APD resuming writing tickets (Atlanta, Roswell: neighborhood, school, law)

[bu2]

Ticket counts from APD had gone way down. In the last couple of weeks 3 different mornings I have seen motorcycle cops writing tickets on I-75 northbound near Moore's Mill. One time there were 3 there.

Do think this is pretty ridiculous during rush hour. And perhaps dangerous.

But there are some crazy drivers out now. I've been passed at 90-100 mph or more during rush hour several times on I-75 and I-85 recently. Traffic is light enough that is physically possible, but not so light that it is in any way safe. Also see lots of people speeding and switching lanes, leaving inches of margin between them and the other cars. I-75 seems to have major accidents in Cobb County nearly every time I head out that way.

[sedimenjerry]

We've had some absolutely horrific wrecks across the metro the last few months. People think the freeways are their own personal race track. It was one thing in April when everything was shut down, but traffic has steadily been picking up since then. It's been this bad mix of high speeds and little congestion. I know Roswell and Alpharetta were constantly pulling people over doing 100+ on 400.

I had someone last weekend fly past on I-85 south of Chateau Elan in Gwinnett where it's 3 lanes. I happened to look up in the rear view mirror and saw this tiny white car behind me. Next thing I knew it was flying past. Fortunately I wasn't about to get in the left lane. I expect cars to come up doing 80-85 mph and I'm able to anticipate it. I don't expect cars to be doing 100+ which makes it really dangerous.

The best part? Down by the MOG, they were pulled over by 2 GCPD cars.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

We've had some absolutely horrific wrecks across the metro the last few months. People think the freeways are their own personal race track. It was one thing in April when everything was shut down, but traffic has steadily been picking up since then. It's been this bad mix of high speeds and little congestion. I know Roswell and Alpharetta were constantly pulling people over doing 100+ on 400.

I had someone last weekend fly past on I-85 south of Chateau Elan in Gwinnett where it's 3 lanes. I happened to look up in the rear view mirror and saw this tiny white car behind me. Next thing I knew it was flying past. Fortunately I wasn't about to get in the left lane. I expect cars to come up doing 80-85 mph and I'm able to anticipate it. I don't expect cars to be doing 100+ which makes it really dangerous.

The best part? Down by the MOG, they were pulled over by 2 GCPD cars.

Absolutely insane, entitled behavior. The ones that get caught should have their Licenses suspended for a minimum of 1 year, along with thousands of dollars in fines. It should be treated just like a DUI.

These are probably the same people responsible for hit and run pedestrian deaths, as well as fly around stopped school buses. Make them pay dearly, and shame them very publicly. They may get the message then, and only then.

[Need4Camaro]

I saw the Motorcycle cops on I-75 when I got on at W.Paces Ferry / Northside Pkwy about a week or two ago. Literally as I was getting on the on-ramp someone got lit up and they chased him all the way to I-285 before they could even catch up with him. I personally feel they need to be there. Atlanta has had a lackluster of speed enforcement for a considerable period of time. I mean, they let you get away with 10 over the limit (75) ITP in most cases, who really needs to be going faster than that in an urban area?

And yeah they do seem to be driving much faster than I remember in the metro area.

[Mattie]

It isn't just speeders, a lot of drivers have become complacent. I grinned last week when I saw a couple of motorcycle cops hidden behind the entrance to a local North Fulton neighborhood. They had a line of cell phone violators before I made my way through the next red light.

[mrarctic]

I honestly wish one of the things they would change is a move towards making the speed limit the actual speed limit. I don't go 90 and I'm not defending the people who go 90 but is 90 really that more dangerous than say 80? Better yet, is 85 more dangerous than 80?

Let's face it, all of us speed. But for some reason it has always been acceptable to go 10 over and in many areas, you can even push 15. There are no shortage of people doing 80 on the connector but if someone is doing 85 then they are going to get written up for going 20 over when in reality, they're going 5-10 over the flow of traffic.

