Serious Cop Pwnage

[Pezzle]

The problem to me is that all the crap in my dashboard is analog. I once got pulled over for going 58 in a 50, but according to my odometer I was fluctuating between 50 and 54 (I have no cruise control). Either the cop paced me poorly or he wanted my number, and trust me he did ask for it.

[MMATM]

The traditional "5 mph over rule" was designed to reduce the problem like Pezzle has. Some speedometers are not as accurate as they could be, and so most cops give 5mph worth of leniency, though they can still pull you over at 51 in a 50 if they like, or if they suspect anything - which has happened to me twice (and I'm still ticket-free).

If Pezzle had been going at 50 exactly, the speedometer would have (theoretically) read 54 tops, which is within the 5mph of typical wiggle room given. Does this mean that everyone should speed 5mph above the posted limit? No. The point of the leniency is to allow for speedometer imprecision. If you're speeding 55 in a 50 according to your speedometer, you might be going 60 without even knowing it.

On a related note, no speed limits below 20mph (exclusive) can be authorized and enforced, because speedometers are not required to be accurate below 20mph. The driver must have some way of knowing that he or she was speeding before getting the ticket. This does not, of course, excuse people with broken or unreadable speedometers, or with no speedometers at all. Also, speeding above 20mph in a posted-below-20mph zone is probably enforceable, so I wouldn't try it.

[Pezzle]

The traditional "5 mph over rule" was designed to reduce the problem like Pezzle has. Some speedometers are not as accurate as they could be, and so most cops give 5mph worth of leniency, though they can still pull you over at 51 in a 50 if they like, or if they suspect anything - which has happened to me twice (and I'm still ticket-free).

They have those radars-on-a-cart that they set up that tells you your speed just to scare you into thinking there's a speed trap ahead. I've approached one with my needle at exactly the line between 30 and 40, in a 35 zone and it flashed saying I was going 40. The funny part was, the other day I went through the same 35 mph but different area (right at top of a small incline) and it said I was going 31.

A little OT, it's very funny all the times I've been pulled over I only ever got a ticket because I'd forgotten my wallet that day. Every time I get pulled over it's over something stupid or weird. For instance I had 4 cop cars pull me over once with guns drawn because my vehicle matched a description they'd received of a certain wife beating and drug dealing individual. Or the time the cop in west virginia pulled me over becuase I had my right rear license plate illuminator out, and told me he was trying to prove he wasn't sleeping... he he. SO many bored cops here.

[blas]

Pezzle, one of my coworkers at the gas station was pulled over and ticketed for going 42 in a 40. Needless to say, she never ended up having to pay that ticket.

For the record, she was coming down a hill, where the cop was staking out.

[Primer]

completely off topic, but is there any relation between MMATM and mattm, or is that just a coincidence?

and don't forget about daftmatt ...er...dRaftrmatt

[martin]

The police in a nearby city had a similar sting but the people crossing the street were wearing costumes. I think one was a giant hot dog costume and the other a giant taco costume. That way when the police pulled someone over they could ask the driver "Didn't you notice the giant hot dog!" when the driver would say they didn't see anyone.

It would have been fine if the people in the costumes would have just walked across the street in the crosswalk. However the idiots would slowly meander across, then dance a bit, and run back and forth, and finally cross the street. Drivers would get pissed and drive through the cross walk and then get pulled over and ticketed.

Watching the newscast of it, it seemed that they were trying to piss off drivers so the drivers would break the law.

[Broomjockey]

The traditional "5 mph over rule" was designed to reduce the problem like Pezzle has. Some speedometers are not as accurate as they could be, and so most cops give 5mph worth of leniency,

It was also because the formula used to calculate speed is an infinitely repeating fraction equation, which consistantly needs to be rounded at each step, and so if all the rounding in the equation goes against you, it can be off by like that much.

[Arm]

Oh, yeah, if they really wanted to they could ticket me every time I drive down that road. But it's not likely, as there are plenty of folks who drive faster than I do that they could go after first. Or rather, there are now

Part of the reason that the speedometer in your car is inaccurate is because it's actually attached to your transmission. It doesn't measure how fast your car is going; instead it measures how fast your car is *trying* to spin the wheels. And it's calibrated based on how large your wheels are. (if your wheels are so many feet around, and they turn so many times a minute, then you're going rotations times the size, and so on) But all that varies, based on how much air is in your tires that day, how much energy you're losing as the wheels slip- nothing's perfect in the equation.

Heck, I just had my speedometer cluster replaced, because the gears inside it had worn down to the point where they were no longer reading *anything* above about 40.
...but, yeah.

I've only gotten three speeding tickets, and I paid them all because I got caught and I knew it. Inaccurate or not, my speedometer is generally accurate enough for me to know better Which I think is really probably the point of the device anyhow

[yizuman]

I then realize what had happened---it was a setup. The cops were pulling people over who weren't stopping for pedestrians, and pink jacket lady was, most likely, a cop herself.

She was....

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Chicago-Officers-Camp-Out-In-Crosswalk-Sting/1$41768

Yiz

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Very interesting, Yiz...except this was in Portland Oregon.

Makes perfect sense, though. Lots more people are walking all over due to gas prices, and summer is prime time for cops to set up traps.

[cinema guy]

The traditional "5 mph over rule" was designed to reduce the problem like Pezzle has. Some speedometers are not as accurate as they could be,

It is also apparently because tyres are not constant diameters - things like external temperature, tyre pressure and wear all affect tyre size and so as rotational speed is converted to linear speed, road speed is affected.

Here in the UK speed limit violations allow a 10% margin of error.

All this was according to a speed course I had to take when a camera caught me doing 34mph in a 30mph zone.

[mariamousie1]

AWESOME!!!

[Miyon]

My cousin got a ticket for going 51 in a 50.

[mattm04]

Pezzle, one of my coworkers at the gas station was pulled over and ticketed for going 42 in a 40. Needless to say, she never ended up having to pay that ticket.

For the record, she was coming down a hill, where the cop was staking out.

How bored must hat cop have been? Two over On my dads car is only marked every five. It can be had to tell if you are only 1 or two over.

[JustADude]

My cousin got a ticket for going 51 in a 50.

Yesh, that cop must have been anal, or your cousin was stupid enough to mouth off when he got pulled.