# Cops and speed limits **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936 "2017-02-03T21:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/41 "2017-02-06T06:19:17Z")
DrCube: > [@](#): > > I was told once that unless he has a calibrated radar gun and used it correctly, a ticket can be overturned in court. In New York City, at least, a cop can estimate your speed and get a conviction based on his estimation. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/42 "2017-02-06T14:59:43Z")
In 1979 I was going 66 in a 55 on the Baltimore Beltway and got pulled over by a state trooper I passed. Normally they would not be trolling for people doing 66 but he may have taken it personally. I don’t remember if that was the “flow of traffic” but I have never passed a cop again. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/43 "2017-02-06T15:38:47Z")
Ah, I love it when people bring up “flow of traffic”. When I see such a thing as traffic moving in a “flow”, rather than moving like a herd of cats, I’ll be sure to drive with it. But to address the OP, sure, cops probably get very pissed that everyone slows down around them. As for subjective speed limits, if cops are giving people tickets for going 40 on a 55mph road, or 60 on a 55mph road, it’s for revenue. Cops that are enforcing traffic safety are looking for obvious stupidity, such as someone at the head of a line of traffic because he’s doing 25 while checking his map, or someone who is changing lanes every three seconds to pass someone. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/44 "2017-02-06T16:52:03Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Whining that the traffic “flow” was above the posted speed limit, therefore some justification in subsequent individual speeding should be allowed, is idiotic. My mother was pulled over with me in the car. Cop: You know how fast you were going? Mother: I was just following along with the flow of traffic. Cop: Don’t follow those people, they’re all speeding!😃 I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/45 "2017-02-06T17:39:17Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > In Chicago, I learned my lesson. Around 11 am, I was cruising at somewhere between 85 and 90 down one of the urban freeways. I had folks regularly passing me on the left and right, often in cars that I wouldn’t trust at 60. That happens in Texas, but not with the regularity it happened at on that morning. The ones that really annoy me are the motorcycles (and this seems to be on 90 or 94 most of the time), late Saturday night in the pocket about 5-10 miles north of downtown where traffic is still brisk (like 70-80 or so) that seem to come out of nowhere and whip past you, usually several, at 100 mph+. I’m often checking my mirrors while driving (this habit was instilled to me in driver’s ed, when one of the instructors would cover up your rearview mirror and ask what color the car behind you was) and, even so, those fuckers just sneak up on you. How more of them don’t end up splattered on the highway, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/46 "2017-02-06T19:10:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I can confirm that driver’s ed teaches you to go ast the speed of traffic. I don’t doubt that plenty of driving instructors say “go with the flow of traffic”. However, I still think it’s bullshit and those instructors are just trying to justify their own speeding habits. Here’s a typical situation discussed in Driver’s Ed or Driving Safety: “The posted speed limit is 55. All the traffic around you is going 70. You are safer going 70 than going 55.” That’s bullshit for three reasons. #1 There is no such thing as “all the traffic”. There is only a bell curve distribution of speeds, for which you can estimate the median. If you go slower than 70, you may be in the minority but you will NOT be the only one. #2 I have yet to see any real-world statistic that says going 55 when other cars are coming up behind you trying to go 70 is more dangerous than you speeding up to 70. I’ve seen statistics showing speeding kills, alcohol kills, distracted driving kills. Has anyone got a cite, other than a bunch of driving instructors’ opinions? The plural of “anecdote” is not “data”. #3 Why do they only discuss the two options of either going 70 or going 55? This is a false binary choice. Why not 68? Why not 63? One more thing… when you propose a strategy for anything, it’s a good idea to ask the questions “What would this situation be like if everyone followed my strategy?” and “What would this situation be like if some followed my strategy and some didn’t?”. Keeping this in mind, I humbly suggest the following strategy for situations where the average speed of the cars around you is A and the speed limit is L: _**In moderate or heavy traffic: if A\>L, adjust your speed to (A+L)/2 otherwise adjust your speed to A. In light traffic which is so sparse that you cannot reliably calculate A, adjust your speed to L.**_ I submit that the above strategy is superior to “Adjust your speed to A regardless of L”. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/47 "2017-02-07T05:05:05Z")
A little off subject, but I wish to thank a driver in Plantation Fl… I was driving about 35mph in a 25 mph zone when he flashed his lights at me. Yes a speed trap was ahead and I’ve known them to give tickets for people going 28 mph. You probably saved me from a crappy day. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/48 "2017-02-07T06:16:21Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Well yes, it **IS** idiotic. And definitely **not** part of any driver’s ed class, _anywhere._ If you are referring to the driver’s ed class of experience and common sense, then yes, _within reason_ one needs to _consider_ the pace of traffic, but not be a slave to it, or use it as a justification for some perceived necessity to break the speed limit. > Well, yes, you actually are. A 10 mph differential should be no problem for anyone, even those _exceeding_ the speed limit by 10 mph. > > True, “lone wolf” speeders tend to attract the most attention. However, the notion that if one is “travelling with the pack” in excess of the speed limit somehow grants immunity to a citation is ridiculous. Been there, done that, seen it happen many times to others… It simply isn’t true. Regardless of what the other guy was doing, if your number is up, you’re **busted**. > Conversely, since they view themselves as a deterrent to speeding, when everyone else slows down… Those who don’t will probably be singled out for a ticket. I’m guessing you have not had a defensive driver course. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/49 "2017-02-07T06:47:04Z")
It was taken for granted in the UK, among my friends in that were inclined to drive back from the pub after few drinks, that you couldn’t drive _too_ slowly. The rozzers were almost guaranteed think someone driving below the speed limit on a Friday night was a drunk guy trying to drive home. Not that it stopped a large percentage of my friends during in my misspent youth getting DUIs. Not heard that in the US (for all the puritan anti-drink laws in the US they are actually much less strict about drink driving IMO). ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/50 "2017-02-07T12:36:56Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I got pulled over for “driving too perfectly”. No clue what that fucking means. BUT due to a fuck up with BMV, car towed, night in jail, car impounded for 6 fucking weeks all for a $50 fine. I remember you talking about this: Ohio, right?! What did it say on the actual citation: “driving too perfectly”?! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/51 "2017-02-07T15:05:22Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I remember you talking about this: Ohio, right?! > > What did it say on the actual citation: “driving too perfectly”?! It sounds to me like he was pulled over with the hopes of finding something else, not that he got a citation for driving too perfectly. But I’m curious to hear if that interpretation is right. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/52 "2017-02-08T02:05:03Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I’m guessing you have not had a defensive driver course. And my guess is you’ve had the NASCAR Racing Adventure. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/53 "2017-02-08T02:15:09Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I remember you talking about this: Ohio, right?! > > What did it say on the actual citation: “driving too perfectly”?! The citation was for not having proof of insurance on me. But the words out of his mouth for why he pulled me over was “driving too perfectly”. And yes, it was Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/54 "2017-02-08T02:22:35Z")
Thanks guys, interesting discussion, although not too much of it has been relevant to my original question about the attitude/behavior of cops when people around them are NOT speeding. I’d like to ask a question of **pkbites** who says that as a deputy he would sometimes (on “rare occasions”) use his siren when there was no emergency, just to get around the people who slowed down when they saw his car. Suppose your superior saw you do this – would you be a lot of trouble? A little trouble? Or would it just be shrugged off? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936/55 "2017-02-08T06:30:13Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Suppose your superior saw you do this – would you be a lot of trouble? A little trouble? Or would it just be shrugged off? One always has a justification for ones actions. So there’s nothing to sweat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-and-speed-limits/778936.md?page=2)