View Full Version : Getting tired of the Speed Enforcement tactics in COS
Not sure how it is elsewhere but in COS, the recent decent weather has brought out the Motorcycle cops in force and it seems they are writing speeding tickets in excesive amounts to once again bolster the state, county and city budgets at the expense of the working class commuters... Ask me how I know... Yesterday, on my daily route, I saw no less than 7 drivers pulled over getting ticketed... Today, I saw a concentrated speed trap with 2 bikes and 1 cruiser and each were writing a ticket to the driver... Personnaly, I think it's a crime how the Local Legislators have decided to use Traffic Enforecement Cops as "Road Use Tax Collectors" by having them write speeding ticket after speeding ticket on frustrated commuters who are having to find creative ways to get to destinations on time while dealing with constant road construction and an ever increasing influx of polulaion to the area... As I see it, the only winners are the state/city/county bean counters and the insurance companies who need no reason based in reality to raise our premiums to whatever level they see fit... This whole Speed Enforcement thing is really getting old... [bsflag]
Quit breaking the law and you have nothing to worry about.
If they quit f'ing up the road system I would agree with the above comment, but since they keep F'ing stuff up why do we have to be perfect?
Quit breaking the law and you have nothing to worry about.
+1...Finding creative ways to get around traffic is a good way to get someone killed and make traffic worse. Some a$$ almost side-swiped me (with my wife and 2 kids) in that tight section by the bridge because his "creative way" of getting through traffic was doubling the speed limit. They can't expand new roads and freeways overnight, so in the meatime plan ahead.
Colorado Osprey
02-28-2007, 17:00
Colorado Springs is a home rule city and as such revenue generated from traffic enforcement stays in the city funds. It goes nowhere except back into the city fund.
Now those pesky motorcycle units that you are complaning about are part of the traffic enforement unit. On days where it is too cold or the weather doesn't cooperate...they are driving cruisers. There are not more or less on a certain day because of the weather...it just so happens that they will also enforce certain areas that are problem areas that have either a high accident rate or a citizen has complained and they are responding to a C.A.R. (Citizen Action Report.)
Don't get me wrong...they enforce these laws also for revenue. Just a presence of being in an area will usually stop most citizens from breaking most trafffic laws...so one unit would be enough to address concerns. If you see multiple units it is all revenue driven. Know why COS city council passed higher speeding fines than state law....under the pretense that it would curb speeding in city limits? To gain revenue. It gained so much revenue that they were able to employ about another 10 officers to do the same to get even more revenue.....vicious cycle that could be never ending.
Want to know how to avoid it.....follow all traffic laws to the letter...and don't speed.
There are still so many traffic laws that will allow an officer to pull just about anyone over at almost any time...but if you don't speed...you probably will not be creating a lot of revenue for the city...speeders do that.
they keep F'ing stuff up why do we have to be perfect?Because its this pesky little thing called the law... Feel free to break it, but dont snivel when you get popped for breaking it.
Quit breaking the law and you have nothing to worry about.
+2
True story, I was going to the Cabella's in Sidney a few years back, Just about the last curve just before You get to it. There sat a cruiser running Radar. I was doing the speed limit so I wasn't worried. As I got around the curve at the road that went into Sidney, there was a Cop waveing cars to the side of the road. Everybody who had passed Me in the previous 5 mile was sitting there. He just waved Me on to Cabella's. :mrgreen:
My children are happy that I don't speed anywhere, its not worth the risk.
Quit breaking the law and you have nothing to worry about.
+2
True story, I was going to the Cabella's in Sidney a few years back, Just about the last curve just before You get to it. There sat a cruiser running Radar. I was doing the speed limit so I wasn't worried. As I got around the curve at the road that went into Sidney, there was a Cop waveing cars to the side of the road. Everybody who had passed Me in the previous 5 mile was sitting there. He just waved Me on to Cabella's. :mrgreen:
I used to go up there all the time... I saw the same thing...
" ... c'mon up to Cabela's, we'll show you a good time (and earn all kinds of money for us and the state of nebraska)" [pirate]
robsterclaw
02-28-2007, 20:38
10 years accident and ticket free. :mrgreen:
PhL0aTeR
02-28-2007, 22:49
s'ok..... im with the minority..... i agree with the author.... im tired of it, where are the cops when someone cuts me off? where are they when someone is tailgating me? where are they when there are accident causing laws being broken? speeding does not cause accidents, it amkes them worse, but these other things actually cause accidents, and the cops are hiding behind a bush or a dirt hill looking for anyone moving 5mph or faster above the posted limits.
