387 Responses to “The Worst Speed Trap Cities In The United States”

1. J. Wilson says:

   November 19, 2007 at 10:35 am

   If you do the speed limit, you won’t get a ticket.

   Reply
2. Hubcap says:

   November 19, 2007 at 11:09 am

   “If you aren’t doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.”

   The mantra of Good Germans everywhere.

   Reply
3. Stephen says:

   November 19, 2007 at 2:02 pm

   Tell that to this farmer who got a speed camera ticket for doing 85 mph in his farm tractor. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/09/908.asp

   Makes you wonder if he would have gotten off if he had been doing 20 mph in a car? Probably not, he would be considered “guilty first”.

   Reply
4. Josephine says:

   November 19, 2007 at 8:46 pm

   Everyone should visit newromesucks.com for an example of a hardworking individual who made a difference for Ohio’s infamous problem town. That first post about “do the speed limit and you wont get a ticket” reminds me of Jims “New Rome Lover Alerts”

   Thanks NMA for all you do! Louisiana is a bigtime player in the speedtrap business and Woodworth is very deserving of their recognition. Keep up the good work, speedtrap legislation is on its way down south.

   Reply
5. roux says:

   November 19, 2007 at 11:31 pm

   Just to let everyone know I-10 just west of Baton Rouge is closed due to a well fire near the interstate. Probably a 2 hour delay to go around.

   Reply
6. Greg says:

   November 21, 2007 at 11:30 am

   Doing the speed limit in Summersville, WV is no guarantee you won’t get a ticket. Especially if you are from North of the border.

   Reply
7. Don't Get Stuffed: Turkey Day List of Worst Speed Traps [News] - Jalopnik says:

   November 21, 2007 at 1:36 pm

   [...] [NMA via USA Today] [...]

   Reply
8. Jay says:

   November 22, 2007 at 12:50 pm

   You have to be pulled over to get a ticket.

   Reply
9. James Young says:

   November 22, 2007 at 2:45 pm

   “You have to be pulled over to get a ticket.”

   No, you don’t. Ever heard of photo radar?

   Reply
10. rmk says:

    November 23, 2007 at 2:08 pm

    speed trap? so what? if you are going over the speed limit, then you are breaking the law. Even though many agencies un- officially give a 5 mph leeway, it is still breaking the law of going over the speed limit if an agency decides to enforce speed limit within that 5 mph window.

    Reply
11. Douglas Guerra says:

    November 23, 2007 at 5:21 pm

    “If you do the Speed Limit, you won’t get a ticket”

    And if the woman raped in Saudi Arabia had been walking with a male relative, she would not have been sentenced to lashes and jail time.

    “If you are going over the Speed Limit, then you are breaking the law”

    And it is against the law in Guam for a virgin to marry.

    Give me a break! A bad law is a bad law and people break laws they don’t respect or have any particular use for.

    Reply
12. Fritz says:

    November 25, 2007 at 10:19 pm

    Drivers break the law because of the lack of confidence in them.

    That’s where the non mandatory 85% method of setting speed limits was supposed to help. Many state and municipalities pay no attention to it.

    This “one size fits all drivers speed” reaks of the nonsensical notion much like one size pants fits all males or one size bra fits all women.

    While the vast majority of traffic tickets center around speeding, a recent news media article http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1992.asp pretty much dispelled that notion and police departments have known that for a long time but its a cash cow that continues to bare large sums of revenue.

    Why would you fess up to the truth when the truth will cost you voluminous amounts of money. We all know what drives this mess. We’ve acknowledged the corruptive nature of money because we have all kinds of legalities in our society attempting to prevent it. Yet we’ve turned a blind eye towards this corruptive practice of revenue in traffic control. Tell me what the HELL I’m missing here!

    As someone posted ….”If you aren’t doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.” The mantra of Good Germans everywhere….no longer applies in the good ‘ole U. S. of A. It used to be a bedrock of our justice system but our legal system has become too sophisticated for that now. As the Supreme Court will consider whether we will continue the right to bear arms….that might go next. Whittling away at our rights and the Constitution has become a national past time for some groups.

