Even better – from a certain point-of-view – than a radar trap based on an under-posted speed limit is a radar trap with a changing speed limit. One that can be dumbed-down at random and with no prior notice, at the whim of the same government workers who enforce the limits and profit from that enforcement.
It’s called Variable Speed Limits and the Feds – through the Department of Transportation – are not only encouraging the states to adopt them, they are bribing them to adopt them. Cue Dr. Evil voice – one billion dollars mulcted from taxpayers has been earmarked to mulct taxpayers a second time via “pilot” VSL programs – and at least nine states (New Jersey – naturally – but also Ohio, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Florida, Minnesota, Washington and Georgia) are already deploying VSL.
You may have already seen Variable Limits in action. Instead of the usual metal sign with whatever the number chosen at random happened to be at the time the sign was put up silk-screened permanently on it, an electronic sign – with a display that can be changed, literally, at the touch of a button.
At 4:30 p.m., the sign reads – as an example – 75 MPH. But at 4:33 p.m. (and just after you drove past it) the Oz who controls the sign decides the new speed limit shall be 65 MPH. Blink. Just like that, your moment-ago legal rate of travel has become illegal “speeding” – and not only are you subject to a ticket you are more likely to get a ticket because – as far as you know – you aren’t “speeding” and so why worry about that cop up ahead pointing his radar gun at you?
This gets into interesting turf.
The first is the element of intent, formerly a necessary thing to establish culpability; the idea that a person violated the law on purpose.
But in order for this to be a viable moral concept, the law has to be knowable. A law that is changeable is unknowable. It is – effectively – no law at all. It is the codified whim of whomever has the power to punish people for violating laws that are fundamentally unintelligible.
Kind of like tax law already is. If they want your money, they’ll find some justification to take your money. It’s not about “the law.” It’s about who has power – and is willing to use it.
The second thing has to do with the way speed limits are posted – or rather, are supposed to be posted.
What’s supposed to happen before a speed limit is posted is a traffic study. Monitors set up that observe and record the free-flow speed of traffic on a given stretch of road. The posted limit is supposed to be based on the free-flow speed of 85 percent of the traffic observed – the 85th percentile speed – so that most traffic isn’t “speeding.”
The idea being that most people naturally drive at reasonable speeds and that speed limits should parallel the organic flow of traffic.
That actually is the law.
It’s called the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (“uniform” italicized to emphasize uniformity – that a thing is consistent, the same), issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation to “… establish national standards for all traffic control devices, including road markings, highway signs and traffic signals.”
States and counties and cities and towns are supposed to use the MUTCD to set speed limits in accordance with the 85th percentile rule but that runs counter to the collection of revenue via “speeding” tickets, which is a major racket for states and counties and cities and towns all across the country.
Some towns and counties and even cities – Washington, DC is one – notoriously derive a shockingly large percentage of their annual budgets via roving road taxation; they police for profit. Which you’d think would register with people as a problematic conflict of interest, as regards their interests.
It’s remarkable that it – generally – does not.
Laws that are clearly designed to separate them from their money by dint of legislatively putting eight out of ten and usually more like nine out of ten people into the category of “violator” – by dint of limits set purposely below reasonable speeds, let alone the 85th percentile speed.
This Variable Speed Limit thing will net that tenth person. It will open up a whole new revenue stream by making it possible to issue “speeding” tickets at will to any driver – unless we all drive well below whatever the limit-for-the-moment happens to be. If the electronic sign says 65, drive 55 – in order to be within the safe zone (as far as being a target of the road tax) when Oz pushes the button and the limit drops to 55.
Now imagine Variable Speed Limits tied in with automated speed enforcement – the camera systems already in place in many states that don’t even require an armed government worker to do any work to separate you from your cash.
You unknowingly transgress the just-changed limit by 10 MPH and are duly processed by the speed camera a mile past the sign. A week or so later, you get an extortion note in the mail.
Pay up, chump.
Most of these automated ticket spewers are not subject to the once-mandatory rules of evidence, either. That is, it’s no longer the burden of the government to prove you did something but rather your burden to prove – to the satisfaction (usually, not) of an “administrative” bureaucrat that you did not.
All of this is already reality in the UK – the source waters for many of our policing for profit (and police state) woes.
As far as what can be done?
