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For all the bullshit drivers have to deal with in the City of Chicago, I don't think our cops would ever write a ticket for anything less than 10 over unless there was a very good reason, like in combination with other more serious offenses.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:22
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Michael Scott posted:For all the bullshit drivers have to deal with in the City of Chicago, I don't think our cops would ever write a ticket for anything less than 10 over unless there was a very good reason, like in combination with other more serious offenses. Doesn't stop Chicago drivers from slamming on the brakes to 15 mph under the limit every time they see a set of roof lights though. 
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Jul 30, 2014 20:31
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DEAR RICHARD posted:These are people I share the road with: This was quite entertaining. I'm surprised half of those weren't accidents.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:38
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Three Texas state troopers boxed me in for 5 minutes until one pulled me over for going 72 in a 70 and gave me a warning. I had cruise control set to 70 and a GPS unit verifying the accuracy. It's not always about the ticket, it's about cops hoping for some action if you look too nervous.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:41
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Geirskogul posted:Sometimes cops just hate out-of-state license plates, I guess.  They know that someone with an out of state plate is likely to waive their right to trial and just pay the fine via mail. A friend of mine is former law enforcement and he said in academy they drilled "out of state plate is pretty much a guaranteed conviction when writing a ticket" into their heads during the traffic enforcement unit. Although a 2 MPH over the limit ticket is well into  territory. A lot of states have laws that set the minimum bar at 6 over the limit ("no fine for speeding 5 MPH or less") for citations outside of circumstances like school zones or severe weather.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:44
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I even drove 5 hours to the courthouse to contest it two weeks later, and all I got was a $25 court fee tacked on. Blew my loving mind.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:47
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That would throw me into some depression/anger, even if only for the $100. You are a stronger man than I.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:50
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Geirskogul posted:This happens daily to me. When I'm driving an ambulance. This is insane to me, because if you follow a lone ambulance, you get to go through every light and traffic and so on.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:06
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Geirskogul posted:I even drove 5 hours to the courthouse to contest it two weeks later, and all I got was a $25 court fee tacked on. Blew my loving mind. This is why you don't go to eastern Washington. It's nothing but little towns that make their money by ticketing people driving through.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:13
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Actually there's a much better reason not to go to eastern Washington, it's because it's eastern Washington. The drive from Seattle to Coeur d'Alene is easily the most agonizing patch of pavement I've ever driven over. It's infuriating how I-90 dips so far south, it adds like 50 miles to the straight line distance. That's 50 miles more pain than necessary. 
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Jul 30, 2014 21:18
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Everyone in this thread talking about how they will speed around or pass cops. I don't know man. Maybe I'm not badass enough but I'm not gonna do that and risk the trouble of getting a ticket. I'll move to the right if I can so you can do that if you want but it's just not worth it to me. Related, I've heard a lot of stories about how cops will tailgate you on a one lane road and then ticket you if you try to speed up to keep a safe distance. That happened to me once on Highway 1 around midnight. Usually there's a 55 limit, but in this particular section it decreases to 45 and then 25. I see the cop's headlights behind me coming up so I do exactly the limit, 55 down to 45 down to 25, with him tailgating me the whole way. At the 25 section the road splits into two lanes so he passes me, and I discover that it was actually that one Mercury that looks exactly like a Crown Vic. So I guess I was one of the people you share a road with that day.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:22
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xzzy posted:Doesn't stop Fixed that for you.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:28
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xzzy posted:The drive from Seattle to Coeur d'Alene is easily the most agonizing patch of pavement I've ever driven over. It's infuriating how I-90 dips so far south, it adds like 50 miles to the straight line distance. That's 50 miles more pain than necessary. And then the bit where you're going over snoqualmie pass in the winter and it's 50/50 whether or not you'll be stuck for hours because a semi-truck jackknifed, despite what the weather radio says. Lived in Lewiston and drove to Seattle for family at least 3x a year, usually more, for a decade. Solkanar512 posted:This is insane to me, because if you follow a lone ambulance, you get to go through every light and traffic and so on. We stop at most lights, even when full sirens, to clear the intersection. And cops that see you trailing will gently caress you up, if you're not blinded by my rear load lights first  (It's a joke, I get it )
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Jul 30, 2014 21:32
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Geoj posted:
Yeah 2 mph is garbage for a lot of reasons and would easily get thrown out of you developed half a defense. If I'm remembering correctly, every analog instrument carries an inherent uncertainty of half the smallest gradation because your viewing angle will affect how you read it. On most speedometers that means you can only trust yourself to know your speed within 2.5 mph. And that's on top of whatever uncertainty the device itself has.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:06
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Brigdh posted:This was quite entertaining. I'm surprised half of those weren't accidents. It's worth it to watch some of his other videos. I drive most of the same streets he does and I see comparable poo poo.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:07
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Yeah 2 mph is garbage for a lot of reasons and would easily get thrown out of you developed half a defense. If I'm remembering correctly, every analog instrument carries an inherent uncertainty of half the smallest gradation because your viewing angle will affect how you read it. On most speedometers that means you can only trust yourself to know your speed within 2.5 mph. And that's on top of whatever uncertainty the device itself has. Downside is that almost all manufacturers set the speedo to read at the low end of the error margin, to avoid liability if the driver gets busted for going 57 when the speedometer reads 55. So they just go for the low end, meaning at an indicated speed of 55 you can be going anywhere from 52 mph to 55, which is probably why the person behind you is getting pissed off. 