Speeding tickets would be a lot more accepted, at least I think, by all if they would just increase the speed limit to what the actual enforced speed limit is.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by mrarctic

I honestly wish one of the things they would change is a move towards making the speed limit the actual speed limit. I don't go 90 and I'm not defending the people who go 90 but is 90 really that more dangerous than say 80? Better yet, is 85 more dangerous than 80?

Well, I'm not defending them by any means but speaking in terms of technicality... the answer is... YES. What people do not realize is the forces required to increase speed are actually more so exponential forces and rather than an addition of force.. so a car moving at 90 has considerable more energy to move at that momentum than the same car at 80. This is especially prevalent when we talk about extremely high speeds (such as 150 thru 200 MPH) .. A car making lets say 400 HP may be able to get up to 180 MPH, but that same car would need almost 100 - 150 more HP to touch 200 MPH unless it were extremely light and aerodynamically equipped. Another thing is tires and handling components fade in their effectiveness much quicker when they are approaching their limits.. ..so yes.. ..90 is definitely more dangerous than 80 for the average vehicle.. ..in terms of wrecking, neither speed would be something you would want to experience however.

Originally Posted by mrarctic

Let's face it, all of us speed. But for some reason it has always been acceptable to go 10 over and in many areas, you can even push 15. There are no shortage of people doing 80 on the connector but if someone is doing 85 then they are going to get written up for going 20 over when in reality, they're going 5-10 over the flow of traffic.

Speeding tickets would be a lot more accepted, at least I think, by all if they would just increase the speed limit to what the actual enforced speed limit is.

The main issue is, it just isn't worth it to enforce anything 10 and under. In Georgia, they can't even give you a fine for 5 and under, and its only a $25 fine for 10 and under. 15 and under is only $100 unless we're speaking of the Super Speeder ... Super Speeder does not even add additional points, just heavier fines, and the you don't get points unless you exceed 15 over the limit.

Infact the speed limits were raised within the previous decade to allow for out-of-state traffic to more equally flow with commuting traffic throughout the metro. 10 over unfortunately will not be going away anytime soon save for a complete rewrite of the state law, and there will be huge conflicts with that given the amount of out of state traffic Georgia see's and previous conflicts they have had with tourists passing through the state to Florida and speed traps.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

The main issue is, it just isn't worth it to enforce anything 10 and under. In Georgia, they can't even give you a fine for 5 and under, and its only a $25 fine for 10 and under. 15 and under is only $100 unless we're speaking of the Super Speeder ... Super Speeder does not even add additional points, just heavier fines, and the you don't get points unless you exceed 15 over the limit.

Those rates are for first offenders so unless you are a first offender, your ticket is usually much higher.

Just in Gwinnett, I'm seeing roughly $50ish for 6-10, $150ish for 11-15, 16-20 $160-190, $220 for 20-25 with the various cities. I can't find the fine amount for the county level.

I thought, the GSP is the only one who can enforce under 10 unless it is a school zone?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

Those rates are for first offenders so unless you are a first offender, your ticket is usually much higher.

Just in Gwinnett, I'm seeing roughly $50ish for 6-10, $150ish for 11-15, 16-20 $160-190, $220 for 20-25 with the various cities. I can't find the fine amount for the county level.

I thought, the GSP is the only one who can enforce under 10 unless it is a school zone?

Not sure on that, I thought they could all enforce 10 and under and just not 5 and under but I remember something awhile back where they may have made such a law due to out of state traffic to Florida were getting pulled over by local authorities in South Georgia for revenue purposes until the state stepped in making it so only GSP could do so.

Either way though I've never seen a GSP unit pull anyone over for doing 10 over... like never... I've even watched traffic buzz by them at 10 over and they completely ignored them.

[MattCW]

Local can't enforce 10 and under *by radar* normally. Pacing you at 10 or under is legal.