Especially on the highway where the limits have been raised.
Four years ago my wife and I were in Wyoming, on the freeway. I was going 83mph, the limit was 75. I know for a fact that I got zapped by a cop sitting under a bridge. I was the only car around. The copper had to be awake & alert because he was use “instant on” radar. I did not get pulled over! 83 and no stop. Not bad!
So if you live in an area where the hwy limit is 70 or 75, I want to know: how fast are they letting you go over those higher limits?
In the UK, I heard that as the margin of error on a speed gun is +/-10% the police don’t want to risk the time and money of a failed prosecution on “minor” infringements - basically, within 10% of the limit.
What, you and me are the only ones interested in radar??
A friend of mine is a California Highway Patrol officer, and they have broad discretion in stopping folks and writing tickets. Sometimes if he’s in a good mood, he’ll only stop those people who are REALLY going fast, and REALLY presenting a danger to other motorists. Sometimes he’ll pull folks over to break up his day, and not even intend to write them up. Of course, if they pull major attitude on him, it’s, “license, registration, and proof of insurance, please…”
In short, I don’t think you can say that there’s a reliable rule. That’s why I (and probably you, too) have a V1!
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it seems like the de facto speed limit is 75, regardless of the actual speed limit (usually 55 or 65). I almost always go 75 if I can, and I’ve yet to be pulled over. I also commuted for three months in a vanpool where the driver usually did 85, and he didn’t get pulled over either. In fact, I rarely see anyone pulled over, and a large part of the traffic is going around 75 as well. Does your friend happen to know about the enforcement here, ricepad?
Rule of thumb 'round these parts is that the cops don’t stop you unless you are going at least 10 miles over the posted speed limit. Perhaps not coincidentally, speeding tickets for going less than ten miles over the speed limit do not result in “points” against your license, at least in Georgia.
The previous posters are right about speeding in Wyoming. There really isn’t much of a punishment for going within 10 mph over the speed limit. The fine is like $5 (with a $5 discount for wearing a seatbelt, for a grand total of zero)and no points or anything, so its not worth the bother for the cop to stop you anyway. Although New York and California license plates seems to inspire the cop to stop people anyway.
Anyhow, let me tell you what one Florida highway patrolman told me… (I didn’t ask the question, we were hanging out and he told me of this senior citizens program where cops go to these meetings and talk to them about traffic safety and the such:)
“At every one of these meetings, without fail, SOMEBODY has to ask me ‘Officer, how fast can I go over the speed limit.’ Apparently they don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘limit.’ If I tell them 5 miles per hour, then they’re going to run into the one cop whose limit is 1 mile per hour and come bitching back at me that I told them 5. The honest answer is we can give you tickets for going 1 over the limit.”
Generally, most cops will let it go at 5 or even 10, but a ticket for 3 mph will often stand up in court.
10 mph seems safe around Chicago which has all local expressways at 55 mph. That said you’ll generally be passed by 90% of the traffic around here if you’re poking along at 65 and conditions allow for more.
The other day I was spaced out driving 75 when a State Trooper passed me maybe doing 80. No lights, no chasing anyone or obvious need to be someplace, just poking along like everyone else. Gave me a bit of a shock but he didn’t even look at me and kept cruising along.
Still, the other posters are right. Police can pull you over for 1 mph if they wish. I had a friend who got pulled over and given a ticket for 1 mph over (mostly because he was a jerk to the cop). Court threw out the ticket and my friend felt vindicated till I pointed out the cop sucked 2 hours of his life sitting in traffic court that could have been avoided had he just kept his trap shut and/or been polite to the officer (cop didn’t show for court).
I know that the fine schedule is staged (or used to be staged) in groups of ten in my home state of Colorado: 0-9 (2 pts), 10-19 (4 pts), & 20+ (6 pts).
This really pissed me off when I got two tickets with a year when I was 18. They were for 13 and 14 MPH over the limit, for a total of 8 pts. This is grounds for a suspension, which I got for 3 months. Then I heard that a friend’s girlfriend got a ticket for going 110 in a 55 zone. She only got a speeding ticket (no reckless driving; she must’ve sweet talked her way out of that) which was only 6 points against her. She kept her license.
I was once stopped for 10mph over the limit, but it was a BS stop (the cop just wanted to make sure i wasnt wanted for anything and my license was in order, I guess). I dont think you would have trouble arguing your way out of a +10 ticket in court.
im a police dispatcher for a medium sized city in texas and it really does depend on the cops mood. our cops dont work much of the hwy through town, but the tickets ive entered into the comp have all been for at least 10 miles over the limit (limit is 60)…most tickets are for the high 70’s+. now on city streets its a totally different matter, they will zap you for 5 miles over (they have a few spots they just looove to sit out at) …and i must say, all in all our traffic cops are jerks (they have some sort of macho man complex)
When the cop pulled her over for 31 in town (25 unless posted otherwise),
she said “You certainly aren’t going to write a ticket for 6 miles over. The judge will laugh at you.”
He said, “The judge will uphold a 1 mph violation”, and to prove it, wrote the ticket that way.
In court, he couldn’t tell the truth without admitting a false report, so the judge thought it was really for 1 mph and chewed him out and appologized to Mom.
The speed limit is not the highest limit you can do. Beat that Ticket, a book almost every library has in the US, explains it clearly. You can go as fast is safe for the conditions, which is usually what that speed limit is supposed to indicate. However, foggy days? You should go slower. Bright sunny days, no traffic at all, 30 is no biggie.
Wow, anyone notice, one post about radar detectors & one about how fast you can get away with by the same poster?
Is that a hint?
I am somewhat interested in this topic myself, because I now have my driving permit and will get my license around the beginning of July. I go the speed LIMIT. On the interstate and everything. I take the position that a cop CAN write a ticket for as little as 1MPH over the limit and with me being a soon-to-be-newly-licensed-driver, the judge just might want to make an example of me. You never know. . . (yeah, yeah, I know. . . “Not true, sometimes you do know.” Thanks Mr. Carlin)
It depends on the state, among other things. I have been seen by cops going 80 in a 65 zone in Massachusetts several times without being pulled over. I have been seen by cops going 85 in a 70 zone in Michigan once without being pulled over. I don’t think I could get away with that in my home state of Maine where I have been ticketed for going 10 over. I know of other people in Maine who have been ticketed for going 2 over the limit.
attitude is the number one way to get a ticket or get out of one - but, sex is a biggie (no matter how much women deny it, we have an advantage). a girlfriend of mine was pulled over by a bored rural cop going 80 in a 35 zone with a broken headlight…and got a sweet “now, y’all be careful, hear?” after a little sweet talk and a few smiles. a male friend of mine was pulled over for going 70 in a 65 and got slapped with a ticket. my brother once got pulled over by a female officer and flirted his way out of a ticket. as my mother always used to tell me, a little charm goes a long way.
A lot of little podunk rural towns with freeways going through them use tickets as a major source of income. I know of a few towns around here where you better not go even one mile over the limit, or they’ll get you. And since most of the people they ticket are just passing through and are probably from nowhere near there, there’s not much chance of them showing up in court.
My other story: I was in D.C. once. It was after 11 pm on the last day of the month. I got busted for doing just over 100 in a 55 mph zone, although the flow was easily 90 (this was on the 295 north of DC). They gave me a - get this - $525 fine!!! Go ahead, tell me they don’t have a quota to meet.
Then I heard that a friend’s girlfriend got a ticket for going 110 in a 55 zone. She only got a speeding ticket (no reckless driving; she must’ve sweet talked her way out of that) which was only 6 points against her. She kept her license.