    I noticed the Caney, OK won the best speed trap in Oklahoma with the runner ups rightfully named. At least in Oklahoma the contest pretty much hit the nail right on the head. I’m ready to see a law passed that forces all municipalities to report their traffic revenue on a regular, timely basis and then reported via the Internet. No more hiding behind the lack of figures. Where’s the transparency?

    Reply
13. James Young says:

    November 25, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    All rural limits should be posted at the 95th percentile, updated on a biannual basis.

    All traffic fines, court costs, administrative costs, fees and any other “fee” should go to a public corporation at the state level, those funds used to fund scholarships to state universities. Take the money out of the equation and speed traps will evaporate.

    Caney, OK is not even on the highway but about 1/2 mile away.

    Reply
14. J Carpenter says:

    November 28, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    Who can afford to speed with the price of gas so high. It is impractible.

    Reply
15. David says:

    November 28, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    First, J. Wilson is a tool!

    Second, Ohio’s worst speed trap town is a little dump called Cleveland Heights. The traffic division here is the biggest part of the PD and they generate thousands per month for the city. Don’t spend your money here and don’t drive through here.

    Reply
16. William says:

    December 4, 2007 at 5:36 pm

    Speed trap on Little York Road in Vandalia Ohio. You come down a steep hill with a bend and there is one of the meter maids of vandalia. Two tenths after the meter maids your out of vandaili. No way, unless you ride your brakes you can go down the hill at 35. Think with the crime rate of Vandalia, they could upgrade their meter maid force and make them reall police men. Oh well, guess its more important to give tickets than to protect the citizens.

    Reply
17. Ken says:

    December 5, 2007 at 9:04 am

    Wilmingtom, NC deserves the recognition as a speed trap area. Twice while passing through Wilmington on the way to Shiloh, NC to visit my invalid brother I have been stopped. Once in my motor home, which for the year model only has lap belts, I was given a ticket for improper passenger restraints. Even wil I protested to the officer the lap belts were standard equipment from the factory and were legal as the full restraint law did not cover the year the motor home was manufactured. But thanks to an attorney with the “Good Sam’s Motor Club,” I was able to fight this one.

    The other ticket two years later was for of all things, going too slow and obstructing traffic flow. The roads had detours due to construction and being unsure of the area I was trying to make sure I was going in the right direction. But even after the explaining to the officer my situation, it was to no avail.

    Being from Alabama, I would advise against driving through Wilmington, NC with an out of state tag. I believe the police and court system there know most people will not drive back to NC for a traffic ticket and this only enriches the city budget.

    Reply
18. Susan says:

    December 5, 2007 at 9:24 am

    Another one is going toward Columbia, SC traveling on I-26 between Peak Exit and Lake Murray Blvd. Exit. Unmarked car maintains certain speed in the passing lane creating bumper to bumper stress for those trying to get to work on time blocking access to any passing and then when you do find an opening, when you “gun it” to get through, that’s when you see the blue lights. It’s called the pressure cooker stradegy.

    Reply
19. The Sword says:

    December 5, 2007 at 9:32 am

    Be exceptionally careful on south and north 275 in Michigan, the strethch by the airport. I go through there twice a day and see 4 to 6 police cars pulling over whom ever including semis one after another with the help of another police car up on the overpass, he radios ahead instructing the others. I have no doubt that this is big monies for all of this area. I wish you luck, and a very Merry Christmas!

    Reply
20. Mayble says:

    December 6, 2007 at 3:49 pm

    Speed traps, try South Carolina. My family was driving through very late one night (around 3:00 AM) and got pulled over by a state trooper outside of Myrtle Beach. (it’s about 10 hours from our home in Tennessee to Myrtle Beach, thats why the late night driving). We weren’t speeding but still got the ticket and then got mailed lots of offers from lawyers if we wanted to fight it.
    It’s a no win situation.

    Reply
21. Ralph says:

    December 7, 2007 at 12:01 am

    Another favorite tactic is setting up a speed trap at speed transition zones. Also, ticketing motorists traveling through from other areas is a popular ploy. People will usually then just pay the ticket rather fighting it in court.