Just as it’s very sound policy to have a really good tax lawyer on retainer to deal with the IRS, you might want to acquire a really good radar detector. With speed limits changing at the whim of Oz, you might want to know where his flying monkeys might be lurking.
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Man, talk about Kafkaesque! That’s fucked up that this joke of a red light court doesn’t have to PROVE you were driving the car in the photo! The man made a reasonable request to dismiss the charge, since there was no way to prove that HE was operating the vehicle. WTF?
Eh gads, no wonder I hate driving now, a couple little indiscretions will bankrupt one, as I knock on the retirement age door, I realize in this great country you can never really quit if you are halfway honest.Dreamed a pleasant little dream this a.m.(after the probably fourth awakening) actually got to hug dear recently departed Uncle{seemed to be doing alright} being the executor of His estate has kept Me fairly occupied the last couple of months, didn’t realize until this morning how much I missed Him(old Korean War Vet and as cowboy as they come from the east coast).This poor Guy spent the last couple years of His life paying the Doctors(was mobile till the last)
Yes, Virginia, I believe the pitchforks will come out someday, this country with its safety obsession has become ludicrous.I wish you, free thinkers, well, Clover please rethink the “nanny state”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=XHbrOg092GA
I go in depth into what the real law in U.S. and Canada is, here: markwidmer.com/2017/07/rollback/ but truth seems to make people uncomfortable or something, and this situation of continuing outrageous infringements seems pretty hopeless.
All the continuing injustices including those of outrageous infringements will continue until the majority of us give up our hopeless tactic of remaining ignorant.
“until the majority of us give up our hopeless tactic of remaining ignorant.”
You first, Bill the Newstwit, or is it Former Newstwit? You’ve said that you had “a career in broadcasting”, which is usually how a newstwit refers to his occupation.
I bet you have never had an FCC licence, being too ignorant to pass the test.
Never had one, never wanted one. I’m not too ignorant to know an asshole when I see one, though. What do you want here, Bill? You’re an insufferable know it all and you obviously aren’t here to discuss anything, unless your idea of discussion involves being disagreeable.
Since you’re just trolling, I’m going to follow my rule of refusing to feed the trolls.
Getting something for nothing. It’s what puts the fun in fungible. Signs. Radars. Safety. Everything is Freeeeeeeee. That’s the wisdom of…
Techno Logic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MteSlpxCpo
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick, erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick, rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip, unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam, unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch, update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax, rename it,
Touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it.
Techno Logic.
Traffic signs are not silk-screened, they are made with decals of reflective material.
Eric, it’s barely believable but the b&c actually wanted to hear what you had to say on info wars. She says everything I say is a rant. Since you used no curse words, something I can’t seem to do on certain subjects, she was all ears and agreed with you.
Well, whatever. It was more than I could hope for so please, do more of these things. Much obliged.
8,
Since when has a rant required curse words?
Bill, since I started ranting.
Must have been very recently. Have you being doing that since you started talking, at what age?
Are you my psychologist now? I contend curse words have their place since they convey something not quite attainable in normal conversation.
I think of the phrase made famous in a movie that’s now common…..Fuck the Po leez Fuck the Po leez Fuck the Po leez!!! There’s just something in repeating that phrase that makes the intent known on a more personal level. I want to deny the police their powers over me just doesn’t have the same ring. FUCK THE PO LEEZ!!!!
How To Clover
Step 1 Believe that other people you’ve never met have an obligation to live the way you think best.
Step 2 Become afraid to do anything because someone might say you shouldn’t do that for some reason.
Step 3 Live as a do nothing know everything expert. Yell Reeeeee! when anyone says something or does anything of which you don’t approve.
Fuck The Po-Po – Corey Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YPc8FYA6D8
You missed that those rules apply both ways.
I don’t think I’m the only one here who thinks that system has failed completely.
And so I reject all of it wholesale. And do what I think is right, and turn a deaf ear to any who shout otherwise.
You may think it is all so solid and permanent. But consider that so did millions of smug Soviet faithful in September of 1991.
“Where’s my good old gang done gone?”
I heard a sad man say
I whispered in that sad man’s ear,
“Your gang’s done gone away”
Bokonon’s Hundred-and-Nineteeth Calypso
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Which is a lot like what millions of equally ignorant American jingoes did subsequent to September 11, 2001.