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Jul 30, 2014 22:21
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DEAR RICHARD posted:It's worth it to watch some of his other videos. I drive most of the same streets he does and I see comparable poo poo. I drive a huge number of miles every week, and I see my share of stupid poo poo, but the sheer volume of amazing stupidity in that video is astounding. Maybe the drivers in the Phoenix area aren't as bad as I thought (relative to that video sample at least).
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Jul 30, 2014 22:29
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Negromancer posted:This is why you don't go to eastern Washington. It's nothing but little towns that make their money by ticketing people driving through. We used to have a small town in Georgia like that. Arcade, GA to be specific. I say "used to" because the GBI came in and fired the entire department for corruption a few years back. Totally cleaned house. Now it's a normal town you aren't paranoid about driving through.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:44
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Yeah 2 mph is garbage for a lot of reasons and would easily get thrown out of you developed half a defense. If I'm remembering correctly, every analog instrument carries an inherent uncertainty of half the smallest gradation because your viewing angle will affect how you read it. On most speedometers that means you can only trust yourself to know your speed within 2.5 mph. And that's on top of whatever uncertainty the device itself has. In WA the officer doesn't have to show up for a ticket contest, but instead just has to write a report. The report was three pages typed, with to additional pages of diagrams, and included everything from the calibration date and shop license number that did the calibration of the lidar he used, WA's law on calibration periods and recommended speed checkpoints, to the exact distance he first tagged me at (to the foot), to report from Dodge about that particular model and year's speedometer (2004 Dodge Ram 1500). It even talked about how the truck I was in didn't look like it was optioned for cruise control (I didn't have it, true), so I could have easily drifted over the limit manually, but also how I would have still been at fault. I was obliterated to the point the judge just kind of went "wow, okay. Do you have any concrete evidence yourself that you weren't speeding? GPS record or something?" 50/50 cop was very comprehensive and an rear end, and the judge was determined to give me the ticket no matter what I did. When I was pulled over, I mentioned things like speedometer drift and how it drat sure looked like I was doing 70, and the officer simply took my license, did some poo poo in his cruiser, and walked back with a printed ticket. I even courteously pleaded a bit at the end, and the cop said something like "speeding is speeding, no questions about it," and walked stone-faced back to his car. And half of the smallest gradient on a modern gauge is 1mph.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:50
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Hikaki posted:Related, I've heard a lot of stories about how cops will tailgate you on a one lane road and then ticket you if you try to speed up to keep a safe distance. Had a cop do that to me once. At night (headlights right through my rear window). In the rain. gently caress that guy.
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Jul 31, 2014 00:28
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One cool cop technique (especially on 29 between Charlottesville and Northern Virginia) is the undercover cop going 5 mph under the limit in the left lane of a two lane road, causing a train of cars behind his. Then if someone whips into the right lane to pass they get ya. It's like they bait out the most impatient drivers and I've seen it work several times it's kinda crazy.
