New Cop trick to me?

Fellow members, I have been in DC, Baltimore, Wilmington , and Philly areas for the last two weeks. Have you seen this trick yet>............... The cop is parked on the right side of the road with the trunk open=your mind says "breakdown, cruise on", But NO. The trooper is standing to one side of the car with his Lazer gun aimed right at you=No kidding. I saw it multiple times in the last two weeks. When you see a trunk or hood at a distance= SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!! or else it is="what are you gonna do wit all that trunk, all that trunk.......... ... .............get out your wallet!............................." you get the idea! Steve

Wow!! It's interesting how cops are in different states... Chicago suburb-> lots of speed traps...on roads and highways...cops have unmarked Camaros. Heck..there was a speed trap right outside my apartment on a main road...they specifically were targeting the brief period the road speed limit dropped from 45 to 35. Totally scammy!! I almost wanted to put a web-cam on him . Northern California -> pretty much no speed traps...if a cop happens to see you and follow you..then you get stopped. One place though...highway 17 (twisties like crazy) had a speed trap...typically a copy just sitting at the side of the road. NJ -> nothing weird...standard waiting on a U-turn lane in the center median. Oh yeah, they leave an unmanned car on the Garden State . thanks, Amir

I was very impressed by this one innovative trooper in Maryland. Shortly after the I95 tunnel through Baltimore, there is a little hill where you can't see over. About 2/3 mile down this cop, young guy, stands IN THE LANE and shoots a laser at cars coming over the hill. Keep in mind the cars there are typically going 80mph, so this guy has *****. Its the same guy too, because I was going that way every day for work and would see him. The one time he got me, I asked him all about his technique, etc...Can't be mad at him for doing his job well!

How about cops doubling up on you�. Flying across the Mojave Desert (near Edwards Air Force Base) coming from Las Vegas. Nobody in site and 20 miles of straight desert Hwy in front, I edged it to 120 mph and see a black dot approaching from the rear, I slow it down to 75 mph and within 5 min a 933 turbo blows by me doing 125 mph (estimated) and within 2 min of this I see a black dot coming in the opposite direction. Yes it was a CHP, I see his break lights come on immediately after he whizzes by me in the opposite lane. He does a u-turn and turns the lights on coming up behind me�I tell the wife he is after the 933, don�t worry. But noooo he pulls me over, asks for the standard stuff and asks me where I am coming from. I say LV, he asks me how it went there, I say it sucked and if I get a ticket, the weekend was a total loss, then he asked me if I knew how fast I was going, thinking I was screwed at this point I blurted 100 mph. He thanked me for my honesty and said he clocked me at 90 mph. At that point he closed his ticket book and said slow it down from now on and I replied with �I thought you were after that 933 that blew by me minutes ago????� and he replied �No way I could catch that Porsche, but my partner is waiting 4 miles ahead to nail him� Sure enough, when I reached that point, the Porsche was stopped and the cop had his ticket book out. I gave both a �Headlight Flash� and a �Hand Wave� as I passed that Porsche

those f..ing cops should start fighting crime!! Instead they sit on their ***...making easy money..by writing speeding tickets!! Go figure....crime is up....people are getting killed left and right....little children molested and go missing....BUT the stupid PIGS....sit on their fat asses...eating donuts and writing traffic tickets!! I hate cops....they are lazy no good wannebe criminals! When you need them they are nowhere to be found!! Do I sound bitter...you bet......one of those idiots got me speeding....luckily what he makes in a month....fill in the rest!

I've seen a sheriff's deputy behind on the bed of a sheriff's pickup truck. It was parked at one end of an overhead bridge among some shrubs. He was stanced high up on the bed, holding his laser gun, just leaning over the lights on his roof. I stepped on my brakes as soon as I spotted him...then laughed in disbelief seconds later, still checking him out in my rear view mirror! Damn redneck sherriff deputies!

I guess you can not win here. 1. Speeding although I have done and will continue to do is a violation of the law 2. The best way to catch speeders and even worse red light runners is with blitz cameras which free up police men/ women to fight crimes, but most people here hate them. Here is the problem no body likes the speeding cameras and no body likes tickets but if you fail to try and enforce the law then we will have bigger issues where people feel they can basically do what ever they want. If you do not like certain laws and want them changed then work towards that but do not think someone simply doing their job is somehow less of a person than you because it is that same person who will help you when some other idiot breaking the law hits you. I know I am on my soap box but the vast majority of police men/ women are solid citizens trying to do their job as they are told too by the elected officials you voted for. If you do not like it then make it a political issue and vote.

