Speeding Violations

Lane changin' left and right
Blowin' horns and blinkin' lights
Oh the fast lane has never been so slow
- lyrics to “Five O'Clock 500” by Alabama

The USA Today story, Speeding 'cushion' may dwindle due to recession, is worth a read. It describes how some communities are attempting to raise funds by handing out more traffic tickets or raising the cost of traffic violations:

• Police in Canton, Ohio, issued more than four times as many tickets in January of 2010 vs. January 2009. The Police Chief says a decrease in crime in the city has freed officers to do more traffic enforcement and the additional revenue from traffic citations allows his understaffed department to hire more officers.

• Tennessee is considering a law similar Georgia’s that adds a $200 fine for "super speeders," driving more than 25 mph over the posted speed limit.

• Speeding fines are being doubled in "travel-safe" zones on several stretches of highway in Missouri. A state passed a law in 2008 allows authorities to establish "travel-safe" zones on high-crash stretches of highways.

The main theme of the article is the dwindling speeding “cushion” that police used to allow. That is, no fine unless you’re over 10mph above the speed limit. Now some towns are dunning motorists for just 5mph over the limit. And waiting just past the lower speed limit sign to catch them.

Bottom Line

When you see a speed limit sign, the new speed starts at that sign. So begin breaking immediately when you see the speed sign. Police in speed traps immediately after the sign love to catch someone who is slowly breaking or coasting down to the new limit. This is particularly a problem on a main road doing 55 that suddenly switches to 30 as it enters a town. This caught my college roommate in Wyoming on Spring Break.

Another common trap catches motorists on the down side of a steep hill after gravity has increased your speed. I encountered this in rural Illinois many years ago.

Another place I’ve been caught was at a tollbooth requiring 5mph in the “Easy Pass” lane. A policeman with a speed gun stood next to the booth and waved over anyone going faster than 5mph.