Driver's School (traffic ticket)

[Bill Robertson]

This thead makes me sooooooooo glad I got my license and got my driving way too fast days behind me when tickets and insurance were relatively cheap. I got my license in 74 and had it suspended on points 3 times by 85. I had built a nasty 68 GTO and couldn't keep my foot out of it.

[Bill Robertson]

about 5-8 seems to be the magic number. And I avoid speeding down declines. I haven't been ticketed in years. I got a ticket doing 41 on 23rd(30MPH) street years ago and the cop told me if he sees 10MPH or over he's going for it, but I he never went to the effort for 5MPH. Also, 23rd only has a single sign stating the 30mph zone between classen and penn.

Now I'm going to go knock on all the wood...

The declines comment got my attention. I take my wife to work which puts me on NW 36th eastbound between Western and Santa Fe about 5:45 every morning. Just east of Walker on 36th it's downhill toward the train tracks. Twice I've been, honestly, letting the car coast and had a police car going the opposite direction flash his red/blue lights at me. Neither one stopped me but I really watch how fast I go through there.

[RadicalModerate]

Forest Park-early 80s going east on NE 36th st. There's a Stop sign. Just started raining very lightly. Hit brakes to stop and slid a little bit past the stop sign from oil on the road. Cop sitting across street lights me up. Gives me ticket and court date. I go to court on the date on the ticket and guess what? Court closed,it was in the school I believe. Next day they had issued a warrant and suspended my drivers lic. for not paying ticket. Yes,true story no joke.

I feel ya', Bro:

Forest Park, early '80s: Eastbound on 36th. Same stop sign, full stop. In no hurry. Gently accelerated up the slight hill. Knew that the speed limit sign on the Westbound side of the street, at the top of the grade where the road leveled out, said 45 mph.

Forest Park cop, parked on the opposite shoulder (the Westbound side) pulled a U-Turn and pulled me over. Wrote me up for doing 41 in a 35.

Went to court. Sat through the entire proceeding. All the "locals'" cases dismissed. Not mine. Found Guilty of Excessive Speed. Didn't argue. Paid the fine.

Again: Beware of Forest Park. (not that I hold a grudge or anything . . . simply very clear memories of "social injustice." =~)

p.s. When the officer who wrote the ticket spoke up on my behalf saying that I was very polite during the traffic stop and also questioned the speed limit signage the hard-hearted judge paid his testimony no mind. =~)

[OKCRT]

I feel ya', Bro:

Forest Park, early '80s: Eastbound on 36th. Same stop sign, full stop. In no hurry. Gently accelerated up the slight hill. Knew that the speed limit sign on the Westbound side of the street, at the top of the grade where the road leveled out, said 45 mph.

Forest Park cop, parked on the opposite shoulder (the Westbound side) pulled a U-Turn and pulled me over. Wrote me up for doing 41 in a 35.

Went to court. Sat through the entire proceeding. All the "locals'" cases dismissed. Not mine. Found Guilty of Excessive Speed. Didn't argue. Paid the fine.

Again: Beware of Forest Park. (not that I hold a grudge or anything . . . simply very clear memories of "social injustice." =~)

p.s. When the officer who wrote the ticket spoke up on my behalf saying that I was very polite during the traffic stop and also questioned the speed limit signage the hard-hearted judge paid his testimony no mind. =~)

I still drive through there once in a while and I don't see the cops sitting there nearly as much these days. I am sure the word was out on this trap years ago. But,they are still lurking.

[OKCRT]

The last ticket I got was for speeding. I was headed north bound on the Hefner Parkway right where they started the road widening construction last year. So I have not entered the construction zone yet and was slowing down. The cop is sitting in the grassy median right where the construction starts and is radaring south where cars are coming into construction zone. Long story short he clocked me while I was still outside of the construction zone and wrote me up for $178.00 10 over ticket. How are you gonna argue that? A dash cam could have prob. been a good thing to have but who has the time to go to court and argue a ticket when you know it's not going to effect your insurance? Not me. So what to do, Cuss the cop a little bit and pay the ticket.

[Plutonic Panda]

Back where I grew up--Boulder, Colorado--it was always difficult to find a parking place anywhere in the vicinity of the campus. Once you found one, you really didn't want to move your vehicle. Many, many parking tickets were issued. A community service, performed by voluteers, was to pull parking tickets (of complete strangers) out from under windshield wipers and dispose of them. It was common knowledge this was being done. What one could do would be to pay every 5th parking ticket received. Then, when challenged for unpaid parking tickets, one could say something like, "I pay parking tickets. Check your records. Someone must have pulled those others out from under my windshield wipers." I'm not sure how well that would work in the modern world, but it worked well back in the day.

I've thought about doing that for other people, but I was worried that the tickets would go unnoticed and then one day they might get their car booted like what happened to me.

[rezman]

I still drive through there once in a while and I don't see the cops sitting there nearly as much these days. I am sure the word was out on this trap years ago. But,they are still lurking.

Didn't Forest Park have a bunch of budget issues in which contributed to them loosing their night shift patrol oficer, and then the chief resigned and other officers quit?.

[Pete]

Warr Acres was notorious about these speed traps for years.

Not sure if they still are but typically these fines are a great revenue source for small municipalities.

[jerrywall]

The scare of my life came when I was 18... got a ticket from a park ranger down in the Wichita Mountains. A couple of weeks go by, and a frickin Deputy US Marshal shows up at my door. Turns out the ranger had written the wrong "due date" on my ticket, and a warrant got put out for me. Luckily I had the ticket, so between that and a very hasty phone call to the court clerk kept me from getting arrested that day.

[jerrywall]

Not sure if they still are but typically these fines are a great revenue source for small municipalities.

I'm sure they still are... I believe state law limits them to 50% of the revenue for the city, but I'm sure these smaller municipalities ride that line as close as they can. I'd be interested in knowing the patrol car/traffic ratio for Valleybrook for example.

[kevinpate]

Less than tiny little Cimarron, NM I'd wager. They used to really roll up some coin on Scouters headed to Philmont and skiers to Angel Fire and Red River and Taos.

[OKCRT]

Didn't Forest Park have a bunch of budget issues in which contributed to them loosing their night shift patrol oficer, and then the chief resigned and other officers quit?.

I do remember something about that. Not sure of the details but I pass through that area once or twice a month and hardly ever see the cops sitting there. Back in the 80s they were always lurking and waiting to pounce.