OT: CT Highway Patrol

Okay, I'm going to take the risk of reigniting strong feelings from other recent discussions, but I have a question and I'm dying to get insight from CT residents. I drove through CT yesterday and today on I-84 - the road was crawling with state police and my laser detector was going crazy all through the state. I used to drive through CT every other month and have never seen this before, but have not been through the state since late last year. They seem to have stepped up traffic enforcement to a level that I've never seen anywhere else - anyone would think that they were looking for a serial killer - what's the deal? I really lost count of how many people I saw pulled over. In driving from from border to border I hardly went more than 5 minutes without seeing a patrol car, or a car pulled over. Was that normal, or was I just lucky? It got to the point where I almost pulled the plug on my radar detector, as the laser warnings were driving me nuts.

I-84 is spazmatic at best over in Orange County, NY. I traveled it for three years to get to BOCES and there were days you could see three in a row, perhaps 8 in a half an hour; then there were days you could not see one. Maybe you have some kind of "crack down" going on, like when NYS had some stupid **** in August to crack down on speeders. Makes me sick...they could be out fighting real crime. That's okay, my two tickets can pay their salaries...along with other motorists I'm certain.

Yeah, well, what I saw yesterday and today was ridiculous. Seriously, on several occasions two patrol cars were pulling one car over. This was the biggest campaign I've ever seen anywhere. I was appalled at how much manpower they had deployed. I saw marked patrol cars pulling people over and my laser detector was going crazy from unmarked cars. It just wasn't worth it to go over the speed limit. My passenger was totally freaked out by the laser detector going off all the time. ... must admit that they had a very nice unmarked blue camero that pulled one poor guy over. The sad thing is that most didn't have radar detectors, so were not as cautious as I was and that just allowed them to keep pulling people over. I sat there doing 3-5 over the speed limit and watched everyone scream by and allow the patrols to keep onn taking their pick of cars. I'm glad that I was in a POS Buick Lacross rental, rather than my P-car.

Yeah seriously, it does get rediculous on that highway. They don't even hide sometimes, they just sit in the no U-turn area and wait. When me and my friend Dave drove out to school we saw a state trooper facing the other traffic, and turned around facing his backseat with a radar gun. We were making fun of his *** the whole day! Not to mention the "patrolled by air" signs when neither he nor I have EVER seen an aircraft, other than the ones for Stewart Int'l. You gotta laught at it sometimes!

Yeah, well, I'd expect them to sit there in the center lane. It was just the sheer number that surprised me. I wish I'd kept a count, but it took me a while to figure out that the road was swarming with patrol cars.

True, then again, my silver Mitsu garners less attention than your P-car! I need to make the name match the DD.

Well, as I said, thankfully I was in a rental, as this was a business trip and I wasn't in the mood for adding 650 miles into the p-car for a campus recruiting trip.... plus having a corporate recruiter show up in a Porsche tends to send the wrong message to the kids that you're trying to recruit. ...it was bad enough that I forgot to remove the photo of a Gemballa from my desktop before giving a presentation.

I drive CT I84 from Waterbury to Danbury twice weekly at "rush hour" and in general there is so much traffic that it is impossilble to exceed about 75. I have not seen the extensive enforcement you describle. It must have been special for some reason. But CT state police do have a number of very unmarked cars that are out there. russ

Yeah, Danbury through Waterbury must be the nastiest section of road for backups. The road has some of the worst designs for traffic flow - it's almost as though they want traffic snarls. When we were in-process of relocating to PA I used to drive home to Mass every Friday night (for 4 months!) and I'd dread the CT stretch - At least I got to know the drive very well and can still do it in my sleep.

Nope, they are only illegal in DC and VA http://www.radarbusters.com/landing/...onnecticut.asp

it's state police not highway patrol, If u get a ticket and mail it in then you don't get points... I got pulled over on 95 going toward NY coming back from the casinos many times. They use laser and I think radar as well... Oh and they say that u can get locked up for going over 85 or 90 I think. I'm not sure how many no point tickets u can get as am out of state driver before u get ur privileges taken away in CT...

Were you running a V1. Mine goes off constantly. I need to send it in. In this state, the speed traps on the interstates are all Laser. You will find some resident troopers working the back roads sitting on the side or around a corner or over a bend still using Ka with it one most of the time. I have not seen a plane in 15 years. Usually they give you 70-72 mph. There are enough people over 80 and they know it. Theyshould have all the troopers working I95 from New haven to NY. It can get crazy with the road racers out there.

Nope, I was using my Bel RX65. The alarms started after I joined I-84 in Hartford (from I-91) and continued until I crossed over in NY. There were patrol cars everywhere. At least I now know that they use laser in CT. Unfortunately, I wasn't getting false alarms, just lots of laser hits in the area. If I'd known that they gave me up to 72mph I wouldn't have been so paranoid. Logic tells you that as long as someone is driving faster than you, then you should be okay, but when there are so many patrol cars around conducting a duck shoot and your detector is going crazy, then it's best to be paranoid.

my v1 used to go off so much on 95 I shut it off and took it out...

CT police...no problems with them...

Pretty funny. I take it you're related?

CT has also been running a huge DUI campaign. They are advertising it on several radio stations. My neighbor is a trooper who works I95 in the middle part of the state and told me that he gives up to 77mph, but that some will only go to 72. The troopers when just sitting doing paper work or traveling on the road seem to be much more tolerant of even 75-80 at times. They all drive 80+ when traveling. I have had several instances when i have had a trooper come up from out of nowhere it seems and go by. I usually travel 75-85 depending on flow and safety. I think they just want to let you know they are there and could get you. I believe that some of them may actually be less likely to pull me over in the 996, then if i was driving some other type of vehicle. I do not see them pulling people over when they are not specifically running a trap. You have to be driving like an idiot for them to get you. There are plenty of idiots in fairfield county on I95, and they do not pull over enough of them. These people are truly dangerous. I even saw a trooper pull flying up behind someone in an SUV who had been weaving and cutting in. The trooper was right on his ***, literally 5 feet offf the rear bumper, and when the guy realized it and moved right, the trooper went buy him. BUT, when they are running a trap as you saw, they are generating tax money and will get you. It does not seem to be personal.

Okay, good. I figured what you said was true, but having never lived in CT didn't want to push my luck by going with the flow (75+mph) , considering that I seemed to be traveling on Tax Day. It's good to hear the details from a CT resident. Thanks for your insight. I figured with the sheer numbers of cars that they had to be trying to hit some kind of quota. As I've said in other threads, these guys are just doing their jobs and doing as they're told.... just didn't want to push my luck and get a ticket when I was only a fraction of the way through a 330 mile drive. It would not have been smart to speed in that environment, then whine about getting a ticket.