Brain fart (OT)

Today I was driving home and found myself in a rather pensive mood. My brain
wass seemingly stopping on random topics and paying them much more attention
than usual. So now as I sit listening to some Blue Oyster Cult, I submit for
your consideration some of my thoughts....

-- Why is it I can't remember when Daylight Savings Time is (Spring forward,
Fall back), but I know that bars close at 12:00 on Thursdays, 1:00 on
Fridays and at 2:00 on Saturdays? And I've seemingly *always* known that! --

-- Why don't we have some universal sign to indicate speed traps (for those
on some other pond or planet or just a really bad trip, a "speed trap" is a
certain stretch of road that is a kill zone for anyone driving even a mile
over the speed limit, you're 99% likely to get a ticket in this area)? I
mean, every one knows where they are, and they tell their family and
friends. Heck, everytime they are riding in a car with another person, they
will proclaim "Gotta be careful here, this here's a damned speed trap,
sherif'll get ya every time, yes sir!" .

So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other drivers?
switching to Meatloaf on the media player "But if everyone knows about the
signs, won't the cops know, too?!" you ask? Yes, the cops will know about
it, and they'll take the signs down, but then you go put another one up,
etc. As long as you make the signs relatively simple and inexpensive (say, a
deflated yellow balloon tied around a tree), then they are easily
replaceable. A little internet marketing and soon the signs begin appearing
nationwide! {warning: hanging these signs may get you in trouble with irate
police officers whom know they've been fooled!}. --

That's all I can remember thinking about. It's not *that* long of a drive
home!

Stacey

Stacey wrote

So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other drivers?

The police in England prosecute you for this.

--
David Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails welcome
Nanki Poo: SI Bp+W B 10 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P B+ PA+ PL+ SC
Minke: SI W+Cp B 1 Y++ L-- W- C+

So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other
drivers?

The police in England prosecute you for this.

And they ticket you for it in the US. A driver I spoke to last year was
ticketed for flashing his headlights at an oncoming car to warn him of a
speedtrap he was approaching.

Dan Mahoney wrote:
So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other
drivers?


The police in England prosecute you for this.


And they ticket you for it in the US. A driver I spoke to last year was
ticketed for flashing his headlights at an oncoming car to warn him of a
speedtrap he was approaching.


In our city the police actually list all the next days' speed
camera locations during the TV news the night before. They don't
say exactly what times the cameras will be there - the idea is
that if drivers know that a camera will be in each spot at some
time during the day, they'll hopefully slow down there all day.
Helen Wheels

-- Why don't we have some universal sign to indicate speed traps (for those
on some other pond or planet or just a really bad trip, a "speed trap" is a
certain stretch of road that is a kill zone for anyone driving even a mile
over the speed limit, you're 99% likely to get a ticket in this area)? I
mean, every one knows where they are, and they tell their family and
friends. Heck, everytime they are riding in a car with another person, they
will proclaim "Gotta be careful here, this here's a damned speed trap,
sherif'll get ya every time, yes sir!" .


Aww, heck Stacey. If it weren't for our statewide-famous speed trap (and the
annual Watermelon Festival)....Nowheresville, USA where I live wouldn't have
any revenue to run the town. Honest, it's that bad. BTW, last month they
collected $28,000 revenue from the speed trap. LOL.

Sherry

"Helen Wheels" wrote in message
...
Dan Mahoney wrote:
So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other
drivers?


The police in England prosecute you for this.


And they ticket you for it in the US. A driver I spoke to last year was
ticketed for flashing his headlights at an oncoming car to warn him of a
speedtrap he was approaching.


In our city the police actually list all the next days' speed
camera locations during the TV news the night before. They don't
say exactly what times the cameras will be there - the idea is
that if drivers know that a camera will be in each spot at some
time during the day, they'll hopefully slow down there all day.

Yup, they do a similar thing here as well. If you tune into the the local
radio, they'll tell you where the 'mobile' speed cameras are. And you'd have
to blind to miss the permantly installed ones - they *have* to have big fat
signs notifying all and sundry that they are there and what the speed limit
is. Ditto with red light cameras - they are always marked as well.

