Virginia's new $3,550 speeding ticket

Message

Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:53 am

dean owens wrote:two things stuck out to me.

1 - they need the money. no they don't. they need to look at how to spend less. i don't know of a single government entity that spends well. they all over spend and never think about the people they're taking the money from. in my house, if we don't have the money we have to spend less in other areas. how is it that the government never does that?

2 - it's only a select few that will have to pay this... you know it's funny, that's how income taxes started. the government sold it to the whole country saying that only rich city folk were going to have to pay income taxes. now we all do.

personally, i think some of it is a little excisive. i grew up in chesapeake, va. 64, 664, 264, all of those are very easy to speed on. especially the hampton/newport news side. enjoy the added taxes and the "discression" of the cop and judge.

edit: i'm not saying people should be allowed to brake the law. don't read it as that. i'm just saying if you're serious about these laws being inforced, then inforce them. don't use them as an excuse to steel more money from the public.

1.) But Northern Virginia is over developed and needs bigger, better and more numerous roads. Tidewater has wanted another bridge tunnel (According to DOT, military and city planners) for the past 6 years but the cost is 1.5 billion dollars. 1.5 billion for one road project alone... I think we need more money.

2.) It's only the select few because no one near big road projects wants to pony up in taxes. Policitians just want to keep their jobs (sad but true) so they found a way to get the money will affecting the least amount of voters. Sucks for everyone really.

dean owens · Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:11 am

please don't missunderstand me. i'm not saying that there isn't a need for new roads. i don't have a ton of experience with northern va (try to stay away if at all possible) but i've been in/on the mixing bowl a few times. yikes! i'm just saying that i'm quite sure the state gov has the money, it just goes to pet projects. and i think it's dangerous to say it only affects a few. because if it goes well, it won't be long before that sort of stuff is slowly snuck on everyone else. just got to do a little here and a little there. i have a feeling there are laws already in place to deal with the crimes. if these are truely repeat offenders, i don't know that taxing them like this is going to stop them. just my opinion. but then again, i'm a small gov kind of guy so it will honestly be hard to move me.

hope y'all do get some better roads out of the deal though. northern va could use them.

halouis · #23 Unread post by **halouis** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:56 am

i wish they'd make it LAW to put a 5 or 10 cent refund on all aluminum cans and bottles like they do up north. That way the rednecks by me will think twice before tossing their beer cans out the window while they drive.

It sure is a shame as VA is beautiful, but the roadside trash is terrible.

well OK that was off topic.

on topic. i racked up 3 speeding tickets a couple yrs ago and the fines were enough to get me to be more conscious about my driving speeds. these new laws will DEFINITELY keep me on the straight and narrow.

BugCountry · Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:22 am

Let me clarify something. Speeders don't kill anyone. Speeding doesn't kill anyone. People who make MISTAKES or do stupid things cause accidents and kill people. 99.99% of the time people exceed the speed limit and nothing ever happens. How do I know? I drive every day and people go flying by me every day. You want to know who kills people? People who have distractions with them in the car whether driving 45, 55, or 75 people who talk on cell phones and text message people while driving, taking their attention away from the road kill people. Saying that speeders kill people and cause accidents is extremely ignorant. Where speed comes in as a factor is when you are driving too fast for ROAD CONDITIONS; i.e. traffic volume, weather, and the type of road. If you want to say that speeding makes accidents harder to avoid, that is correct. Speeding does decrease reaction time and will cause the end result of an accident to be more severe, but my point is, speeding or not, remove all the stupid, careless, and risky things people do in their cars and you will remove the largest part of fatal accidents. I do not justify speeding as it is a crime as defined by the law, but when I see people making blanket statements about those who speed it tells me they really don't know what is going on.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:33 am

Interesting point, but aren't speed limits designed to indicate a safe speed for road conditions? By going faster aren't you exceeding the speed set for safe road conditions? Taking this one step further, if you are exceeding the safe speed for road conditions... aren't you being unsafe?

Those speeds are also set for ideal conditions so when it's raining, snowing, foggy, cold etc shouldn't you be going slower?

Maybe there are extraneous factors you aren't considering when you go faster. For instance, the area having a higher than normal wildlife activity, blind turns, forest closer to road than normal (easier for bambi to get the jump on you), odd road material, slopes, traffic patterns etc.

Speed shouldn't make an accident harder to avoid. Keep the same following distance (in time, not feet so 3-4 seconds back not 100 feet and it will adjust for any speed) and scan further ahead for obstacles (4-5 seconds is all you need for perception, reaction and coming to a full stop). If you can't see 4-5 seconds ahead or there's a possibility that bambi could jump out in a shorter period then you're probably going too fast for road speeds.