Or how about cops looking for people running red lights??? I see that crap all the time. Thats way worse than going 5-10m over the limit.
Nicademus
02-28-2007, 23:51
I to wish this was done with safety in mind, but it is purely revenue driven, that is the crime. We have Horizon HS behind us. The kids speed all the time, we have even seen kids drive from the school down the bike path past the Elementary school. Are the cops out there after school??? No they are on my street at work (purely industrial) 35mph with looping turns with lots of places to hide and get revenue.
Asha'man
03-01-2007, 00:37
The key is to find a "rabbit" who's driving about the same speed that you want to go and settle in some distance behind him. Works best for highway driving but I've seen it work in town. Last week my work partner and I were driving back from Canon City on 115 doing probably 80 in a 65. New Dodge pickup in front of us doing the same. Fremont County Sheriff comes by the other way, jams on his brakes, flips a bitch. We pull over as he cruises past us, lights blazing, and pulls over the Dodge. :mrgreen:
HunterCO
03-01-2007, 02:11
s'ok..... im with the minority..... i agree with the author.... im tired of it, where are the cops when someone cuts me off? where are they when someone is tailgating me? where are they when there are accident causing laws being broken? speeding does not cause accidents, it amkes them worse, but these other things actually cause accidents, and the cops are hiding behind a bush or a dirt hill looking for anyone moving 5mph or faster above the posted limits.
After reading that my advice is to put down the pipe and go to bed. They ae not ou to get you jut go to sweep and it wit be ok. [roll]
Or how about cops looking for people running red lights??? I see that crap all the time. Thats way worse than going 5-10m over the limit.
Running red lights and speeding are both illegal. Both get people killed.
The police cant be everywhere. If they were, I am sure someone would whine about that too.
I personally appreciate the police doing there jobs and welcome them to set up traffic enforcement in my town. I drive a lot in my job and haven't got a ticket in over 20 years. I try not to break the law but, I've caught myself a few time and slowed down, we all do. When it comes to going from point A to point B, I like the fast lane unless the flow is exceeding the limit then I get over. On long trips stress free driving is a key factor with me and I try to allow plenty of time to get there so I can enjoy the trip. I always say...( The more your in a hurry the longer it takes ) at least it seems that way when your in a Road Rage Huff! Take it easy out there, and you'll make it out alive! [usa] Yours truly Calm, Cool, and Collective. :cool:
PhL0aTeR
03-01-2007, 11:01
s'ok..... im with the minority..... i agree with the author.... im tired of it, where are the cops when someone cuts me off? where are they when someone is tailgating me? where are they when there are accident causing laws being broken? speeding does not cause accidents, it amkes them worse, but these other things actually cause accidents, and the cops are hiding behind a bush or a dirt hill looking for anyone moving 5mph or faster above the posted limits.
After reading that my advice is to put down the pipe and go to bed. They ae not ou to get you jut go to sweep and it wit be ok. [roll]
actually they are out to get me.... i got picked off by a radar gun monday night on 115. merging on to 115 from lake is a bitch if you are going the speed limit or under because if you go under, they dont allow you to come in, so sometimes you have to stop at a yeild, backing up the merging traffic behind you. if you go the speed limit, they still will not let you over and you end up having to muscle your way over, or trying to squeeze between the tailgaters, so the obvious choice for me is to punch it, get ahead of the leader and merge safely, then drop my speed down. unfortunately there is a big dirt hill right after the merge lane, and the bitch was hiding behind that with no lights on. all i saw was the red light from the radar gun, and i immediately pulled over.
michael_aos
03-01-2007, 11:07
I saw a phrase once. I forget the term exactly. Something like "Legalized Highway Robbery".
I agree, it's about revenue and not about safety.
It's almost funny. They have to write a certain number of tickets, to justify hiring more dedicated traffic cops. Who then have to write more tickets to justify their existence...
It's for the children.
Mike
michael_aos
03-01-2007, 11:25
I'm guessing the stated-goal of speed limits is to encourage people to drive safely.
I'm not certain the solution fits the problem.
People can still drive unsafely below the speed-limit, and safely above the speed-limit.
