Traffic Tickets Anyone?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by frs10

no man im in a rush

From my admittedly very limited driving experience in NYC if you stop somebody will plow into the back of you anyway!

[frs10]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

From my admittedly very limited driving experience in NYC if you stop somebody will plow into the back of you anyway!

that too, for your personal safety

[bigred18]

Originally Posted by frs10

that too, for your personal safety

$60 fine for running a red light or thousands for repair, health insurance, etc. The struggle is real!

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by bigred18

$60 fine for running a red light or thousands for repair, health insurance, etc. The struggle is real!

At least the red light tickets do not result in points, higher insurance, and you don't have to worry about resale value dropping because Car Fax reports you've been rear ended.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by Scenic Driver

40+ is 11 points so it's an automatic suspension.



For that much over he deserved to be charged with reckless driving and I doubt that's the only state that would do that. Kind of scary that he was "zoned out" and didn't realize he was going that fast.

"
I should probably explain why going into Virginia to have fun in a car is a bad idea in the first place. See, they're crazy about speeding there. Really, really crazy. Speed limits are set absurdly low, 45 mph on some highways. Radar detectors are illegal, and cops have devices to detect them. And if you get caught going over 80 mph at all, that's automatically a reckless driving charge.9
Reckless driving is not a traffic citation, it's a criminal charge, and a Class One misdemeanor at that. That means it's the highest level of misdemeanor you can be charged with in Virginia, right below a felony. The maximum penalty for a reckless driving conviction is a $2,500 fine, a six month driver's license suspension, and up to a year in jail.
See what I mean when I told you it's serious? They hand it out like it's Halloween candy, too. You drive 20 mph over the limit, it's reckless driving. They even charge you with it for failing to properly signal, or when you're found to be at fault in a car wreck. I've heard of some cases where people get 30 days in jail if they speed over 100 mph.
Other Class One misdemeanors in Virginia include animal cruelty, sexual battery, and aiming a firearm at someone. This is how the state regards people who drive over 80 mph.10
I do think Virginia's speed laws are absurdly harsh, especially as a native of Texas where 80 mph is an almost universally accepted highway speed by most drivers and where a toll road just outside of Austin lets you go 85 mph. There, this probably would have been a really expensive speeding ticket; maybe even one I could get dismissed with defensive driving. I covered the courts for a long time when I was a newspaper reporter in Austin, and I was floored to learn Virginia actually sends people to jail just for speeding.11
But that doesn't excuse what I did. I came into Virginia and broke their laws; I drove way too fast. This is my fault and no one else's. (Well, maybe the ZL1's.) This wasn't one of those moments where I got nailed going 5 mph over in some ridiculously low section of a county designed only for revenue collection; how could I justify going 93 in a 55 when I went to court, I wondered?"



From a great jalopnik article

[gravitylover]

Originally Posted by frs10

NYC is getting ridiculous for the camera red lights, they seem to have cameras on every single light... i feel like i get one every week...

I think they are still limited to 2,000 cameras for all 5 Boros. Most of them are focused near schools and areas where there are lots of pedestrians and the others tend to be in spots where people are more likely to be driving fast and would choose to run a light for convenience. I also remember something when they started using them that they would move at least half of them every 90 days but I don't know if that's still happening because there are some that are in fixed locations.

[tennisfreak]

Got my first speeding ticket in this car and in years.

Was at a stop light out of town on a state highway with no one around.

Decided to to a 0 - 60 test since no one was around.

Low and behold a cop was coming the other way after I took off and hit 60.

He says I was doing 70 in a 55 but my speedo only showed 65.

Damnit should not have done that!

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by gravitylover

I think they are still limited to 2,000 cameras for all 5 Boros. Most of them are focused near schools and areas where there are lots of pedestrians and the others tend to be in spots where people are more likely to be driving fast and would choose to run a light for convenience. I also remember something when they started using them that they would move at least half of them every 90 days but I don't know if that's still happening because there are some that are in fixed locations.

Red light cameras are popping up all over the place (LIE, shopping centers, schools, and etc) in Long Island under the guise of public safety (and revenue stream is just incidental). Speed cameras coming up!

[Tcoat]

So many people think laws are just a money maker:


"Red-light running is a serious intersection safety issue across the nation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts 2008 Report, there were more than 2.3 million reported intersection-related crashes, resulting in more than 7,770 fatalities and approximately 733,000 injury crashes in 2008".
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/redlight/

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

So many people think laws are just a money maker:


"Red-light running is a serious intersection safety issue across the nation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts 2008 Report, there were more than 2.3 million reported intersection-related crashes, resulting in more than 7,770 fatalities and approximately 733,000 injury crashes in 2008".
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/redlight/

True, but municipalities are cash strapped (despite things are supposed to be getting better -tell that to the middle class!) and the money has to come from somewhere to pay salaries, bonds, and public works. Cameras are a lot cheaper and easier to deal with than policemen -no benefits/pensions/unions/etc.


P.S. I'd rather get a ticket from a camera rather than a policeman any day but food for thought: studies have shown in some areas the cameras can increase accidents: http://www.motorists.org/red-light-c...ease-accidents
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/201...d_to_more.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/red-light-c...ry?id=13925887

[Cliu91]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

So many people think laws are just a money maker:


"Red-light running is a serious intersection safety issue across the nation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts 2008 Report, there were more than 2.3 million reported intersection-related crashes, resulting in more than 7,770 fatalities and approximately 733,000 injury crashes in 2008".
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/redlight/

YEAH! Not unlike the ASSHOLE that ran the red and hit my car!

[gravitylover]

Two of my previous three cars were totaled by people running stop signs. Broadsided on the drivers side B pillar in my C30 andI t-boned a nearly new CRV in my 9 month old Challenger when she ran a stop sign at 55mph. In both incidents I saw absolutely nothing until the airbags punched me in the face. Of course those were stop signs so no cameras

[Scenic Driver]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

"
I should probably explain why going into Virginia to have fun in a car is a bad idea in the first place.

Save the fun for the back roads, I take road trips to VA & NC often, lots of quiet places to have fun without much risk of getting pulled over. On the highways I don't drive more than 5 over the speed limit.

Almost everytime I drive through VA, the amount and level of aggressive (dangerous) driving amazes me, that may be a reason for how intolerant they are.

I've never gotten a ticket in VA.

[Pkush]

No more than 5 over the speed limit? Man... Here around Chicago and suburbs if I'm on the streets it's no more than 5 over. On the highway I usually go 25 over. I know the risks and I go 25 over because anything else entails much higher tickets. I'm willing to take the risk, but I've been pretty lucky (knock on wood) since there is always a pack of cars going 80