Almost 30 tickets an hour

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

I'm glad that driving the speed limit keeps deer from running out in front of you, freak weather from happening, and tires from blowing out.

I'm sure the family of the newsperson that dies when a freak weather system blinded the driver and sent them off the keystone dam would like it if you called and told them their family member's death was their own fault.

When the State runs their stats, which are all fed into the federal death toll, those INCIDENTS you mention are not included.  Technically, they are not considered collisions, they are simply incidents that are reported on collision forms, if that makes any sense at all.

Not really, other than the fact it's a government thing, so it all comes full circle.

How about ticketing people too old to drive?

[rwarn17588]

I've hit two deer in my lifetime, both in the dead of night, with no warning that the animals were coming. I'm driving the speed limit, and boom, there they are in front of my car in a millisecond. Didn't even have time to react with braking or steering in either crash.

One crash cost $4,000 to repair; the other cost $3,500. But it's an "incident," not a collision.

No, that *doesn't* make any sense at all.

[cannon_fodder]

Fine are supposed to be a means to enforce laws, NOT to raise money.  Talk of hiring more officers to 'fund' the police force with tickets is the kind of crap that makes people hate cops.  When they spend most of their time raising money by ticketing Ms. Soccer Mom instead of stopping violent crimes, people lose respect REAL fast.

[RecycleMichael]

I disagree fodder.

I want the police to enforce all the laws and speeding cars can make our roads dangerous.

What method would you employ to make speeders obey the speed limit?

[sauerkraut]

What about the illegal aliens driving around with no insurance, no drivers license? That is our biggest threat. Anyone who ever had a accident with a illegal alien knows how bad it is. It's even worse if the car is totaled and there's huge medical bills.

[NellieBly]

My one and only experience with an uninsured driver was with a white guy from Tulsa. Caused almost two thousand in damage. Go figure.

He's just as much a threat as anyone without insurance, legal, illegal, brown, white, purple, whatever.

Remember, illegal means it's illegal.

[restored2x]

Interesting thread. I don't have a problem with cops stopping all illegal activities - my problem is the lack of balance. It does appear way too much energy and resources go into "streetside fund raising" and too little into preventing or investigating other crimes.

Ever had a cop come out when your house has been broken into? No fingerprinting, no talking to the neighbors, just a sh!+ happens attitude. The traffic cop is out there for one reason - to collect monies.

I find it naive to expect an intelligent person to believe that all that force out there is to protect us from those who are going 5 miles above the speed limit.

We all know it is about money. Revenue. I once heard (don't know if its true) that those who raise the most money, or get the most DUI arrests get to drive a squad car home - true?

I respect the TPD, and I rarely speed. I like living and I like living with all my limbs and facilities intact. The guy with the radar gun doesn't deter me - a sense of self-preservation deters me.

A TP is told to go out on traffic duty - he/she does it. It's not personal - just his job. I'm not criticizing the officers, I'm questioning the unbalnaced use of great resources.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by restored2x

Interesting thread. I don't have a problem with cops stopping all illegal activities - my problem is the lack of balance. It does appear way too much energy and resources go into "streetside fund raising" and too little into preventing or investigating other crimes.

Ever had a cop come out when your house has been broken into? No fingerprinting, no talking to the neighbors, just a sh!+ happens attitude. The traffic cop is out there for one reason - to collect monies.

I find it naive to expect an intelligent person to believe that all that force out there is to protect us from those who are going 5 miles above the speed limit.

We all know it is about money. Revenue. I once heard (don't know if its true) that those who raise the most money, or get the most DUI arrests get to drive a squad car home - true?

I respect the TPD, and I rarely speed. I like living and I like living with all my limbs and facilities intact. The guy with the radar gun doesn't deter me - a sense of self-preservation deters me.

A TP is told to go out on traffic duty - he/she does it. It's not personal - just his job. I'm not criticizing the officers, I'm questioning the unbalnaced use of great resources.

No question, it's all a money grab. The same goes with the seatbelt laws, if the seat belts could not been seen thru the car window or if they were just a "Lap belt" and a cop could not tell if you wore it or not unless he was standing right next to your car we would have no seatbelt laws because there would be no way for a cop to tell who has one on and who doesn't, but since seat belts have that shoulder strap it's easy to see who uses seatbelts  and to enforce that law  and get into the money grab. Funny there is no helmet law though. It's more likely car drivers  will have to wear helmets before the 2-wheelers do. Head & face are the #1 injury in a car crash that a simple helmet can prevent. it's coming.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

My one and only experience with an uninsured driver was with a white guy from Tulsa. Caused almost two thousand in damage. Go figure.

He's just as much a threat as anyone without insurance, legal, illegal, brown, white, purple, whatever.

Remember, illegal means it's illegal.

