One of the District of Columbia's most controversial speed cameras has become the subject of a federal class action lawsuit. Motorists Teresa and Reginald Matthews are suing the District and Mayor Murield Bowser over their use of an automated trap on Interstate 295 operated by private vendor Verra Mobility (formerly ATS). The camera is positioned at a spot on the interstate highway where the speed limit suddenly drops from 50 MPH to 40 MPH. A lone sign on the far right side of the road is the only hint that the area is part of a "work zone" with a lowered speed limit.
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-Chuck
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There used to be one on Santa Fe Road just outside Hughson, California. The speed limit was 50 on the road, then as you came around a slight bend it dropped from 50 to 40 to 30 in such a short distance you damned near had to stand on your brakes. And naturally, right beyond the 30 mph sign was a Hughson cop with radar gun in hand.
There is a small town in Tennessee where the speed limit is 55 then drops to 45. Then the next sign you see says "leaving 35 MPH zone". So you're from out of town assume you missed the 35 sign and see the leaving sign and pay the ticket without question.
ReplyDeleteWirecutter, check the link. It has a problem.
ReplyDeleteI got trapped twice in one year. A 40mph dropped to 30mph as you went under a railway bridge.- the tax collector was after the bridge with the sun behind him. The second was in the dark on a road which had been 50mph for 20 miles and dropped to 30mph before a level crossing - ie for no good reason. I will never believe speed cameras are for any reason but to collect money.
ReplyDeleteFixed it, Anon. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, one of several. When assigned duties in DC many years ago, I got pretty familiar with the locations. Only got tagged once when a new one was hidden behind some signs on the reverse side of a hill.
ReplyDeleteA colleague and I estimated the take at about $20 million a year for all of DC. We were rather shocked when it was reported as closer to $32 million.
But, hey, never let an opportunity for graft to pass.
There used to be some doozies from Sac to Eureka and back. 55-40-25mph in no time.
ReplyDeleteAnyone ever driven to Ocean City, Maryland via Bridgeville, MD? 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 in about 500 yards. And they'd ticket for 2 miles an hour over knowing people won't come to court.
ReplyDeleteThe cops outside of Puerto Vallarta Mexico carry their own speed limit signs so as to make the creation of a speed trap more convenient.
ReplyDeleteHappily, for a mere $20 per rider, they waived the speed trap tickets and granted us immunity for the day from helmet and speed laws. They were true to their word and radioed their fellow officers to let them know we had done the right thing, contributed to their benevolent fund and had immunity.
We knew this because we roared around helmetless at well over the speed limits getting only waves from all the other coppers out that day.
Dear Teresa and Reginald Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI have a $1000 worth of ticket from the same location. This is unconstitutional and robbing citizens hard earned money with tricks basing on the safety measures. Please contact me if you need more information from me. I'm Washington DC residence and currently disputing those tickets.
yameha4@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Ameha Eshete
The DC speed cameras are up-armored like an MRAP. Once they started back in the ... um ... early '80s?? ... the resistance started and progressed through: spray paint; paint balls (when they came around), THERMITE! But my favorite was party balloons anchored in front of the lens. The electronics in some on 395 outside Bolling AFB (FINE! Joint Base Bolling, sheesh) occasionally found themselves fried. Of course the military personnel at Bolling know NOTHING about this.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite Crimestoppers clip was a truck that pulled into an intersection (without tags). Two masked guys pop up with paintball guns and coat all 4 cameras in the intersection. There were 4 views that dropped one by one. A reward of $1000 jumped to $25k after they hit 5 more intersections in the next 10 days.
ReplyDeleteBritain had a large number of speed cameras and the revenue was sent to the local city with a small amount held back for "maintenance". The cities bragged about how many lives were being saved. When their federal government decided to keep the full amount collected and charge the cities for mantenance, after all the locals were being benefitted by the lives saved, the locals decided that they weren't having any effect on traffic and shuttered them. Texas recently outlawed red light cameras. They can operate until the existing contract expires and then they must be turned off. Those in my area were removed and no change in accidents has been noticed.
ReplyDeleteIn Gridley, just south of Chico, there was the same set-up. The one and only sign was just around a sweeping curve, smaller than standard and half hidden by a tree. You had to know exactly where to look to even see the sign. Of course the law was sitting right there waiting for you, pretty boy.
ReplyDeleteThe other Rick
Back in 89 I was stationed at Grafenwoher in Germany. I had family come over to visit me so I rented a very nice car. We were up on the Autobahn cruising along and I see a sign go by, didn't quite make out what it said. Then I see another sign...this one said 30...With a Polizi right next to it waving cars onto the side. Yep he got me. So I waited in line with the 10 other cars and got my very first 100 over speed ticket. I do not know how much that puppy cost, because I PCS'd back stateside the next week. I've always wondered if Germany has a statute of limitations?
ReplyDeleteMSG Grumpy
La Center, Wa.
ReplyDeleteA LONG left sweeping downhill curve from I-5, posted at 50MPH, that terminates at a tiny, two lane bridge just before entering town 'proper'.
About 100 FEET before the bridge is a 25MPH sign. On the other end of the bridge is where Roscoe P. Coltrain set up.
I made a game out of bombing down the hill in my 87 IROC, then HAULING down on the brakes JUST in time to pass the sign doing under 25....then waving to RPC with a cheese-eatin' grin as I drove by.
Looking on Google Street View I see that they now have a speed change warning sign (never there before), one of those radar speed displays (again, new) and they have extended the guard rails and done some landscaping to eliminate RPC's hidey spot...
The speed traps in a speed-trap town is bad enough, but when the cop tells you he doesn't know how much the fine is going to be, "you have to call the city clerk", is the real pisser.
ReplyDeleteTyronza, in NE Arkansas, used to be notorious for this; $200 tickets were the norm fifteen years ago. Then the highway they used to work like a rented mule became Interstate 555 and the new stretch was WAY out of the city limits. "Fuck me? Nawwwww. Fuck YOU."