Hey livefree, you are not alone. My last ticket, on a two lane road in Bethesda, went something like this; I come out of a gentle turn going about 50mph on a 30mph stretch. I see ahead a truck and a car parked along the road ahead, but it looks like regular business. The car has its trunk up, further distracting me. Bam, lasered. Only my yes sir no sir routine earned me a downgrade to a ticket for 39mph.

It's not a trick to make you believe they are broken down.

They used to do the trunk lid up thing here some years ago, then it stopped. I heard that on a couple of occasions some big trucks went by and blew the trunk lid back, trashing it.

Fellow members, I have been in DC, Baltimore, Wilmington , and Philly areas for the last two weeks. Have you seen this trick yet>............... The cop is parked on the right side of the road with the trunk open=your mind says "breakdown, cruise on", But NO. Another trick that State Troopers use on I - 95 in MD is to drive around in high performance cars. A few years ago when I would drive regularly on I - 95, I'd often see a State Trooper go flying past me in pursuit of a speeder. The local paper interviewed one of the MD State Trooper commanders and he talked about the various unmarked cars in their fleet which included at least five high performance cars and a couple of beat up looking trucks which were modded for high speed pursuit.

On my way back from FLA with the car, I saw 3 unmanned cars within a 30 mile stretch. However, on I-95, if you're not doing 80+, everyone blows by you: pickups, beater, even the police! In Ohio, there are several crappy towns that feel the freeway is a revenue stream for them. This has nothing to do with what roundtreed is talking about. You'll find most people on the side of law and order, but this about revenue enhancement, not safety, or the law. Regardless of the limit, traffic enforcement should be about safety. Go after DUI, reckless op, PEOPLE WHO DON'TUSE THEIR $#$#^! TURN SIGNALS, etc., rather than cars built to handle higher speeds (again, provided the driver is safely managing that speed), especially when they are merely in the stream of traffic. Changes the laws? Fuggeduhboudit. The ones making the most noise about speed are usually somebody with: a) atrocious driving skills to begin with, b) a barely-safe beater, or c) a soccer mom in a minivan (usually exhibiting "a"). All you have to do is say "it's all about the children", and you're in.

DC'ers beware - I've seen what must be a '91 Jeep Cherokee pulling people over lately. The Camaros and Impalas are old news, but first time I'd seen such an old car.. Justin

DC to Richmond I-95 Watch out for the 1980's blue mini van. I'm not kidding. I thought soccer mom, but no it was a state trooper. Good thing he had already pulled some other poor bastard over My guess is the trooper was a rookie and the other troppers were playing some kind of sick joke

Downtown DC - near the tidal basin, I watched a cop who literally stood at a set of lights, pointing the gun down the road as each wave of traffic came through from the previous lights. Each time he caught one speeding at the front, he waved them to the side and wrote up a ticket. He didn't even have a cop car at all, he was on foot! Saw him first thing in the morning, when I arrived to do the tourist thing, and he was still going at lunchtime. Caaaachinnng! Talk about a license to print money! Chris.

I understand your bitterness. We have all felt it from time to time. After all, we are members of the "speeding club" and have to pay our dues. I would rather you not blame the police though. When their commander says to perform highway duty, they are doing their job. If they don't write any tickets, then they are being lazy. When I get pulled over, I am courtious and respectful. And not because I am trying to get out of the ticket, it is because the officer is doing a job and I respect that. If you don't like the system, try to change it. If I were a cop, I would want to do highway duty too. Imagine you are called to a crime. Nothing good can come from it. You could be killed, injured or maybe the criminal has a gun and you shoot him. Now you are on the news, have been suspended and may face criminal charges. I'd just rather write a ticket.