To my eyes, its gotten so dystopian, the best one can hope for is the Bannon-esque Jingoes somehow get the statist oxcart back on the road to serfdom before we all end up lying helplessly broken in the left barditch on the road to serfdom.
It’s awful hard fighting off a worldwide stampede of statist savages if you don’t even have any wagons left to circle.
The only thing that curse words convey is a juvenile vocabulary.
Bill, you are far from being a sheep, so please stop using one of their talking points.
There are so many that it is impossible to discern which one your lack of specificity refers to.
Statism and the Mythmakers of Authority writ large issue fatwas telling you which words are good and which are ungood. Fuck those assholes.
Is it not up to the individual to decide what is profane.
Sometimes I might use fuck, asshole, and other such words in an ordinary conversational tone, even around my wife.
I would argue they are often the most accurate word available.
Personally, I would never use the words c*nt or b*tch around any woman, that’s not who I choose to be as a human being.
But I would have no opinion of another man using such words or even worse, since I use “Live and Let Live” as my highest moral compass.
You have to remember that I had a career in broadcasting and I still use the broadcasting vernacular in public. I probably talk a lot like you do in private, but I’ll never get rid of the filter because it derides the objectivity of the speaker to use profanities when speaking as a professional newsperson. If speaking like a professional in a public venue is sheepish, I’ll have to plead nolo.
Hi Bill,
As a print guy (well, was) here’s my 50: The right word is the right word; if it’s a vulgar word, so be it. There are occasions when only a certain word will suffice.
“Dick,” for example.
And its female analog, “bitch.”
The key thing is to not use them exclusively or gratuitously!
Every damned thing I want to post WP thinks is spam……..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqveahM22GQ
Hi Eight,
I know the spam filter is a PITAS… but the upside is I am here all the time and regularly check posts; as soon as I see one held up in the queue, I approve it. Normally, a post is not there for very long…
ah hell eric, those who know me well only worry about me when I don’t bitch.
Which is only one reason why I wouldn’t use WP even if it was the last option. It reminds me of why I quit Wells-Fargo, which applied the same level of authentication to allow me to see my statement as it would if I wanted to move money to or from another account I never had. Since I checked my statements from library computers, it saw a different set of cookies every month, and had to be reset every month, to let me see something that couldn’t be edited anyway.
Damn, Bill. You use Google Chrome as your o/s of choice and also admit to having had an account with Wells Fargo. I might have to revise my estimate of you from “only recently awakened” to “still snoring blissfully”.
When a user gets the message “Your entry appears to be spam” they can’t post.
It’s not something you can fix on your end by checking the spam queue.
It’s something the user has to fix on his end. Until that happens, you are out of the loop.
Askimet isn’t allowing you any input in this case.
You’re using WordPress with Lane Keep Assist. Often times these days “assist” means total usurpation of your authority and discretion.
Using WordPress is a lot like working for Pravda.
Hi Bill (and others on this thread) –
I would dearly love to have a custom site built and have it administered full time by a computer maven. The problem is das gelt – or rather, its lack. I have to feed myself and the cats, keep a roof over all our heads. If I had extra to devote to the two agenda items above, I would.
I have been approached about a buyout – but could not abide the terms, which included loss of editorial control. I’d have to write what I am told to write – and not write about other things.
So I said nein.
Aber, I am hopeful that reader support will continue to grow and – one day – I will be able to afford that redesign and a computer maven, too!
Eric,
You’re what makes this site worth visiting. It sure as hell isn’t for the underlying infrastructure.
If sometimes I sound like a dick, it’s because Uncle Sam or whoever is kicking my ass that day.
I’m extremely grateful you’re all here, and I’m thankful to have a venue where I can learn from so many great people.
Hey, 8, it’s just your turn. Last week, that’s what was happening to me.
Yeah Ed, I was just thinking about last week while taking a shower.
I’d offer to send Bill a cold few and a good spliff to augment it but he’s got that old ramrod thing going and I’m sure he would care for neither. Ever notice how those who need really need to get stoned wouldn’t hear of it?