    So you see it is all about maximizing return on ticket revenue and little to do about making our roads safer.

    Some examples of speed propaganda.

    Reply
22. Mark says:

    December 7, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    I live in Massachusetts and have been driving a stretch of route 2 almost daily for over 20 years. It wasn’t until the other day while I was bringing my son to school that something interesting dawned on me. Massachusetts claims it gives out speeding tickets for safety reasons. If that’s true, why do we NEVER see an officer, be it state police or city, with a radar gun in hand during the winter?

    Reply
23. Steven says:

    December 10, 2007 at 11:35 am

    In Texas, the town of Lavon just north of Dallas received special attention as the WORST speed trap in the DFW area in a local news broadcast on the topic a couple years ago. The local cops were reported to give $100+ tickets to non-residents for exceeding the speed limit by just 1 mph on nearby highway 78.

    I have been careful to avoid it since then…

    Reply
24. OneEyed Bandit says:

    December 10, 2007 at 6:31 pm

    Define Speed Trap.

    Either you are speeding or you are not. If you speeding then how is that a trap.

    Reply
25. James Young says:

    December 10, 2007 at 7:15 pm

    “Speeding” is a pretty empty term. It means that a driver was exceeding a posted limit. It has nothing to do with unsafe driving.

    A “speed trap” is any area where (1) speed limits are set arbitrarily low or (2) speed limits drop more rapidly than recommended by engineers or (3) there is a convenient hiding spot or (4) enforcement is undertaken with the intent of generating cash or (5) speed enforcement is very aggressive without regard to any actual danger posed by drivers.

    Since limits are almost universally set well below the 85th percentile and because whole enforcement agencies have been created to generate cash, #s 1 and 4 are the leading reasons that we have speed traps.

    Reply
26. Ralph says:

    December 10, 2007 at 9:06 pm

    I would like to ask the OneEyedBandit if someone going just 1 mph over the speed limit deserves a ticket.

    We all know that this speed kills propaganda is been driven by money. Mainly by the insurance companies and police agencies.

    I am not sure how this improves traffic safety if drivers have to focus more attention on their speedometers instead of the road.

    Perhaps a one eye bandit is a good description of someone who writes speeding tickets for going 1 mph over.

    Reply
27. Mark says:

    December 13, 2007 at 1:25 pm

    Obey the speeding laws and relax.

    Reply
28. James Young says:

    December 13, 2007 at 1:38 pm

    “Obey the speeding laws and relax.”

    Easier said than done. Speed limits are set well below the range of optimal speeds for most drivers, that is, the speed at wchich each driver, doing his own calculus, feels most comfortable and safest. Driving at these suboptimal speeds extracts a price of wandering attention, making everybody less safe, just as the engineering data tell us.

    Reply
29. NeverLift says:

    December 13, 2007 at 11:06 pm

    Any use of radar — or pacing, for that matter — on a downhill road is, per se, a trap. Even the normally non-speeding driver will often see a gain of 5mph or more before noticing that he’s doing so — unless his eyes are glued to the speedometer. One patrolman I know used the term “Shanghai-ing” for that practice.

    Reply
30. David says:

    December 14, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    I have NEVER in my 17 year career wrote anyone for running less than 15 MPH over the posted limit, nor do I have any plans to start.

    I started my career in what used to be referred to as “The Speed Trap of Alabama” in the former town of Wilmer, Alabama in West Mobile County. The mayor wad council were as bad or worse than any ever depicted in any movie.

    They wanted selective traffic enforcement, that is to say, they wanted ounly those from out of town written citations. They also had PVC pipe in the ground so they could move the speed limit signs whenever it pleased them to do so. I wouldn’t play their game and was therefore terminated. They were disbanded by the Alabama Legislature about 6 months after I was fired.

    I don’t write speeding citations to anyone going down hill unless its extremely foggy, which DOES make it dangerous since they can’t se anyone exiting a driveway until too late to even slow down much less stop.

    I don’t hide, but sit in plain sight. Your definition of a “Speed Trap” is ridiculous. It cannot be a “trap” when you can plainly see it and it isn’t concealed in anyway. If I were to write citations to every driver who was driving in excess of the speed limit at any time and at any amount over the posted limit I’d write myself one at least 10 times a day.

