O/T:Arrested for 147 MPH-Is your rod safe?

That happened once. The police department sent the guy a picture of handcuffs.

 

Intersting. I had read earlier that Mesa rmoved it's red light cameras, as they were losing a hundered grand a month on the installations after they increased teh yellow light time by one second. Apparently every town that has tried increasing the yellow light timing like that has seen red light running drop by nearly 90%.

OTOH, most places that have put in red light cameras (like San Diego, Baltimore, DC, and Seattle) have been found to have SHORTENED the yellow light time by at least a second, causing more people to enter the intersection at the end of a yellow, increasing revenues. In some cases, up to 3 million annually just from red light cameras. There was a big deal on the news in DC about just that sort of thing, where intersections that were 4 second long yellows were dropped to 2.7 seconds.

Lastly, as fast as new Sonatas are, rental ones will NOT do 147.

 

The Duke himself said "Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."

 

Notice in the new "click it or ticket" ads that they talk about how they will even be ticketing classics, and show the 1st gen camaro? That's an issue with me.

Most states still state that cars older than 1969 don' need belts as they were options then. Secondly, even on teh cars that HAVE them, most of 'em are lap belts, so how's a cop gonna see them from outside? Meaning now you're even MORE open to getting pulled over out of the blue while being legal.

 

They changed our light timing here and I really think it's a damn dangerous change. Let's see if I can translate this into text:

Your light is Green, Then Yellow, then at the same time your light turns Red the other way gets a Green.

Before it was all delayed in between. You got a Yellow, then a Red, and then their light went Green.

Now here, if you run a light there is a greater chance of an accident.

It just seems a bit dangerous to me.

 

This is off subject, sorta kinda, but while everyone's on this picture rant it's a good time to ask. Any other places have big ad campaigns with phone numbers to call if you see someone litering? Seems if you see someone liter you call in their plate number to this toll free number. What happens? Do they take their word for it and just send the person a ticket? Or is it a complete joke and they send a postcard with a "no no" on it? Wtf is this shit all about?

 

I have heard of a guy in ventura court that claimed that the cameras were unconstituional because he did not have the opportunity to face his accuser.

Make them pull the camera and do a diagnostic on it. tell them that the manufaturer of the car says it will only do 137 top speed. make em prove that you were going that fast. if they can't the camera is thrown out and the ticket is thrown out. it doesn't matter how fast you were going if the machine is busted you get off...

the real deal is this guy is an idiot that is way to fast to go on 14inch tires rated at 110. he could have killed somebody and that shit sucks...you wanna go fast ( and I do sometimes) go to a track. that kinda speed ANY little issue and its lights out....

 

A buck forty seven! I doubt it, Must have a a hell of a tail wind!
I like to see the photo cops bring this VA. registered Rental car out
to El Mirage or even Bonneville to prove it! I know that the Koreans
have improved their workmanship over the past 20 yrs but this is
rediculous
They tried this very same deal in the late 80's in Pasadena off of Oak Knoll Rd. Most of the tickets were fought, The outside contractor in the Chevy S/10 Blazer didnt get his contract renewed, but watch out now because there are @ several intersections Red light violation cameras and they
are serious! My sis got one & it was $355.00 and was handled by an outside contractor-agency that would in turn forward a portion of the "Random Taxation" to the participating city.
Keep an eye out in Culver City also, because every light has one there.

 

yeah, they're stupid.

of course, teh other thing is that real officers pulling someone over for running a red light can catch a DWI. A red light ticket won't tell that the person is DWI and the ticket doesn't go on your driving record. I'd rather get a non-points red light ticket than a DWI...

Oh, and normally, a spouse does not have to testify against ther SO, but in this case, if the car's registered to you and your spouse is driving, you have to pay the fine or prove who was driving.

Speed cameras are interesting, as they are done from the front. I want to find one, ride past it on a generic sport bike with a smoked full face helmet, flipping off the camera. Of course, if they do that here, a whole lot of people from Pennsylvania and Delaware wil be getting off scot free...

 

I was playing with some of that spray on high gloss shit for your plates, took some snap shots with a few different cameras and that shit actually works most of the time. Just makes the plate unreadable. I kinda started fuckin with it thinking it was a joke of a product but it's not. I didn't try it at night, don't know if it would work under low light but when the sun is out, it works at almost every angle.

Don't know if it's illegal in some states or not, can always just say you use a spray on wax on the car and maybe it collected on the plate I guess.

 

So... How about some flat black primer on the lenses of these cameras?

 

Gonna be tough to get up there to paint 'em.

Around here the big deal is yet another law to make the relatives left over from a death feel better about themselves. A trooper in a Blazer was killed when he wrecked trying to chase some kid on a crotch rocket doing 100+ on a two-lane road. Now they want to make it a felony to evade pursuit instead of a traffic infraction - despite the fact that high speed chases are rare and usually very short around here.