I re-watched Good Morning Vietnam recently…..and no, it hasn’t gotten a bit better. But there is one line in the entire movie that made me laugh out loud. Speaking of the sargent who makes Robin William’s character a living hell, Robin said this near the end of the movie “You’re in more dire need of a blowjob than any white man in history”.
https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7c791304-aeeb-4db1-9e17-ab2696bbd424
8, that’s one of my favorite Robin Williams lines. The guy was a genius.
Hi 8. Oh, the memories….I recall back in my statist solder days ordering my troops to: Stop your G.D. fu__ing cussing!!!
Brian, or you might say now “Bill says cursing is juvenile, so pretty please, stop that infantile speech”. That might shock them into silence.
But you’d be misquoting me, as is usual.
Bill, are you referencing this? “The only thing that curse words convey is a juvenile vocabulary.” Are you splitting hairs with juvenile and vocabulary? Or are you just splitting hairs?
I said nothing about juvenile speech, that being the speech of a juvenile, making me out as calling someone a juvenile, which I did not. I wouldn’t have objected if you hadn’t misquoted me, by quoting something I did not say. I merely took note of a juvenile vocabulary, not the person using it. You did the internalizing that led to the misquotation.
Bill, you sling shit then act innocent when called on it. I prefer being called an asshole outright, so in the spirit of the golden rule, you’re an asshole.
I’m only guilty of pointing out how stupid you can be and claim to be innocent yourself.
“statist solder?” Is that the new lead-free stuff?
Golly Bill, I bet your a blithesome fellow at the Whist table!
If our Benevolent Masters were truly concerned about our safety as they harp relentlessly, they would be working towards controlling our vehicular speed by satellite. The tech is already available to monitor your speed and govern it according to your GPS location with things like OnStar etc. One MPH over going down a steep hill that your vehicle’s compression braking can’t handle, and your account will be debited before you can hit the brakes. Of course the only good thing to come from this technology is that it’s one step closer to our current LEO’s (Lucre Extraction Officer) quickly approaching fate of becoming anachronisms. News Flash: “Robocop terminates self driving car’s occupants for displaying an I’m Not a Clover sticker”.
I’ve been fighting in this “war” since 1967 when, I realized it was a huge government scam.
And I’m proud to say I have NEVER let any municipality get away with issuing me a “ticket”.
Luckily, I haven’t had one for several years partially because I have two Valentines.
Some things I have done would certainly earn me more than a time-out.
Retaliation has been very expensive for the recipients.
My biggest success cost one town a $20 million business ($50 million today). On that one, I did nothing illegal!
There are those who will say this only causes expense to taxpayers however, taxpayers deserve to pay for that which they ignore or endorse.
In any war the civilians or non-combatants are the ones who ultimately suffer the most. It is actually they who have the power to remove or stifle the bad guys. If they don’t, well…
Finally, with all of the cameras and monitoring systems now, one has to be much more careful.
But, with increased surveillance comes increased exposure, more targets! Whoopee!
There is a law on the books but rarely enforced about driving too far under the limit. If people react to variable speed limits by following the suggestion of driving far enough under the limit to not get a surprise, they may get a surprise. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
But of course not even a radar detector will protect you from the armed stenographers for the state if the last sign you noticed said 65, but the one you didn’t notice said 45.
The root of the problem is that people are trained from childhood that when you become a driver, Job One is not to pay attention to the road and the vehicles around you, but to instead engage your eyes in a constant scan of the landscape for a sign that will tell you what to do. Variable speed limit signs exacerbate this visual scavenger hunt. Now you have to do even more looking for signs (and, necessarily, less looking at more important things), since you can’t rely on your recollection of what the speed limit has always been on a familiar stretch of road. Any relief from the “look for a sign” regimen that your memory afforded you before is obliterated.
Another thing: If the 85th-percentile rule is valid, why are speed limits needed at all? Sensible behavior by 85 percent is pretty damned good. Take the signs down and be content with it.
Hi Roland,
Well-said. The fixation on signage is a method of dumbing-down drivers via discouraging the exercise of judgment and expecting people to pay attention to the road and what is going on around them.
And: I agree with you ons peed limits; at most, they should be advisory in nature. But not enforceable as such.
