[dannl]

Is it right for the Waldo police department to have a quota for speeding tickets. Just this past week a police officer was the cause of an accident by pulling out in front of a car on County 24 to go after someone speeding which involved 3 cars. The officer involved in the accident was a Rooky - ( Someone
should investigate the department to see if the officer was properly Trained and Licsened to be on patrol by him self.)
This same Rooky brags about writing 20 + tickets a day
What do you think.

Dan L

[daedalo]

Waldo hasn't changed for the past 35 years...just a little speed trap to and from Gainesville. I liked it when the forest fires several years ago threatened Waldo. There were some ultra religious types that were saying the Lord was not happy with Waldo and was going to burn it down. Down US 301, on the other side of Starke, there is a billboard war going on about the Lawtey speed trap that rivals Waldo. Here competing interests have stated "slow down Lawtey speed trap ahead". Another billboard announces it is only interested in the safety of town residents.

[Weloveantiques]

I think AAA has a billboard up that says speed trap ahead. It is amazing to see the speeders. It is very well posted with the flashing lights and speed limit signs and when I slow down to a few miles below the speed limit there is always somebody speeding past me. I feel bad for the out of staters that get nailed there.
I think some of those cops watch a little too much "Cops" on TV and get their adreneline going a bit to much.

[stats]

A little known fact is that--- 100% of the tickets written are for more than 10miles over the posted speed limit.

Speaking of facts --Waldo does not set the speed limit that is done by the State of Florida DOT and is consistant with the rest of the state. Anyone doing 70mph in a 45mph zone deserves a ticket.

[MyHomeIsInOcala]

My husband and I have driven through Waldo many times over the past several years with out ever having a ticket.... If you speed, you DO Deserve a ticket... Especially since the signs are SO OBVIOUS along the road!! LOL



Be safe and have a Very Merry Christmas everyone!

[Edvard]

Quotas are not uncommon. A large agancy near Tampa gives pay bonuses for SGTs and above who's uniforms write a large dollar ammount of UTCs. Won't mention any names though.

If you get one for 6 over or less, it's easy to beat. That may be the exception in their particular court, I can't say but in regular towns judges flip out if they see something for less than about 10 over. Consider that Radar, laser and Vascar often show error of 3 or 4 mph or more, and an average speedometer can run about the same, most agencies won't write until you're about 7-10 over, they are giving the benefit of the doubt and saving face.

BUT: some locales use tickets as one of their primary fundraisers.... so

beware!

FHP theoretically investigates cases like this, and could be working on this (the specifics would not belong on here so I won't get into that), If there was injury FHP is SUPPOSED to investigate, provided someone invited them to. Likely, was handled internally. Not lookin good for the rook, though.

I've seen the guys in Orlando that shoot radar on foot then jump into the road and demand that the motorist stop. When one of those bozos ends up killed, the lawsuit will be phenomenal.

[Need_affordable_home]

What if you get stopped and told you were speeding by 2 or 3 mph, what excuse do you tell the cop? What if he wont listen and writes you a ticket, can you fight the charge? Would they care because its money for the town/city

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Edvard

Quotas are not uncommon. A large agancy near Tampa gives pay bonuses for SGTs and above who's uniforms write a large dollar ammount of UTCs. Won't mention any names though.

If you get one for 6 over or less, it's easy to beat. That may be the exception in their particular court, I can't say but in regular towns judges flip out if they see something for less than about 10 over. Consider that Radar, laser and Vascar often show error of 3 or 4 mph or more, and an average speedometer can run about the same, most agencies won't write until you're about 7-10 over, they are giving the benefit of the doubt and saving face.

BUT: some locales use tickets as one of their primary fundraisers.... so

beware!

FHP theoretically investigates cases like this, and could be working on this (the specifics would not belong on here so I won't get into that), If there was injury FHP is SUPPOSED to investigate, provided someone invited them to. Likely, was handled internally. Not lookin good for the rook, though.

I've seen the guys in Orlando that shoot radar on foot then jump into the road and demand that the motorist stop. When one of those bozos ends up killed, the lawsuit will be phenomenal.

That stuff about quotas is a bunch of bull, cops spend the day turning their heads not writing tickets, have you ever seen how people drive? Cops don't have to look to hard to write tickets, if they didn't turn their heads all they would be doing is writing tickets all day.

I haven't gotten a ticket in like 35 years and that was for a light being out. Try not driving like a maniac and you won't have to worry about it.

[florigidge]

i lived and worked in nearby gainesville for 17 years and travelled thru waldo many times. i was never stopped but the speed limit can be very very low going thru the city from gainesville as you meet the highway heading towards the flea market. i was around for the AAA notice and the press it got and felt that waldo, starke and hampton deserved the bad press.

AAA didn't just base it on anecdotes. they compared how much money was made from tickets to the overall operating city budget and found that the speeding tickets were the primary support for the budgets.

there was a big bugaboo about AAA re-routing motorists around these areas and all three cities whined like babies about it - but it hit them where they lived. i left in 2003 and if this is still an issue it doesn't surprise me. do some research or call up AAA and talk to them. i'm sure they have the stats to back up their re-routings.

also please keep in mind that the area in waldo where the most tickets are handed out is a big four lane divided highway with few businesses or houses buttressed directly against the road. businesses and houses are there, but they are spaced apart and it's not exactly a bustling area, save the flea market area.

one has to "be alerted" to slow down, arbitrarily, because the speed limit, if i recall, for most of that road leading into waldo from jacksonville or whereever is 55. hence, the reputation of "speed trap." and this is long before you actually reach the one way streets in the city-proper of waldo (or you can bypass the city-proper, if you want to.)

while i think waldo is somewhat "charming" with a few blocks of antique shops (micanopy is far better), neither waldo, starke nor hampton are much to brag about and it would take being pulled over by a cop to get much of anyone to stop.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

What if you get stopped and told you were speeding by 2 or 3 mph, what excuse do you tell the cop? What if he wont listen and writes you a ticket, can you fight the charge? Would they care because its money for the town/city

No officer would bother to write a citation for exceding the speed limit by less than 5 mph, because if you look here in the Florida statutes:
318.18 Amount of civil penalties
You will see there is no penalty for exceeding the posted speed by 5 mph. You would just get a warning. As for speeding in general most speed trap towns prefer out of state drivers as they are almost guaranteed not to appear in court. You see it all the time in Key Largo where the sherriff or FHP sit by the road taking speed. Throughout the keys speed limits are carefully planned to maximize speed trap potential.