Are we really safer because of speed-limits? If we are, is it worth it?
Mike
JohnTRourke
03-01-2007, 11:53
it's all about the revenue
they just make the speed limits up (true story, longmont violated their own law to change a speed limit (3rd Ave) because it's "for the children")
doesn't have a damn thing to do with teh law, has to do with speeding
where do they get speeding tickets?
on wide open freeways most of the time (that of course, are the safest by far of the streets) because ti's easy
Cops wonder why people don't respect them, it shouldn't be hard to figure out.
:cry:
michael_aos
03-01-2007, 12:15
It was in the paper a while back. Presumably a lot of people run the lights under I-25 and Garden of the Gods, so they were going to station motorcycle cops there for 2wks.
If they wrote enough tickets, they'd use the money to hire cops to sit there all the time.
I read it in the paper, and I saw them sitting there during the pilot phase.
Kind of a long story, but the summary is that they wrote me a ticket for running a red-light. The light was green, so I went to court.
The judge cautioned me to plea-bargain, but I knew I was in the right so it went to trial.
The two motorcycle cops lied their butts off. Told a complete made-up fabrication. They did not deny that they had to meet a quota. The new assistant D/A got a conviction (me) on her very first case.
I guess they must not have met the overall quota though, because they never did assign a permanent detail.
Mike
I saw a piece on the television some time ago about a city in Europe that took down all traffic signs and regulations. There was a study that showed how people in a lawless environment were more cautious in their conduct so they decided to try it. I guess the jury is still out.
It makes some sense to me. If you don't know what the other freak on the road is going to do then maybe you'll get your stupid ass off the #$%^& phone and actually watch what you doing. Drive defensively.
It's the same principle as the old saw: "An armed society is a polite society."
Another study I read about some thirty years ago had a stop light in the middle of wide-open nowhere in France and in the U.S. It was set to hold red for quite a while. The French would slow down, look both ways, and cruise on through a red light without stopping if no one was coming. The Americans would stop and wait for the light to change, even though there was no one for miles in any direction.
Laws aren't all bad, but if you come to rely on them, you get stupid.
Interesting responses. Very polar issue no doubt. I'm not by any means suggesting that we should be allowed to speed, and as a rule, I don't in neighborhoods as I never want to run down a child, pet, etc... But, I also am expected to get to work on time and having to drive 50 miles one way every day in COS it's always a crap shoot. Major construction, lots of congestion, etc. and there are days when you just have to hussle to get to work on time... I consider speeding to be more like 90 in a 75, or 50 in a 30, or all out drag racing... I don't think it's right for Traffic Cops to be out aggressively enforcing speed laws during rush hour in a town where simply getting around on a day to day level is never predicatble... And don't sit there and tell me "don't break the law" because everyone on this thread has done it and will continue to do it as they see fit... Don't give me that "holy-ier than thou crap"... If that is your best input, stowe it. And by the way, the day I was most upset about, there were 2 Motorcycle cops and a cruiser writing tickets to people taking a side street around one intersection on Powers because Powers was stopped dead and traffic was crawling... They've been there every morning since and appear to be making a killing doing it... If the vast majority of drivers are exceeding the limit, there is a problem with either the set limit or the ability for people to make timely progress in there commute...
^^^
agreed... their is obviously somthing wrong...
It's the same with gun laws though isnt it? The best regulation is the least regulation. I think that applys to guns as it applys to driving and almost everything else. I thought all us gun guys could at least agree on that... i guess the speed limit seems to be devisive though.
robsterclaw
03-02-2007, 00:43
If the vast majority of drivers are exceeding the limit, there is a problem with either the set limit or the ability for people to make timely progress in there commute... Or the vast majority of them aren't smart enough to leave early enough to get where they need to be on time.
And don't sit there and tell me "don't break the law" because everyone on this thread has done it and will continue to do it as they see fit... Don't give me that "holy-ier than thou crap"... If that is your best input, stowe it. Quite a jerk statement to make, as a new member to a forum THAT IS MADE TO AIR YOUR OPINIONS. If my opinion is to tell you "don't break the law" I'll sure as hell state my opinion. You can feel free to break the law as much as you want. You know what the penalties are and if your fine with the risk good for you.
