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Speed traps aren't meant to stop speeding, they're meant to collect revenue for municipalities.

by heavyset_go 4y ago

throwawaysleep 4y ago
I’m fine with a world where the stupid and harmful reduce my tax bill.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  In my experience, speed traps aren't catching dangerous people, just people that are unaware of the existence of the speed trap. For example, where I am, there's a hill with a road that winds around it with a 50 MPH speed limit, except right before the bottom and around the turn, suddenly it's 35 MPH before becoming 45 MPH highway. A cop hides around the turn and pulls over people who don't know that their 50 MPH road will suddenly become 35 MPH before they've cleared the hill. Locals know to go slow enough down the hill, as in less than 50 MPH, in order to not get pulled over.
  - teeray 4y ago
    Some municipalities love to pull the trick with a yellow road geometry sign with a yellow limit for the road feature. It’s a speed limit, but not on the traditional white sign with “Speed Limit”.
  - wrp 4y ago
    The kind of situation you describe is the original reason why it was called a "trap".
saiya-jin 4y ago
in same vein as parking fines... great sources of permanent income with a mask of 'we care'
u801e 4y ago
Is we wanted to remove the revenue aspect, we could eliminate fonts and court costs for traffic violations and just rely on license demerit points. If one accumulates enough demerit points within a given time frame, then their license is suspended. If they're caught driving on a suspended license, then they're arrested and remain in jail until trial.
- rascul 4y ago
  Many states in the US have such a points system. Not sure how accurate this random link about it is, though. https://www.motor1.com/products-services/driver-safety/points-on-license/ https://www.motor1.com/products-services/driver-safety/point...
  - u801e 4y ago
    That's true, but they still assess fines and court costs. A lot of people will actually opt to pay an increased fine to avoid having demerit points on their license. This is because they know that the demerit points will affect their insurance rates and make it more likly their license could be suspended if they commit another offense. If you remove the option to opt for a fine instead of demerit points, then people won't be able to get out of the consequences of getting demerit points and there would be no income based discrimination. For example, someone who makes a decent living would have no problem paying an increased fine compared to someone who is living paycheck to paycheck.
SpaceL10n 4y ago
They also get to check if you have warrants out for your arrest. Cops LOVE this one weird trick!

Speed traps aren't meant to stop speeding, they're meant to collect revenue for municipalities.

throwawaysleep 4y ago

I’m fine with a world where the stupid and harmful reduce my tax bill.

heavyset_go 4y ago
In my experience, speed traps aren't catching dangerous people, just people that are unaware of the existence of the speed trap. For example, where I am, there's a hill with a road that winds around it with a 50 MPH speed limit, except right before the bottom and around the turn, suddenly it's 35 MPH before becoming 45 MPH highway. A cop hides around the turn and pulls over people who don't know that their 50 MPH road will suddenly become 35 MPH before they've cleared the hill. Locals know to go slow enough down the hill, as in less than 50 MPH, in order to not get pulled over.
- teeray 4y ago
  Some municipalities love to pull the trick with a yellow road geometry sign with a yellow limit for the road feature. It’s a speed limit, but not on the traditional white sign with “Speed Limit”.
- wrp 4y ago
  The kind of situation you describe is the original reason why it was called a "trap".

saiya-jin 4y ago

in same vein as parking fines... great sources of permanent income with a mask of 'we care'

u801e 4y ago

Is we wanted to remove the revenue aspect, we could eliminate fonts and court costs for traffic violations and just rely on license demerit points. If one accumulates enough demerit points within a given time frame, then their license is suspended. If they're caught driving on a suspended license, then they're arrested and remain in jail until trial.

rascul 4y ago
Many states in the US have such a points system. Not sure how accurate this random link about it is, though. https://www.motor1.com/products-services/driver-safety/points-on-license/ https://www.motor1.com/products-services/driver-safety/point...
- u801e 4y ago
  That's true, but they still assess fines and court costs. A lot of people will actually opt to pay an increased fine to avoid having demerit points on their license. This is because they know that the demerit points will affect their insurance rates and make it more likly their license could be suspended if they commit another offense. If you remove the option to opt for a fine instead of demerit points, then people won't be able to get out of the consequences of getting demerit points and there would be no income based discrimination. For example, someone who makes a decent living would have no problem paying an increased fine compared to someone who is living paycheck to paycheck.

SpaceL10n 4y ago

They also get to check if you have warrants out for your arrest. Cops LOVE this one weird trick!