    I’ve only known of one officer who was that anal and he was put on a code enforcement detail (measuring peoples’ grass to see if it’s over 8″, etc.) and he’s just as anal doing that.

    If you are dillusional enough to think that higher speed do not make a collision worse then I pity you. You have obviously lived a very sheltered life with absolutely no exposure to seeing the after effects of high spped collisions.

    Notice I didn’t say “accidents” do you know why? Because unless a tree falls on a car, or a rock falls down from above with no human having anything to do with it, it isn’t, by definition an “accident” but a “collision.”

    I will agree that speeding in and of itself does not constitute reckless behavior, but it can in certain circumstances, i.e. in heavy fog, in the rain (I also don’t write citations in the rain, because I don’t make traffic stoops in the rain).

    I have worked more collisions than I can possibly begin to count, and not a single one of them was made any better by either of the vehicles involved going too fast, higher sppeds always make collisons worse. It’s simple physics really.

    Oh yes, the state legislatures and/or city coucils pass the speed limits and every toher law, so don’t try to put it off on law enforcement, we’re paid to enforce the laws we don’t write them. And just so you know, I will not enforce a law I know is unethical, immoral or illegal, nor will I let those under me do it.

    Reply
31. James Young says:

    December 14, 2007 at 8:29 pm

    David writes:

    {I have NEVER in my 17 year career wrote anyone for running less than 15 MPH over the posted limit, nor do I have any plans to start.}

    Well, that’s a good start.
    {They also had PVC pipe in the ground so they could move the speed limit signs whenever it pleased them to do so.}

    Were they aware that this fails to comply with MUTCD and is therefore a violation of federal law?

    {I don’t hide, but sit in plain sight. Your definition of a “Speed Trap” is ridiculous. It cannot be a “trap” when you can plainly see it and it isn’t concealed in anyway.}

    Concealment is only one consideration of many. The real test is intent: is enforcement intended to raise revenue or not?

    {If you are dillusional enough to think that higher speed do not make a collision worse then I pity you. You have obviously lived a very sheltered life with absolutely no exposure to seeing the after effects of high spped collisions.}

    I don’t believe anybody has said that higher speed crashes are not worse than lower speed crashes, all conditions otherwise exactly the same. The claim has been for nearly 60 years that cars will crash more often at higher speeds than at lower speeds based solely on the extra speed. This is false, of course, and is demonstrated by the shape, direction and location of the crash incidence curve.

    Having worked in the emergency room of a major trauma hospital, I’m much too familiar with the effects of collisions.
    {. . .it isn’t, by definition an “accident” but a “collision.”}

    NHTSA uses “crash,” a neutral term describing the phenomenon without implicit prejudicial terminology. I have used crash for many years.
    {I will agree that speeding in and of itself does not constitute reckless behavior, but it can in certain circumstances, i.e. in heavy fog, in the rain }

    You are describing “speed too fast for conditions,” while the overwhelming majority of citations are for “speeding,” a completely different dynamic. More cops should make the distinction and behave accordingly.
    {Oh yes, the state legislatures and/or city coucils pass the speed limits and every toher law, so don’t try to put it off on law enforcement, we’re paid to enforce the laws we don’t write them.}

    I’d get rid of that phrase since it is trite to the point of meaninglessness.

    { And just so you know, I will not enforce a law I know is unethical, immoral or illegal, nor will I let those under me do it.}

    I applaud you for that. Given that posted limits require drivers to travel at less than their optimal and, therefore, safest speed, forcing them to the left and UP the crash incidence curve, is not the speed limit itself immoral because it condemns a certain number of persons to early death?

    Reply
32. Enoch Drebber says:

    December 16, 2007 at 11:26 am

    If speeding is unsafe then the penalty for speeding should be a loss of driving privileges for some period of time, not a fine. Fines don’t make the roads safer. Prohibiting unsafe drivers from driving makes the roads safer. If you’ve got the money, you might not mind paying fines for the privilege of driving fast.

