How Not To Run A Speed Trap
December 2nd, 2008 Posted in Speed Traps, Traffic Tickets
You know you’re running a blatant speed trap when other police agencies start warning the public about your officers.
Most police agencies try to keep their speed traps somewhat subtle. That way they can collect as much money as possible without having to deal with angry motorists going to local government or the media.
Romulus, Michigan police obviously don’t subscribe to that philosophy.
Check out an excerpt from this delightful story:
Romulus police officers are being so aggressive that another police agency is warning drivers to be wary of a so-called “speed trap.”
Detroit Metropolitan police are outing Romulus officers who are pulling over drivers for speeding in the area of Interstate 94 around the airport.
[...]
The Wayne County Airport Authority has even begun circulating fliers that read, “The Romulus Police Department has dramatically increased its patrols at the entrances and exits to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, using unmarked vehicles. Please be careful to observe all speed limits and traffic laws.”
Airport officials said they plan on turning the flier into a billboard and will leave it up until the Romulus police stop targeting those entering and leaving the airport.
The airport police chief sent out an e-mail to officers telling them to park in front of a Romulus police patrol car if you see one and turn on overhead lights to warn drivers to slow down.
Read the full story here.
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Sounds like Romulus. It’s around 1:30 in the morning in March 1996 when I was on my way from Chicago to Utica when my van throws a rod on I-94 near the airport. After waiting on the side of the highway for about an hour, hoping a cop drives by, I gave up and started walking to the next exit that was a couple miles ahead. Sitting ON the ramp was a Romulus cop car, cop sitting inside all nice and warm. I knocked on the windown, and when he rolled it partway down, I thanked him for his ‘help’. His only response was a confused, “What?” So I continued walking up the ramp to phone a friend to come pick me up.
You are an idiot Mike. I wish he would have gave you a ticket for jaywalking on the freeway dum ass. You should have used your cellular telephone and called “911.” Just because the police officer was on the freeway, it did not mean that he has rear vision cameras on his car to see your dum ass. If you don’t call or in your case, no passing mortorist decided to contact the police either, then it is your fault of not carrying a cellular phone. I wonder if that police officer was eating his lunch that he did not have time to eat the entire shift because he was taking care of idiots like you. Grow up and stop blaming other people for your problems and buy a new car if you can’t trust your car.
Arkansas radar set ups:
-Caddo Valley (located next to Arkadelphia’s city limits –residents know about it)
-Rockport (located right next to Malvern–residents there know about it and that police may locate in the Fish Net Restaurant parking lot and point out to highway 270 as motorists are driving to Hot Springs & return)
-I-30 (Bryant police sit on the interstate and radar cars on the interstate generally as they are driving east on the interstate)
-Little Rock (small motorcycles and squad cars)
-Highway 70 between I-30 and Hot Springs—especially during racing season)
I view that Speed Traps will only get worst.
People’s Attitude on the Interstate is bad enough.
I will say, however, that Speeding on the Parkways that says
25 mph, it does not say 30-40 or so on. it says 25.
My view is, therefore, to issues tickets above 27
and for passing on yellow lines. and hardly stopping
at stop walks, stop signs. and if all 3. 5x the fine.
and 3x more in Insurance. and 180 days with no license
on the spot, and Toll Charge, be lucky because,
you will go to Court later. if reckless on a Parkway, one will go to the holding Jail.
Another one for the story books:
While traveling North on Hwy 45 in Mundelein, IL I was being pursued by a man in a white Cadillac. The plates had the name Sue and the number 10 on the plates. Throughout my trip through the city, I noticed the man leering at me while parallel to me then dropping back to tailgate me. This occured several times while in the populated downtown area. After the light at 176 changed and at some point before the next light I accelerated. According to the officer, I was clocked at the next street, (340 feet from 176 as calculated from Mapquest), at a speed of 65mph in my old minivan. The Cadillac was with me until after I received my ticket but I do not believe he was ticketed. I witnessed a handoff of a cellphone from the man in the Cadillac to one of the officers that appeared on the scene, and the officer used that phone. The man in the Cadillac must have been an officer. I will check this out. I further suspect the man’s goal was to irritate me enough to get me to speed away, through their speed trap in which I normally travel much slower. Needless to say, I received a ticket for going 65mph in a 30mph zone (which is also underposted). Oh yes, my last ticket was 6 years ago and was due to a misunderstanding only. I never received a ticket for more than 18mph over the limit anywhere and I have been driving 35 years.
The more I think of the situation, the more I think I was “entrapped” into the situation. I will check on the fine and may just pay it and ask for supervison, but depending on the fine, I am thinking about fighting the validity of the ticket.
This is for Sammy’s response to Mike’s van conking out on the highway.
Perhaps his interaction with the cop was foolish but he was angry and cold.
In 1996 cell phones were still in their infancy. They cost a lot more then and coverage was lacking. Your are a very insulting POS for brains.
Reread his and then your post and realize the stupid comments you made.
I just realized how my speed at 30mph was incorrectly stated at 65mph with a Cadillac pursuing me. I left the intersection traveling 30mph and figured it was the speeding Cadillac that was processed by the radar. While this is a possibility, it is more likely the radar information was ambiguous and inaccurate due to the partial reception of multiple targets.
A website – http://www.copradar.com/preview/chapt7/ch7d2.html, talks about minimum range. The example and photo exactly match the situation in my case. If the radar gun utilizes pulses (because transmitter and receiver share the same antenna), the receiver is blind to a reflected signal that reaches the gun before the circuitry switches to receive. With most common, police radar suffers from this difficulty in order to meet short range (over 500 feet) accuracy. This gives (and can be seen in the picture as in my case), a minimum usable distance of 150 yards or 492 feet. Vehicles within this range are not accurately measured because only partial information is returned and likely discarded by the unit. Multiple vehicles may appear as one vehicle within this range, returning ambiguous results. Or moving objects outside the minimum range may be mistaken for the close vehicles.
I have this drawing depicting problems with minimum range radar calculations, a Google Map photo of the distance traveled with a distance marker on the map and manufacturer specifications of my vehicle showing a 0-60mph time greater than the time required to travel the 492 feet at a maximum speed of 65mph. These documents all support my claim and show the speed captured on radar to be ambiguous at best.
I will ask the officer questions about distance to my vehicle while measuring speed, location of the officer in relationship to my vehicle, radar type, pulse width and sample period (even though he cannot answer it). Common K band and Ka band radar has a sample period of 300ms with an error of +/- 1mph, that is why it was used in the example. Those questions the officer cannot answer, I will answer for him, supplying my supporting information.
It must be a coincidence that the distance from the red light I started at to the place where I was said to be going 65mph was exactly 492 feet.