They also want to charge the guy with manslaughter and all this stuff - yeah they found him - but unless he admits it was him, I don't see how you ever prove it. The only thing close to evidence they have is a grainy shot from a security camera at the county jail.

Personally, I think the guy was nuts to do 100+ on a bike on two-lane hilly roads, but as long as he only kills himself I don't care - I do think it's dumb to try to chase a cycle with an SUV, though. It looks like the trooper overdrove it, locked up the brakes coming up on a stop sign at a 4-lane road, and slid right into a tree still going pretty fast. It's sad that he died, but if we pass a law every time somebody dies sooner or later you're going to have to pull over just to fart in the car.


On the bright side. at least no one's figured out to use this as an argument in favor of those cameras.

Oh yeah.. a rental Hyundai doing 147? I could see it if it was a tuner car, but a rental I wouldn't believe until I saw it. I'd be a lot more likely to believe inflated numbers by the law. It's been my understanding that a lot of newer cars are programmed into their computers that if they exceed certain limits, they'll shut the car down (which I have never quite believed because if you lose your power assist at 100+ that could be dangerous). It's a wonder they don't all have a rev limiter to keep you under 75 or so.

 

Lucky you... I get a ticket for 32 over on I-20 on the west side... $987.

 

Most new cars have a soft rev limiter at redline. Basically, it shuts off the gas until the engine slows down by about 200-300 revs. Also, most new cars are electronically limited to the top-speed of the rating of the stock tires. Yes, 147 in a rental Hyundai seems a little improbable, but not wholly impossible. Maybe the governor wasn't working correctly, and with modern aerodynamics, many new stock cars will run in the neighborhood of 140.

 

I guarantee you that an insurance company is subsidizing local law enforcement in installation of the cameras. They stand to make a lot more money off a speeding ticket than your local police dept.

 

So, driving 30-50 mph over the speed limit is where its at. I'll have to remember that the next time I need to save 1 or 2 minutes getting where I'm going. And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Frank

 

the guys a fool i agree, but 147 i think not .....all this tecnoligy and we cant find osama.................

 

Catchin' osama doesn't bring in the revenue like catchin' speeders.

 

I know my stock V8 T-Bird had a limiter at 115, my understanding was that was due to the tire rating as well. Didn't they also say Rodney King was driving 135 in his Hyundai, and the manufacturer said they never got it that fast on the racetrack? Fat chance he was doing 147 in the Sonata. 115, 120, 125, maybe, but 147? please. That's ridic.

Regardless, it's a stupid thing to do to top out a car on a public road. Yes, I've done it my fair share of times, and I'm sure many others on here have as well. Now that I'm older and wiser I'm more responsible. I met a guy once that killed somebody in a car wreck he caused when he was drunk. It looked like a helluva weight on his shoulders that I sure as heck don't want. Hopefully I'm smart enough not to push my luck and top out a car again.

 

The red light cameras in San Diego were proven to be bogus. The company that built and installed them got a piece of every fine and it was proven that they shortened up the yellow light to increase revenues. It was also proven that instead of installing them at intersections with the highest accident rates, they put them in intersections with highest traffic volume in order to get more money. The irony was, that in the thousands of photos taken at these "dangerous" intersections, there was not one photo of a crash!

It's all bullshit.

 

I agree 100%.

This is something I posted on another forum back in October when they were beginning this whole thing:

It's crap. Period.

My predictions:

The cameras will produce a LOT of income initially when we don't know where the hell they are (look at how many people - I know two of 'em - got tix in the first month on FLW when they put the cameras in just East of Scottsdale Rd)...

Then everyone'll wise up to where they are and then speeding will continue to go on where they aren't... and then the number-crunchers in the gub'ment will shoot off some doctored stats about how amazingly the cameras worked and cut down on accidents, etc etc... and use that data to put more cameras in more places... then other states'll use that data to start using cameras if they aren't already... and then - APOCALYPSE!!

But seriously, tickets and cameras and all of the other bullshit don't really help all that much... I agree with some of the previous posts, getting people off of their G-D cellphones and a massive campaign to teach people that the left lane is for passing would probably do more for safety than a few cameras over a few miles of road...

Shit, last I knew in Germany it took something like a year and a few thousand dollars to get a driver's license... how 'bout we don't just hand 'em out and we actually make people take and pass a REAL driver's test?

Longroof

 

not Gastonides...i thought only the french did that.

 

Happens in the UK a lot from what I hear.

Lets call these traffic cams what they are. Revenue generators. they are about money not about safety. Sure we're told it's for safety , but when they tinker with yellow light times and figure hey we can get an extr acouple hundred thousand or more that's not about safety..... it's about cha ching!!

 

My dad has one of those sonotas, and it has a rev limitier at 110mph. I call BS on 147.

It wil only do 110. I know....I tested it.

 

Speaking of running redlights, speeding, and being forced to wear seatbelts, did anyone ever get a jaywalking ticket?

Cops got nothing better to do than cite someone for walking out in front of a speeding car that just ran a redlight? I bet the damn driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt either! Those are more serious than jaywalking, aren't they?