The idea being that the point of the cameras is not to give you a ticket, or
raise revenue or keep the police busy, but to save lives via the prevention
of stupidity. As the cops say, the day there are no speeding tickets or
other traffic infringements is a very happy day for the police - it means
that they've finally done their job and that everyone should have got to
their destination safely.

Yowie

"Yowie" wrote in message
news:btipfe$790mv$1@ID-
The idea being that the point of the cameras is not to give you a
ticket, or
raise revenue or keep the police busy, but to save lives via the
prevention
of stupidity. As the cops say, the day there are no speeding tickets
or
other traffic infringements is a very happy day for the police - it
means
that they've finally done their job and that everyone should have got
to
their destination safely.

Yowie


Horray! Speeding traps are a pain in our asses but for the most part,
it's all well and good. However! There have been some small towns in
Louisiana whose Sheriff departments have been caught and officials
reprimanded for some of the things they do in the traps. Mostly it was
some deputy that was sitting right at the speed sign. Example you'd be
on a highway booking it along at 55, hit a 35 mph speed limit and before
you had time to hit the breaks bam! These little towns that survive only
because a major highway ran through the town were forced to place
warning! reduced speed signs up. It wasn't so bad for us locals who
*knew* that the tiny TINY town was there, but for the non-locals who
were just passing through had hell to pay on a routine basis.

Dateline (USA tabloid (usually respectable) tv show) ran an episode how
southern louisiana sheriff depts. would pull over out of state tagged
cars and shake them down, impounding vehicles and taking the driver's
money. They caught a couple vacationers and stripped them of everything.
All in the name of "suspected drug runners". It's been a long while but
if memory serves well, it was only one department and I think it was
blown somewhat out of proportion after several retellings.

Horray! Speeding traps are a pain in our asses but for the most part,
it's all well and good. However! There have been some small towns in
Louisiana whose Sheriff departments have been caught and officials
reprimanded for some of the things

Speed traps *should* be to slow people down and make the road safer, not a
source of revenue.
That's an awful story about the small-town cops. Unfortunately, we have our
share off overzealous Officer Bubbas around here, too. My DH got stopped for no
tag light in a neighboring town, and ended up in JAIL, all because of an error
the officer made when he ran the tag. He ran the wrong numbers. All we got was
an apology from the chief of police and city manager. We lost an entire day's
pay over it, and they lost his driver's license on top of that, so that was
another 20 bucks to replace them. Truly the biggest bunch of morons I've ever
encountered in my life.

Sherry

Helen Wheels wrote
Dan Mahoney wrote:
So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other
drivers?


The police in England prosecute you for this.
And they ticket you for it in the US. A driver I spoke to last year
was ticketed for flashing his headlights at an oncoming car to warn
him of a speedtrap he was approaching.


In our city the police actually list all the next days' speed camera
locations during the TV news the night before. They don't say exactly
what times the cameras will be there - the idea is that if drivers know
that a camera will be in each spot at some time during the day, they'll
hopefully slow down there all day.

There's been a change in attitude in GB over the last year or so. The
view is growing that speed cameras are meant to deter rather than catch.

I got caught about six weeks ago. As I went from a 40 limit to a 30
limit and came round a corner I was caught doing 38 or so by a camera
invisible because of the corner. I think that one is designed to catch!

--
David Stevenson Storypage: http://blakjak.com/sty_menu.htm
Liverpool, England, UK Emails welcome
Nanki Poo: SI Bp+W B 10 Y L+ W++ C+ I T+ A- E H++ V- F Q P B+ PA+ PL+ SC
Minke: SI W+Cp B 1 Y++ L-- W- C+

in article , Helen Wheels at
wrote on 1/7/04 10:42 PM:

Dan Mahoney wrote:
So why don't we share the bounty of our speed trap knowledge by
surreptitiously placing visible warnings for the benefit of other
drivers?


The police in England prosecute you for this.


And they ticket you for it in the US. A driver I spoke to last year was
ticketed for flashing his headlights at an oncoming car to warn him of a
speedtrap he was approaching.


In our city the police actually list all the next days' speed
camera locations during the TV news the night before. They don't
say exactly what times the cameras will be there - the idea is
that if drivers know that a camera will be in each spot at some
time during the day, they'll hopefully slow down there all day.
Helen Wheels

Yeah, they do that here too.

Karen