Another speed-related question

[GJD]

How many miles over do you usually give someone before making a traffic stop say in a 30 mph zone. What is the difference on the highway. And on a side note - What's the least you've stopped someone for or issued a ticket for? Thanks

[kirch]

I bet you're the kind of person that asks the magician how he made the rabbit disappear, aren't you?

[trafficmotor1]

Most of the time, 15 mph over the limit will get you stopped, and depending on a number of things will result in a citation or written warning. 20 mph or over is an automatic citation, unless it's an absolute life/death emergency situation.

[Bodie]

40 in a 30 will get you stopped. You have to understand the limits of the devices used to measure speed (radar, lasar). Attitude will determine oif you get ticket from that point on and your past driving record.
15 over sure. 20 to 25 over OH YEAH 30 and up you probably will ride with me while your car gets a ride elsewhere. School zone or park area zero tolerance a ticket almost everytime

[sflcop]

I usually will not pull someone over unless they are doing 15 over the limit. Then their attitude will determine if they get a ticket or a warning. 20 and above is normally and automatic citation, unless it is a true VERIFIABLE emergency. When it comes to school zones, I normally will not pull someone over unless they are 7-10 over the limit, then again it is attitude. More than that for me is zero tolerance in a school zone.

[IPDBrad]

Depends. If I want to stop them to see if they are up to something other than just speeding, then 35 in a 30 is fine by me.

50/30 guaranteed ticket, anything else is up to my discretion.

[GJD]

Are you joking Kirch?

[DAN'LL]

GJD

I'm with trafficmotor1 and sflcop. I tend to do exactly the same.

But you never know what will go down when you see the blue lights in your rearview mirror.

A close buddy cop of mine handles every stop differently.

He has been known to give a warning to a news reporter who was on his way to a "story" at 0300hrs, and doing 70mph in a 30mph zone.

When you are stopped by a cop, you can be certain of one thing only, if you are totally upfront and cordial: the odds are with you!

If you don't have a legal justification for your speed, I would say this to the cop who just pulled you over, (and I'm the cop who might be walking up to your window):

"Officer, I really don't have a good reason for my speed. I believe that I was over the limit. I will be more aware of it when coming through here the next time."

Say that, and you are on second base and you're being waved over to third.

Dan

[archer0830]

Say that, and you are on second base and you're being waved over to third.
So your supposed to take your pants off???:p

[GJD]

:cool:

[Whiterook]

Say I am going 31 in a 30 MPH zone, can I legally be given a ticket?

[GJD]

Are any LEO's from Montana? I heard that their speed limit for highways is 75mph, but their tickets are really in-expensive ( $ 5-10 ) for going say 15 over

[Valor55]

Originally posted by Whiterook
Say I am going 31 in a 30 MPH zone, can I legally be given a ticket?

Legally? Yes. The Speed Limit is 30, there are no buffers codified in the law. I think though that you would be hard pressed to find a cop who would write that ticket or a judge who would convict it. We have discretion and as you can tell most of us here differ slightly but we all give a buffer to drivers. I want to make sure that if you didn't know you were speeding you should have. At 31 in a 30 that's tough. I've stopped someone for going 5 over the limit but they got charged with DWI and driving on suspended OL, not speeding 45 in a 40.

[Whiterook]

Thanks Valor, my friend seems to think there is a 5MPH "grace zone" because the detectors have a 5MPH zone of error.

[trouttrooper]

Originally posted by GJD
Are any LEO's from Montana? I heard that their speed limit for highways is 75mph, but their tickets are really in-expensive ( $ 5-10 ) for going say 15 over


No, speed limit in Montana is 75 only on the interstates (all both of them :) ) when you aren't near a decent size city. Highways will vary between 55 and 70 depending on a variety of things like number of curves or how many towns are along the way. Most highways will have a seperate night time speed limit usually 5 or 10 mph slower than daytime.

The $5 speeding ticket ended when the federal gov't ended their mandatory 55/65 mph speed limit on all states. It was Montana's way of telling Washington DC that if they are going to force speed limits on us that we feel are too slow then we won't punish people for going faster.

