gth0007 Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 How many of us have had a bad experience with Police or the Government's enforcement of traffic laws that really seemed to "go beyond" safety or crime prevention as the motivation for the enforcement? Before we get going I want to say that I'm a former police officer, I still work within the court system so I'm not wanting to bash the 99% of Police Officers who do their jobs daily in a professional manner. Here in Florida, the State is having a severe budget crisis at all levels of government and the number of organized "traffic enforcement efforts" has dramatically increased at all levels. Radar everywhere, especially in those low MPH areas that haven't had a traffic engineering study in years, Red Light Cameras all over the place, and a State Legislature that just passed a bill creating 50-100% increase on all fees related to the Department of Motor Vehicles. So let's hear from you, and what you think, and what's going on in your state. Is this a trend nationwide to increase revenues ? Is "Big Brother" finally taking over all under the disguise of "it's all for your protection"? What's next, National I.D.s and crededential checkpoints? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INDYSHELBY Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Yes its getting worse in Ive heard from a friend that in IL on July 1 they are increasing fines in work zones for one mile per hour over $300 for first offence, they are using cameras and 2nd time $1000 I believe its to raise money for state revenue with the econmy in bad shape. Has anyone else from IL heard about these big jump in fines First area of these new work zone fines is around Effingham IL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldguyrock Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 I think it's pretty obvious that traffic cameras (Freeway, red light, mobile vans) have nothing to do with public safety. The city of Scottsdale Arizona calls it's traffic camera program "Focus on Safety", what they should have named the program is "Focus on Dollars." Like everything in this country anymore, it's all about money. Most jurisdictions have raised the price of their traffic fines and then tack on numerous court costs. In Ca ( Santa Barbara) the price of a cell phone citation is $20.00 or $25.00 dollars, can't remember which. After all the added on court costs $110.00. Don't ge me started with traffic school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDude Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Starting on July 1st Illinois will begin using photo radar in freeway work zones in July. One mile per hour over the speed limit and the machine will get you a nice $375.00 ticket in the mail. Beginning July 1st, the State of Illinois will begin using the speed cameras in areas designated as "Work Zones" on major freeways. Anyone caught by these devices will be mailed a $375.00 ticket for the FIRST offense. The SECOND offense will cost $1,000.00 and comes with a 90-Day license suspension. Drivers will also receive demerit points against their licenses, which then allow insurance companies to raise Insurance rates. This is the harshest penalty structure ever set for a governmental unit involving PHOTO speed enforcement. The State already has two camera vans on line issuing tickets 24/7 in work zones with speed limits lowered to 45 MPH. Photos of both the Driver's face and License plate are taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reino Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 Starting on July 1st Illinois will begin using photo radar in freeway work zones in July. One mile per hour over the speed limit and the machine will get you a nice $375.00 ticket in the mail. Beginning July 1st, the State of Illinois will begin using the speed cameras in areas designated as "Work Zones" on major freeways. Anyone caught by these devices will be mailed a $375.00 ticket for the FIRST offense. The SECOND offense will cost $1,000.00 and comes with a 90-Day license suspension. Drivers will also receive demerit points against their licenses, which then allow insurance companies to raise Insurance rates. This is the harshest penalty structure ever set for a governmental unit involving PHOTO speed enforcement. The State already has two camera vans on line issuing tickets 24/7 in work zones with speed limits lowered to 45 MPH. Photos of both the Driver's face and License plate are taken. Good, atleast somone is paying attention to the work zones. Obviously if you are complaining about this you have never spent time in a highway work zone. About 10 years ago I worked for the state Dept of Transportation and while most of my time was spent in the office there were times I had to go out and look at the roadways, mostly while govt personnal were there including the Governor. This is not a safe place to be. I have also spent time in the work zones at night while people somehow make their way into the work zones and drive through until finally realizing they are not on the open road. If your complaining about higher fines is the work zones you have obviously not spent any time there. For those of you complaining about the fines, there is a simple solution. Dont speed, run red lights or anything else that violates the law. Ive gotten tickets before and I admit I was wrong. I just paid the fines and didnt even go to court. I understand there are concequences for my actions, why cant others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDT Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 There is definately questionable "REVENUE ENHANCEMENT" above and beyond protecting and serving "PUBLIC SAFETY"............