[colleeng47]

Well, Scott had his court appearance yesterday on his speeding ticket. He talked to the prosecutor and got it reduced to where he is not getting any points, or any report to the insurance company. Still has the almost $300 fine. If he gets another speeding ticket, though, all bets are off.

[FourOhFive]

I know that I heard recently on the news that cops were going to stop giving out so many speeding tickets for under 10 mph because they realize how many people are having financial difficulties. Did anyone else hear this? And if so, what happened?

[roger severtson]

I live in Medicine Park Oklahoma and the police there are very aggresive! They will pull you over and give you a ticket even if you are not breaking the law in any way. My best advice is to not visit the area at all. Stay off of Hwy 49!

[StillwaterTownie]

Do they make you get out of your car to give you a sobriety test, especially if you drove over the lines? Is so, and if how you respond doesn't suit them, they may want to arrest you for DUI. It won't matter one bit, if you haven't had a drop to drink that day.

[Bobby H]

I haven't visited this thread in a few months, but wanted to add a little more to the Medicine Park speed trap issue.

Keep in mind that I-44 is one of the main routes up from Texas that Police focus their drug interdiction tactics so Any valid Probable cause stop is a good reason to get pulled over and if a suspected dealer is busted and wants to cry foul the various PD's and state agencies can point to their high level of ticket writing to back them up in court.

The stretch of OK-49 I described is not along I-44. The speed trap is actually to the west of I-44 and the various businesses next to the Interstate. Drug smugglers using I-44 as a conduit for their trafficking won't likely venture past the Love's store and Burger King. They'll fuel up their vehicles, eat and get back on the turnpike.

Residents of Medicine Park, Wichita Mtn. Estates, etc. as well as visitors to Lake Lawtonka and the Wildlife Refuge are prone to get busted in the speed trap. Just about every time I drive out that way to go to the lake or have a meal at Fisherman's Cove or the Meers Store I see drivers pulled over in that same zone. I stand by my opinion that OK-49 just west of I-44 is indeed a speed trap. Be on guard for it whenever driving that road.

Oklahoma technically may be a "no tolerance" state. However, I personally know a couple of Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers and those guys say they rarely ever pull over anyone just going 2-5 mph over the speed limit. If you're pushing 9-10 over or more than that, watch out. Those officers are already going to be suspicious of something else going on if they're going to bother you for doing just a couple ticks over the limit.

Likewise, I've yet to see anyone get pulled over for driving below the speed limit in the left lane on I-44. Maybe some people are getting cited for it. I just haven't seen slow poke left lane drivers busted while I'm on the road.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by linicx

All cops in all states love out of state drivers. You are stopped first. Why" Because you will probably not come back to court in X state to fight the ticket.

I would think it would be the opposite, ticket the locals, ignore the tourists.

I, for one, have given up on any cross-country car trips (loss of revenue to any state I would pass through) as when I'm away from my stressful job I don't need a stressful 7-day "job" keeping my eyes glued to the speedometer, forever looking in my rearview mirror. What kind of vacation is that, worrying endlessly the 7 days you are on the road about some "state revenue enhancer" pulling me over for a victimless crime?

It will remain an unknown in the tourist revenue figures, how many just gave up on driving on their next trip anywhere, and took a cruise instead, or traveled somewhere where they had excellent mass transit like in the NE.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Oildog

Yeah, yeah yeah, speeding is bad. I'd like to see a little more of the law enforcement budget focused on drugs or domestic violence.

What's the all-time speed reached of someone driving on the autobahn in Germany?
I thought I saw a TV special on this sometime ago, and I believe it was 170 miles per hour. And how many horrific car accidents have there been, over the years, on the German autobahn?

It's not speed, that's a no-brainer, and during these economic times, with every job known to man being threatened, even patrol officers, they're going to ticket more and more and more, to show their bosses there's enough revenue coming in to keep them employed.

I was on a NY forum with a similar theme. Someone asked: What's happening lately? I was ticketed three times in one month, this has never happened before. Please! It's all too obvious what's happening, jobs are being threatened.

And now that it's been proven that sleep-deprived drivers are as dangerous on the road as drunken drivers, why aren't they setting up "sleep deprived checkpoints" like sobriety checkpoints, if they really want to keep our roads safe.

[Oildog]

I'm really thinking this is more about the economy. In the last week I have seen more traffic stops than in the last few years, and Im in TX now. I didnt know if it was because school has started but it seems every day I drive to work I see at least one car pulled over and one or two in the evening.

[Bobby H]

Originally Posted by tijlover

What kind of vacation is that, worrying endlessly the 7 days you are on the road about some "state revenue enhancer" pulling me over for a victimless crime?

Excessive speed does hurt and/or kill people. Driving too slow and thus blocking the flow of traffic is also dangerous. It's one thing for cops to pull over reckless drivers. It's another for them to gouge money out of people for going just a couple ticks above the speed limit.

Inattentive driving is especially dangerous. I would really love to see the hammer come down hard on all the people who insist on playing with their mobile phones while driving. The practice of texting while driving gets me especially angry. Anyone doing that might as well drink a fifth of Jack Daniels and get behind the wheel. It's just as selfishly risky.

Originally Posted by tijlover

What's the all-time speed reached of someone driving on the autobahn in Germany? I thought I saw a TV special on this sometime ago, and I believe it was 170 miles per hour. And how many horrific car accidents have there been, over the years, on the German autobahn?

Germany gets its fair share of grisly car accidents. However, Germany has very different standards in how it builds its roads and the training it requires of any driver operating a vehicle on their roads.

Any driver in Germany is required to take a very serious drivers education course. It goes well beyond what we covered in high school. It isn't cheap either. The licensing process will cost a driver between $2000 and $3000.

The German Autobahn does have speed limits in suburban and urban areas. The Autobahn has very strict rules on who can drive in the fast left lane and who has to stay in the slow right lanes. You have more freedom to speed if you own a $200,000 super-car. If own an ordinary Honda you must stay to the right well out of the way of faster motorists. We hardly have any of those rules here in the United States.

The German Autobahn is built to higher standards than American interstate highways. The road bed is much thicker (up to 2' thick of very high quality concrete). The roads have more gradual turns and grades that allow for much higher speeds. Try to go 170mph on most American Interstate highways and you'll run a very high risk of getting killed in an accident. I-80 through the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is one of the few roads in the US where one can drive (illegally) at ridiculously high speeds.