Some cops do like sitting on exits to hide with their radar guns 😒 obviously better than sitting on the shoulder though. Imagine having kids at home and risking your life while already having a dangerous job. Pulling people over on the shoulder instead of taking them to the next exit is the worst.
Wait, is that still a thing? I’ve never seen cops with speed cameras outside of movies. It also seems quite overkill seeing there’s mobile speed cameras too these days. Around my city there’s like three that get moved every few days, alongside the many stationary speed cameras.
In the US speed cameras are viewed as revenue generating devices, instead of devices meant to protect the public safety. So most places have laws against them because the voters see it as “you just want to charge me for speeding” instead of “people breaking the speed limit are unsafe and need to be stopped”. So instead speeding is mostly enforced by actual police on the road (or pulled slightly off the road) using radar guns. The idea being if you were speeding enough to make a policeman bother to turn the siren on, track you down, and issue the ticket, you must have been doing something pretty unsafe.
There’s actual history of revenue generation by camera, legitimate reasons for suspicion. Plus it violates any right to face your accuser. Plus it probably doesn’t even help safety with the delayed feedback: you’ll slow down as soon as you see a cop, but would be speeding for weeks before seeing mail from the for-profit company managing the speed cameras. With the lack of feedback, you could be looking at dozens of violations before you discover there is a problem, which doesn’t help anything except maximizing revenue
I think the right to face your accuser is probably the biggest one.
As far as the lack of feedback goes, I can say having driven in Europe plenty of times that the cameras are extremely effective in getting drivers to obey the speed limits, but it’s not the cameras themselves - the the knowledge thay they exist. Entering a 10km stretch of road that has signs posted everywhere saying “average speed zone next 10km” or something like that, where they snap a picture record the time of you entering the zone, then a picture and record of the time when you exit it and calculate your average speed. I’ve seen 5 lane wide roads full of cars just chugging along at 2km under the target posted speed. So for that I will say they are extremely effective at maintaining large numbers of cars at safe speeds.
Once the cameras have existed long enough, everyone knows they work, because everyone has gotten a ticket in the mail. That’s when the posted signs of “camera ahead” really work. You’ve played the game before and lost, so every future opportunity will now have a giant red flag on it in each person’s mind.
I did two full loops once while I was learning to drive. I wasn’t confident enough to merge over without a lot more room than the people around me were willing to part with, so I just stayed in the lane, took the next ramp and cycled through.
Then it happened again.
Fortunately it was my dad and not like, an instructor who could grade me or something.
I’ve frequently reminded my teens that it’s no big deal to go around again, no big deal to miss a turn. A panic move at a missed turn is usually a bad idea.
— also, I recommended GPS even in familiar territory. Sure, you need to be able to get around without that dependency, but no matter where you are, GPS will almost instantly calculate an alternate, safe route. Don’t worry about missing that turn, let gps help
I’ve wanted to do a full 4 leaf clover before. But unfortunately the one my by house in college was just a 2 leaf on the northbound side. The southbound side was regular ramps.
I did take the two leaves in one go though. I was headed out and after I got on the first loop I realized I forgot something at home, so I stayed on and took the second loop to go back and pick it up.
I wonder this like once a year
Also, advanced mode might be the cloverloop
I don’t think anyone would notice on the cloverloop.
Advanced for both you AND the cops!
Some cops do like sitting on exits to hide with their radar guns 😒 obviously better than sitting on the shoulder though. Imagine having kids at home and risking your life while already having a dangerous job. Pulling people over on the shoulder instead of taking them to the next exit is the worst.
Wait, is that still a thing? I’ve never seen cops with speed cameras outside of movies. It also seems quite overkill seeing there’s mobile speed cameras too these days. Around my city there’s like three that get moved every few days, alongside the many stationary speed cameras.
In the US speed cameras are viewed as revenue generating devices, instead of devices meant to protect the public safety. So most places have laws against them because the voters see it as “you just want to charge me for speeding” instead of “people breaking the speed limit are unsafe and need to be stopped”. So instead speeding is mostly enforced by actual police on the road (or pulled slightly off the road) using radar guns. The idea being if you were speeding enough to make a policeman bother to turn the siren on, track you down, and issue the ticket, you must have been doing something pretty unsafe.
There’s actual history of revenue generation by camera, legitimate reasons for suspicion. Plus it violates any right to face your accuser. Plus it probably doesn’t even help safety with the delayed feedback: you’ll slow down as soon as you see a cop, but would be speeding for weeks before seeing mail from the for-profit company managing the speed cameras. With the lack of feedback, you could be looking at dozens of violations before you discover there is a problem, which doesn’t help anything except maximizing revenue
I think the right to face your accuser is probably the biggest one.
As far as the lack of feedback goes, I can say having driven in Europe plenty of times that the cameras are extremely effective in getting drivers to obey the speed limits, but it’s not the cameras themselves - the the knowledge thay they exist. Entering a 10km stretch of road that has signs posted everywhere saying “average speed zone next 10km” or something like that, where they snap a picture record the time of you entering the zone, then a picture and record of the time when you exit it and calculate your average speed. I’ve seen 5 lane wide roads full of cars just chugging along at 2km under the target posted speed. So for that I will say they are extremely effective at maintaining large numbers of cars at safe speeds.
Once the cameras have existed long enough, everyone knows they work, because everyone has gotten a ticket in the mail. That’s when the posted signs of “camera ahead” really work. You’ve played the game before and lost, so every future opportunity will now have a giant red flag on it in each person’s mind.
They tell you where the cameras are? That’s a fundamental difference.
Americans hire too many cops and then have to invent busywork for them to do instead of solving actual crimes.
Mobile speed cameras huh, I’ve seen those - in photos from Europe.
Cops radaring, not an uncommon sight in California! And Southern California seems to have cops all over the highways.
I did two full loops once while I was learning to drive. I wasn’t confident enough to merge over without a lot more room than the people around me were willing to part with, so I just stayed in the lane, took the next ramp and cycled through.
Then it happened again.
Fortunately it was my dad and not like, an instructor who could grade me or something.
I’ve frequently reminded my teens that it’s no big deal to go around again, no big deal to miss a turn. A panic move at a missed turn is usually a bad idea.
— also, I recommended GPS even in familiar territory. Sure, you need to be able to get around without that dependency, but no matter where you are, GPS will almost instantly calculate an alternate, safe route. Don’t worry about missing that turn, let gps help
My dad and I used to do this for fun back in the 90s 😂
Imma do this with my son, right now in 2024.
Thanks, now my weekend is fully booked.
I lost my dad to cancer when I was 30 but now I have a son that is 9 months old and I will definitely be keeping the tradition alive!
I’ve wanted to do a full 4 leaf clover before. But unfortunately the one my by house in college was just a 2 leaf on the northbound side. The southbound side was regular ramps.
I did take the two leaves in one go though. I was headed out and after I got on the first loop I realized I forgot something at home, so I stayed on and took the second loop to go back and pick it up.
Closest thing I’ve got to a clover here is literally called the mixmaster. It’s more akin to taking a head first dive into a blender.