Speed trap sting

Patch
The Sting
ON INTERSTATE 5 in Snohomish
County, Washington, Lance Ramsay
stands behind a surveyor's tripod.
He is wearing the typical jeans, hard
hat and reflective vest of a highway
worker. But all is not as it seems. The
device on the tripod is actually a laser
speed ranging gun, and Ramsay is a
Washington State Trooper, tracking cars
as they transit from the legal highway
speed limit to the "construction zone"
limit. A half-mile behind him, eight more
troopers wait. The construction zone is a
fake, which begs the question of whether
the speed limit is even valid. In just two
hours, Trooper Ramsay and his crew write
76 speeding tickets—or more than one
every two minutes—for an average take of
$210 per ticket. That's approximately
$8000 per hour collected from motorists
who actually didn't do anything wrong.
The Washington State Patrol got this
idea from Florida, where similar stings
have been used. The only difference
seems to be that Washington's was an
equal-opportunity sting, whereas several
reputable sources have reported that the
Florida version is heavily skewed toward
targeting out-of-state drivers.
As reported by The National Speed
Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org), in Denver,
Colorado, there was a construction
zone set up at the exit from the Denver
International Airport. The normal speed
limit here is 45 mph, but just around the
first curve and difficult to spot is a warning
sign dropping the speed to 25 mph, to
protect the construction workers. Problem
is, no one has ever seen any actual construction
going on here, and the only people
present are the five or six police
officers waiting to nail anyone coming
around the curve at over 25 mph. Tickets
are an average of $300 each, doubled
because this is a "construction zone."
Lawmakers in Indiana, seeing the
potential budget enhancement of special
"work zone enforcement," are considering
House Bill 1289, to create the "work zone
freeway speed program." The bill's sponsor,
Bill Friend (R-Macy), wrote on introducing
the bill, "Revenues for the new
fiscal year are way down." His answer is
to lower speed limits on certain sections of
freeways to 45 mph, and then allow private
contractors to issue citations of up to
$1000 to drivers who miss seeing the
speed reduction signs. It is also noted in
the bill that no construction need actually
be taking place in the "work zone."
In Maryland, a similar program generated
8800 tickets within the first six
weeks, and is on track to generate 76,000
by the end of the year.
In Pennsylvania, the state police are so
proud of their construction zone sting
that they have given it a cute official
name, "Operation Yellow Jacket." That's
because they have state troopers dress in
the distinctive yellow reflective vests of
Pennsylvania DOT employees when
they use their radar guns to "sting"
unsuspecting drivers.
According to the Trucker's Report, similar
operations are underway in Arizona
and New Mexico, and Alabama is notorious
for having literally dozens of bogus
construction zones set up where no worker
has so much as turned a spade of dirt in the
past several years.
But the all-time winner always has been
Pulaski County, Illinois, where a permanent
construction zone is used by the local
sheriffs office and city police as a primary
funding source. For years this area
has been the winner of every discussion on
the subject of punitive and illegal speed
traps ever undertaken in this country. In
fact, Pulaski County may have been the
first to stumble onto the concept of the
fake or permanent construction zone not
only as a way to hand out a lot more
speeding tickets but to have the fines
doubled in the name of public safety.
For years I had a hunch this son of thing
might be going on. How many times have
you ridden through a construction zone
and seen no sign that any work was being
done? Or in an area you pass through
often, you find that the construction cones
and barrels stay up long after the work
was completed? But I never thought it was
this widespread or organized until I started
doing a little research.
Through the National Motorists
Association (NMA), a highly-respected
consumer advocacy group to which I
belong, I stumbled upon another revenuegenerating
scheme, the shortened yellow
light scam. I knew from researching this
subject about five years ago that there was
a virtual epidemic of cities shortening the
duration of yellow lights, but at the time
there hadn't been any real studies done as
to the effects of this practice. Naturally,
the municipalities involved either denied
the claim or admitted to shortening the
lights but claimed that it was in the interest
of public safety. Since then, however,
a half-dozen independent studies have all
shown that shortening the duration of yellow
lights drastically increases the rate of
intersection accidents, in some cases by
as much as 300%. As you might expect,
the cities have chosen to completely
ignore these results, because the other
truth about shortened yellow lights is that
the revenue generated from tickets has
also increased proportionately. Here are
just two examples from Newspaper.com:
Dallas, Texas—An investigation by
KDFW-TV found that of the 10 traffic
cameras that issued the greatest number
of tickets in the city, seven were located at
intersections where the yellow duration is
shorter than the bare minimum recommended
by the Texas Department of
Transportation. One camera, for example,
issued 9407 tickets worth $705,525
between January and August.
Union City, California—Union City
was caught trapping motorists with a yellow
signal time 1.3 seconds below the
minimum established by state law. As a
result, the city was forced to refund more
than $1 million in fines. The city's violation
came to light after Dave Goodson, an
engineer, received a ticket and realized
that he did not have sufficient time to stop.
As a result of his inquiries, Union City's
traffic engineers admitted that they had
set the yellow signal time at 3 seconds,
despite the state law mandating the time
be 4.3 seconds or greater.
Those are just two of the more than a
dozen instances I found where city
governments were purposely fleecing
motorists while at the same time knowingly
increasing the risk of accidents.
The point I would like to make is that all
of these practices and others like them not
only will continue but will proliferate until
common citizens stand up and fight.
Visit us at WWW.MCNEWS.COM • JANUARY2012 47

Interesting article albeit somewhat difficult to read.

I cannot see how these areas could be legally called a "Construction Zone".....but then, I'm not an attorney.

