offers "point" forgiveness, and a 10% insurance discount. Not bad for a bit of on-line reading and simple quizzes.

Quotes source post: 8370802

When I was a young lad of 18 or so many years ago I got pulled over for flashing my lights to warn oncoming traffic of a speed trap. The cop walked up to me and said "OK Paul Revere lets see your license" Laughed my *** off, no ticket and just a little chat but I never forgot that line. Anyways, I use a V1 but I keep my eyes open and stay alert, very few tickets over the years. Pretty good and talking my way out of it now and than. Cayenne has "Laser Blocking" but I dont trust it one bit

I use a V1 and some common sense. I average about one ticket per year, but I also drive 70k miles in that time. There's a lot more to speeding than just hitting the left lane and flooring it. FWIW, my 996's speedo also reads 4 mph fast at highway speeds.

V1 & LI, watch for brake lights, know the roads you are on, and use a rabbit when needed.

Quotes source post: 8370631

yup, this is the winner first off... even being on this thread messes with my head, its bad! they are patrolling like h&ll right now, in groups... being second wont save your bacon. I like all the comments and use a wide range of them. Looking WAY ahead for odd braking, "bursts" of speed followed by actually acting like a regular driver on public roads, and all the others. Keep that lawer guys phone number in your speed dial just in case - talk sweet, offer beer or a mixed drink. dont post on public forums that you are speeding down road #12 everyday to work at 8:30 am and 5:30 pm in a blue Porsche

Not the greatest advice, but I'll share one: Don't use a front plate. I've been pulled over twice (not speeding) for 'no front plate warning tickets'. Both times the cop said he did not know how fast I was going, since he could not lock onto my car. He said the radar just "slips" off the slope of the front hood, and he can't lock on. That's how he knew I did not have a front plate, since that's what he's aiming for. True or false? I don't really know.

Just curious -- I've heard that "flashing lights" to warn this is illegal. But just how does a cop know/prove that you flashed warning lights when presumably you are far past?

Next thing you know, doing the Porsche Salute Headlight Flash will be illegal too!

Passport 9600ix .

Only small problem is that radar detectors are illegal in most of (if not all of Canada), which is the locale of the OP. Suggest the track for high speed. Rural twisties can be fun if you are reasonable and with 20 kph of the limit (and are less patrolled).

Quotes source post: 8371082

+1 no front plates on any of my cars...

I have also used Trapster - free ap available for blackberry and other smart phones. More of a peer-to-peer notification of speed traps. Using this with radar detectors, observing traffic, etc. minimizes risk of pcar driver - law enforcement interaction. Link: Trapster Application Possibly best ever Porsche comunique on speeding. Porsche - Speeding Video And, for Ed... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIia...eature=related

As others said: - Track to drive at high speed (you should not be intentionally speeding on public roads) For all other situations where you might be caught off-guard because you did not see a speed limit sign: - Radar detector (ALWAYS ON) - Active visual detection (Police car shapes, semi hidden driveways, brake lights in front of you, etc.) - Cruise control to avoid going over by distraction FM

Just don't stop, our cars are faster!

Quotes source post: 8372348

You can outrun the law...but ya can't outrun Motorola!

Quotes source post: 8372367

And these pesky buggers are also problematic...

Yup, radar detectors are illegal in most of this country. Here in Ontario, the provincial cops use the Australian Spectre technology to detect radar detectors. Some detachments have trophy walls of seized units. The fine is $1,000, IIRC. I had one for a while, but the stress was just too much. I figured I'd rather hire a court agent to fight the ticket in the end than have my car torn apart by a pissed off cop. Here's how I think I've stayed out of trouble: Keep the speed delta between you and traffic moderate, 10 or 20 kph. Do everything smoothly (cops often react to the 'body language' of a car), don't hog the left lane, don't tailgate, signal lane changes and generally don't act like a badass. If you run into a radar trap, you're done. But if the LEO is operating on discretion, he's going to profile you. If you act like some kid drunk on horsepower, he's going to want to talk. If you act like a nice middle aged guy with both hands on the wheel and good situational awareness, he very well might not bother. On the highways around Toronto, they won't even look sideways at you for 20 over... as long as nothing else catches their attention.