I think its about the money ,but I wish they would put a cop in my dive way I live by a school the back way in and they go50 up the street the worst are the school busses there aint no way they could stop if one of my 3 little one got to the street I even talked to them there to busy out on the main drag where its safer to go fast ,I dont mine the speed in the main areas if your safe no weaving in and out of traffic , but people need to slow down in the subdivisions getting home 5 seconds faster isnt worth plowing a kid and jail for life
Ya the idiots speeding around neighborhoods and school zones are out of line... Maybee if they actually put cops in those areas to protect people instead having to worry about quotas it might make our society a bit better. All I know is they just want to suck your money out of you, and in all honesty they couldnt care less bout safty for the most part. I'm not blaming the cops, they do what they are forced to do by their bosses. I know quite a few of em and I in generall think most cops I've met are really quite cool. But it's really the fault of the people we ellect. So I guess even though speed traps are stupid it is in major part due to our voting tendancys. We vote for the ones we think are the lesser of two evils who have a chance of winning instead of going libretarian which would do a better job at regulating these types of things.
And about not breaking the law... at what point is it warrented to do so? Will you not be breaking the law when they outlaw guns (when not if the way this country is going) or will you go allong like a puppet and hand em all over? I go by the rule of the less law the better, except for certain circumstances. In a town in france they took away all speed limits and lights etc. Basically it was all up to the people actually driving and the accident and death rates on the roads whent down derastically. It's been proven that enforcing laws on the roads doesnt work for the most part, yet they still choose to implement it. It works the same way with guns, if everyone had a gun i guarentee you people would be much nicer to eachother :mrgreen:
Now you as why are they implementing somthing that doesnt work? It's the $$$ involved.
Asha you and I have the same driving techniques! the "Rabbit" theory has served me well for 20 years now. However I am amazed anyone in Colorado Springs can speed at all I mean can they do anymore road construction? is there any road in Springs that is not in some form of upgrade and for crips sakes how long does it take to finish the woodmen interchange? I as watching a show on the troops in Iraq and one of the troops even cited that they took over Iraq and were well on the way of rebuilding Iraq meanwhile his hometown can't finish Woodmen Interchange I about fell off my chair!
Zak Smith
03-12-2007, 12:40
The light was green, so I went to court.
The judge cautioned me to plea-bargain, but I knew I was in the right so it went to trial.
The two motorcycle cops lied their butts off. Told a complete made-up fabrication.
There is a key learning here.
KarlPMann
03-12-2007, 16:49
I as watching a show on the troops in Iraq and one of the troops even cited that they took over Iraq and were well on the way of rebuilding Iraq meanwhile his hometown can't finish Woodmen Interchange I about fell off my chair!
[roll] [roll] [roll] [roll] [roll] [roll] OMFG there aren't enough smileys to show my laughter at that. Karl.
The key is to find a "rabbit" who's driving about the same speed that you want to go and settle in some distance behind him.
hehe that doesn't always work.. have seen a couple times that the guy at the end of the line gets nabbed.
since we're ranting.. :)
I generally drive ~5 over limit on the highway (80) it bugs me a wee bit when I come up on someone going 75, change lanes, pass. then they speed up to pace me alongside. so now I'm stuck speeding up, blocking the lane, or dropping in behind them where they'll slow back down.
sheesh, you want a rabbit, let me get a couple hundred yards in front of you first.
(unfortunately given recent vehicle issues I'm more likely to be over on the right going slower)
Colorado Osprey
03-13-2007, 06:58
Those lines serve dual purpose.
Not only do they tell aircraft your vehicle speed, but officers on an overpass can use these same lines without using radar. It's called VASCAR....no, not NASCAR.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o86/Atrain_dlp/owned_by_police.jpg
Proper "Rabbit" technique is if your following a rabbit give him at least a 1/4 mile plenty of time for you to adapt to oncoming issues or you can do what we do in DC and just Draft. If you haven't gone north on I25 between 4:30 and 6:00 pm between C. Springs and Castle Rock and enjoy NASCAR its a beautiful thing!! However if you drive a Diesel make sure you get a chip that removes the Governor!!
Favorite one liner of all time and its a quote of a very famous person to a State Trooper "I wasn't tailgating Officer....I was DRAFTIN!" Question is who said it???????
COLORADO AR-15 SHOOTERS TRIVIA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hint some people call him "The King"
KarlPMann
03-14-2007, 11:42
Don Prudhomme. :twisted: Karl.
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