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard m.switzer Posted June 27, 2009 Report Share Posted June 27, 2009 How many of us have had a bad experience with Police or the Government's enforcement of traffic laws that really seemed to "go beyond" safety or crime prevention as the motivation for the enforcement? Before we get going I want to say that I'm a former police officer, I still work within the court system so I'm not wanting to bash the 99% of Police Officers who do their jobs daily in a professional manner. Here in Florida, the State is having a severe budget crisis at all levels of government and the number of organized "traffic enforcement efforts" has dramatically increased at all levels. Radar everywhere, especially in those low MPH areas that haven't had a traffic engineering study in years, Red Light Cameras all over the place, and a State Legislature that just passed a bill creating 50-100% increase on all fees related to the Department of Motor Vehicles. So let's hear from you, and what you think, and what's going on in your state. Is this a trend nationwide to increase revenues ? Is "Big Brother" finally taking over all under the disguise of "it's all for your protection"? What's next, National I.D.s and crededential checkpoints? just my $0.02 ,,always thought it was kinda funny that the government lets car companies build cars that do 140-160-200 mph but its how police make there money ,,,if all cars did only 75 mph at top,,,no way for them to make money , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyDude Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Good, atleast somone is paying attention to the work zones. Obviously if you are complaining about this you have never spent time in a highway work zone. About 10 years ago I worked for the state Dept of Transportation and while most of my time was spent in the office there were times I had to go out and look at the roadways, mostly while govt personnal were there including the Governor. This is not a safe place to be. I have also spent time in the work zones at night while people somehow make their way into the work zones and drive through until finally realizing they are not on the open road. If your complaining about higher fines is the work zones you have obviously not spent any time there. For those of you complaining about the fines, there is a simple solution. Dont speed, run red lights or anything else that violates the law. Ive gotten tickets before and I admit I was wrong. I just paid the fines and didnt even go to court. I understand there are concequences for my actions, why cant others? I have no problem with being fined for breaking any laws. I DO have a problem with government slapping cameras everywhere. While it may be good for the work zones, it won't stop at just the work zones. It will spread to everything and everywhere. Your every move will be taped! That I have a problem with! We are not some big prison where we need to video tape everyone for every move they make! While this all may seem like this is just to keep people from speeding, don't kid yourself! This is more about gaining control over the public. Imagine, in the near future we will all be owned and controlled by the government. Most to all of our pay will be taxed in some form. Every move we ever make will be on tape. Our gun rights will be gone. By the time people wake up and realize what the hell happened they will all be powerless to do anything about it! You won't be armed to defend yourself. You won't be able to protest because they will pick you up the minute you try to do anything. They will just classify you as a terroist and lock you up without due process and throw the key away. Pay very close attention to these crazy laws they are passing. Start putting the pieces together. It ain't a pretty picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDT Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 SD, I bet you have Conspiracy Nightmares every night???????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahmann Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 People who speed in work zones should be penalized to the fullest extent, IMO. Working on public highways is dangerous enough for those guys. Morons that take other people's lives into their hands through those areas shouldn't have the right to drive. I've noticed lots more photo radar and red light cams throughout the region in the last year or so in parts of the county that make zero sense with regard to public safety, IMO. Most of them seem to have been set up where people speed, not where people get hurt (little housing, zero pedestrians, etc). The majority of injuries/fatalities happen near or in the city, not the burbs or more rural areas. The closer to the city you get, however, the fewer cameras there seem to be. It seems more like a revenue generating scam to me, than anything, as the ratio of lower class folks with less money to pay is a lot higher in the city. I got popped in Davis on a red light violation while turning right at a light as it was yellow. The car was 90% into the turn as it turned red, not a pedestrian in sight. I got a ticket for $300 or so in the mail. I filled the form out and just checked 'not guilty'. I didn't hear anything about it for a few weeks, so I called the courthouse. The clerk asked me if I had checked 'not guilty'. I said yes. She said, 'Ok then, your case was dismissed.' Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDT Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 So don't be a "SUCKER".........Always check "NOT GUILTY"............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShelbyPilot Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 just my $0.02 ,,always thought it was kinda funny that the government lets car companies build cars that do 140-160-200 mph but its how police make there money ,,,if all cars did only 75 mph at top,,,no way for them to make money , Don't worry, the current administration and Congress are working on your request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2007GT Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I know that here in Florida I've noticed an increased presence. I had to travel to and from Miami quite often to do hurricane re-inspections and noticed that the turnpike was all of a sudden loaded with FHP. Sometimes you would see them with 5-10 cars pulled over at once. It really takes the fun out of driving. I haven't had a speeding ticket since July 5th 1980 though so I must be doing something right. :happy feet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2007GT Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Another thing I have noticed on the turnpike is that you will see a sign that says "speeding fines doubled when workers are present" and there will be flashing lights etc. but no workers or work vehicles anywhere in sight. There will be a speed limit sign posted at say 30 MPH at the start of the work area but never a sign saying it is OK to resume your normal speed so you never know when it's OK to return to the 70 MPH speed limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobjshelbys Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Good, atleast somone is paying attention to the work zones. Obviously if you are complaining about this you have never spent time in a highway work zone. About 10 years ago I worked for the state Dept of Transportation and while most of my time was spent in the office there were times I had to go out and look at the roadways, mostly while govt personnal were there including the Governor. This is not a safe place to be. I have also spent time in the work zones at night while people somehow make their way into the work zones and drive through until finally realizing they are not on the open road. If your complaining about higher fines is the work zones you have obviously not spent any time there. For those of you complaining about the fines, there is a simple solution. Dont speed, run red lights or anything else that violates the law. Ive gotten tickets before and I admit I was wrong. I just paid the fines and didnt even go to court. I understand there are concequences for my actions, why cant others? For a long time some jurisdictions have been using work zones - obviously with no work - as revenue generators. I've driven hundreds of miles on freeways through Nebraska with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BEING DONE yet it is marked as WORK ZONE - FINES DOUBLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobjshelbys Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Also, a fine for 1MPH? That's ridiculous. My Cobra has a mechanical speedometer, which using town radar at 25MPH has an error of about 2MPH (at 25MPH on the speedo I'm going 27MPH according to the radar). I have used my GPS on highway and it is also off about the same - at 60on the speedo the GPS says 62-63. My point is that mechanical speedos have an error - they use gears and are not 100 accurate. Modern computer speedos are more accurate but still not 100%. Our town won't write for 29 in 25. 30 you get a souvenir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2007GT Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Also, a fine for 1MPH? That's ridiculous. My Cobra has a mechanical speedometer, which using town radar at 25MPH has an error of about 2MPH (at 25MPH on the speedo I'm going 27MPH according to the radar). I have used my GPS on highway and it is also off about the same - at 60on the speedo the GPS says 62-63. My point is that mechanical speedos have an error - they use gears and are not 100 accurate. Modern computer speedos are more accurate but still not 100%. Our town won't write for 29 in 25. 30 you get a souvenir. Back in the early 90's the FHP was writing for 1-2 miles over in St. Pete and a local traffic judge threw them all out saying it violated the spirit and intent of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormeaston Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I walk a lot more now, if things go to hell some more (gas prices) at least I'm in shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Guyer Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Concerning Illinois: I lived there for about five years, I don't remember being able to drive much above 25 MPH be cause of the traffic, most of the time. I rode the train most of the time when I worked in Chicago. My car was towed one night in the loop because it snowed at the airport but no snow downtown. No ticket, no judge, no jury, if you want your car, pay $160, no money, no car. This is the same city where the mayor didn't like the airport downtown. 2:00 AM Monday morning, he brings in jack hammers and distroys the runway, he says nothing to the FAA and they say nothing to him. I live in the woods of Northern Michigan and feel much safer now. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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