Of course, all of the bitching and moaning from this side of the pond (US) is nothing when you consider what I used to face in the UK as a P-Car driver. Undercover cars - normal everyday sighting Fixed speed trap cameras (GATSO) Located on main roads and in town, with digital cameras and direct connection back to the Police National Computer - ticket in the mail before you even get home! Traffic light 'red light cameras' The RLC system is triggered by sensors or ground loops that are cut into road surface as a vehicle passes over them, while a red light is shown. The Red Light Camera was originally used to measure red light offences. Nowadays the RLC can also be used in combination with speed measurement, and can therefore also record the speed of the offending motorist as well. So you could end with a speeding offence as well as a traffic light offence, if you go through a red light camera! Truvelo Speed Cameras The forward facing Truvelo camera system is designed to take photographs of the front of a passing vehicle. This allows the picture taken to show the driver of the vehicle as well. To avoid the 'flash' which is given out by a rear facing Gatso camera the Truvelo system uses an infra red flash which produces no visible 'flash' to the approaching driver. SPECS System Speed Violation Detection Deterrent, SVDD is the digital brain which the SPECS system is based upon, it uses state of the art video system with Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) digital technology. Consisting of two video cameras each fitted with infra red illuminators, giving the ability to work 24hrs 7days a week. SPECS are fitted either at the roadside or central reservation a set distance apart to create a speed controlled zone, or where appropriate, groups of cameras can be linked to create a speed controlled network. As vehicles pass between the entry and exit camera points their number plates are digitally recorded, whether speeding or not. Then, by ANPR recognition, the images on the video of matching number plates are paired up, and because each image carries a date and time stamp, the computer can then work out your average speed between the cameras, and then will make a decision if the preset speed threshold is triggered . Mobile Systems Police across the UK use a variety of mobile and hand devices to catch speeding motorists. These systems include; Mini-Gatso and Teletraffic (laser guns). Mini-Gatso, the technology used in a Mini-camera unit is very similar to that used within a fixed position Gatso speed camera, using radar type 24 (see above). They can place this on any road , hidden behind a tree or bridge support, you have no way of knowing where they are! Teletraffic, police camera teams use this as a vehicle based system which can be set up to detect speeding traffic from a distance of 1000 metres using laser technology. The device is aimed on a vehicle number plate and which is then recorded on video film with the associated speed. This system is generally best for tackling lengths of road, and may be used outside of signed locations. Speeding here in the US is a breeze compared to the UK! Chris.

We have 90% of what you listed in the DC area..

Cops suck, EF THA PO-PO!

Forgot to mention DS2 Rubber strips in the road calculate your speed as you pass over them via the small telltale grey post which sits along side. The DS2 system requires a mobile camera usually in a plain truck to plug into this grey post inorder to photograph you. So any truck at the roadside could be the camera truck! Automatic Number Plate Reading Digial cameras positioned on major freeway bridges - read your front plate as you drive under, and compare this with a database of those who have paid the yearly vehicle tax. If you haven't paid, it automatically generates the fine, and mails it to you. I think the UK still has the edge for speed taxing the motorist! Chris.

In Columbia and just north of the tunnel in Bmore, I have seen, new Charger, Expedition, Explorer, mustang, Trailblazer and Chevy 4 door pickup. They all use the old stand on the side of the road laser trick. They usually sit under bridges in the shade and so you dont notice them.

Add to most of that a law against radar detectors, $1000 fine plus confiscation, and SPECTER equipped (that's a radar detector detector) provincial police cruisers on the multilane highways, and welcome to Ontario, Canada! I have to say, though, that around Toronto, the cops exercise their discretion well. They really seem to know the difference between some working stiff who's going 20km/hr over the limit and someone who's a likely street racer or worse, or driving an unfit vehicle, or too young to be out so late. I appreciate the number of times I've seen people pulled over and thought to myself, "Yeah, I would have pulled him over too." Wouldn't want their job.

Most coppers are not even looking for speeders on I-95 or other major highways.....they are looking for a reason to stop a vehicle and search it for drugs, guns, illegal midgets, or torn off mattress labels.....whatever you have that you shouldnt. A very high percentage of "drug busts" begin with a simple traffic stop.

We are using the latter to search for stolen vehicles. They are in every cruiser in one DC suburb.

How about some lucky stories? Two lane road between towns, doing about 75 or so. As the next town comes up, I start slowing down. Doing about 60, I blow by 45 mph sign by a grove of trees. Behind the trees, you guessed it, a cop with a radar. Cursing my luck, I cruise into town as I see the cop pull out in my rear view mirror. Before he catches up to me or have his lights on, though, a Ford comes up on a cross street and pulls right out behind me, ignoring a stop sign.. Cop puls HIM over, and I go on my way at 45 mph with a deep sigh of thanks and a big smile .

I've been pulled over doing over 100mph 2 times. No ticket, no written warning, just a "slow down".

blech - i got written up for honking my horn.

I love my horn... feel naked without it.... you can tell I lived in Massachusetts.

