RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Offtopic - speeding now

["Ross, Matthew" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> Sure, but sometimes you'll be on a straight divided road with 
> three lanes
> in each direction, nice smooth concrete, and the speed limit 
> is 30 mph.
> You go 45 and get a ticket -- they just sit there waiting for you.

I've not seen that bad of a case, but there are places where local politics has turned it into a speed trap. Particularly southern Missouri small towns. Never go more than 3 mph over in those towns, they make their living off tourists driving through who don't have time to contest the tickets.

> I got one for going 79 in a 70.  I didn't think they did that!

They do pull over for that, but they usually try for the worse offenders. Could have been just a slow day. Less than 6mph over though, the cop has something against you personally. Their radar is accurate nowadays, but speedometers vary, so they don't bother too much with 5mph offenses.

> Another thing -- the same road in different states would have 
> different
> speed limits.  So my 79 was on I-90 in Minnesota, but if I'd 
> been in South
> Dakota, the speed limit would have been 75 and I'd have been 
> over by only
> 4 mph.

Or different cities. Driving to Branson is hell. 70mph for a half hour, then a small town comes into sight, 60mph, then 45, then 30, then 45, then 70, repeat.

> To go 20 mph over the limit might *sound* dangerous.  But an ordinary
> highway in an unpopulated area will sometimes have a speed 
> limit of 55 and
> sometimes 75 depending on the jurisdiction.  Going 20 over in 
> the 75 would
> be much more dangerous than going 20 over in the 55.  "Speeding" is a
> function of two things:  Your speed and their law.  And 
> sometimes the law
> is set up just to make money for the community (the so-called "speed
> trap").

True, in some cases. When a highway suddenly drops to 30 mph through Podunk, Missouri - it's for revenue alone. Not all the 55's are 55 because of jurisdiction though. Some are for worse roads, or roads not designed for those speeds, or worse yet, a lot of intersections. A lot of those 55mph highways have people's driveways or private roads connecting to them in bad locations, such as right after a curve. They do make great places for patrol cars to park though...

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