Tech Support Maven
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kETwOBF05Kk/Th3lzx4TvkI/AAAAAAAAEcs/_bNu_8iWGRk/s1600/02-Maven%2BMag%2BMay%2B2011.jpg
East bound on I-10 some miles west of Kerrville there is the Most Obscure speed limit sign imaginable notifying of a 75 mph limit instead of the 80 mph you’ve been on forever. Right in the middle of nowhere and guess who hangs out there in large numbers?
In my revenue hungry town, meter maids and dudes are furiously busy day and night. Makes no sense. They have to be paid for their work. I’ve been wondering: why not spring for the one-time expense of installing camera chips in the parking meters and overhead cameras in the lots. When time’s up at the meters or the time has expired in the numbered parking slots and there are vehicles present, photo the license plate and automatically issue the citation. If the citation goes to someone with pull, waive it.
There are battery charges in the lots available to those who drive Teslas and smart cars (the affluent.) I asked a guy at one of these charging stations if he has to insert a credit card to pay for the charge that can take an hour or two. “No,” he said, “it’s free,” meaning guess who pays.
There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Ayn Rand
…and then you cash in on the guilt.
The problem with the MUTCD and the ITE standards (often it follows that state law incorporates the MUTCD and the MUTCD refers to the ITE standards) is that they got away with corrupting them for red light cameras. (see Dick Armey’s report) Now all they will do is corrupt them further for variable speed limits.
In sensible countries like Germany the variable speed limit is control the flow of vehicles into a bottle neck to prevent tipping congestion into stop and go madness. Of course Germany is sensible in having no speed limit where none is needed and 85th percentile speed limits most everywhere else. As a result people will follow the variable speed limits knowing that it will keep traffic moving. In the USA people are going to ignore them because speed limits in this country are set by busy bodies and used for revenue. As such no traffic flow benefits will be realized.
Governments want traffic bottle necks to steal your TIME. To make you angry. To exert pathological control over you.
Fifty years ago the writers of Star Trek saw the future. If you’ve never seen this scene you need to. If you have, it’s time to remember…the real meat starts about 1:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVfFWs4BKBE
If you notice the list of rights declarations detailed by the counselor, it will become clear that the writers had a clearer recollection of the past than a vision of the future.
They saw a time when humanity would be sacrificed on the altar of technology. That people would allow machines to do their thinking for them and that machines are infallible.
Based on the video posted by the guy challenging a red light ticket before some GovCo functionary, I’d say we’re there.
Machines can’t think, they can only do what they were designed and programmed to do. If we program them like the probe that collided with Nomad in The Changeling was, we are planning our own suicides by machine.
This is all in violation of our Constitutional right to due process. and It it no longer going to be limited to just an automated fine.
Worse yet, this is going to be implemented along with the electronic license on installed your phone. You will be required by law to provide a bank account to register your motor vehicle. Furthermore, you will be required to allow automated debits of that account by the State, or you will not be issued vehicle registration. This is all being done under the false “guise” that driving is a “privilege” extended to you by the grace of the State. Although laws exist that require States and localities to provide “public” roads, there are no laws preventing the State from restricting use or access, speed limits included.
Did a little survey of the speed limits in my town. There is not a single road in the entire town with a speed limit over 35mph. Not a one. The highway? Nope, 35. The other main roads in town, 30 or 35. Downtown streets 15!!!!! Yes, 15! Residential 20 or in some cases 15…….. 20 in the industrial park.
Your basically speeding in my town 100% of the time. 85th percentile my a**. The highway (when not jammed) is doing at least 60ish. Main roads, at least 40.
Man Ive ranted so many times at what a pain these things are in the UK, where the sheep quite like health and safety and worship the state and believe it can do no ill. Here, we have these everywhere (and even call them “smart” motorways). Speed limits are reduced at every possible opportunity – roadworks, accident, few drops of rain, cat runs across, or leaf blows onto the motorway…. dont worry we have a diligent government worker ready to reduce the speed limit, and leave it there as long as possible. Now what tends to happen is if the speed is lowered at one point, it starts creating a backup of traffic..so what does the wise all knowing government worker do…. reduces the speed more!!! and as the traffic backs up more and more the speed is reduced across a longer and longer stretch of motorway….. Now because the roads are always blocked – and it turns out its because there are too many cars…. we therefore need to be taxed more on cars and the fuel on them, along with more road taxes which the government is currently thinking up – but dont worry its all for our own good….