Another case of some city slicker pencil pusher back east not realizing that western states have straight stretches of highways running for many miles with no towns, or anything for that matter, and 55 is ridiculously slow.

When that was lifted Montana kinda goofed by just posting "reasonable and prudent" instead of an actual speed limit. That only lasted a short time because the courts pretty much said cops couldn't write speeding tickets anymore because the person going the excessive speed could say they felt their speed was reasonable.

[kirch]

Originally posted by GJD
Are you joking Kirch? Yes. Ha. Ha.

OK, in all seriousness, I've developed my own system so that I feel I'm being fair to everyone. I call it the 10 + 10 approach.

Regardless of circumstances (unless truly life-threatening), it's an automatic citation if someone's doing 10 miles over plus 10% of the limit. For example, if the speed limit is 30, even the soccer moms with a completely clean record are going to get a cite at 43 (30 mph + 10 mph + 3 mph). For 25, it's 38 (25 mph + 10 mph + 3 mph - I round up).

+11 mph in any area with a 25 mph or higher limit will get someone a ticket if they have received a traffic citation in the last 6 months or have a regular history of traffic violations. Obviously they haven't learned their lesson yet. Any area with less than a 25 mph limit it's +8 mph.

I try not to let attitude (theirs or mine) affect my decision on whether or not to cite. Then again, there is some truth to the saying 'You get more flies with honey than with vinegar'.

When I'm looking for drunks +10 is an automatic stop, and I've been known to pull them over for as little as +8. But I prefer something more solid so I'll look for some equipment violation to 'strengthen' the stop. I believe it's easier to defend a burnt out taillight or license plate lamp in court than a narrow speed violation.

[irishlad2nv]

Originally posted by kirch
Yes. Ha. Ha.

OK, in all seriousness, I've developed my own system so that I feel I'm being fair to everyone. I call it the 10 + 10 approach.

Regardless of circumstances (unless truly life-threatening), it's an automatic citation if someone's doing 10 miles over plus 10% of the limit. For example, if the speed limit is 30, even the soccer moms with a completely clean record are going to get a cite at 43 (30 mph + 10 mph + 3 mph). For 25, it's 38 (25 mph + 10 mph + 3 mph - I round up).

+11 mph in any area with a 25 mph or higher limit will get someone a ticket if they have received a traffic citation in the last 6 months or have a regular history of traffic violations. Obviously they haven't learned their lesson yet. Any area with less than a 25 mph limit it's +8 mph.

I try not to let attitude (theirs or mine) affect my decision on whether or not to cite. Then again, there is some truth to the saying 'You get more flies with honey than with vinegar'.


When I'm looking for drunks +10 is an automatic stop, and I've been known to pull them over for as little as +8. But I prefer something more solid so I'll look for some equipment violation to 'strengthen' the stop. I believe it's easier to defend a burnt out taillight or license plate lamp in court than a narrow speed violation.


How does your "10 + 10" work? I mean if they are going 10 over, write them for 10...but u add 3 or so? That does not makes sense to me, care to explain more? I mean in all honesty, its seems to me u are not using your integrity to its fullest if u are going to add speed? I mean its like dropping speed off of the ticket to reduce the fine...take it to court and u , yourself can find yourself in a jam with the judge...i am just curious of how you get away with this?

[kirch]

Originally posted by irishlad2nv
How does your "10 + 10" work? I mean if they are going 10 over, write them for 10...but u add 3 or so? That does not makes sense to me, care to explain more? I mean in all honesty, its seems to me u are not using your integrity to its fullest if u are going to add speed? I mean its like dropping speed off of the ticket to reduce the fine...take it to court and u , yourself can find yourself in a jam with the judge...i am just curious of how you get away with this? I don't 'add' speed -- that's the speed they have to be going to qualify, if you will, for an automatic citation. In a 40 mph zone, I will cite any driver traveling at 54 or higher.

Like I said, there's still a chance I will cite someone going only 10 (or less) over, but that depends on their driving record or whether or not I'm going to charge them with an OWI or another more 'significant' violation.