Everyone should have the right to do whatever they want on the highway - fuck everyone else! We don't need no steenkin' law enforcement - the fastest car to the intersection has the fuckin' right-O-way, and if some smuck gets killed, it's their fault for gettin' in the way.......

I hope you keep the pinhead attitude when it's your kid they pry out of the carnage that you caused.

Some of you guys must be related to the idiot in the Florida House who proposed a law to cite people doing the speed limit, because they were causing road rage among the people who wanted to speed.

Slow down and enjoy life. It's short enough as it is.


Mutt

 

Hyundai itself quotes the top speed of a Sonata at 130 mph......147 has to be bullshit in a rental unit no less:

http://www.vistamagazine.com/augauto.htm

Brucie

 

In reference to the post about German drivers licenses....about 6 months ago, they had a show on the history channel about the Autobahn. There was a good 20 minutes of how the safety regulations over there are so much more strict than ours....but not invasive to your privacy and not as "Big Brother" as traffic cameras. I can't remember the exact figures, but it does take about a full year to EARN a drivers license..and the equivalent of about $1500 american dollars to get it once you've EARNED it....earned it being the key phrase. They make you take extensive classes about how to drive, defensive driving, bad weather driving, etc..... They really cover all the bases so that when you do finally get to drive, you have some sort of experience behind the wheel and some knowledge of what to do when you get into a bad spot.

Also, the passing lane RULE...and it is a rule over there...is very strictly enforced. From what they said, if a cop sees you hanging out in the fast lane too long, or if there are no other cars around you, you immediately get a ticket. And, there is no fighting it! You pay big fines! They have everything on cameras mounted in the police cars so you can't argue it.

They just seem to have a more "common sense" approach to drivers education and traffic fines over there, instead of over here, where instead of forcing the laws they already have, they make more every day. They even got into the engineering of German cars. How most cars over there are made with a manual trans, no cupholders, no mirrors mounted in the sunvisors. They want you to use the cars for driving...not shaving, makeup, phone conversations, eating breakfast at 80 miles an hour, etc.

Funny since the Autobahn has virtually no speed limit and is almost completely safe, yet any highway here in the states with a 55 mile per hour speed limit is riddled with accidents every day!

 

We used to have photo radar in Ontario a number of years ago. It was eventually scrapped because of all of the accidents that were caused by people slamming on the brakes when ANY van was parked at the side of the road.

Photo radar is dangerous.

 

Mut, I dont' think you quite get it.

When coming up to a red light at the speed limit there is a certain distance from there that you can safely stop in time. If the light goes yellow far enough in advance, you can see it and stop. If it goes yellow one carlength in front of you, not even Michael Schumacher in a new Ferrari F1 car will stop in time from the speed limit. There's a period of time where you are faced with a go/no-go decision. The yellow is supposed to be engineered to give you enough time to MAKE that decsion, and get across the intersection safely if you don't have time to stop. ARTIFICIALLY shortening up that length of time automatically turns people who don't have enough time to stop into criminals by putting them in the intersection on the red.

Now, even someone like you can see that being in the intersection as the light goes red and NO cross traffic has been able to start moving yet is NOT going to cause "carnage" like entering the intersection AFTER it has gone red and cross traffic has started to enter the intersection. It's people like you that say that being caught IN the intersection is what causes carnage, is what gets the contractors and city to reduce the yellow light time to FORCE more red light running and generating more revenue.

Considering it's been proven that INCREASING the time of the yellow, thus giving people a better chance of making the go/no-go decision and stopping in time or making it saefly across the intersection, reduces red light running by 85+%, then it's blatantly obvious that cameras are NOT about safety, but about money, as the SAFETY aspect could be solved at no cost to anyone.

Now, running a red light when it's been red a bit is VERY bad, and teh cause of ALL the accidents that people like to trot out as what they are trying to avoid with red light cameras. But guess what? those aren't the people beig caught by red light cameras! Nor do red light cameras stop that sort of behavior, as it's a mere fraction of a percentage of the total amount.

ALSO, conveniently, cities WITH red light cameras have changed the definition of intersection to be ONLY the area BETWEEN the crosswalks, and not the approaches. Thus they can claim to have reduced accidents. Unfortunately, the truth is (and you can look this up) rear end accidents in those approaches at red light camera interesections have gone UP.

Plus, as I said, now people who are drunk and not paying attention can go through a red light and only get a camera ticket, not a DWI. Bonus for them! Is that what we want?

 

Actually, the big, fast German sedans have automatics. Look at the AMG Mercedes and the big BMWs...

And the Autobahn and the US interstate system have similar fatality rates.

Lastly, personal mobility is one of the tenets of personal Liberty: the freedom to move yourself and your personal belongings on public roads anytime you want. it's a basic freedom. Therefore there aren't too many impediments to it.

Germany, like much of Europe, has a small part of that, but still are more used to a "papers please" checkpoint system. Liberty for the citizens means something different to most national constitutions...