Rick, perhaps its in a construction zone where the workers aren't working at during that time. We've all seen them, some state d.o.t. has left their barrels or concrete barriers and signage out warning of the construction zone and reduced speed ahead especially on the weekend. Drivers enter the area and figure they can put the hammer down because no constructions workers. Pretty sneaky of the troopers to seize the moment, although I don't agree with it, I'm sure someone in their department has done the homework. At least I hope so.

When I was at school we were taken, with our pushbikes, to a "rider" training course operated by the local police.

After several laps of the course one of the cops would sneak out and spin a sign around so that it read NO ENTRY for one section of the course while we were at the other end.

The cops would "ping" all the kids who rode through the NO ENTRY (which was most kids).

We were told we had to always pay attention to the road signs because they could change from day to day.

If you speed through a "construction zone" you put workers' lives at risk.

I guess the cops in this case could say they caught people who might speed through a construction zone, without putting workers' lives at risk. You can't deny that you sped through a nominated construction zone so there is no defence in court.

I don't think the applicable law in a another country or continent carries weight elsewhere. The defense is clearly one of entrapment and even that would be difficult in a case of a moving violation. No doubt the citation could be fought on the grounds of entrapment which is a proactive defense. The reality is to fight the citation would require more time and $ than the fine no doubt.

This is little more than Barney Fife hiding in the bushes writing tickets for anyone going 1 or more mile an hour over the limit. You also need to realize in the case of Pulaski County, IL, it is one of the poorest counties in the Nation...ranks right up there with some in Appalachia.

Sorry Eric, but I have to side with Robert and others on this one.

Entrapment in the US court system is a huge and meaningful defense. It can be the only recourse in felony cases when Johnny Law lures one into criminal activity. The same holds true for minor offenses but in the end the costs and time are probably not worth. No stomping feet, simply a proactive defense.

Laws are to be enforced. Law keepers should not be allowed to lure folks into less than legal behavior/actions. Rube speed traps number on the list of over aggressive legality.



Loop Holes Kirk
Attorney Pro Se

;)

There should be some definition of what a "construction Zone" is. If having one sign that most people can't see constitutes as a "construction zone," then the issue would seem to be more one of worker safety. It is not safe to have a construction zone without better marking. But I don't really think it is entrapment, they are not asking you to speed or suggesting that you speed.

Many police departments and judges are out of line and it is always driven by the $ bill. Rural break-ins are the biggest crime in my area and your lucky to get law enforcement to show-up if you have one. Just no money in that.

Dave

I'm too lazy to go look up the statute, but I believe that Nebraska just amended our law a year or two ago to REQUIRE that construction workers be present before any of the double fines can apply. I live on a through street with a 25mph speed limit and people routinely drive past my kids playing in the yard doing 40-50mph. I've asked the cops to set up a speed trap but all they care about is DUI's. True story, last summer my boys heard the ice cream truck coming, so they were standing on the corner with their money, waiting. Here comes the truck....with a patrol car with flashing lights right behind. Pulled the guy over right in front of our house and ran him out of town for not having a permit. I heard the guy ask the female cop if he could give my two boys and ice cream and she said no. She came over to my crying 4 year old and said sorry, rules are rules. I said "now that you've saved us from the evil ice cream man, can you do something about all the speeders on this road?" Blank stare.

Ryan
Over abundance of testosterone or a very severe Wyatt Earp complex. That was down right mean!

Ryan,

I'am sure your 4Y0 will grow up with great respect for the long-arm of the law. What an AH (not austin healey).

Dave

I'd be a little more inclined to believe that traffic tickets were about "safety" rather than revenue, except for the fact that I routinely see the police blatantly violating traffic laws.

robert, you always hear people talk of these police quotas
other than seeing cars pulled over at the end of the month, what leads you to suspect that it is true?

15 years covering the police beat, getting to know troopers, city cops, deputies, partying with same and listening carefully to conversations. In some cases it may be a lesser formality but in fact it is very real and quite true...;)...wink and nod stuff..."job performance" private discussions when certain anticipated numbers are not met.

Citations prove the officer is doing his job...at least traffic cops.

So you heard about it and know it is true from some people, but can't attribute it to anything specific or say specifically what "it" is?

Sorry Mike, too much anger and angst on this and another thread. In the midwest, whether or not stated or simply implied, traffic officers are expected to issue traffic tickets. In small towns, the overnight traffic officer may not find his job in existence if a certain number of tickets are not issued. That is probably true in the vastly impoverished Pulaski County in Illinois and many other small towns and poorer counties.

I wonder how much revenue they're going to bring in with this one? (Or how many wrecks they're going to cause by confusing drivers?)

Here in Maryland all you heard about these legislators cry about was construct zone speed enforcement was necessary for the safety of the workers. Can't disagree with that.

Maryland outsourced their construction zone speed enforcement and these SUVs with speed cameras sit in their own special area complete with there own spot-a-pot and issue citations on nights, weekends, when it's raining, or just about any other time there are NOT workers on the job.

I fail to see how my driving slower through the construction zone while the workers are home sleeping or enjoying their weekend make them any safer.

It's a BS money grab. Must be nice to be the politician who's getting the back end bonus on that deal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Rome,_Ohio

I remembered a town in Ohio about 10 years ago that used cops for revenue. The reform-minded citizens had a web site to cover their progress in de-certifying the town - this Wikipedia article covers it.

I-24 Northbound (south of Nashville, TN) is notorious for county sheriff & city cop's along the route for stopping drivers for anything they can think of. Why northbound? Just like any crime, "follow the money."

There is another Ohio town near Ashland, KY where the cops (alledgedly), well, negotiate traffic violations with the ladies. 'Nuff said.