Are Illinois Plates a revene target in Wisconsin? (Milwaukee, Madison: low crime, home)

[Averie-Jay]

Originally Posted by Trabbz

Wisconsin does love to pull people over. I have been pulled over many many times in Wisconsin but never received a ticket for anything under 12 over. Everything else got me a warning. The fact is that Wisconsin loves to write tickets, but they are reasonable if you fight it in court (at least Eau Claire County). For every ticket I received, I fought it in court. In every case they either dropped the ticket, or lowered it to the 1-10 mph bracket (lower fine, lower points) every time. My whole driving record at that time was amended tickets and fines. I moved to Pinellas County, Florida and received 1 ticket in the same time I got 5 in Wisconsin. I took that one to court and that was a nightmare to fight. I ended up cutting my losses and paying the fine. In Florida it is not unusual to be traveling 80 MPH on I-4 from Tampa to Orlando and see cars fly by you 90+. The speed limit is 70 and I rarely see speed traps. If you are that worried about it, move to Florida!

I laughed so hard when I read the last of your post. I grew up in WI and never received a speeding ticket.

I moved to FL 2 yrs ago. I was so afraid of I-95 that I refused to drive on it for the first 6 months! And now when I use the highway, even when I go 85 miles an hour (speed limit is 75), everyone flies by me as if I'm standing still!!

I realized that I'd picked up some bad habits from my fellow Floridians when I received my first speeding ticket about 3 months ago. I was going 22 over. Ouch! The officer (very nice gent) fudged the numbers, though, thank GOD!

Seriously, though, I have yet to travel down I-95 and not see at least one horrible accident. From what I've witnessed it's mostly because someone's just in a plain ol' rush to get to point B. Seems to me that happens way too often, not jus here in FL, but all across the US...

Drive safely everyone!

[hc7612]

People as a whole do drive more slowly in Wisconsin. However, they are more considerate of other drivers as well. When we left there and moved to SE Pennsylvania, I could not believe the difference. People tail gate here like it's the norm. Everyone is in a rush, for what, I have yet to find out. It seems like there are few speed traps, at least in our Township. I like, Averie-Jay, had to adapt to the difference between the 2 states. I still have not adapted to people driving up my back side, and let them know it quite frequently.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

I drove from Madison to La Crosse and back on Friday, and thinking about this thread kept my awareness of licence plates at a higher level than usual.

On a clear day with normal traffic, I generally drive about 5 or 6 mph over the speed limit, pushing it a little but not hugely. Most other vehicles are going roughly the same speed; I pass some, some pass me, but most of us are right around 70 mph in the 65 zones.

I kept track of licence plates on vehicles that passed me, and on vehicles that I passed. In my (admittedly unscientific) sampling, I passed two vehicles with out-of-state plates, one from Michigan and one from Missouri. Between a third and half of the vehicles that passed me had out-of-state plates, mostly Illinois, a lot from Minnesota, a couple of Michigan, one Indiana, one or two Missouri.

Claiming that there is a connection between licence plate origin and being pulled over for speeding seems to me to be faulty logic. I can certainly see some correllation between licence plate origins and the likelihood that a driver is speeding, but if you're going 15 mph over the limit on the expressway, you're probably going to get popped for speeding whether you have Illinois plates or Packer-fan Wisconsin plates.

Please visit Wisconsin; it's a lovely state, with lots to see and do. But please don't speed!

[momandnurse]

I don't think that IL plates are more targeted, but I think the cops may be more easy going on speeders in IL. I say that 5-6 miles over the limit, on the highways, in WI are usually let go, but anything over that is a gamble. As far as side roads and in the cities, the cops, in WI, seem pretty strict...my advice is to stick to the limits then for sure.
Tickets are a lot more in WI and if you are from WI you also loose points!! But everything in WI is expensive, it seems to be one of the things you have to deal with. We don't have tolls in WI either, think of all the money taken in in 1 day with tolls!