Recently however, some people started waking up and not giving a shit and continuing at their normal speed limit….. how can that possibly be allowed – its not “safe” now is it….. so now it turns out the bastards have put automated speed cameras in most of the gantries- AND as its a safety issue for those working on the highway (or those who are supposed to be working but are nowhere to be found)…. they will not even allow the usual margin of error (our benevolent government normally allows us to go the speed limit+10%+2mph before we get flashed…)….
So you are probably starting to see, if you are the government – these things are a win win no matter how you look at it!!!
> automated speed cameras
Vandalism can sometimes be a public good.
Exactly. I imagine these digital readouts cost a LOT more to replace than the old metal signs. Be a shame if people started “modifying” these damn things. Speaking of modifying, how long before they are hacked to display 99 mph? Those Amber alert signs above the highways here get hacked all the time with zombie apocalypse messages.
What is being ignored is the fact that almost all speed limits are prime facie, subject to the subjective determine of what speed is safe and reasonable. If not for that, it would be perfectly legal to do the posted speed on a road which is sheet of ice. The original purpose of speed limits was to provide a recommendation for times when all conditions are optimal. Now that “the deliberate dumbing down of america” has run its course, the majority of the youngers among us have been so impaired as to be reduced to morons, and so, the need to change the speed limits to fit the limited judgement of drivers is a reasonable approach for the regulation of the new world people.
There are only a few states left that way. Speed limits are now absolute in most states. A few have mixed systems. For the sake of streamlining the process they say.
https://wallethub.com/edu/strictest-and-most-lenient-states-on-speeding/14211/
Bill, for your info, traffic engineers no longer set speed limits. Politicians and meeting budgets and control of the population are the only determinants of speed limits. To think that traffic engineers, who work for and are paid by the state nazis, can be guided by engineering principles is a wrong idea. They respond only to their human masters, not even their own moral principles.
to5, it’s like those self-important a-holes on big city councils who realize they have authority for everything in the city so they do shit like ban trucks from the inside lane on interstate hiways and set ridiculous speed laws and then budget for cops to be out there to collect the revenue.
Some of the most stupid shit I’ve seen on the road is in those cities. They clog things up by limiting the flow of traffic in banning big rigs from the inside lane. All a big rig operator wants is to get through a place like that safely and quickly and then have to deal with complete stoppages one after the other and mickey mouse little Hitlers in their cop cars jacking with the truckers and that alone creates one hell of a congestion and danger for everybody…..but they’re there to “enforce the law” and they know there’s no safer stop than an unarmed trucker.
I have never seen one of those fools who will cut across 3-4 lanes of traffic, nearly causing a collision in each one get stopped by a cop. Not once. The cops are too busy watching the commercial drivers try to not run over everyone when traffic suddenly comes to a stop…..for no apparent reason. It’s still coming to a stop because that pig had to pull over a trucker 2 hours ago causing a big jam. That shit takes on a life of its own and keeps on giving.
BTW, “moral principles”…..really?
Stupidity is not moral, I still think about that stupid woman who stopped in the “Hammerlane lane” on Afton mtn ( because a trucker cut Her off to get around a slow mover in the right lane) why in the farg didn’t she just go on?The old company transport wouldn’t drag but 3 wheels on the slick bridge surface and I got the blame and the ticket , the real tragedy was the Girl whose car got totaled in the Auto sandwich, (the woman who caused the wreck got a slight blemish on the trailer hitch on her Suburban) I got ticketed for following too closely .My wife is good about coming to a full stop (or close to it) in the traffic stream without a warning) One time the person following Her couldn’t get stopped in time(guess who got the ticket-hint ,wasn’t wifey )Traffic rules are “dumb”, pure and simple ,when a trooper arrives someone will get a ticket .
I agree! I once was forced to merge my truck into the hammer lane in front of a quickly approaching car because I saw an obstacle on the roadway ahead in my lane. I saw the face of the driver as I was merging in front of her, and I could sense extreme outrage from her from my cab. She then gets into the lane that I had just left, sees the obstacle without comprehending that it was the cause of my action, merges into a further right lane, then swerves directly in front of me. She stepped on her brakes in order to “get back at me”, but I didn’t slow down. She increased her speed and finally decided to just leave me behind. I would almost bet money that had I caught up to her and had a chance to tell her that the obstacle she avoided was the reason for my abrupt lane change in front of her; she would not have believed me.
