I-244 and The Police

[nathanm]

Really?

It's pretty hard to get pulled over for less than 10 over. OHP rarely writes tickets for it since they're worth no points. (or were, maybe that has changed?) I've gotten a few warnings for 6-10 over here in Oklahoma, but not any tickets yet. I've passed them going 6-10 over at least a hundred times at this point.

Last ticket I got was in New Hampshire back in 2006 a day or two before Christmas. The one before that was in Arkansas, also around Christmas a couple of years before. In both cases it was more than 10 over. That one from NH is the only one that has ever sullied my driving record, though. Plea bargains are good.

Oddly, despite having GPS calibrated the speedometer in every car I've owned (what can I say, I'm young enough for that to have been possible), literally zero of the times I have been pulled over have I been told that I was traveling at the speed I was actually traveling. More often they claim I was going faster than I really was by 3-4 mph and then tell me they're doing me a favor by writing it lower/giving me a warning/whatever. It seems that calibration of the radar/laser guns isn't done as regularly as it should be.

[patric]

Oddly, despite having GPS calibrated the speedometer in every car I've owned (what can I say, I'm young enough for that to have been possible), literally zero of the times I have been pulled over have I been told that I was traveling at the speed I was actually traveling.

GPS is great at producing a timestamped record of your true speed.
If you dont already know how to download that data to your smartphone or laptop, it would be worth the trouble to learn.

[Red Arrow]

It's pretty hard to get pulled over for less than 10 over.

That may be changing or maybe the town finances were a little low.

It seems that calibration of the radar/laser guns isn't done as regularly as it should be.

Or perhaps as accurately.  Many years ago, I met someone who calibrated police radar.  He said he always made sure they were on the slow reading side of the tolerance band.

[Conan71]

It's pretty hard to get pulled over for less than 10 over. OHP rarely writes tickets for it since they're worth no points. (or were, maybe that has changed?) I've gotten a few warnings for 6-10 over here in Oklahoma, but not any tickets yet. I've passed them going 6-10 over at least a hundred times at this point.

Last ticket I got was in New Hampshire back in 2006 a day or two before Christmas. The one before that was in Arkansas, also around Christmas a couple of years before. In both cases it was more than 10 over. That one from NH is the only one that has ever sullied my driving record, though. Plea bargains are good.

Oddly, despite having GPS calibrated the speedometer in every car I've owned (what can I say, I'm young enough for that to have been possible), literally zero of the times I have been pulled over have I been told that I was traveling at the speed I was actually traveling. More often they claim I was going faster than I really was by 3-4 mph and then tell me they're doing me a favor by writing it lower/giving me a warning/whatever. It seems that calibration of the radar/laser guns isn't done as regularly as it should be.

Or unless you've got a military-issued GPS yours might not be quite as accurate as a Garmin Nuvi. 

[sauerkraut]

These things go on now & then from temp. money grants.  It should end in a week or so. I wish they would get grants to fight crime instead.

[Hoss]

These things go on now & then from temp. money grants.  It should end in a week or so. I wish they would get grants to fight crime instead.

Derp.  Derp.  Derp.

[EricP]

One of the biggest reasons to have a radar detector these days is the Safety Warning System, a transmitter and messaging system capable of sending a wide range of emergency warnings to motorists using advanced radar detectors.
http://americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_radar_detectors_warn

The Safety Warning System will also provide a general warning to the estimated 20 million drivers using older radar detectors not capable of displaying text messages.
"The system will provide a sophisticated warning capability today and serve as a stepping stone to the systems of the future," he says.

The new generation of "smart," radar detectors includes a built-in liquid crystal display capable of displaying up to 64 characters. When such a detector receives a safety message, it first sounds a special tone to alert the driver before displaying the message.

A second message can also be sent and displayed along with the first. This allows the system to warn of a hazard while also alerting the driver of a reduced speed limit, for instance.
Because the transmitter also sends out microwave signals on the K band, drivers using older radar detectors would still be alerted to a traffic hazard, though they could not be told the specific nature of it.

Transmitters would be located on police and other emergency vehicles and on construction equipment, bridges, existing overhead sign warning systems and other fixed sites. Portable transmitters could also be moved to locations wherever needed.

Since 1991 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allowed use of unattended radar transmitters to trigger radar detectors and thereby warn drivers of hazards ranging from highway construction zones to road maintenance.  "At least two studies have shown that drone transmitters capable of setting off the current generation of radar detectors are effective at slowing traffic in construction zones," says Janice Lee, president of RADAR.

Forget using older detectors to find HPs since they mostly use lasers.

I have never once, ever received a SWS warning message on my Bel 935 or 995. However, all of the stupid construction signs that are 20 miles from any actual construction do spray out K-band all over the place on my drive to work. Surely this is exactly what they are intended to do: piss off people with radar detectors. Lucky I have my trusty mute button.

[JCnOwasso]

I got pulled over last year doing a left lane pass for seven over by the OHP.  Got a warning, but that was all.  On 169.  Maybe the LEO on that highway could concentrate more on the dump trucks who don't cover their loads.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I agree with this.  During one week of driving back and forth to work, I did enough damage to a windsheild that I needed to have it replaced.  Unfortunately, it was in my FJ before there was an after market producer, $1500.  Ugh.  I wish they would also pass some type of law either keeping the dump trucks off the highway during rush hours, or make the left lane passenger car only.  Nothing sends me over the edge more than having 3 dump trucks/semi's spread across the highway holding everyone else up.