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by momandnurse

I don't think that IL plates are more targeted, but I think the cops may be more easy going on speeders in IL. I say that 5-6 miles over the limit, on the highways, in WI are usually let go, but anything over that is a gamble. As far as side roads and in the cities, the cops, in WI, seem pretty strict...my advice is to stick to the limits then for sure.
Tickets are a lot more in WI and if you are from WI you also loose points!! But everything in WI is expensive, it seems to be one of the things you have to deal with. We don't have tolls in WI either, think of all the money taken in in 1 day with tolls!

Think of all the money spent maintaining the tolls, hiring workers etc. Then factor in all the lost time, pollution, wasted gas etc.

Tolls, unless specifically placed to fund a bridge etc. generally function to increase tax and bureacracy and not actually generate revenue. Chicago uses them extensively because they are a great way to siphon money to key political figures, their families, the mob.....etc. Thankyou Mayor Daley.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Think of all the money spent maintaining the tolls, hiring workers etc. Then factor in all the lost time, pollution, wasted gas etc.

Tolls, unless specifically placed to fund a bridge etc. generally function to increase tax and bureacracy and not actually generate revenue. Chicago uses them extensively because they are a great way to siphon money to key political figures, their families, the mob.....etc. Thankyou Mayor Daley.

Huh? Almost all of the tollways are outside the city of Chicago. The only tollway the city has any control over or receives any funding from is the Skyway. All the rest are controlled by the state and thats who gets the revenue.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Tolls, unless specifically placed to fund a bridge etc. generally function to increase tax and bureacracy and not actually generate revenue.

I agree with some of what you are saying, but I don't get this statement. To increase taxes and bureaucracy - agreed - but that essentially means to generate revenues.

[Further North]

I just got nailed 2 weekends ago out in Lomira for 82 in a 55, and he didn't let me off for a single MPH. $246 and 4 points! I'm not even sure what I'm gonna do about this yet. As for plate conspiracy theories, I do and don't believe them. Yes I am from IL, and YES I was guilty. Considering that it was 10:30 PM, he only "singled me out" when he wrote me a big fat ticket. I take responsibility for speeding, but I do wish they could cut people some slack and knock the speed on the ticket down some.

I have noticed that us "FIBs" (F***ing Illinois Bastards) drive faster then WI people, but I'll tell you this, when you spend as much as 3 HOURS of your day stuck in traffic to drive a round trip distance of 30 miles, you're patience level and courtesy towards your fellow motorist goes down SIGNIFICANTLY. My joke these days is that I HAVE become a FIB, and I will not tolerate insubordination on the road!

I grew up in the Upper Peninsula, and I'm amazed by the difference in driving habits between the two places. I feel the same applies to WI drivers as well.

1) People in WI or the UP do NOT drive Defensively! In Chicago, you HAVE to assume that the guy in front of, next to, or behind you is going to cut you off, tailgate, or do something stupid. It's "survival of the fittest", and if you're not prepared for someone else doing something stupid you're going to suffer for it.

2) Besides NOT driving defensively, people do not follow traffic laws diligently! If you're gonna do 54 MPH in the left lane, then for God's sake USE YOUR TURN SIGNALS, and please, don't pull something stupid like turn left in front of me when I have the right of way. If you're gonna be a slow overly cautious driver, then follow the damn laws!

Anyway, I'm gonna stop ranting now, because the road rage is building up inside of me LOL.

[Trabbz]

I have made 3 cross country trips in the last couple years. Two times I drove from Wisconsin to Florida and back, and once I drove from Wisconsin to Texas and back. Both times I drove from Wisconsin to Florida, the only state I ever saw speed traps on the freeway was Wisconsin. When I drove from Wisconsin to Texas, the only states I saw speed traps in were Wisconsin and Texas. Out of all those states Wisconsin patrolled their freeway more than any other state by far.

[Dolly]

If you are doing something wrong, like speeding, you should be pulled over. What I resent is being followed through a park by a Wisconsin cop for no reason other than having an Illinois plate. He finally got bored and left us alone but it really burned me up.