I never have gotten a speeding ticket (knocking on wood now) My husband is convinced # of tickets is correlated to type of car one is driving - back in his Firebird days he was buried in tickets :blink: once he started driving mid-size sedans, his ticket days were done. Of course it might just be correlated to age
Insurance companies already do this on their own in many states where it is allowed by law, including Georgia. Some even charge higher rates for car colors that are more often involved in accidents. That's why consumer advisors will sometimes tell you a model/color combination to buy to optimize your insurance rate.
Damn. That is harsh. I did the same thing (briefly, just to test it before breaking it in of course ), I would have been totally buzkilled by a ticket. I didn't know LA traffic could hit 80 though, from the outside it sounds like a ubiquitous perpetual traffic jam.
----- Age ----- The Prius has a much higher top speed, more torque, and more horse power than the car I was driving when I got my first, second, and third ticket; a 1980 Volvo 240 DL (B21F).
I really like the way a Prius coasts along quietly at deceptively high speeds. "Warp stealth", as hobbit says. And if you genuinely stick your foot in it, it responds quite well. I was familiarising myself with these qualities on our first road trip, and it's a good thing I had already slowed down to about 30kmh over when I saw the cop. As he turned around and put his lights on, I looked for a good spot and was already pulling in when he caught up to me. I said to my family, "Well, here comes the first speeding ticket in our new car". He asked for the licence and registration, which my teenage daughter had to retreive from the glovebox. He walked back to his car, and appeared to be talking on his radio and writing up a ticket. He came back to the car and said "I'm not giving you a ticket, but you're getting a warning. Take it easy, it's a holiday weekend, lots of crazies out there." Thank you, Mr Policeman! Duly chastened, I didn't go more than about 10 over for at least ..um..the whole day...well, most of it.
Yeah, the cop was very polite... when I rolled down the window he remarked "aah, still has that new car smell" (as if the paper plates didn't give it away) then suggessted that maybe the quietness of the car disguised the fact that I was going over 60 in a 45 zone.... ugh... So we chatted about the Prius for a while but I left with what will no doubt be an expensive citation.
Oly_57mpg: ----- Age ----- The Prius has a much higher top speed, more torque, and more horse power than the car I was driving when I got my first, second, and third ticket; a 1980 Volvo 240 DL (B21F). Since the tickets stopped about age 25 I'm in agreement - but I do humor the idea. Neither one of us is excited about "getting older"
Yes, in my old Prius. Now, keep in mind that the max speed limit in most places in Hokkaido (other than toll highways) is 60 km per hour (about 37 mph). Even though you can legally go about 10 over, that's freaken slow! I grew up in Colorado going 55 or 65 on highways and 75 on the interstate. 60 kmh is SLOW! Anyway, it's rare to see a car here that is following the speed limit. The ones that do get passed quick. 80 kmh (about 50 mph) is the norm. I was following a shinny black Toyota Crown at a nice, safe speed through a town. When we got out of the town, it was time to go back up to the whopping 80 kmh, but this car was still going 50 (in a 60 area). I waited for a safe stretch and passed the shinny black car. I noticed it was trying to catch up to me and figured he had just been waiting for someone fast to follow. Then red flashing lights appreared in the front grill and the sound a a siren made my heart jump. When I stopped, I tried to pull the "Oh...no speak...Japanese...too fast?...but you...so slow..." But he was a funny guy and used this as an opportunity to practice his English with me. Doh! I got a $120 ticket for doing 79 kmh in a 60 and he warned me that another cop was at a speed trap down the road. Moral of the story: don't pass unmarked cops, wait for someone else to do it. Though, these slow speed limits are great for my mileage! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I got a ticket for 32 in a 25 (residential zone). The cop who stopped me said there were a lot of complaints about speeders on this street. The odd thing is, the complaints were mostly about the loud noise of teens "racing" down the street. And here I am in a car making NO noise because it wasn't running on the ICE, but driving a little faster.
My 1990 Ford Probe had a Speed Warning system. When turned on you could enter a number and if you reached it, there would be a beeping and a warning on the systems scanner. I used it a lot in the beginning as I was still learning to drive it.
Yes, sure I have got a speeding ticked with Prius. My first one ever with 7 years experience. I also lost my license for 5 weeks. Prius is too darn fast car
I haven't gotten a ticket since my Camaro SS, but the only way I see myself getting a ticket in my Prius is showing my friends that is CAN go faster than they think it can. I don't think I'll ever get a ticket on my own, only when my friends are laughing (that is until I shock the crap out of um)
I have found that residents of any quiet residential street usually consider anyone going over the speed limit as "racing" down THEIR street. A funny story, I was working one such 'speeding" complaint and stopped a lady for 36 in a 25. I noticed SHE was the one who made the original complaint. We both had a bit of a chuckle about it (but she still got a ticket, I am tough :lol: )
Please realize that getting a speeding ticket and/or moving violation in a lot of cases does not depend on actually speeding or doing the violation but rather on whether you are an out of state driver and you are not going to fight the ticket and be at the wrong place at the right time for the cop. Desperations kicks in in some municipalities due to quotas and it is open season for unsuspecting drivers. Do not take it the wrong way. Its is a job that someone has to do. Of course there are plenty of great cops out there that ticket only when ticket is due.
I am still waiting on my Prius, but have gotten 2 tickets in my current car. One was for 91 mph in a 70 which was reduced to 75 by the magistrate since it was my first offence. The second was for a 40 in a 35. The speed jumped to a 35 from 45 and the officer was waiting at the sign. Both of these and my dad is a cop. I even have the FOP (Fraternal order of police) tag on my license plate. After this, I was letting a friend borrow the car while his was being repaired and a cop turned around after seeing him speeding through a construction zone, pulled up behind him, and then turned back around again. I have definatly slowed down since then.
I just got a ticket about 3 weeks ago driving DH's truck. I'm blaming it on the truck. If I had been in my Prius, I would have been watching speed and MPG. First ticket in about 20 years.
I hope you have/had the sense to fight this ticket. You probably won't win in front of the magistrate, but after that even if the judge does not dismiss the case out of hand, he will be forced to if the cop does not show up or if he steps out of the room (and I'm sure your dad can help with that). Of course it will also help if you try to make the case with charts and photos and statistics that whatever the speed limit, you were driving at a speed that was safe for the existing road conditions (sometimes this works merely because it's not worth the court's time to sit though this for five miles over the speed limit). The icing on the cake is if the appropriate engineering study that is fderally required for setting a speed limit was never done--as is often the case. The National Motorists Association can help you with this sort of thing.
