Speed Traps (neighborhoods, buy, residential)

[ScranBarre]

Ribbing accepted! I'm not a bad "lead foot" or a "reckless driver" by any means, but I do admittedly "stretch it" a bit when I feel as if I'm safer keeping pace with the flow of traffic around than doing the put-put-25 just to be an Eagle Scout. I really don't see why the speed limit along ALL of Route 7 can't be 45? 55 feels a bit too fast in stretches that are now being heavily developed with a lot of cars suddenly stopping to turn, but 25 is utterly IDIOTIC in a town like Falls Church. Why not 35 in urban areas and 45 in rural/suburban stretches of this road?

[NOVAmtneer82]

Because this is Virginia and speed limits on all secondary roadways change almost as much as the actual street name..aka A LOT.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by normie

Just a friendly warning--I saw three police cars hidden along Algonkian Parkway this morning.

Loudoun County needs revenue, so I'm sure they want to hand out a bunch of speeding tickets. (Plus, Algonkian has been getting bad lately, hopefully this will calm it down a little.)

By your own admission Algonkian is getting bad hopefully. So how is it a speed trap?

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by 540_804

Haha..yeah. I've watched the cop shows on TV where they ask the drunk drivers to recite the alphabet in reverse and I can't help but think, "I'm not so sure if I could do that sober"....and I consider myself to be pretty intelligent.

Highly unlikely. Show me a cop show where any officer has asked someone to recite the alphabet backwards. Bet you can't.

[lchoro]

I think it's 25 on Route 7 in Falls Church for the benefit of the cars pulling in and out of the parking lots. It makes it easier to get an opening in the traffic flow.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Highly unlikely. Show me a cop show where any officer has asked someone to recite the alphabet backwards. Bet you can't.

I don't know if a cop show shows that, but I went through a sobriety check a long time ago where the cop asked me to do that. Only had to Z-R before he stopped me. I passed (I don't drink) but I did get a ticket for almost going through a red light. I didn't go through it, but I just paid the ticket and forgot it, until now.

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Highly unlikely. Show me a cop show where any officer has asked someone to recite the alphabet backwards. Bet you can't.

I didn't do it backwards, but I had to recite something like C through Q without singing and then count backwards from 68 to 27. Then was the typical walking-a-straight-line (which I can't do...ever...I've walked into walls and trees) and I had to balance on one foot and count to 15 or something. It's actually a lot harder than it sounds, drunk or sober. Add in nerves and discomfort (and then more nerves since I worried that the "discomfort" would make me look tipsy/drunk) and it's even harder.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by lchoro

I think it's 25 on Route 7 in Falls Church for the benefit of the cars pulling in and out of the parking lots. It makes it easier to get an opening in the traffic flow.

Actually that does make sense now that you mention it. I stopped in slow traffic during one of my jaunts through town to keep a break in traffic to permit someone from the opposing direction to try to turn left in front of me into a parking lot on my right, and not only was I nearly rear-ended by an SUV but the man turning nearly got clipped by a person coming up in the right-hand lane who didn't think it was "necessary" to leave a friendly gap in traffic. I would absolutely HATE to have to turn left in and out of parking lots on Route 7 in Falls Church all the time.

[skijmpr]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Actually that does make sense now that you mention it. I stopped in slow traffic during one of my jaunts through town to keep a break in traffic to permit someone from the opposing direction to try to turn left in front of me into a parking lot on my right, and not only was I nearly rear-ended by an SUV but the man turning nearly got clipped by a person coming up in the right-hand lane who didn't think it was "necessary" to leave a friendly gap in traffic. I would absolutely HATE to have to turn left in and out of parking lots on Route 7 in Falls Church all the time.

Oh, just wait. The drivers down here (unfortunately) are not nearly as friendly as in PA. They won't merge right when not passing (apparently driving 10 miles under the speed limit in a soccer mom van is the norm around here). Plus they are uber aggressive when you try to change lanes or merge.

As for driving too fast in VA, I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you. The cops are especially eager to give out reckless tickets these days, since they can usually pull in a lot of money with the $2500 max fine. Remember: Virginia is the only state in the country that has a reckless definition based purely on speed alone. Anything more than 20mph over the posted limit or over 80mph is considered reckless. In addition, there's an unwritten rule that if you are over 90mph you're likely getting a day in jail for every mile over 90. Finally, I'd be especially careful in Loudoun County, as they are known for being one of the toughest jurisdictions in the state when it comes to enforcing traffic laws.

[Sergeant Possum]

Originally Posted by normie

Just a friendly warning--I saw three police cars hidden along Algonkian Parkway this morning.

Loudoun County needs revenue, so I'm sure they want to hand out a bunch of speeding tickets. (Plus, Algonkian has been getting bad lately, hopefully this will calm it down a little.)

Maybe you need to learn a little bit about Virginia law before you post something like that. Traffic fines in Virginia go to the "State Literary Fund For Education", and are used to buy school books.