Is traffic enforcement getting out of control? Consider: * Many states have “asset forfeiture” laws that permit the seizure of your vehicle if, for example, a little marijuana (or other arbitrarily “controlled”) substance is found during a traffic stop, including those probable-cause-free “checkpoints” that cops now use to make such seizures even easier. Whatever...
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Maybe we’re over the hump. Texas appears to be on the verge of raising its highway speed limits to 85. That’s good news for Texas motorists, who may soon get to drive legally at speeds they travel anyway. Which brings up a question: Why do they call those signs speed limits? A legitimate...
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Most speed traps involve a stationary patrol car and a radar gun. And radar can’t single out a particular car in a pack of fast-moving vehicles. It’s up to the cop to choose which vehicle he’s going to go after. Nine times out of ten, it isn’t going to be the off-white minivan to...
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I’ve had people criticize my criticism of “speeding” tickets. They say I’m encouraging or at least defending wrongful, dangerous activity. But I’d like to ask them a question. If “speeding” is indeed such a thing – not just illegal, but genuinely anti-social in the way that, say, kicking a dog or stealing something or...
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On any given road, at any given time, the posted speed limit might be too fast for current conditions – or unrealistically low. An interstate highway built in the 1950s for safe travel at speeds of 70-75 mph but with a posted maximum of 65 mph today is arguably underposted. And the same road...
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In the ’70s, when cars were slow, you could drive fast and mostly get away with it. Yeah, you’d get a ticket if you got caught, but speeding was just that – not “reckless driving” – and there was an element of good humor in the cat and mouse game that has always existed...
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Most people either just send in the fine – or go to court and make no real attempt to bob and weave their way out of a speeding ticket. Cattle do the same thing on their way to McDonalds. Even if you have a perfect driving driving record, every ticket is worth fighting with...
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