Re: Florida Traveler Advisory - Bushnell, FL

Very funny, Lew. You continue to be a real inspiration!

> > You'd have to have lived through the entire court proceeding, the > cop's reckless behavior and the FDOT's nervous response to > understand.

Sounds like the fine is less than the cost of the $500/hr types to fight the case.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett
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He's all your'n ...

Reply to
LDosser

And this makes it just? Or even legal? You'd have to know the area, but thousands of elderly people are being frightened by these aggressive cops, defrauding from them money they need for medical bills, food and housing. I am but one of them.

If a gunman stood on a street corner and demanded money or 30 hours of labor from each passing motorist in lieu of the ability to drive, would you willingly submit? And remember, as much as you'd like to, you can't shoot back. This is different how?

You only possess the rights you can defend.

The reality is that you have very few enforceable rights here in this wonderful land of the free; and nearly none against a corrupt governmental entity and its crony friends.

To obtain justice requires deep pockets and, unfortunately, a competent pettifogger who isn't trying to make points within the local political structure. Good luck with that one...

They know this, of course, and so here we are.

Reply to
BushnellBlows

Sounds like this bunch of red necks are looking for some "Clean Northern Car" types.

If they want some tips from the pros, they should Google "Lindale, Ohio, I-71."

Lindale was knocking down $60K/yr back in 1960 from a couple of city street lights before I-71 was even built.

When I-71 was built, they attempted to eliminate Lindale from existence, but they failed.

As a result, the portion of I-71 that goes thru Lindale can't be accessed from Lindale, you must go into Cleveland to get onto I-71.

I drove that stretch of I-71 thru Lindale for 30 years, luckily without getting a ticket, but I also drove past a Lindale squad car with a radar gun almost every time.

Can't imagine how much they collect today but it would not surprise me if it was at least $200K/Yr.

IMHO, speed traps are a cost of doing business.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

That's the most wretched admission I've seen all month!

Reply to
LDosser

Gee, Thanks.

That would be me. Shiny Crown Vic - out of state. Apparently during Spring Break.

Or Smyrna, GA. Or Evans, NJ. Or...

According to the records retrieved so far, try $1,368,000/annum.

FWIW, this is not a speed trap. I could live with that - speed and get a ticket. That is the law.

This is gaming the system with hidden/illegally placed No U-Turn signs in an area which does not warrant ANY restriction on turns. Combined with a hastily installed barricade which forces drivers to perform the allegedly prohibited U-Turn and a cop who sits all day in one spot watching for this exact "infraction." Next to the Interstate, outside their jurisdiction; so that they may target strangers who stumble into this incongruity. They've been attempting to do this for 25 years:

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regret beating a dead horse farther in this group, but cripes, people - no wonder we are in the mess we are...

Reply to
BushnellBlows

OK, Lobby, Do I get an award? A ClownHammer? A load of wormy Lignum vitae? Hey, I'm not proud. Severe angina pectoris makes it unpleasant to even visit the gar^h^h^h shop anymore. And who can afford to see a doctor? Feh...

Reply to
BushnellBlows

These days, local gov't have to be resourceful.

They can't get taxes increased to meet rising demands for local services, thus they get creative.

Don't agree with the methods, but until normal tax channels supply the operating revenue, they will continue.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I understand the motivations and methods. But as I've been told all my life, want more money? Get a job!

Or do like everyone else in the country and tighten their belts. All I see are pay raises, closed door salary negotiations, nepotism and cronyism. Grossly overpaid judges and lawyers and politicians. Same old same old I went through 22 years ago. Screw them all.

This is a government entity that deserves to be drowned in the bathtub.

Reply to
BushnellBlows

Or Richmond, Illinois my brother spent a night there.

Mark

Reply to
Markem

Alabama has started a program where they pick an area and concentrate state troopers from all over the state, and more or less enforce a zero tolerance concerning traffic laws.

I live close to Tuscaloosa and it was recently one of their high concentration areas, I managed not to get any tickets but SWMBO got two.

Interestingly enough, court dates are set a month out and and the officer that wrote the ticket will be back at home and not available for court appearance, which with no state witness gets the ticket thrown out.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

"basilisk" wrote

Washington state does their drunk dragnet programs on a regular basis. Huge numbers of officers who pull people over indiscriminatley, supposedly looking for drunks. In my youth, the only time I ever drove drunk, I drove though miles and miles of these cars pulled over by the state troopers.

I was young and dumb. I was drunk off my ass. I could barely keep the car on the road. If I was smart, I would have pulled over and slept it off. But the cops were so busy harrassing innocent citizens, they let a drunk driver drive through their midth. I made it home and went to bed.

The next day, on the news, they bragged about how they caught some drunk drivers. They did not mention the ones that got away because they pulled over all kinds of folks who were doing nothing wrong.

Reply to
Lee Michaels

In Florida it means nothing with regards to turns and U-Turns. There are no restrictions anywhere in the Florida Statutes against turning across a yellow line in FL. I have the entire FL State Statutes sitting here on my desk.

If it is any consolation, there is much confusion state to state regarding yellow lines and turns. The FL State Attorney General agrees with me on this point, however.

And what is a U-turn if not a turn. FL Statutes define it as such. The yellow line denotes two way traffic, do not drive forward on the wrong side of the line, and do not pass.

Sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever. Exiting the WalMart/Wendys is where the "violation" occured.

This was nothing but a bunch of rednecks gaming the law to provide revenue they cannot obtain legally.

According to another, they have corrected the signage since I was ticketed - a point that will be shown to the Federal District Court if it proves to be true. An admission that they were in the wrong at the time and have taken steps to correct it.

They probably corrected the signs because of the Federal DOT requirements that in order to obtain Federal funding to redo that section of CR-48 the signs had to meet the requirements of the MUTCD. The FDOT office claimed to be soliciting federal funds for the work.

At least no one else will be burnt by this trap in the future and something got done for a change. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Reply to
BushnellBlows

When I was much younger I had friends who drove at the edge of consciousness - one passing out in the middle of an intersection and plowing through signs and ditches, and another who regularly smashed his windshield in by hitting mailboxes. This was one major motivator that caused me to not drink at all until my mid-20s.

That is also one of the complaints I have against road block enforcement. They rarely catch the truly serious hazards, just harass those who have had a beer with dinner. But it makes for good PR, eh?

Glad you survived, didn't injure anyone, and are with us today.

These days, extended driving presents a hazard just as serious - fatigued driving and a lack of rest stops on the interstates. Micro-sleeps of 2-5 seconds occur without warning. And just how far do you travel at 65 MPH in 5 seconds? Farther than you realize!

Greg

Reply to
BushnellBlows

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