The Truvelo cameras (take the picture from the front) are fun. I first encountered them when I was on assignment in Holland. I always used to wheelie my R1 in front of them. Kind of amusing. You see the camera go off and know the revenue collection service will be all upset cause I just wasted another good picture

My dad did once too, my mom loves to tell that story. I've been pulled over 33 times 22 of which were just for being me so the two 100mph times are some of my reparations.

Yup, seen that one too here in Nothern Va. Troopers in the DC/VA/MD drive all kinds of cars too - SUV's, Stangs, Camaros, Crown Vics, Explorers.. if they were "clever" they'd get some Camry's and really mess with your head

I have seen a trooper running radar here in Ohio while an older lady sat on the side of the road with a flat and her trunk open trying to get the spare out! No kidding, that really aggravated me...I stopped and changed her tire. Trooper finally pulled up behind us and turned his flashers on so we wouldn't get hit...I realize that fixing cars is not in the line of duty but it really disturbed me.

What road? I'll try to keep my eyes open. Bill

If speeding is dangerous and so obviously unsafe why do speeding cops put us, poor taxpayers, at such unnecessary risk?

I wonder about 2 things: 1. If traffic cops, when they were growing up dreaming about becoming cops and fighting real crime, grew up dreaming about dishing out tickets to otherwise law abiding citizens. Wouldn't it be kind of a letdown to become a glorified tax collector? 2. How many times cops look the other way on other cops for speeding, running lights, domestic abuse and all kinds of other transgressions. It kind of blows the 'safety' argument out of the water when they let off their buddies for doing the same things we do.

Yes. About 6 weeks ago I drove down from Jersey to Maryland in a rental to pick up my new C4S, I was hit by radar about 3 times that exact same trip. I believe I was still in Delaware and not Maryland when it happened. In Jersey I've seen a lot of cops (out of uniform) walking along the side of the road (no police or other parked car in site) and as you pull up to them they hit you with azer and then a couple of blocks down you'll run into a bunch of police cars that pull everyone over. I've been lucky so far and haven't been speeding.

i HATE that stuff. i think that officers should be the model driver and their driving should set an example. (do as i say, not as i do...ring a bell?) i have the NON-emergency number for my local PD on speed dial. whenEVER i get passed by a cruiser without emergency lights excessively speeding, blowing stop signs (yes...) parking illegally etc, i note the car number and call it in. i have no idea if it has any effect, but it does make me feel better. all those calls HAVE to go into a log - maybe someone will notice.

Thank god for DE. Where you can go out and let it rip with fellow friends and gentlemen/Ladies. I ran my small digi camera on a mount at our region's last DE. I have showed it to many people and I keep telling them it is not racing!!!!!!!! We give each other passing signals and lift. No macho, no B.S. My friends are amazed................then I say would it not be awesome if American highways worked like that???????????????Can you imagine the reduction is accidents as normal people experience a little "rage" and pass on the right??

My friends... we speed... there is no way around it. I must say however, that as much as I believe cops that only write tickets (Especially bastard motorcycle cops that never give a break) are glorified meter maids there are two things that pi$$ me off more than anything else. 1. You can always tell when the authorities are generating revenue, because of heightened enforcement in greater numbers. 2. The red light cameras, speed cameras are nothing more than EFFICIENT REVENUE GENERATORS. They are here to stay. They can generate more tickets per hour than any cop can do and costs less to do so. CASE IN POINT: Here is SoCal, people got really pi$$ed off at the red light cameras when they first came out. A study by a ticket attorney was conducted that showed that the interval of the yellow light prior to the red light being triggered actually went down from when they were installed. Engineers stated that the SHORTENED yellow light did not give sufficent time to stop given the posted speed in the area. On top of that, the private contractor that built and serviced the camera was getting a percentage of each ticket generated so that there was a conflict of interest. The bottom line was that the cameras were shut down for a while, the light intervals adjusted and the police dept. supervised the serve of the lights by the contractor. I believe the figure given out was that each red light camera was generating a health 5 figure income everyday for the city.

I'm no "patrolman" fan but consider the perks you enjoy by being employed at your job. Yeah, they get to speed but they have to do so in a rectangle lifeless vehicle that can barely break 110 mph because of the lightbars.

So you focus on fooling the camera?

