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There's a couple of definitions of what a Speed Traps are. But the one I am talking about is the one where (99% of the time) a motorcycle cop is hiding around a bend, by bushes, etc - where he's not visible, until it's too late. And he has his radar gun looking for people speeding.

What are your thoughts on this? Should they be sitting there, waiting for people to speed? Should they be hidden? Should they be in the open? Should they be driving around the freeway? Should they be better off paroling neighborhoods?

Huge List of Speed Traps. I ask not because I got nailed recently. But because there's a stretch of the 125 to 52 Freeway where there's four spots where there's a 95% chance of a cop being in one of those spots. I am familiar with them, so I always slow down around there. But it just got me thinking how if these cops were actually patrolling neighborhoods rather than sitting on their arses waiting for someone to be doing 80mph rather than 65mph, there's be less break ins, more control, etc. Just seems like busting someone for speeding is not as important as maybe patrolling a neighborhood. I can see being at these speed traps every so often - once a week, once every few weeks - but almost every day?

There is a difference between generating revenue and controlling traffic speed. Nothing will slow down traffic like a visible cop. Speed traps can and have been ruled entrapment.

I don't know how it all works behind the scenes but it is an organized 'business' so to speak and the employees (cops) do need to get paid. Whether there's a quota or not, it seems like issuing a ticket is easier and faster than going out, driving around neighborhoods and looking for people that are up to no good.

It's kind of like shopping on the internet: scrolling through pages of items and clicking the ones you want instead of getting in your car, driving to the mall, going to different stores, and picking out something you like. It's easier to scroll through pages (watching cars go by) than going from store to store (neighborhood to neighborhood) and finding what they need to find.

That's my assumption, of course.

In Baton Rouge, cops know very damn well not to be on the roads during rush hour because it is literally bumper to bumper. A usual 25 minute drive home takes an hour and it is very very very rare to see a cop on the side of the highway looking for speeders - it's probably because we're all going 10 MPH!

Louisiana came out with a few new laws that will NEVER be put into action. One of them is a ban on "rolling road blocks" where people fart around in the passing lane, blocking the flow of traffic. I see this every day multiple times and I've yet to see someone get pulled over for it.

Collector wrote:There is a difference between generating revenue and controlling traffic speed. Nothing will slow down traffic like a visible cop. Speed traps can and have been ruled entrapment.

See, that makes more sense to me is having a visible cop. But literally these are hidden cops. In some cases, they hide on the oncoming merging lane of a freeway (so you can't see them), and have their radar guns pointed at the lanes as they pass. I will try to get some pictures of what I am talking about. There's about eight notorious spots I know of.

Jules wrote:I don't know how it all works behind the scenes but it is an organized 'business' so to speak and the employees (cops) do need to get paid. Whether there's a quota or not, it seems like issuing a ticket is easier and faster than going out, driving around neighborhoods and looking for people that are up to no good.

But isn't it a cop's duty to protect and serve? Not to sit on their duff waiting for someone to break the speed limit? I'd much rather have Officer Friendly patrolling my neighborhood and keeping my house safe, than spending 99.99% of his time sitting on his bike, eating a sammich, with his radar gun pointed at traffic (all the while carefully hidden around a bend, bush, or freeway exit).

Like I said, in the case of speed traps - I don't mind them occassionally being there. But I kid you 9 out of 10 times, there's a cop in one of the five spots (the bush, the bend, the freeway entrance, or the other bend) - all within the span of about 3 miles of freeway.

That site is great! I looked up Houston and sure enough, I recognized all of those "speed traps."

The two I distinctly remember is this one and that one. Everything written there is true, although whoever wrote the latter entry forgot to mention that speed trap is right near the high school I went to. Even so, the police there pulled EVERYONE over.

No student in that school ever graduated without getting at least one ticket. I got one for going ONE MILE over the speed limit FIVE MINUTES before the school zone ended. Plus, school had been let out for over an hour. Why was I there so late? I just got out of detention, but I didn't tell the cop that.

Here is the main one I was discussing - and it even says within it "They are there usually 3-4 times per week at various times during the day. For the most part, the 125 from Mission Gorge Rd to I-8 is one big speed trap."