The guy maybe uninsured, but if he has a drivers license he at least knows the rules of the road and he has something that can be revoked. The illegal alien has no drivers license and never took a drivers class offten times does not know English road signs. He has no drivers license that can be revoked, with no insurance there is nothing that can done with them. They have no money you can't sue them- If deported they will just be back next week driving another car. Illegal is the key word. it's a mess.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

What about the illegal aliens driving around with no insurance, no drivers license? That is our biggest threat. Anyone who ever had a accident with a illegal alien knows how bad it is. It's even worse if the car is totaled and there's huge medical bills.

if they would shoot them dead on spot at the accident I dont care if they continue to run around with no insurance.

[Wilbur]

quote: We all know it is about money. Revenue. I once heard (don't know if its true) that those who raise the most money, or get the most DUI arrests get to drive a squad car home - true?

It's not about the money on the part of police, since the police don't get any of the fine money.  It is spread over several government agencies.  And sorry, your story about the take-home car is very false.  Tulsa officers are allowed to take their assigned units home if they live within 25 miles of 41st and Yale.  Some do.  Some don't.

quote: I respect the TPD, and I rarely speed. I like living and I like living with all my limbs and facilities intact. The guy with the radar gun doesn't deter me - a sense of self-preservation deters me.

Good for you.  The idea of traffic tickets is to correct behavior and provide deterrent.  It is up to the offender to decide how they will react.  The hope is people will obey traffic laws, which are in place for everyone's safety.

quote: A TP is told to go out on traffic duty - he/she does it. It's not personal - just his job. I'm not criticizing the officers, I'm questioning the unbalnaced use of great resources.

If my numbers are correct, out of the 814 police officers in Tulsa, about 35+ (4%) are assigned to full time traffic duties.  Not sure how much lower one would go when you are already at 4%.

quote: The guy maybe uninsured, but if he has a drivers license he at least knows the rules of the road and he has something that can be revoked. The illegal alien has no drivers license and never took a drivers class offten times does not know English road signs. He has no drivers license that can be revoked, with no insurance there is nothing that can done with them. They have no money you can't sue them- If deported they will just be back next week driving another car. Illegal is the key word. it's a mess.

No one is required to take driver's ed.  Any person can get a driver's license without driver's ed, although you will get a temporary restriction put on your license.  There is no requirement to know English in order to drive, just as there is no mandate to know French to drive in France.  If you did take driver's ed, you would remember that road signs are universal, so a stop sign here looks like a stop sign in France.

[Rowdy]

There is SOME accountability Wilbur with the Tulsa PD.  There may not be official quotas but you don't just send officers out there and let them not come back day in and day out with no citations.

[sauerkraut]

I'm surprised to see that Tulsa cops can take their car home with them if they live within 25 miles. I wonder who pays for that fuel though, if the city does, the cop can use the car on personal drives and the city taxpayers get stuck with the fuel tab when a cop car is used for personal use. Since fuel went up to $3.00 a gallon alot of police agencys in Ohio no longer permit that, unless they must have the car for a certain reason.

[NellieBly]

I like this story about speeders.

An Australian anti-speeding TV ad features young women making hand gestures at a speeder that imply the target has a small penis.
The campaign features young women, an elderly woman and other young men not in the driver's seat wiggling their little fingers in a gesture that implies the speeder is poorly endowed before the appearance of the campaign's slogan: "Speeding, no one thinks big of you," The Times of London reported Tuesday.

The provocative advertisement is the work of the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority.

"To me the gesture says, 'Speeding -- no one thinks big of you,'" said John Whelan, the authority's spokesman. "It will cause people who are speeding to think twice about the image they are creating."

The TV spot represents a departure from campaigns that featured gruesome images of auto crashes that resulted in wrecked cars and mangled bodies. Whelan said those types of TV spots are no longer effective because young drivers have been desensitized by images in video games and horror films.

[buckeye]

I registered just to jump in on this one...

Growing up and learning to drive in Ohio, we all understood that speed limits were enforced carefully.  In certain towns (Kirtland especially), you'd get pulled over for 3mpg over.  No kidding, no exaggeration, that's the way it was.  Driving was consistently enervating as it was critical watch your speedometer constantly.  You know, we still had "accidents" and plenty of 'em.  Fatal ones, too.

Why does everyone assume speed = death and mayhem?  Sure, 65 in a school zone is a very poor decision, but heavier traffic enforcement seems to bring a lot of tickets to people that drive 1-10 over.  You can't catch everybody, why not focus only on those who wildly speed (as Tulsa police mainly do already!).  Frankly, many of you sound like frightened old ladies.  

My car is not 4000 pounds of steel, it's 2600 pounds of steel and plastic.  I understand it's limits and I understand my own.  Really at the root of traffic problems is piss-poor driver's education.