So you are blaming the cop for the fact that you broke the law? Cops can't keep people from killing each other or prevent kidnappings, they can only pursue the offenders. Don't blame them for society's ills. If you have to blame someone, blame the legislatures you elect that pass laws with weak enforcement and who refuse to build enough jails. If you got a ticket for speeding, that was YOUR fault, not the cop's. Don't want a ticket? Don't speed. If you want to drive fast, do a driving event on a racetrack where you are much safer and not breaking any laws. Michael

I agree that the cameras are often misused and the crap with the shortened yellow light is simply inexcusable. HOWEVER... people are stupid, arrogant and self-centered. When the highway patrol here in NC tries to monitor and enforce the "no passing school bus with flashing lights" law, they catch, literally, hundreds of people a day breaking this law! And if people get red light tickets, well then, by golly, they are running red lights! And they should be punished for it. We have these laws for our safety. If you can't go through an intersection when you have the right of way with a relatively high expectation of not getting t-boned by some dumbass in a hurry who can't be bothered to conform to society's rules, then none of us will be driving our little Porsches anymore. We'll all be in massive gas guzzling behemoth SUVs further destroying our planet and killing all the little birds and fishes. Let me get off my soapbox... Michael

I have to agree here. This is the second time I've seen Nicolaas go off on cops and to be honest it's a little too much spitting acid and bad attitude. Time to grow up. Their job is to enforce the law, they don't make them and they're just doing their jobs. Now there are four options here if you don't like them doing their job: i) don't break the law ii) don't get caught. iii) mass concensus that the laws need changing forcing action in the legistlature iv) go live somewhere where you like the laws better. Sure, noone likes getting a speeding ticket, but the mature response when you get caught speeding, is to take it like a man and say "fair enough, I was speeding". Sure, they can have their tricks to catch us speeding and we can do our best to avoid getting caught, but in the end we have to recognize that when you get caught, then it's not the fault of the cop, but the fault of the one breaking the law. I can't beleive we have so much whining about this considering (as another poster pointed out) how bad other countries (like the UK) have it. What a bunch of pussies.

Around the metropolitan area, cops/troopers are out in bushes with their gilly suit on and a laser gun. Its ridiculous what these cops/troopers do to catch speeders around here. If our military was as creative, we'll own the world already.

I'm not going to back the cops on this subject. In my neighborhood, we have a 4 lane "55" that ABRUPTLY changes to a 45 for NO reason. There are strategically placed shrubs, large enough to hide a patrol car that just knocks off sitting ducks all day long where the speed change takes place. Now is this the role of an official principally concieved to protect society from miscreants, or does this police role solely exist just to be an agent of the "local" IRS? The other thing that rubs me is that the insurance companies have lobbied their way into the process, and ultimately gain many times the cost of the ticket. I'd like a dollar for every time I see a cop not use a directional, speed when not on call, make U turns when you can't, and never be around when the 19 year old punk in the WRX is cutting everone off, never using a directional while weaving. ...................and if we have it so much better than anybody else, then why don't we have a f*****g autobahn?

Now is this the role of an official principally concieved to protect society from miscreants, or is this police role exist to be just an agent of the "local" IRS? Read this for an answer to your question: http://www.hoboes.com/Mimsy/?ART=399

Firstly, I'm not going to defend our speed limits, as personally I think they are set way too low and an offshoot of the 'nanny' mentality where people need legislation to protect them against themself. An example of the nanny mentality taken to an extreme is Sweden - they have legislation to protect you against pretty much everything. That being said, I think that it's wrong to pick on the police for problems created by legislature that you and I elected. Police only enforce the laws - good or bad, it's their job to enforce them, not set them or anything else. Okay, let's separate out the many issues in this posting... Really, the police had no part in setting the speed limits - they are set on a state level. In particular I'll draw your attention to: http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/speed_limits.html (points 9 and 10) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_l..._United_States If you have a problem with speed limits, then blame your local government and the people you elected. Now, if you think the shrubs were placed there just to catch speeders, then you give i) government way more credit of forethought than they are capable and ii) power to the police to influence landscape that they simply do not have. ... I refer back to my point about their job being to enforce the law. I'll admit that in some principalities the taxation effect has been achieved, but that was the doing of the legislature. This I cannot dispute. They do benefit from increased revenue from speeders, but it's all a risk assessment to them - people who speed are more likely to have accidents, therefore they should pay more in premiums. They don't do it out of spite, they do it out of the mathematical probability (all other things being equal) that you as a speeder will have a higher probability of being in an accident than someone that does not speed. ...then in this case you call the non-emergency number for the local police and you report the cop or the Subaru that is driving badly. (I have done both!) ...and finally, if you read the links I posted above, then you'll see that many states used to have them, but the legislature (in their wisdom) took them away... so by now it should be clear where my message is going.... i) if you speed and get caught, take some self-responsibility and don't whine about it. You were the making the decision to speed, not the cvop that caught you. ii) if you don't like the speed limits, then you need to convince your legislature that their historical speed limits are wrong and that they need changing. If enough people believe it and vote with their beliefs, then things will change. I'm betting that will not happen though. ...another thing to think about speed limits are set artificially low for the additional reason that most drivers in the US do not have the required skill to drive at higher speeds. The driving tests are a joke and the number of drivers with phones, food, make-up, etc in their hands just make it too scary a possbility to let these morons loose with a car (read deadly weapon) at high speed.

