it's a trap!

there's a story going around about a cop who got fired for attempting to remove a sign warning drivers of a speed trap ahead. and there's this story (also, believe it or not, in texas ) about a guy who was jailed for warning motorists of a speed trap by wearing a t-shirt standing on the side of the road. in some states, flashing you lights to warn drivers in the headed in the other direction is considered interfering with the ability of a police officer to do their job. cops seem to have a problem with warning people about speed traps, and i'm not sure why. let's examine the situation.

the primary assumption is that speeding is dangerous, therefore we have speed limits. we enforce those speed limits because we believe driving slower is safer.

now let's think about how a speed trap works. a cop hides on the side of the road, over the crest of a hill, or a around a bend or behind a sign. traffic, generally all moving along at the same pace, well above the speed limit, comes across this speed trap and the guy in front slams on his brakes even if he's only going 5mph over. if we're lucky, everyone behind him just slams on their brakes too and avoids a pile-up, resulting (at least around DC) in a 4 mile traffic jam where it's not possible for even the most dedicated of speeders to break the speed limit. and then as soon as everyone is past the speed trap, they all speed back up to their 15mph-over-the-limit speed.

on the other hand, consider what happens when a driver comes across a sign warning of speed traps ahead. they read the sign, they take their foot off the accelerator and gradually slow to the posted speed limit. drivers will then either continue at that speed until they pass an actual speed trap, and assume that no further danger exist and speed back up, or until they have traveled a sufficient distance that they feel the warning is no longer relevant and there is no risk of getting ticketed, and speed back up.

now if we go back to our original premise that speed limits enforcement is for safety, not adding to the coffers, out of these three options, which one sounds the safest to you?

• speed trap
• warning sign followed by an actual speed trap
• warning sign with no speed trap

i'll tell you the answer since i'm a know-it-all.

it's the last one. drivers will slow down with the least likelihood of an accident and continue at that slower speed for the longest amount of time. other benefits? the cop can go do something useful. now can someone please explain why cops get all huffy-puffy about speed trap warnings?

don't get me started on speed cameras / photo radar.

various forms of outrage collide

some of you may remember my post about random fees, in particular the "convenience" fee for paying my arlintgon property tax bill with a credit card. well, i went to pay my parking on the street with no front tag fee online and just in case any of you were curious, there is still a fee for paying with a credit card.

i'm outraged.

three warnings and one ticket in four days. outrageous. i'm outraged. the worst part? my car wasn't even moving. the first one was for no front tags on the supra, parked on a county street. i was not parked at a yellow curb, or in a handicapped space or in front a fire hydrant. no. my car sat there, next to the curb, not moving, properly registered, but lacking the front license plate. the three warnings i received when i stopped at the gate to show my badge and one of the gate guards was bored and decided to write me up for the clear plastic front license plate cover on the corolla. i was given a warning for that, a warning for failure to provide proof of insurance (i couldn't find my insurance card) and a warning for operating an uninsured vehicle, even though my vehicle is in fact insured, indeed probably over-insured.

did i break the law? yes, i did. and according to the law, i deserved those tickets/warnings. but who did i hurt? did i endanger someone? did i endanger myself? were the other people on the block where my car was parked somehow put as risk because my car did not have a front license plate or other people on the road at risk because my other car had a clear piece of plastic over it's front license plate? were my actions to the detriment of society at large? of course not.

the real risk here is the local governments running out of money and so they write stupid little laws like this with stupid little fines to pad their budgets. but here's the best part... have you ever wondered why you are required to have front tags? (hint: cops don't chase you from the front) it's for things like photo radars* and red light cameras** and laser speed traps***, other laws that generate revenue. so now we have laws specifically designed to ensure that other laws revenue generating laws continue to put money in the county coffers.

you're probably thinking, dan is an idiot and he gets what he deserves. he should just do like he's supposed to and no one will bother him. if you're thinking that, you've missed the entire point and i have failed as a writer. the point is 1) i shouldn't be forbidden from doing anything that doesn't hurt anyone and 2) the government should not be writing laws for the purposes of collecting money unless they are tax laws and even that is questionable if you ask me.

* i think we can pretty much all agree that photo radars do not improve traffic safety. after about a month, everyone knows exactly where they are and will slow down for just long enough to not get a ticket. furthermore, anyone who *does* get a ticket gets it 2-4 weeks after the fact which means 1) they did not slow the time they got the ticket and 2) now they know exactly where it is so they can slow down just long enough next time to not get a ticket

** red light cameras are still debatable. while they have been shown to decrease the number of cars running the light as it turns from green to red, they have also been show to increase the number of rear-end collisions at the same intersections. so you decide if you'd rather get hit by the car behind you or have to wait while some jerk squeeze through the light at the last second.

*** i've got no good argument against speed traps. and in fact, they probably would improve traffic safety in the long run if the fines were so substantial that it actually changed peoples driving habits.