    Reply
33. Ralph says:

    December 16, 2007 at 8:32 pm

    I appreciate that David doesn’t write tickets for going less than 15 mph over the limit. Seems to me that he uses some common sense when enforcing the speed limits. Which is good.

    He is right about police not the ones passing traffic laws. However, lawmakers rely heavily on police input. Especially on setting speed limits. So there is a lot of bias there.

    It is true that collisions at higher speeds make a bigger mess. But it is all relative. Really what is the end result of a vehicle hitting a brick wall going 55 mph or 85 mph?

    What should be considered is reaction time and road conditions.

    The city where I live close to the revenue from speeding tickets goes into the police fund. So you can be sure that they will be lobbying the police commission hard.

    David does make a point that it shouldn’t be called a speed trap. Duck pond would be more accurate.

    Usually they will park their units strategically so it makes it hard to notice until too late.

    Reply
34. H.E.Garz says:

    December 17, 2007 at 7:30 pm

    I have noticed and was astounded when I drove in another country and drivers adhered to the posted limit .
    It appears that everybody arrived at the destination on time provided he/she got up out the cot at the proper time.
    There were some , which did not and therefore sped to meet the deadline . THOSE did not bother the general traffic but disappeared beyond the horizon .
    Observation : It was civilized driving respecting others the right to occupy the roadway also . I saw no “law enforcement” personell!
    Even in the midst of heavy traffic in a ,to me, strange large city I had no problem merging traffic at any time !!!!
    In this here US we should learn to curb the macho syndrome.

    Reply
35. bones says:

    December 18, 2007 at 8:30 am

    in Florida there are no fines for unlawful speeds 1-5 mph over the speed limit.

    most of the officers i know won’t issue citations for less than 15mph over, and you would be really hard pressed to find anyone that has issued for less than 11mph(25 mph residential areas being the exception). the overall concensus is that anything less is not worth the effort.

    Reply
36. a new old cop says:

    December 18, 2007 at 10:07 pm

    There are WAY to many “blanket” statements on this website.

    Ralph wrote:

    “It is true that collisions at higher speeds make a bigger mess. But it is all relative. Really what is the end result of a vehicle hitting a brick wall going 55 mph or 85 mph?”

    It’s all relative, till it happens to one of your relatives.

    Walk into a wall, then run into the same wall. Come back and tell us if feel the difference.

    Reply
37. James Young says:

    December 18, 2007 at 11:14 pm

    anoc writes:

    {There are WAY to many “blanket” statements on this website.}

    Kind of like “Speed kills.”

    {It’s all relative, till it happens to one of your relatives.
    Walk into a wall, then run into the same wall. Come back and tell us if feel the difference.}

    This ignores the reality that obtains in modern automobiles. We have done much to mitigate the damage done when a car crashes: collapsible barriers, median barriers to separate on-coming traffic, breakaway signage, collapsible steering columns, airbags, flat and soft surfaces replacing formerly pointed surfaces, etc. And we have done even more to prevent crashes in the first place: radial-ply tires, disk brakes, precision steering, brighter and more precise lighting, rumble strips, reflective paint, etc.

    Why have we done all these things? So that we could go faster because higher speeds have a pronounced utility, primarily in increased productivity. And then, LE tells us that we can’t use these higher speeds because they were unsafe for 1950s-era cars with balloon tires on two-lane roads.

    And then LE is befuddled when we think they’re full of crap.

    Reply
38. Ralph says:

    December 18, 2007 at 11:29 pm

    I guess if we were to follow new old cop’s argument to its logic conclusion – the speed limits would then be reduced to walking speeds.

    Also I would not wish an accident on anyone not just my relatives.

    The “speed kills” propaganda has been entrenched in our society by law enforcement and other so called safety groups for too long.

    For example: A vehicle going through a stop sign gets broadsided by another vehicle. Or a vehicle makes a lane change in front of another one forcing that vehicle off the road. The vehicle making the lane change and the one that blew the stop sign were traveling at lower speeds.

    In both cases it was the other drivers that were charged because they were going over the speed limit even they they did not cause the accident.

    Left turning vehicles causing accidents is another good example of this.

    This is what is actually happening, at least in the area where I live. The media or police will almost always report as being speed was a factor.