BugCountry · Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:06 am

Speed limits posted are not specific to any type of car, thus they are meant to be more generalized. Obviously a larger, heavier vehicle will not be able to handle the same speeds on a back road that a more nimble smaller vehicle would which is why dump trucks and tractor-trailers need to drive slower. Depending on the vehicle you drive, you may or may not be able to handle certain speeds as well as any other vehicle. Engineers determine speed limits, then politics. They can't tailor speed limits to the best handling vehicles.

Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:33 pm

No disrespect but speeding is a major cause of accidents. I worked in a police dept for 12 years and I have saw first had what speed does. I have had to deliver the news to parents when their children have been killed in accidents, which the cause was speeding. Sure there could be other factors such as inexperienced drivers/riders but still if they had not been going at an excessive speed they could have kept their vehicle under control or would have had more time to react. To say I have never exceeded the speed limit, I can't do that because I have. I can admit it is wrong though and when I do it I am not only endangering myself but everyone else around. I have been riding some sort of motorcycle for 28 years and driving a car for 22 years. In that time period I know there have been times that speeding has caused me to have an accident or some close calls. You can say I am a bad driver etc. and that caused the close call or the accident. That could be true but I think anyone who has been behind the wheel or on a bike at any time and are honest will admit there are times speeding has had some sort of a negative impact (other than a ticket), even if it did not result in an accident. The speed limits are there for everyone's safety. Just because you are an experienced driver and your vehicle can handle curves better, that doesn't mean the person crossing the yellow line can, or the child chasing a ball in the road can dodge you, etc. I could go on and on but the fact is the faster you go the harder your vehicle is to control. If something happens or you make a mistake at higher speed you may not have time to correct. Driving or riding is a privilege, it is not a right. I believe we should honor and respect our privileges. Over confidence in your abilities and/or vehicle along with high speeds is a deadly combo.

Justice75

blair · #28 Unread post by **blair** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:56 pm

In Arizona, going 20 over the limit is considered a criminal offense (most other traffic violations are civil offenses). It's a Class-3 misdemeanor, and the maximum sentence for a Class-3 misdemeanor is a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

Figure the price of not working for 30 days, plus all the jail costs that are borne by the convicts (it's a lot).

A $3500 fine would be a cheap out for that. Unless VA also has slammer-time for speed demons.

Full disclosure: long time ago when I was young, dumb, and full of 91-octane, I got popped for this (I was doing 75 in a 45 in my first new car, see). I paid money to a lawyer for advice, it being a criminal charge. Went to the court without the mouthpiece, met with the judge in his office, and I was about to plead guilty and he said "Whoa! stop!" and explained that one of my options was traffic school. Yup. Lawyer hadn't said a word about traffic school. 8 hours in a room listening to some pretty cool stories about stuff cops run into on the road, or a criminal record. Hmm. Tough choice. Ayup...

The549 · #29 Unread post by **The549** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:12 pm

BugCountry wrote:Speed limits posted are not specific to any type of car, thus they are meant to be more generalized. Obviously a larger, heavier vehicle will not be able to handle the same speeds on a back road that a more nimble smaller vehicle would which is why dump trucks and tractor-trailers need to drive slower. Depending on the vehicle you drive, you may or may not be able to handle certain speeds as well as any other vehicle. Engineers determine speed limits, then politics. They can't tailor speed limits to the best handling vehicles.

I think it's also important to note that in certain areas, the speed limit is a lot closer to the edge of the safety margin than in other areas. In northern Cali there are a lot of 55mph mountain highways that are MUCH more dangerous at that speed than your average straight 55 road.

scan · #30 Unread post by **scan** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:42 am

I have to disagree that speeding is a major cause of accidents. Careless driving, or riding is the cause of most accidents. Careless speeding is a factor in many accidents. There are many places you can safely speed and not endanger anyone (accept maybe yourself). Anywhere that is posted as 45 MPH or less is somewhere that everyone should be taking extra care. I feel little sadness for someone getting a ticket in a 45 or less zone. That is instantly careless driving to me. But speed does not kill someone, it is the accident, and not using proper skill and care.

Now, there is no good reason to go 75 in a 55, or 95 in a 75, but I have been on the freeway here in Ohio and it would be down right dangerous to go the speed limit, and there are place near Cincinnati, and Columbus where just about eveyone is going 10 to 20 over. I get it that there are roads in California and other places where 55 is truely the max speed for safety sake, but there are many places where the engineered speed of the road is much higher then they'd ever make the speed. But if you get nailed for breaking the law, don't whine. Take your points, and pay your fine. If you take the risk, and break the law, take the lumps. I still think it is silly in some places, but if get heavy with the foot or the twist of my wrist I won't complain when I pay my ticket. You can be sure that I was not being careless, or not leaving myself an out when I did it though.