Driving in US? Don't be a "rolling ATM"
- Thread starter SunnY S
- Start date
Splash
Well-known member
Even just the regular revenue generation for tickets even if they are for something as ridiculous as 1mph over, are bad enough, especially considering that their cops' eyeballing of your speed and pulling a number out of his rectum stands up in court. I avoid all non-essential travel to the US.
MarcosSantiago
Well-known member
Even the tickets are bad enough... In some jurisdictions they can get into hundreds of dollars for 1mph over the limit as eyeballed by the cop. It got so bad that most states now limit the percentage of funding municipalities can get from ticket revenue (as some municipalities didn't even tax the homeowners). Still a lucrative scam, but not as lucrative as before.
Riceburner
Well-known member
Home of the FREE.....
suzuki2000
Well-known member
A friend just got pinned for speeding in VA. Never got a shakedown, but from what I gather from her FB post, she may have been going fast enough to land in the "reckless" range.
Cop gave her a ticket and a summons and sent her on her way.
Cop gave her a ticket and a summons and sent her on her way.
From the stats on the seizures i'm also going to guess she might have been white?
Dresden
Well-known member
Crossing the border I switch the GPS to "miles" and set the cruise to dead on the speed limit. Just not worth it...mind you it is entertaining to see the number of Quebeckers thinking they can drive how they like...great light show all the way from the Thousand Islands to Syracuse usually.
suzuki2000
Well-known member
she is white and after the cop was done with her, she said she realized that she had a couple of buttons open on her top. She claims it was unintentional
Motorcycle Mike
Well-known member
This article was about people carrying large amounts of cash who, for some reason, granted a search of their vehicle and had the cash confiscated.
For a second I thought this was going to be about cops who demand cash on the roadside and never issue a ticket. If I was guilty of the offence, I prefer that kind of justice -- no record, just pay and be on your way. I can't begin to count how many 'bribes' I paid in Indonesia; most of those were just $5 bribes though.
Over all of the trips I have done in the USA though, including driving too/from L.A., Las Vegas/Grand Canyon, New Orleans/Memphis, Blueridge Parkway, Vermont a few times, Pennsylvania a dozen times, etc etc, I have never been pulled over once. My bike's speedo runs 6% high, so I ride at speed limit plus 5mph as indicated.
The closest I came to being pulled over was in West Virginia, I think. I came over a mountain on I-something neck to neck with a car and both of us were about 15 or 20mph over the limit. I saw the cop in the left median as I crested the hill, saw his lights come on, and immediately signaled and pulled over. The car I was beside made no motion to pull over so the cop raced past me after that car.
I think some people in this thread are just fear-mongering once again. Have people been pulled over for 1mph over the limit -- probably, but it is a country of 313 million people with millions of miles of awesome roads and your chances of running into this nonsense are very slim.
For a second I thought this was going to be about cops who demand cash on the roadside and never issue a ticket. If I was guilty of the offence, I prefer that kind of justice -- no record, just pay and be on your way. I can't begin to count how many 'bribes' I paid in Indonesia; most of those were just $5 bribes though.
Over all of the trips I have done in the USA though, including driving too/from L.A., Las Vegas/Grand Canyon, New Orleans/Memphis, Blueridge Parkway, Vermont a few times, Pennsylvania a dozen times, etc etc, I have never been pulled over once. My bike's speedo runs 6% high, so I ride at speed limit plus 5mph as indicated.
The closest I came to being pulled over was in West Virginia, I think. I came over a mountain on I-something neck to neck with a car and both of us were about 15 or 20mph over the limit. I saw the cop in the left median as I crested the hill, saw his lights come on, and immediately signaled and pulled over. The car I was beside made no motion to pull over so the cop raced past me after that car.
I think some people in this thread are just fear-mongering once again. Have people been pulled over for 1mph over the limit -- probably, but it is a country of 313 million people with millions of miles of awesome roads and your chances of running into this nonsense are very slim.
I sense a bit of animosity between "some" Canadians & Americans, and vice versa
MarcosSantiago
Well-known member
Fear mongering? Sure, but at the same time, if the Washington Post is reporting 61,998 cash seizures on roadways and elsewhere without use of search warrants, with a total haul of $2.5 billion, then something is definitely going on.
Also, consider yourself lucky if you have never been stopped in the USA...
Any of you guys ever read the story of the Man who the escorted to a hospital against his will to check his anus for drugs! Then the hospital charged him for the examination. The small town elected sherif system in the US is really messed up.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3209305.shtml#.VBHXlGRdUQs
MarcosSantiago
Well-known member
That is unbelievable. I just don't know what's going on anymore.
This is the end of law and order and common sense in New Mexico, USA.
Motorcycle Mike
Well-known member
So if you are that scared, don't go to the USA. OMG I stand a 0.00000001% chance of getting a 1mph over the speed limit ticket or possibly being stripped searched if I fail to stop at a stop sign! How do you guys even leave the house in the morning if you are that scared? You'd almost think we are talking about Kashmir or Syria here.