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Jul 31, 2014 01:35
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Geirskogul posted:And half of the smallest gradient on a modern gauge is 1mph. 5 mph gradations are incredibly common (as far as experience and combing through Google images because I'm bored tells me) though some cars do have 2 mph gradations - nothing to do with being modern. Pretty sure all the 2014 Fords have 5 mph gradations. This is really spergy. But yeah of course you're not going to get anywhere arguing with the cop. Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 01:55
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:5 mph gradations are incredibly common (as far as experience and combing through Google images because I'm bored tells me) though some cars do have 2 mph gradations - nothing to do with being modern. Pretty sure all the 2014 Fords have 5 mph gradations. My car (VW) does 2.5 mph gradients. WTF? It kinda makes sense (5 mph gradients, then half of that), but still weird once you realize.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:00
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Geirskogul posted:In WA the officer doesn't have to show up for a ticket contest, but instead just has to write a report. The report was three pages typed, with to additional pages of diagrams[…] Yeah don't talk to the ticketing officer more than necessary. They're there to make a transaction (ticket to you). By making it sound like you were going to dispute it, they may have just decided that while it was borderline, they wanted to see if they could make it stick in court, and letting the paper do the talking was probably a vital part of that.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:17
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Cocoa Crispies posted:Yeah don't talk to the ticketing officer more than necessary. They're there to make a transaction (ticket to you). By making it sound like you were going to dispute it, they may have just decided that while it was borderline, they wanted to see if they could make it stick in court, and letting the paper do the talking was probably a vital part of that. This. When I was a teenager I wanted to be a cop, so I was in a Jr. LE group that got to do weekly ride alongs with the police. Normal ticketing procedure was to write a ticket and get on with the day. If someone brought attention to themselves by trying to argue it, or especially if they were a dick/bitch to the officer, we would find a nice shady spot to park, and that ticket had the holy gently caress documented out of it. Since this was long before the in-car camera rigs, the officer I rode with would write down all of his conversation with the person, and then write down everything he could about the circumstances of the ticket and the conditions, etc. He would then take all of that with him when he went to court so that he had detailed notes to refer to for the judge.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:39
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DEAR RICHARD posted:These are people I share the road with: This guy loves honking and tends to be moving faster than traffic in most cases. No surprise he runs into some situations requiring heaving breaking.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:39
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So I go through this intersection everyday coming home from work (coming from the bottom): It's a little hard to tell, but sitting at the light you see that the two straight lanes are perfectly lined up with the lines on the three lanes on the other side of the interesection. Normally, people in the leftmost lane stay to the left across the intersection (most go to that next left turn lane) and the right lane goes to the middle lane. That far right lane becomes a turn only lane just beyond the edge of the picture. Today I almost got sideswiped because I was in the right lane and the car to my left tried to get in the same lane as me. And that got me thinking: what the hell is the correct lane choice? Not that it's going to change what 95% of the other cars going through that intersection do, but I'd like to know who's to blame when someone eventually collides.
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Jul 31, 2014 03:19
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Bovril Delight posted:This guy loves honking and tends to be moving faster than traffic in most cases. No surprise he runs into some situations requiring heaving breaking. Of course he's honking -- most of the incidents are drivers being total zombies or doing something blatantly dangerous and illegal (eg. cutting him off so they can turn left from the middle lane). You absolutely should be honking in that situation. Also, a lot of the time he's not even involved -- it's just people doing dumb stuff a couple of cars ahead.
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Jul 31, 2014 03:25
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Sagebrush posted:Of course he's honking -- most of the incidents are drivers being total zombies or doing something blatantly dangerous and illegal (eg. cutting him off so they can turn left from the middle lane). You absolutely should be honking in that situation. Of course. Stuff like someone running a red while he's stopped isn't something he can control. There's plenty of others where he's passing other cars at a good clip and you can see what's going to happen a mile away, causing him to brake and honk. Not saying the other drivers are in the right, but he could drive a lot more defensively.