Quotes source post: 8370428

Bingo! While the watch the brake lights of cars thing works when there are other cars on the road, it doesn't always work. One problem is a cop is (almost certainly) a car guy and his eyes are going to be drawn to a Porsche. If the radar gun beeps guess which car gets pulled over? (Actually happened to me one night on I-20 in TX. Limit at night is 65mph. I had the V1 on and a hand-held CB radio on. I knew the cop (city kitty) was on the freeway and in the median with a radar gun on long before (a mile or more) before I reached his location. I even slowed down to below the 65mph limit slowed enough that two big rigs that were behind me in the slow lane were swinging out to pass my car -- I was in my Boxster -- while another passenger car (red but I didn't catch the make/model) went past mine in the passing/fast lane just as the V1 alarmed. I spotted the cop car and settled in to watch the show and damn if the cop didn't pull out with lights flashing and pull me over! I heard one big rig driver over the CB say "he's got the wrong 4-wheeler!". Anyhow, you are not supposed to argue but I did calmly and politely but forcefully (cause I was on solid ground) and the cop relented and gave me a 'warning'.) If there is little to no traffic I'm pretty close to the limit. (See above paragraph.) In some areas (Tx) I know some speed limits are very strictly enforced (that 65mph night time limit especially) so if I'm on I-40 at night going across the TX panhandle -- or anywhere in Tx -- I'm going 65mph but no faster. Oh, I might add that was caught and given a speeding ticket in TX just east of Amarillo while in my 996 Turbo, middle of the day, nice weather, no traffic, going 10mph over. I admitted I was going 10mph over but pointed out all the things above and also that I wasn't speeding in a dangerous way and asked for a warning or if not that at least a reduced speed on the citation but the state trooper said something about citation guidelines and he wrote it up at 10mph. (Oh, I had stopped just miles before and when I got back on the road I forgot to turn on the V1!) But the citation gave me the option of asking the court for a deferred judgement which I did and which it granted. Went through this process successfully and the ticket was dismissed. (The dismissal occuring just a month or so back.) In town/city driving I'm at the limit or a bit below. There's really nothing to be gained zooming say 45mph through a 35mph zone. Many is the time I've been passed by one or more vehicles obviously going over the limit only to catch up with them at the next light. And even if they make the light, all that 'saved time' goes away when there's a ticket, or an accident arising from that speeding. Also, in bad weather, I'm always going slower than the limit. The limit is for good road conditions, reasonable amounts of traffic, and good weather. Just because a freeway has a 75mph limit posted doesn't mean one has to travel 75mph on it when it is covered with several inches of snow. Sincerely, Macster.

I don't speed I've had a lot of speeding tickets ealier in my driving career, now I just stick to the speed limits and don't slow down for curvey bits.

Quotes source post: 8372367

Like I responded to someone on OT that made that comment the other day...I sure did outrun the Motorolas several times when I was in high school...are the radios a lot better now?

Quotes source post: 8372934

What was ya doing TL....running lunar shine?

I remember once reading somewhere (sounds real authentic, right?) about a guy who made round magnetic signs for the side of his car - they had an acronym and the words "First Response". He would speed all around, and had some BS story about a turbo encapsulater that had blown up, and he was on his way to make sure no one was hurt.

Does California have speed limit that people observed? Whenever I was driving there, it seemed that everyone was above the limit. At the end I just drove at whatever speed other drivers at the 2 most left lanes were observing. Even on the LA/Vegas/San Diego trips.

Quotes source post: 8373097

New Jersey doesn't. left lane speed on NJ turnpike is >80mph. Surfer161

Neat thread. A lot of good tips in here, and it reminds me of an article in Road & Track from years ago that actually gave tips about how to avoid getting caught speeding. The main one I remember is to watch for brake lights ahead of you; people will instinctively jam on their brakes when they see a cop. Bad for them, good for the rest of us paying enough attention to notice. :-) I used to be a speed demon (especially when I lived in Ontario, where Toronto highways are just really long drag racing strips), but I've learned to love speed a bit less and handling a bit more. At this point in my life I'd rather cut a clean arc on a cloverleaf than blast down the highway at some ungodly speed. As an unrelated sidenote ... I heard that Ontario now has a $10,000 fine for people speeding over 50 km/h (30 mph) over the posted limit. I'm all for promoting safe driving, but that seems a tad harsh. Almost as bad as their "harmonized" sales tax rates. Back to speeding ... I also make a point of making eye contact and waving to cops on the side of the road. I think it's psychologically disarming for them to see a friendly motorist, and I figure it might lower my chances of getting pulled over. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but I've had a clean record for some years now. I have thought long and hard about a radar detector, but I have an aversion to cables draped over my dashboard, and I loathe having **** suction-cupped to the windshield. And ditto to whoever recommended letting the annoying tailgater pass. Annoying tailgaters have collected tickets for me more times than I can count. The last thing I've learned is to drive smoothly. Not only is it better for your car, but it also conveys a sense of control. I have a sense that police are attuned to erratic or jerky drivers, and I do my best not to be one of them. If I'm going past a speed trap and feel the urge to slam on the brakes, I don't ... he's probably already got my speed, and watching my front suspension nosedive as I brake is a tacit admission of guilt. Instead I brake gently, smile and wave and say a few prayers under my breath. Cheers, -- Mike

I have never seen a statute or city ordinance that makes flashing your headlight illegal in any of the jurisdictions that I have practiced in. That may be why some of you who have been pulled over for this are getting warnings. Has anyone on here ever been ticketed for that? If so, what was the charge? Aiding and abetting (as someone previously mentioned) could easily be defeated in court b/c you need to have the person you were aiding (the underlying crime) to have been charged. Not very likely.

In Maryland it's an oscillating lights citation and it sticks. The State reserves the use of flashing lights for emergency vehicles only.

I have no idea why the cops keep pulling me over.

Quotes source post: 8374062

East coast when I lived there the norm for after passing a speed trap during the day was to turn the headlights on and leave them on. Flash the lights at night. Best thing to do I think. Of course with the newer cars and their lame lights on during the day....... If worried about a cop behind you seeing just flash the headlights with the colum lever. They do flash with out the headlights turned on so no tell tale tail lights giving you away to the speed trap.

Quotes source post: 8371772

THANK YOU !!

Quotes source post: 8372639

Here you go! http://www.radar-detector-superstore...tidrwfico.html