I’ve noticed an increase (south of San Francisco in CA). My city’s put up a bunch of those damn picture-taking cameras at intersections as well.
A cop in the next town over is being laughed at for ticketing a 13-year-old boy – indecent exposure. The kid wasn’t wearing a shirt. It was August. He was riding his bike home from the swimming pool.
But real police work, yeah, I’ve noticed an increase in highway patrolmen on the 2-lane county roads.
I’ve noticed them going hard core on our HOV entrance lane where I work. Which I have to say, I’m loving it! I get tired of these f’ers cutting me off and being in my lane. Dallas Tx.
No change here at all. The towns which have always mined their stretch of freeway for speeders still do. The ones that didn’t still aren’t.
I drive past a MO Highway Patrol regional station every day; That means their patrol cars relatively dense on the nearby freeways versus, say, 50 miles away. No change in stops that I can see.
ETA: Where does the OP live? (S)He asked the other early posters but forgot to tell us.
Phoenix.
Yes. I drive right by a police station every day and there are cops everywhere pulling people over. AZ has been hurt hard in the recession and the police are on a mandate to raise revenue. There also are a tremendous amount of DUI checkpoints. There is one I see at least once a week located between a group of bars and the freeway entrance.
North suburbs of Houston. Levels seem to be about the same as they’ve always been (past few years anyway). There are a couple specific areas on I-45 near the Woodlands where there are almost always cops trolling for speeders, but these are well-known and I haven’t seen any of the multi-car speed traps described by some other posters around here.
I’ve seen less of an increase in number of cars pulled over, but an increase in the number of cop cars at each pull over. Yesterday there was a minivan with a +/- 40 year old woman with three cop cars, lights flashing, causing a hang-up at rush hour, behind her.
I haven’t noticed an increase of late, but as it’s now the second half of an even-numbered month, I’m betting I will soon.
Ha! I read the title and thought “I-255 in IL on the way into MO.”
Last time I took that route home, I saw an even half-dozen police cars; and I think an unmarked car on the side of the road earlier that was relaying radar results to the later police cars. I’ll be taking that way home tonight (Poplar St. bridge is a horror on Fridays), and it’ll be dicey…
edit: Also, last week on Hwy 30, saw a car following carefully behind a cop car while the cop was going just over the speed limit in the right lane. The cop pulled off to the shoulder, as if to get out of traffic… then smoothly pulled behind the following car as it passed by, on came the lights, and following car got pulled over. I wondered if it was for speeding (seems sort of like entrapment), or some other violation (e.g., headlight out, no seatbelt, etc.)
Yep, that’s exactly the spot - on either side of the bridge. On the Missouri side eastbound, they’re lined up neatly along the shoulder; on the Illinois side, they’re lined up along the shoulder and at that one turn-around spot they always park in. Sneaky bastiges.
I was waiting for someone to ask :D. Twin Cities MN…mostly drive west to southern suburbs.
This morning, yet again I saw another pulled over on commute to work. I used to go weeks without seeing anyone pulled over. Now, every time going to work I see 1-2 pulled over and same on the commute home.
Actually, on the I-255 Missouri side just past/before the bridge, they like to sit on the left shoulder – since it’s extra-wide, there’s room for a car next to the median. It’s also completely unnoticable either westbound or eastbound, until you’re right on top of them.
… I shall not mention how I know this. :smack:
I haven’t noticed an increase here in Houston–I rarely see people pulled over by the police, and that hasn’t changed.
I very rarely do any freeway driving though.
Bay Area - 880 and 237. I’ve noticed a lot more people being pulled over - finally! I read in Mr. Roadshow that the number of carpool cheats was getting high enough to risk some sort of federal funding, and it seems a lot of the tickets are for carpool violations. When I drive to work, speeding is pretty much impossible, unless you plan to drive on top of other cars.
I mentioned earlier that I haven’t seen an increase in enforcement in my area. What I have seen, and participate lustily in, is an abject disregard for the posted limits.
We have a straight open 5-mile stretch of 4-lane Interstate posted at 65 mph. (40/64 through Gumbo Flats for the locals).
I normally drive 85 through there and am barely keeping up with traffic. Once in awhile I’m going 90 & somebody passes me by 10+ mph.
65 might be a little low, but given the suburban traffic volume it ain’t gonna get posted above 70. Where did we (including me) get the idea that 20-30 mph over the limit is OK for soccer moms in mini-vans & guys with a beer in their pick-em-up trucks? I can understand the sports car folks convincing themselves that everybody else should drive 10 over while they do 15-ish over. This is very different.
Something has really shifted in folks’ attitudes. And we can’t blame it on foolish out-of-touch regulations like the 55mph I loathed in my college days.
Let me be clear; I know I’m part of the problem here, not part of the solution. But it is darn strange to see.
I’ve never seen so many cops on the road in Calgary as I’ve seen in the last year. All these unmarked cars are only doing one thing and that is raising revenue. If they were actually concerned about speeding they sell all those vehicles and put a few marked cars cruising the roads and ticketing those who are so oblivious as not to notice them - people who probably shouldn’t be on the road if they can’t spot a marked cop car next to them.
They are absolutely beating the streets for revenue here in SoCal. I can’t drive a mile or two without seeing someone pulled over. The Burbank police have multiple motor officers working the major streets all day long, reeling them in as fast as they can. Lovely to be doing this to people in a recession when a lot of people are out of work, or facing cutback hours if they still have a job.
I have posted about the antics of Burbank cops before, and people on the board have scoffed. Now they are under federal investigation for racial discrimination.
Cops stink. And lie. I was pulled over a few months ago, and accused of running a red light, which I most certainly did not do. The cop behind me did, so he could pull me over. Of course, when they do stuff like that it is for a good reason and perfectly safe. :rolleyes:
Cops. The biggest gang in town. Legalized thugs is all they are.
Most Definitely Have Noticed!!!
Somewhat but not drastically. I live just south of an affluent small town in Idaho.
There was a letter in the paper about three weeks ago from some tourists from California who were all mad about being ticked for going 37 in the next town south of me; it had “ruined their vacation,” they claimed. Look, there are three small towns up here. All three are pretty strict about speeding. The limit where they were is 25. Idiots. I’ve never seen a small town where tickets weren’t a nice revenue source for the town. It’s not like the cops usually have that much else to do anyway; things that city cops deal with every day make the paper around here.
Last year I got pulled over and got off with a warning for going 41 in a 35 on my way home from work. I’ve stayed at the limit on that road since. She ran my plates, so I’m in their computer now and really don’t want to get caught again.
I really think most highways have posted speed limits that don’t reflect reality at all. Almost every 55 should be bumped up to 65 and almost every 65 should be bumped up to 75. Traffic would flow much, much better.