Drivers license are issued without regard to ability or merit. defensive driving and behavior towards trucks should be part of the operators license requirement.Most drivers seem to think those stop lines at traffic lights are just suggestions, it makes a sad reflection on courtesy and ability when you see the 11R22 marks on someones front end( guess who probably gets charged)In a smallish city about 50 miles from where I live (called Staunton) a signal light is regarded as a challenge and don’t think anyone will “blink you in” either,I dont have any idea what people are thinking either, on one stretch of road it takes triple the time to get through there know with all the so called “smart traffic signals”.Back in the day you could hit a green light in a town with synchronized traffic lights( think Salem ,VA) and go on through running the speed limit, never having to stop.Now black marks are every were,where people try to stop when the fractional second caution lights turn red. I don’t know if it makes anything safer or not,sure does increase the revenue a bit though.Most of the time if you see a Cop in these areas they are usually sporting a Radar.One of the neighboring counties has an arrogant state trooper( don’t know why someone hasn’t complained on Him yet) that seems to like to go fishing on roads that are not His jurisdiction.
This has got to be one of the most over policed “free” countries in the world .
The Brits are quite fond of ringing……..
A little battery acid sprayer attached to a drone would do the trick
chiph,
Maybe you should go view the previously noted Star Trek clip with respect to its elucidation of the right to face ones accuser, the admission of such being a deal killer when used in any court of law.
The worthless right of facing accusers and courts of law, are Jewish conceptions.
Part of the seven laws of Noah the Jews have promulgated to shackle all the people of the earth with.
If you like them so much, you should pay for them.
I don’t want anything to do with them, or the globalist ruling class who includes them in their perennial philosophy worldstate religion and is always prattling on about such idiocies.
THE 7 LAWS
1
Acknowledge that there is only one G‑d who is Infinite and Supreme above all things. Do not replace that Supreme Being with finite idols, be it yourself, or other beings. This command includes such acts as prayer, study and meditation.
2
Respect the Creator. As frustrated and angry as you may be, do not vent it by cursing your Maker.
3
Respect human life. Every human being is an entire world. To save a life is to save that entire world. To destroy a life is to destroy an entire world. To help others live is a corollary of this principle.
4
Respect the institution of marriage. Marriage is a most Divine act. The marriage of a man and a woman is a reflection of the oneness of G‑d and His creation. Disloyalty in marriage is an assault on that oneness.
5
Respect the rights and property of others. Be honest in all your business dealings. By relying on G‑d rather than on our own conniving, we express our trust in Him as the Provider of Life.
6
Respect G‑d’s creatures. At first, Man was forbidden to consume meat. After the Great Flood, he was permitted – but with a warning: Do not cause unnecessary suffering to any creature.
7
Maintain justice. Justice is G‑d’s business, but we are given the charge to lay down necessary laws and enforce them whenever we can. When we right the wrongs of society, we are acting as partners in the act of sustaining the creation.
Whereas these ethical values and principles have been the bedrock of society
from the dawn of civilization, when they were known as the Seven Noahide Laws…
https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-joint-resolution/104/text
Tor,
So you are fine with the concept of conviction by photospeed radar?
I didn’t know about the founders of the United States being Jewish.
You’re like the slave that gloats that he has the freedom to vote on what kind of crop he is forced to harvest.
And that if his massa denies him this right. He has the further right to go to massa’s court and plead with massa’s judges to enshrine his decreed right of crop choice.
A ruling class that employs photospeed radar is not going to willingly provide any meaningful remedy. Full stop.
They’ve already signed a contract to buy speed determining guns, tasers, guns, uniforms, vehicles. Billions and trillions of commitments that use you and I as collateral. Capital employed to subject you to their will.
They’ve already paid for the praetorians who enforce these purchases. And make sure you continue being the kind of good compliant cattle that will make good on these loans.
Laws, lawyers, lawgivers, lawparsers, lawenforcers. The buildings. The institutions. The intelligentsia. The tomes of writings. All of that is just more forced expense, none of it is beneficial to the individual.
Why would an intelligent man speak fondly of his institutions of enslavement and control?
At best, the votes and courts make us arguably less enslaved. They do not change our nature as captives of a world enslaving system.