[irishlad2nv]

Originally posted by kirch
I don't 'add' speed -- that's the speed they have to be going to qualify, if you will, for an automatic citation. In a 40 mph zone, I will cite any driver traveling at 54 or higher.

Like I said, there's still a chance I will cite someone going only 10 (or less) over, but that depends on their driving record or whether or not I'm going to charge them with an OWI or another more 'significant' violation.

Ok, so Posted Speed is 30...I am going 40, u write me or 43? If it is 43 I understand...i was just a litte confused, but if it is 43...i follow u and think thats good...let me know..:)

[retdetsgt]

Originally posted by Whiterook
Thanks Valor, my friend seems to think there is a 5MPH "grace zone" because the detectors have a 5MPH zone of error.

Speedometers aren't all that accurate either, although most show you going faster than you really are.

[irishlad2nv]

Originally posted by retdetsgt
Speedometers aren't all that accurate either, although most show you going faster than you really are.


OK I was on this military post...well the one I am stationed at...my odometer reads 30...but on the Stationary Radar thing the MPS have set up...i was going 23...?? go figure.


And this was tested in other vehicles...same thing...radar station is messed up i think...

[DAN'LL]

irishlad2nv

If this makes you feel any better.

Every stop will get you something different, as I was trying to say above.

If you don't like a "kirch stop", just pass by me.

I will stop you (and write you a warning only) if you are 15 to 20 mph over!

If you see me in your rearview mirror, you had to be be going 21 over before it costs you any money!

You're going 61 in a 40 mph posted zone?

You're paying $210.00 for the stop.

You will have to look long and hard, irishlad, to find a cop who will cut you a better break then that!

Dan

P.S.

If I'm off duty , you're outta luck!

[Bloodhound_K-9_]

What i do is, I lock a good speeder in at, say, 14-16 mph over the limit where I'm working RADAR and use that speed on the display most of the night:D

[trafficmotor1]

Bloodhound K9,
that brings up another interested question concerning "locking" your speed on the radar display. I'm wondering how many agencies or states require the officer to lock the speed. I do not, and we are not required to either by policy or state law. Mainly for two reasons, most of the cites I write the violator's speed shows up in the "fastest" window, obviously because they are moving faster than other traffic, and may not yet be the closest vehicle to you at the time for the speed to show up in the primary window. On my radar (Stalker ATR), it is difficult to lock in the fastest window speed. Also, I like to follow the speed through, to see if they are speeding up or slowing down, if you lock it in, then you take away that advantage.
Also, I never let violators see the radar anyway when they ask, #1- their speed is normally not locked, and #2 the next question is always "how do you I/you know that was MY speed? #3 if they don't beleive me, or don't realize they were aping ***, then they are a dumbass anyway !:D

[cleetus0219]

I work at night, so I don't have to worry about random pedestrians in the roadway.

That being said, I'll stop 55+ in a 30, or less if you have more than just the speeding violation.

[cleetus0219]

Originally posted by irishlad2nv
Ok, so Posted Speed is 30...I am going 40, u write me or 43? If it is 43 I understand...i was just a litte confused, but if it is 43...i follow u and think thats good...let me know..:)

NO. He'll STOP people for going 43+. If YOU are doing 40, YOU get written for 40.

What didn't you understand there?

[kirch]

Apparently my 'system' is easier in practice than in explanation.

If you're doing 40 and I'm going to cite you, I cite you for 40. If you're going 43 and I cite you, I cite you for 43.

The only time this may not apply is in those situations where I cut someone a break and drop their speed down 1-2 mph so they get a lesser fine or point violation. Technically speaking, they were traveling at that speed to reach the higher speed -- I just gave them a verbal warning for the higher speed. This can be of assistance in court. If the guy shows up looking for a reduction from the judge, I can point to the citation (where I record both the cited speed and the top speed) and say I already gave him a break. It also helps with the attitude issue. Most people I stop and cite end up thanking me. Go figure.

[archer0830]

This is funny. I think most people understand your system. We just have one slow bird. The system makes sense to me.