Cops Stop Granting Wiggle Room for Speeding
“Up to 10 over the limit and you’re good.”
Most people, when they were new teen drivers, remember hearing that sage advice from adults more experienced behind the wheel. The rationale was that a police officer wouldn’t bother to pull you over for speeding unless you were flagrantly breaking the law. That 10 mph bracket presented too many possibilities of legal challenge.
Well, apparently the sour economy is to blame for one more shift in American behavior: Cops have stopped giving wiggle room.
Drivers who tend to lean a little heavy on the accelerator should expect to find themselves in court more frequently, according to the National Motorists’ Association. The Waunakee, WI group was formed in 1982 to help everyday Joes find speed traps and fight speeding tickets.
“Police are definitely less tolerant of speeders today,” said James Baxter, president. “Our chances of getting away with a warning are very slim. Often motorists are being ticketed for violations of only a few miles an hour.”
The conclusion was made based on an informal poll on the National Motorists’ Association website. The organization asked drivers who were pulled over at lower speeds to report the results of their traffic stops.
Follow-up research seemed to indicate that police department budgets are to blame for the tough attitude behind the tin star. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock discovered that, every time local governments had at least a 10 percent drop in annual tax revenue, there was a corresponding hike in speeding tickets the following year. This statistic is particularly interesting in light of the fact that these same local police departments were doing staff cutbacks at the time, due to tighter budgets. While there were fewer police on the streets, there were more speeding tickets.
Don’t think that a sheepish response to a cop stop will get you a warning ticket, because it rarely happens anymore, said Baxter.
If the threat of prosecution isn’t enough to change old speeding habits, perhaps a GPS tracking system might help.
For years, people involved in fleet management have used GPS tracking systems in company vehicles, because they improve driving records. Tracking systems record time, date, stops, directional heading and speed. The records could be helpful when challenging traffic tickets, or they can be used to point out to the driver his illegal behavior. With the proof in black and white, fleet management supervisors can be guaranteed better drivers and better driving records can lower insurance rates.
Businesses reap the many benefits of GPS tracking systems, but imagine how they will also translate to personal savings. Parents put vehicle tracking systems on their vehicles when teen driving is an issue. Anyone who has ever paid car insurance premiums for a novice driver will appreciate a possible solution for speeding tickets.
Finally, vehicle owners who choose real-time GPS tracking systems over passive GPS tracking have the advantage of geo-fencing. If a predetermined geographic boundary is breached by the tracked vehicle, a text or email alert will be sent out by the system. The same can be done with speed: pick your limit and if your vehicle exceeds it, you will be notified immediately – in time to (hopefully) stop the vehicle before the police do.
If police are getting tough and intolerant of speeders, so should vehicle owners. Vehicle tracking is a way to prevent tickets; before your next destination is a court room.
Source: HULIQ , National Motorists Association
Tags: Cops, GPS Tracking, Speeding, Teen Driving, Vehicle Tracking, Wiggle Room
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