Debts are enslavement. Americans have the most debt. Hence Americans are the most enslaved.
Al Bundy’s nine rules:
Rule number one: it’s okay to all hooters knockers and sometimes snack trays.
Rule Two: it is wrong to be French.
Rule Three: it is okay to put all bad people into a giant meat grinder.
Rule Four: lawyers… see Rule Three.
It is okay to drive a gas guzzler if it helps you get babes.
Everyone should car pool except me.
Bring back the word ‘stewardesses’.
Synchronized swimming for women is not a sport.
Mud wrestling for women is a sport.
Those are your Ten Commandments.
Good ol’ Waylon.
Ironhead Haynes
http://marriedwithchildren.wikia.com/wiki/Ironhead_Haynes
Good Hearted Woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlE14cM-zk
All I can say is ,God must be bored and not have much to do .
Operating a vehicle on public roads without a radar detector is like swimming in shark infested waters without a cage. Don’t leave home without it.
Hi Fack,
Triple ditto… the smartest investment I ever made was buying my Valentine 1 radar detector. It has literally saved me thousands of dollars over the years.
eric, when the Escort came out and had actual capabilities to detect radar at distance unlike the other poseurs it was like throwing a life saver to a drowning man for me. Everybody was asking me where to get one. The only ad I saw for years was in Car and Driver.
No telling how many were sold to me since people would just give me money and beg for me to get them one. I often ordered 3 at a time.
They did false now and again but paying attention to the false sound and where you were allowed you to “read” the sound. Some microwave towers would make them false but it would be a brief sound and light to not be repeated.
My best friend had one and gave ME hell because it occasionally falsed. We’d be in the middle of nowhere and get a brief false. He’d jump down my throat “What’s that?”. Look across yonder and see that tower, it’ll do it for nearly all of them since they operate something on a very close frequency.
That wasn’t good enough for him so he bought a smaller, lesser unit of a different make(Cobra) and we’d drive down the road and it really didn’t false….or very rarely……and it didn’t have near the range either leading him to get stopped a couple times. In west Tx. an Escort would literally find radar 5 miles away and rarely less than 3. I used to ignore it till the meter went up quite a bit and the sound quickened and then I’d know I was getting sorta close. They’d often max out going to full alert before you could see the “offender”. I had six glorious years before DPS got instant-on that was reliable.
Plus they’d detect “standby” where the unit was warm but not fully activated. You could pick those off further than you could see too. I had one of the remote units as soon as they were available to keep the lights and meter from being seen at night.
It was back then the military had automatic missile detection after a lot of pilots began using Escorts to detect enemy planes. Once the detection was tied to instant anti-missile missile launch I did my best to get a couple of missiles. It really wasn’t that difficult back then. I even had two of the larger ones offered to me for $1500/each but declined due to their setting off earthquake detection. Stingers were a bit much. But it was tempting…..
After a couple years there were lots of detectors on the market, none even remotely close to an Escort. I had used one of the original Fuzzbusters but couldn’t begin to tell you what set them off…..McDonald’s it seemed. Then I had a Whistler that actually worked to some degree.
So Car and Driver announce an up and coming radar detector comparo and every maker sent in their own. Nothing was even close to the Escort except for the Fuzzbuster which seemed to be identical in performance as the Escort.
Everybody scratched their heads at that since Fuzzbusters were notorious junk not worth the shipping. Once the results were in somebody said it’s not just close to an Escort, it works exactly the same. So they took the Fuzzbuster apart and found an Escort inside. C&D never did another comparo with units sent from the makers and bought every one they tested from a retail supplier. It was one of those things that was so obvious you couldn’t not laugh at the idea of Fuzzbuster rigging up an Escort and sending it for testing. I think that was about the end of Fuzzbuster.
You’d think all the comments about the test would have been people up in arms but everybody already had the goods on Fuzzbusters anyway so it was more of a ROTFLMAO type of thing for the most part.
The day is coming when your car just prints the ticket right out of the dash
Watch “Demolition Man” with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, that’s exactly what the car did; plus instead of an airbag the interior of the car fills up with foam. Who knew science fiction writers were prophets ?.
More like instant automatic deduction from your bank account.
That is only necessary if drivers continue their plunge into moronicity.