Cops have a choice between enforcing real useful laws, and enforcing the BS ones like speeding. I think we all grew up wanting to be cops or firemen, and when we reach driving age, we start hating cops. Why? Because of the speeding tickets. Don't tell me they have no choice. Everyone has a choice. If cops stopped being tax collectors and really cared about the safety of the public, tickets would be issued for lane change without blinker, and left-lane squatting, not to mention drunk driving. The fact that the overwhelming majority of tickets are for speeding is quite telling

Hey, I cannot change your opinions and you have a right to hold whatever belief you like. The belief cannot be supported by fact or reality, but that does not change your right to hold it. I'll remember your words when I next meet a traffic cop and ask him if he had the option not to go on traffic duty that day or not obey the orders that he took an oath to do so. I find it sad that you might have such an unhealthy disrespect for those who put their lives on the line to support this nation of laws that keep society civilized and allow you to live the life you live.

I have all the respect in the world for the role police play in protecting society. I have NO respect for their role as revenue agents. I'm all for stopping dangerous drivers. Most speed traps have no relationship to decreasing danger on the roads.

ii) if you don't like the speed limits, then you need to convince your legislature that their historical speed limits are wrong and that they need changing. If enough people believe it and vote with their beliefs, then things will change. I'm betting that will not happen though. Of course it won't happen, and the reason is simple: revenue collection. On a national basis you are talking about a staggering amount of revenue that is collected. I wish I recalled the exact number but it's in the tens of billions. A significant percentage of the revenue required to run numerous towns in the US comes from fines for speeding. And it will only get worse because governments at every level have a ravenous appetite for revenue and they look at revenue collected from speeding as being something that's easily rationalized. So don't be surprised if speeding cameras begin to be installed everywhere. In Washington D.C. Police plan more Speed Cameras since the Photo Radar Devices generated a record $24 Million in fines last year. Keep in mind that this revenue is just from the cameras and doesn't include the revenue from cops issuing tickets. Also, in DC almost 70% of the tickets are issued to those with MD & Va license plates, but I'm certain that it has nothing to do with the fact that out of towners can't vote in local elections. It's just that DC residents are safer drivers.

Old tactic and fair too because we should allows slow down for a disable car on the side of the road 'cause there could be a motorists working next to it. Otherwise, FLOOR IT!

I agree with you. That's exactly what happened to turn the UK into the candid camera of motoring. All government is addicted to spending - money is good and it doesn't matter to them where it comes from.

Try explaining to your overly bright 7 year old why you have a radar detector, and why its ok to break some laws but not all. I don't know the answer, wouldn't think to denigrate the police for enforcing the law of the land, but damn, I just wish there were a way to be more intelligent about enforcement. I'd like to think that the average John-Q has the ability to make some rational decisions that aren't discriminatory. For example: Pull over the guy in the pickup with bald tires, weaving in and out of traffic and following me 6 feet behind at 80 mph, while I keep a two second interval and wait for the loser in front of me to get out of the left lane. Just once, enforce the damn left lane law (on the books in Illinois) when grandma drives 58 in the left lane and I patiently flash my lights 3 to 5 times before making a decision I loathe - to pass from the right lane. Really, when there is absolutely no one on a 4 lane highway, on a clear sunny day, do you have to ticket me for driving 80-90 mph in a car thats designed to go 170, and more importantly, stop from 170?

I agree with you all the way. No arguement here. You made good points. Pity that it's always the case that the cop never gets to see the instances that you mentioned.

You have to run a GPS linked device that has all of the known speed camera locations built into it. It gives you a warning within 1 mile of a camera location, so you can slow down. Camera site updates are downloaded from the Web to keep it current. Of course, that doesn't help with the mobile units! Other people register thier cars @ PO Boxes to avoid tickets - it's amazing that you can do this, but it seems to be a loophole in the UK law at this time. Mail Box Dodge for Speeding Fines Chris.