    Reply
39. Diane says:

    December 19, 2007 at 3:08 am

    My moto is not to drive any faster than the cops, and they all drive really fast in the Portland Oregon area, donut time you know. The law says speeding is illegal, it also states SLOWER traffic keep to the right. Few can read…

    Reply
40. Douglas Guerra says:

    December 20, 2007 at 8:33 pm

    I have a question:

    I am not a resident of the United States.
    I hold a US Passport with a German residency permit.
    I also hold a residency permit for Mexico.
    I have a German driving license.
    My car is registered in Mexico.

    What are the ramifications if I receive a Speeding Ticket in a State such as Texas or Colorado, do not pay the Ticket and I never return to that State? If I am stopped in another State, is there a record of that ticket in some sort of data base? Will the police of the other State jail me and make me pay the original State? I have been told, Traffic Tickets are Infractions – an offence for which one cannot be jailed.

    Just curious. I have asked this question on other sites but no one can or is willing to give me any insight.

    Reply
41. Bruce Grossheim says:

    December 22, 2007 at 12:48 pm

    Most of you never heard of Mishicot Wisconisn. With one cop thats everywheres at once.Where speed limits go from 45 to 25 mph at either end of town. Theres three ways into town and there all down hill. No Mercy..Bruce

    Reply
42. John Holmes says:

    December 24, 2007 at 10:18 am

    I think some of these places get listed just because a person got cited for a speeding violation. Spent 30 years in Law Enforcement of which 7 were traffic enforcement. At that time Wisconsin was 65 daytime, 55 night and semis 45 day and night. Talk about giving breaks. Some of the counties and cities listed in some of the states I spend considerable time in and you alsmost never see a radar car. Most speed enforcement comes in spurges when Federal Grant monies are paying overtime. In the old days the traffic violations I wrote were 85% of the fine went to the state school fund 15% to the county the violation ocurred in. That’s the way it should have been left.

    Reply
43. Mark says:

    December 24, 2007 at 10:26 am

    The Massachusetts State Police this week publicly announced they would be giving out more speeding tickets because of money the state has lost in other areas. You notice they didn’t say they were giving out speeding tickets for safety reasons. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

    Reply
44. Mike Cantwell says:

    December 28, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    Dave wrote on Dec 14:

    “If you are dillusional enough to think that higher speed do not make a collision worse then I pity you. You have obviously lived a very sheltered life with absolutely no exposure to seeing the after effects of high spped collisions.”

    The death rate on the German Autobaun is actually lower then the death rate on US highways. Most of the Autobaun does not have a speed limit. This is because Germany concentrates their efforts on safety and training, not tax revenue.

    I worked as an EMT many years ago. Drunks have the highest accident rate, while reasonable speeders had the lowest rate of accidents. Injuries and death rarely correlated to the speed. I understand the general theory, but it really doesn’t correlate to reality as often as the “experts” tell you it does.

    Reply
45. Joe Bleaux says:

    December 30, 2007 at 11:17 am

    In a democratic country, officials are elected to pass laws. We are then expected to live by those laws. This has worked very well for a long time. Now we have people who think we should make our own laws if we aren’t happy with the ones we have. I’m pretty sure when a person robs a convenience store, he feels that’s o.k. because he needs whatever they have. According to some of you, he should have the right to decide. Every day as I’m driving, I just shake my head at the cars that are speeding badly and wonder where the police are, so I’m sure only a tiny percentage of the speeders are being caught. However, if you take the threat of being caught away, I shudder to think what our roads would be like. Also, some of the fastest drivers I see appear to be some of the worst drivers, so don’t think because you feel you should be able to break the speed limits that this makes you a good driver. Mostly, it just makes you a self-centered selfish idiot. Just remember that the rest of us have to drive on the same road with you.

    Reply
46. James Young says:

    December 30, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    Joe Bleaux writes:

    {In a democratic country, officials are elected to pass laws. We are then expected to live by those laws. This has worked very well for a long time. Now we have people who think we should make our own laws if we aren’t happy with the ones we have. I’m pretty sure when a person robs a convenience store, he feels that’s o.k. because he needs whatever they have. According to some of you, he should have the right to decide.}

    Aside from the philosophical errors and the egregious conflation of speeding with robbery, this is just plain wrong.

