Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_Boxster
I don't think he was a fan of automated enforcement. He was simply saying that there's a fixed number that is the limit and going over means you exceeded the limit and broke a law. That's true.
If the limit's 65 and I'm clocked doing 66 then the law says I can get a ticket. I can also fight it and likely win. It would suck, but if I'm over the limit then I did break a law. That's not the same as "automated". Per my explanation about cops having discretion to target more erratic drivers and leave cars just going with the flow alone, I'm an advocate of that discretion being applied. Automatically cutting a ticket for every car that goes 1 mile over the limit would be extreme and undesireable in my opinion (though I wouldn't argue against it for limited cases like school zones where it's a pretty direct safety issue). This is why there's that traditional buffer of 10mph over the limit (on a highway) where you generally won't get stopped. I've even lived in states where the fines were set by that rule of thumb. There was a set amount just for speeding for any speed up to 10mph over the limit and an incremental fine for each 1mph above that.
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Hmm... that's not what I got out of this debate. I thought we were arguing over automated enforcement and everyone kept saying "YOU WOULDN'T BE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT IF YOU WEREN'T BREAKING THE LAW YOU CRIMINAL", basically. I hear no discussion about any sort of traditional buffer.
I remember getting a ticket from a cop back in high school for going 52 in a 45 (La Costa Avenue, towards Rancho Santa Fe, for those familiar with the area. Traffic usually moves 55 to 60 on that one). I didn't argue with him at all, he had me on radar after all, but it sure felt really unfair. Now if that had been a hidden ticket camera, I'd have been really ticked off about it, but then the guy that had just passed me going 60 a few seconds prior would also have received a ticket so maybe it wouldn't have been so bad.