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Jul 31, 2014 03:28
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Jul 31, 2014 03:29
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The ones I see where he could be more defensive are the zillions of times that someone either takes his right of way, merges without looking, or starts to cut him off, and instead of braking to let them in he leans on the horn and holds his place. He's technically in the right in those situations, too -- slamming on his brakes could cause someone to rear-end him. Everything else, it's just watching idiots idiot the place up in front of him. He's more aggressive than needed but holy hell are those some incredibly bad drivers. Every single one of them should be off the road. e: there are like four or five where he's clearly in the wrong, driving too fast and just getting mad because someone has already started their perfectly reasonable turn. The last two, for instance -- entirely his own fault. lovely driving begets lovely driving, I suppose. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 03:43
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Sagebrush posted:lovely driving begets lovely driving, I suppose. This. The best driver in the world starts driving a lot more recklessly once someone else's bad driving finally manages to get under their skin. I've been driving for a good 8 years now and I've gotten a lot better about it, but I still catch myself having to consciously back off of people who merged into way too small a gap in front of me or whatever, as opposed to getting closer to "show 'em who's boss" (a very bad habit I just realized I picked up from my dad; works better with a 3/4 ton pickup than a sport compact).
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Jul 31, 2014 04:19
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I've found my dashcam has helped me become better about that. I've had a couple encounters where I feel pissed about someone doing a dumb thing and go to look at the footage and see that I probably could have done better to control the situation. It's only really after you remove the ego where you can have a more unbiased view. Having a video helps tremendously.
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Jul 31, 2014 04:31
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Deeters posted:It's a little hard to tell, but sitting at the light you see that the two straight lanes are perfectly lined up with the lines on the three lanes on the other side of the interesection. Maybe it's more obvious from ground level but it doesn't seem like they're lined up that well.  Edit: Wait I think I misread your post, that's exactly what you're saying right? That the lanes are lined up with the lines. Me read good. davebo fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 16:20
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Deeters posted:So I go through this intersection everyday coming home from work (coming from the bottom): I think the most obvious/logical answer is far left lane stays in the far left lane, right actually gets to choose. But the real answer is the city should paint some god drat lines like they did for the other directions.
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Jul 31, 2014 20:02
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davebo posted:Maybe it's more obvious from ground level but it doesn't seem like they're lined up that well. Yeah, that's what I meant. LloydDobler posted:I think the most obvious/logical answer is far left lane stays in the far left lane, right actually gets to choose. But the real answer is the city should paint some god drat lines like they did for the other directions. That's what I think too. The road actual gets out of alignment like that across a couple intersections, but there's only 2 lanes on both sides.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:21
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There's a couple intersections I use regularly that are badly aligned, gently caress cities that can't keep opposing left turn lanes lined up because it makes it impossible to see around traffic and spot oncoming cars. Or there's the one where the intersection is on a bit of a rise, and if you're in the rightmost lane you're suddenly staring at a curb when you crest the hill.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:35
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LloydDobler posted:I think the most obvious/logical answer is far left lane stays in the far left lane, right actually gets to choose. But the real answer is the city should paint some god drat lines like they did for the other directions. The safest option for everyone involved would be to bear left; left bottom lane goes into left top, right bottom goes into middle top. That would eliminate the danger of a merging collision from the right turn lane on the perpendicular (which if I'm not mistaken, has no stoplight which means the right top lane is for that turn lane and that turn lane only). Some extra lines or a sign on the S->N set of stoplights telling drivers to bear left would be a small investment for a great deal of safety though, if you ask me.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:57
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Aug 1, 2014 00:09
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^^^^^^ I hope there is a story with that pic.Hikaki posted:Related, I've heard a lot of stories about how cops will tailgate you on a one lane road and then ticket you if you try to speed up to keep a safe distance. That happened to me once on Highway 1 around midnight. Usually there's a 55 limit, but in this particular section it decreases to 45 and then 25. I see the cop's headlights behind me coming up so I do exactly the limit, 55 down to 45 down to 25, with him tailgating me the whole way. At the 25 section the road splits into two lanes so he passes me, and I discover that it was actually that one Mercury that looks exactly like a Crown Vic. So I guess I was one of the people you share a road with that day. There used to be a traffic cop in south San Jose who would do that on a 3 lane road right where the limit dropped from 45 to 40. If you tried to speed up to gain distance or didn't slow down for the lower limit, you would get pulled. He got a friend of mine that way when she was on the way to my house and tried it unsuccessfully on me when I was on my bike. A Crown Vic's grill looks huge in your mirrors when he is only a couple of feet from your rear tire. I talked to a SJPD customer of mine a couple of days later, who pretty much gave the party line you might expect about how that wasn't needed or might not have happened. But I think my little talk worked, because I never saw that particular cop doing traffic duty in that area again.
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Aug 1, 2014 02:30
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