Well, there ARE cops assigned to traffic duty. Some are definitely overzealous, but once they find a place where lots of people speed, they tend to set up shop there. It makes sense from their point of view.

There's a street in Houston called Briar Forest. It's listed on one of those links I posted. The speed limit is set way below what the street could handle and cops love sitting there.

One time they tried to MAKE my Dad and I speed. We were driving home (in two separate cars) on Briar Forest. Well, four cops drove up near us and hung around, more or less circling us and trying to make us speed up so they could pull us over. At first they were focusing on me, so my Dad sped up a little (still under the speed limit) and they left me and went to him. This didn't stop until we got home.

DeadPoolX wrote: There's a street in Houston called Briar Forest. It's listed on one of those links I posted. The speed limit is set way below what the street could handle and cops love sitting there.

One time they tried to MAKE my Dad and I speed. We were driving home (in two separate cars) on Briar Forest. Well, four cops drove up near us and hung around, more or less circling us and trying to make us speed up so they could pull us over. At first they were focusing on me, so my Dad sped up a little (still under the speed limit) and they left me and went to him. This didn't stop until we got home.

At that point it's harassment. And you need to break out the camera phone and record it for legal action. You could even lie and say that you felt your life was in danger from these cops.

It's ridiculous.

I agree. Unfortunately, that occurred before cell phones came with cameras or at least, before it became widely available. So there wouldn't have been ANY proof.

Once my sister was driving along a rural stretch of four lane highway at night when someone started tailgating her with the brights on. At first she she slowed down to get him to pass her, but he didn't. Next, she sped up to get away from him. It turned out to be a county deputy sheriff who then pulled her over for speeding.

Some time later, I happened to be driving down the same stretch of road at night, when, guess what, someone started tailgating me with the brights on. Mindful of what she went through, I slowed down to let the car pass. Of course it did not, so I slowed down to the minimum legal speed and it still did not pass. I then decided to take the next exit ramp. It was another deputy sheriff and that's when he decided to pull me over. I guess he thought he had a drunk, even though I was stone cold sober, but when he asked me in a very nasty manner why I was going so slow, I flat out told him that I was trying to get him to pass so he would quit tailgating me with his brights on. At this point he realized that I had caught him with his pants down, his arrogance turned to him being profusely apologetic. About the most blatant case of attempt of entrapment you could ask for, but I didn't fall for it.

That said, I looked at that speed trap site and saw a couple of spots that I know of. I would not call them speed traps. The city police can often be seen there, but out in the open. These are places that people often tend to speed, The cops are just trying to get drivers to not excessively speed. You can go past them at 5 miles over the limit and they won't even look at you more than a minute or so. They only go after the ones going more than 10 miles over.

I don't think it's a money issue. Those radar cameras they set up probably catch 10 times more speeders in a fraction of the same time. And as said, a visible cop is a better deterrent against speeding. My ultimate guess is that cops are still following old practices, and often question the logic of it themselves. I know some rig workers around here are still following a guidebook from the 1970's - I wouldn't be surprised if cops were too.

Although other times, I think they might be scoping out a location just to determine how bad the traffic situation is. I once got caught at a "yield-trap" where all they were doing was looking for people who were yielding at a stop sign. A few weeks later, someone installed traffic lights at that intersection.

Do they still make radar detectors? I remember my Dad having one all through the 1980s and the early 1990s.

yes they still make them...
http://www.compusa.com/applications/Sea ... r+detector

I have mixed feelings about speed traps. On the one hand, if they're hidden like that, then it does seem a little nefarious. On the other hand, people speeding are breaking the law so can't really complain about getting caught.

I was going to start theorising about the inner workings of the police departments and stuff, but I can't be bothered this late in the conversation, so I'll leave it that. I suppose that makes my entire post kind of pointless, but oh well.

Maiandra wrote:On the other hand, people speeding are breaking the law so can't really complain about getting caught.

I guess Vancouver drivers haven't received that memo yet. It's amazing, the drivers here think they're on a race track.