Speed Trap, USA
 

I'm still incredulous at getting a speeding ticket in one of the known speed trap capitals of the US: Selma, Texas. :eek: I had no idea they camp out in the bushes on the access road of IH-35 just waiting for unsuspecting cars like me to come along out of the shopping mall! Clocked at 59 in a 45 mile per hour zone. The cop called me Ma'am alot and told me 3 times to just ask the judge for deferred adjudication. I asked him what is deferred adjudication? You see, I really don't know about these things! He couldn't articulate what that meant but again told me to just ask the judge for it.
After asking numerous opinions, everyone advised me not to even try to talk this city's judge, just pay the fine and take defensive driving. I'm now $90 lighter and have 90 days to complete the course.

Does this feeling :eek: ever go away? :(

Driving Like A Little Old Lady in the Fog,

mrspilot

You were doing 60 coming out of a shopping mall? In Connecticut you would have been $300 or $400 lighter.

Cordelli, The shopping mall entrance/exit driveway connects directly onto the access road parallel to the interstate. I was getting up speed to enter the ramp onto the interstate (where the speed limit is 70). According to rates in your locale, it sounds like I got a bargain! ;)

Counting My Blessings in the Fog,

mrspilot

Yeah good ole Selma Texas. They used to have that fake police station right there of the highway I believe. I think it is either a Hooters or a rudi's. I can't remember right now.

Defered ajudication is like probation. Follow the terms in the jurisdiction you were caught in and the ticket goes away. Each area had different terms. If the cop told you to ask for it that means that it is standard practise there so it would have been ok. With the cop saying that it appears the speeding tickets are nothing more than revenue generators :mad: :( That is such crap.

Myefre, Yes, it's a HOOTERS. My recent change in their coffers probably bought the next round of wings for the court. :rolleyes:

Paying for Hooters in the Fog,

mrspilot

In TX every highway has an access road you have to use to get to the on-ramp. There is pretty much NO merge lane once the on-ramp gets to the highway, maybe 20 feet... :eek:

Takes some getting used to, and is why people do 60 on the access roads... ;)

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mrspilot: Where are Marion & Selma, TX? :confused:

It does annoy me that people complain when they break laws who's main purpose is to protect them. If DUI was not illegal, would you do it ? Certainly not ! Then why speed ?

So where is the problem? I have absolutely none with people unable to follow minor laws subsidising my taxes. ;)

Big difference: DUI is dangerous. Speeding, in itself, is not - especially the sort of speeding being described by the OP here.

We've just had some new road accident statistics in the UK. Cut short, speed camera numbers are up, enforcement stringency is up, fines are up.

Speeds are down.

Fatalities are up.

Police are always hiding in the bushes looking for speeders----even outside Selma, TX! ;) Are you really that surprised?

Three words: Ohio State Troopers

For as long as I can remember Ohio has a zero tolerance policy. If you're doing 62 in a 60, you get a ticket.

At least you got an offer of a break.

I asked for deferred judification once without ever seeing the judge in my home town in Texas; I just asked the clerk for details and she asked the judge for me and gave me a phone call later.

They usually make the defensive driving and deferred judification cost about the same one way or another.

In my deferred program, all I had to do was not get another traffic ticket in the same (small) town for 3 or 6 months and since I was about to move away to college so that was no big deal.

Maybe you can get an insurance discount for proving that you completed the course? That would only work if they sent you 2 original certificates.

In some states it's illegal for them to hide behind signs, bushes, etc...

True, but they still do it. Who's teh judge going to believe? You, or the cop?

Speeder: "But Your Honor, he was hiding behind a tree"

Judge: "Officer Bumpkin, were you hiding behind a tree?"

Officer: "No, your honor."

Judge: "You admit you were speeding, and the Officer was not behind a tree. Guilty, and now you can add court costs to your now higher fine. The town thanks you for your donation!"

Speeding tickets are nothing more than a revenue enhancer. The Cops have no interest in protecting motorists in these cases, just raising money for their employer. If safety was their concern, they would limit themselves to going after those operating their vehicles unsafely, such as weaving into and out of lines at high speed, tailgating, etc., and leave the guy going 20 mph over the limit, but minding his own business alone.

Cops who do this are useless scum and just create more animosity between the public and law enforcement.