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Automotive News & Views Traffic Laws & Enforcement Tactics
540 messages, Last post on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:22 PM
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I remember an article from a few years (maybe a lot of years!) in C&D IIRC where they tested radar detectors. They also did some tests on radar guns. Well, one of the tests was to clock a car failrly close (couple of hundred yards?) The trick was, there was a tractor trailer way back, where it really wasn't in sight yet. So common sense would tell the cop he was clocking the car, right? Well, the truck had such a big radar signature, that the radar was clocking the truck, not the car. Tought me to never trust radar guns. That, and to always take the truck lanes on the turnpike, to use them as cover! |
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Mar 09, 2007 3:41 am) Rocky |
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saw an episode of mythbusters the other day that dealt with speed cameras. They tried everything, and the only trick they found that beat them was the old rotating license plate trick that James Bond had on his AM! Even had no problem getting a clear shot at a Lambo that was doing ~140. Sprays, covers, nada. I think not washing your car and keeping mud strategically placed is a good idea..
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Replying to: stickguy (Mar 11, 2007 9:59 am) The license plate cover and sprays are supposed to react to the high strobe power and turn opaque. |
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Replying to: stickguy (Mar 11, 2007 9:59 am) With the cameras they use in Maryland, at least, I know two tricks that will beat the camera. One is to drive a pickup truck, and leave the tailgate down. That'll block the view of the plate from the camera. Or, so I've been told. I've never tried it with my truck, but I've heard that it works, and it seems it would make sense. Another is to drive a tractor trailer. The cameras in MD are set up to take pictures of the tags on something roughly car-sized. Something overly long, like a tractor trailer, will get its pictures taken at times when the license plate won't be in range. A cop told me that one. Of course, neither of these strategies is the most practical in the world, for most people! Oh, and while mud or something else on your license plate would be good for confusing the cameras, if a cop happens to notice it, he can pull you over and give you a ticket. Or at least a warning. And sometimes if they get a partial license plate match, they're still going to send out a ticket to whomever they think it is, whether it's the guilty party or not. I remember hearing about some old lady who had an 80's Celebrity that was still tagged, but hadn't moved under its own power in years. They got a partial match on a license plate, and her plate was the closest match they could come up with, so they mailed her a ticket! I dunno the outcome of it, though.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Mar 12, 2007 8:40 am) |
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Replying to: ponderpoint (Mar 05, 2007 5:49 pm) You can do it for a while and not get nailed, but you always have to be open to the possibility of getting busted if you choose to speed. I speed on a regular basis, and have gotten a few tickets. Big deal. In the grand scheme of things, with all the things going on in the world, a speeding ticket doesn't even register for me as something to get too worked up about. That doesn't mean that I think our traffic enforcement system is perfect. Far from it. But I see many people overgeneralize with the assumption that every jurisdiction has the same priorities and tactics, when that is not really the case. I do believe that the speed limit posted on many roads and interstates is too low. This has a bad effect on safety in my opinion, since it effectively makes many safe drivers lawbreakers, blurs the line between safe drivers who are exceeding an artifically low speed limit, and people who are a real danger, and generally breeds disrespect for the law. At the same time, when most people are lawbreakers, it becomes politically impossible to really impose meaningful penalties, and this allows truly dangerous drivers off the hook. The most effective deterrent is not punishment by a court, but social sanction. Because it's so common to get tickets for speeds that aren't unsafe, there is little to no social stigma to having been caught speeding. Speeding tickets are things people joke with their friends about. If they carried some social stigma, speeding tickets would be more effective in changing driving behavior, but that won't happen until we change our enforcement policy so that having received a ticket generally means that you have done something dangerous. Still, I don't think it makes sense to hang all our discontent about the current system on the police. It's really the politicians who pass the laws and set enforcement tactics. The police only follow orders. And who elects these politicians? If we want to blame somebody, we should each look in the mirror. Speed enforcement is a good example of the hypocrisy of the general public. Unlike on this forum, most people are not permissive of speeding other than their own. They demand artificially low speed limits to snag people driving in their own neighborhood, then they speed through somebody else's neighborhood, and cry like a little baby when they get nailed. I don't expect perfection from traffic enforcement. I have bigger things to worry about. If I choose to ignore the posted speed limit, which I do pretty much all the time, I'll take the consequences that come my way if I get busted. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
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Replying to: davv62 (Apr 01, 2007 4:03 am)
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Replying to: gee35coupe (Apr 01, 2007 1:46 pm) What type of driver are you? I assume you like to go fast, and have gotten nailed a few times, like me. It's really not a big deal. Some of my friends have a deal that whenever one of us gets a ticket, the others buy him drinks equal to the value of the fine he has to pay. Last time one of my friends got a ticket, he was joking that he was going to argue for a larger fine in front of the judge..."you really need to fine me more...I haven't learned my lesson"...so he could get more drinks bought for him.
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Replying to: davv62 (Apr 01, 2007 4:02 pm) Good Lord, I was just thinking that with the last ticket I got, that much booze would probably put me in the hospital with alcohol poisoning! Or, at least get me on an episode of "Intevention" 
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