    {However, if you take the threat of being caught away, I shudder to think what our roads would be like.}

    This has been done in a couple of places, further examined by some academic studies. According to the USDOT, drivers do not significantly change their driving habits (including choice of speed) in response to changes in the posted limits or the level of enforcement. We know that when Montana rescinded its numerical limit in favor of R&P, the fatality rate continued its decline but when they re-instated a 75 mph limit, the fatality rate went up. We also know that the fatality rate along the autobahn is just slightly lower than US Interstates. Your fear is not justified.

    { Mostly, it just makes you a self-centered selfish idiot. Just remember that the rest of us have to drive on the same road with you.}

    And our speeding does not affect you at all. You need not take any actions solely because of my speed. All you have to do is to stay in the far right lane, just as the law requires, yet you selfishly want to control my behavior.

    Reply
47. Joe Bleaux says:

    December 30, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    {All you have to do is to stay in the far right lane, just as the law requires, yet you selfishly want to control my behavior.}
    The law requires that slower traffic stay in the far right lane. By your reasoning, I should do as the law REQUIRES and stay in the right lane even if I’m doing the speed LIMIT so as to make room for all the people who are BREAKING the law. Rather bizarre reasoning, I must say. How can I be slower traffic if I am doing the speed LIMIT?!

    Aside from all this, roads are not 4 lanes or more. Just a few days ago, I was passed by one of those great drivers on a 2 lane road. It happened that another vehicle was entering the road just ahead. Maybe both were at fault, but the vehicle entering the road didn’t stop, neither did the one passing. The only thing that prevented a terrible collision was by some hard braking on my part. I’m sure the person passing thinks he is a wonderful driver. By the way, I was doing just over the speed limit when he started to pass. This may not be relevant to the argument you’re making, but it should sense you seem to be saying that everyone should make their own driving laws.

    Reply
48. NeverLift says:

    December 31, 2007 at 3:23 pm

    The rule about “slower” traffic staying to the right is independent of the speed limit. Even where there are no limits, it is still the best practice. The safest speed is the prevailing speed, when there is other traffic by which to determine that and, on the typical California freeway, excluding times when they are jammed up, it is usually 5 to 10 mph over the limit. I occasionally ride as a passenger with a driver who will do just under the limit in the #3 lane (second from the left) of a four lane freeway, being passed on both sides about every 30 seconds, and it is a terrifying experience.

    “Slower,” with regard to staying to the right, has nothing to do with the speed you are doing relative to the limit. Indeed, unless you are in an entry congested section of a freeway, you should always be in the righmost available lane, at whatever speed you are traveling. “Available” does not mean darting in and out of the right hand lane to skip past other vehicles, when that lane is intermittently occupied; use common sense.

    BTW: If you try driving at below high spped in the left lane of a German autobahn, you are very likely to be rear-ended in a serious crash, since the higher speed drivers will use their flashing lights rather than brake for you, expecting that you will move over. Unless you were passing another even slower vehicle at that time, you had no business being in that lane in the first place, and will probably be judged to be the cause of any resulting accident — even though another vehicle ran into you! And you were.

    Reply
49. NeverLift says:

    December 31, 2007 at 3:27 pm

    PS: My screen name derives from my practice in road racing, at places like Sears Point (now Infineon), and Laguna Seca. On the freeways, it’s “Rarely Lifts”. The lifting, of course, refers to my foot on the throttle.

    Reply
50. pillsbury says:

    January 2, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    Dear Mr. j.Wilson and Mr. hubcap -
    dont speed and cant get a ticket?
    On November 23rd near Lumberton N.C., I
    was traveling northbound on I95 and was ticketed for going 78 in a 65 zone. Problem
    is, I had my cruise set on 65 and was paying attention. The h.p. clocked another h.p. on the southbound side and burnt me for it.
    It ONLY cost me $300 bucks.
    You can observe speed limits and still git burnt.
    trust me — its all about the
    MONEY !!!!!

    Reply