Speeding cushion may dwindle due to recession

Speeding

www.usatoday.com

The recession may be claiming a new victim: the 5-10-mph "cushion" police and state troopers across the USA have routinely given motorists exceeding the speed limit.

As cities and states scramble to fill budget gaps with revenue from traffic citations, "not only are the (speeding) tolerances much lower, but the frequency of a warning instead of a ticket is way down," says James Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers' rights group that helps its members fight speeding tickets.

"Most people, if they're stopped now, are getting a ticket ev

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Mod edit: Fixed title problem caused by single quotes in the original source title. -- Majic

[edit on 4/1/2010 by Majic]

Increasing police state, economic upheaval and drained state government coffers.

One thing's for sure: Avoid exceeding the speed limit, at all costs. You never know an unmarked cop car would pull you over.

Your car's cruise control would help, if you're on a highway.

www.usatoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I guess this means next time i get caught at 130 I won't get off with a warning.

Weak.

In my driver's ed course the test stated that if you broke any law of driving you immediately fail. There was a buffer of 5mph on the speed limit so one could go 50 in a 45 etc and not fail.

So tell me why they all of a sudden wish to withdrawal that buffer??

Such tyranny!!

Originally posted by TheBloodRed
In my driver's ed course the test stated that if you broke any law of driving you immediately fail. There was a buffer of 5mph on the speed limit so one could go 50 in a 45 etc and not fail.

So tell me why they all of a sudden wish to withdrawal that buffer??

Such tyranny!!

Not tyranny, money! They want you to continue driving the way you do so they can issue you a ticket. The 5 mph cushion is just a courtesy that police usually give. But now that money is tight I can totally understand why they would suddenly crack down on this. Just like with the red light cameras - the things worked too well. In Dallas, they had to turn many of them off because they were actually preventing speeders and red light runners and it was seriously cutting into their fine revenues. How utterly stupid is that?

Warnings? What are those?

Wait, I think I remember those from about 15 years ago. A cop would stop you, ask to search your vehicle, then let you go with a "warning" when nothing of interest was found; however, last I knew those went the way of the dodo over a decade ago (unless, of course, you were a female who could cry at will, or had a nice chest).

Sorry, but for the average male "warnings" have been a thing of the past for a loooong time.

The cushion is in place because many radar & lasers accuracy is 1 - 3 mph and not all cars have a perfectly accurate speedometer. Thus most police agencies will not give out tickets for less then 3 mph over because it will not stand up in court - except the corrupt little towns of course.

I think less than 5 is more accurate in most areas where the speed is under 25-45 mph. On highways many state patrols tend to give people nearly 10 mph cushion. People are not robots cars, conditions, traffic and other variables keep people from being perfectly accurate all the time. Sure people take advantage of that but then they have to drive perfect to keep from getting a ticket. The cushion is in place for those who make an effort to go the speed limit.

Most of the difference is not that the cushion has been lowered, but that they don't give out warnings anymore they write tickets. When the last head of state patrol took over in my state that was his first change, no more warnings.

We do need them out there to keep really dangerous people in check, but sadly the caveat is they're not much different than bandits or tax collectors of the past who would hide near the entrances to towns in order to relieve people of their earnings on technicalities to provide greedy overspending tyrants with more revenue so they don't have to become fiscally responsible.

Robbery by paid government agents (LEO's) has the same effect of robbery by private thugs. Your pockets will be empty and if you don't comply they'll beat you or kill you. One works for the state the other works for themselves.

[edit on 1-4-2010 by verylowfrequency]

I always keep 2-3 MPH under the speed limit, especially when they're sitting off to the side of the road waiting. They're not getting a penny of my minimal dollars. I find it ironic that 2010 is the year when Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have a Robin Hood movie coming out this year. Perhaps that story of resistance to tyranny will inspire people. Robin Hood and his band of woodsmen were my first heroes.

Freeways are frickin dangerous! IMO this is a good thing maybe if more people stay with in the posted limits things will be a little bit safer out there. Now for non highway speeds there should be a small cushion.

Ok, now this is where I see the beginning of a police state.

The 5-10 mph overage is a socially accepted norm. People on the road don't care.

The reason you will get pulled over going 20 over is because the other drivers on the road find it reckless. That's the way I see it. In fact, a law is a law because the people decide it is not acceptable in their society.

If this is enforced, it will cause major outrage.

Not to mention it will only reinforce the opinion that police are useless. They already spend less time fighting serious crime, now they are going to be spending even more time enforcing less serious crime.

If I get ticketed for going 5 over, they won't be getting any money from me.