[patric]

I have never once, ever received a SWS warning message on my Bel 935 or 995. However, all of the stupid construction signs that are 20 miles from any actual construction do spray out K-band all over the place on my drive to work. Surely this is exactly what they are intended to do: piss off people with radar detectors. Lucky I have my trusty mute button.

I remember all the portable (changeable-copy) construction signs had transmitters, along the casino road widening project 244, but my detector wasnt an LCD variety, so while it appears Oklahoma is using some of the SWS system to slow drivers down in construction zone, I cant confirm any of those transmitters are actually sending alphanumeric messages.   Part of the system was intended to be backwards-compatible with older detectors, so we seemed to have adopted at least that much.

If nothing else, states adopting SWS for traffic safety deflates arguments that radar detectors are only useful to lawbreakers.

[patric]

In spite of ODOT using SWS to slow people down at construction zones,
It's now illegal for truck drivers and CDL to:

1. Possess, operate or use a radar detector while operating or as a passenger in a commercial
motor vehicle;
2. Operate a commercial motor vehicle in which a radar detector is installed or present; or
3. Install or have installed a radar detector in a commercial motor vehicle.
NEW LAW: Title 47 O.S. 11-808.1 (Prohibits Radar Detector in a CMV)

Never mind this violates federal law (Federal Communication Act) and tramples on the FCC's authority,
but come on, this is 2013 not 1975,

and anything that slows down a semi approaching a construction zone is a lifesaver.
Remember this guy's highway hypnosis?


With his cruise control set at 70, he plowed through cars stopped at a construction zone, and killed whole families.

That's 10 lives that could have been spared right there if the guy had a radar detector with Safety Warning System to wake him up.
Clearly our lawmakers are under some sort of direction that doesnt include using their heads.

[AquaMan]

Perhaps they don't know that radar detectors have safety warning detectors that wake them up. I didn't. Perhaps they don't expect CDL drivers to be sleeping on the highway. I don't either. I can't blame legislators for reacting. Cell phone laws might be next.

I am around a lot of CDL drivers both A and B. Many of them have long histories of OTR driving. All of them are astounded by what they see in drivers today. New driver training is abysmal because the older ones are retiring and the new training available is hurried and sloppy to fill the demand. The tester's are failing large numbers but many slip through. What we are seeing now is drivers using earphones connected to their cell phones so they can listen to music and make calls while driving. These are the smarter ones. Many just drive one handed through traffic which means they can't use their turn signals and their flashers to let others know what their intentions are. They might as well be DWI. I had a Loomis truck turn over in front of me last week early in the morning. It looked like he simply dozed off and hit the wall on a slight curve. I have felt the frustration, impatience and anger level of many of these drivers. There is no place for road rage in a tanker truck carrying 6000 gallons of fuel.

To complicate that, their employers are pressuring them into working (illegal) excessive hours. The driver carries the legal responsibility but if they don't agree to it, they get fired. Good trucking companies don't do this, but note the increase recently in new owners of fleets since trucking has exploded in the last few years.

[custosnox]

Perhaps they don't know that radar detectors have safety warning detectors that wake them up. I didn't. Perhaps they don't expect CDL drivers to be sleeping on the highway. I don't either. I can't blame legislators for reacting. Cell phone laws might be next.

I am around a lot of CDL drivers both A and B. Many of them have long histories of OTR driving. All of them are astounded by what they see in drivers today. New driver training is abysmal because the older ones are retiring and the new training available is hurried and sloppy to fill the demand. The tester's are failing large numbers but many slip through. What we are seeing now is drivers using earphones connected to their cell phones so they can listen to music and make calls while driving. These are the smarter ones. Many just drive one handed through traffic which means they can't use their turn signals and their flashers to let others know what their intentions are. They might as well be DWI. I had a Loomis truck turn over in front of me last week early in the morning. It looked like he simply dozed off and hit the wall on a slight curve. I have felt the frustration, impatience and anger level of many of these drivers. There is no place for road rage in a tanker truck carrying 6000 gallons of fuel.

To complicate that, their employers are pressuring them into working (illegal) excessive hours. The driver carries the legal responsibility but if they don't agree to it, they get fired. Good trucking companies don't do this, but note the increase recently in new owners of fleets since trucking has exploded in the last few years.

Trucking has exploded in the last few years?  I think you need to recheck your sources.  In around 2009 the industry dropped hard with the economy, and still has been struggling to recover.  It's finally starting to get revived to the point that the drivers can make a living at it again and not sitting for weeks waiting on a load or deadheading two states over, but it is far from exploding.  (And fyi, I come from a family of truck drivers, though very few have been able to stay with it for the last few years, so this is really first hand knowledge on my part.)

[heironymouspasparagus]

Clearly our lawmakers are under some sort of direction that doesn't include using their heads.

Sally Kern
Mary Fallin
Jim Inhofe

[patric]

Perhaps they don't know that radar detectors have safety warning detectors that wake them up.  I didn't.  Perhaps they don't expect CDL drivers to be sleeping on the highway.  I don't either.  I can't blame legislators for reacting.

Perhaps they are just handed the text of a bill and are told "If you author this, we'll make sure you dont look soft on crime come re-election" which alleviates any necessity to actually think.

[rdj]

(And fyi, I come from a family of truck drivers, though very few have been able to stay with it for the last few years, so this is really first hand knowledge on my part.)

AquaMan does not accept second hand information.