No more marathons
Some of you may have seem my post in another user's group - but ------
I was visiting my ailing 90 year old mother up in PA back at the beginning of July. I left central Pennsylvania to drive back to Western North Carolina on Jul 10th at around 3 in the afternoon - it's about a 9 hour drive.
It's a little after 9 PM and my GPS directs me off of I81 onto 381 and then 19. I thought this a little odd (I had come up 26 to 81 on the way there, why a different way back?). But I thought, maybe it's a shorter way.
A few miles down the road the speed limit changes from 55 to 45 and there is a bright flash of light - almost like a spot light. I looked around, saw nothing, and continued on my way - but with a slight uneasy feeling.
Yesterday I received a NOTICE OF VIOLATION from the Bluff City Police Department. WTF???? They have me going 56 in a 45, and would like me to send them $50 for the privilege of driving through their town. Oh, and they accept Visa and MasterCard. How convenient.
A quick google search yields lots of web sites and law suits and countersuits on the legality of this practice.
Any of you have a similar experience? My inclination is to throw the thing in the trash and deny every receiving it. I don't have any intention of living in TN. Let them come get me.
Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
He's a leaker!
Ah, speed cameras. Maryland is all over them, for safety, of course, not the money grab. They can be in school zones or construction zones. There has been a huge uproar in Baltimore City. The city paid a contractor lots of money to administer the program. The contractor f-ed up the computer, setting speed limits too low, so you could potentially get a ticket for going the speed limit, there were even cases of people getting a speeding ticket while sitting at a light.
It's no secret where the camera are, usually there are news reports when new ones are added. There is one in Montgomery County MD that has so many warning signs that it is hard to believe anyone gets a ticket there.
What's with the GPS sending you off the right road? Isn't that weird? And the town is really called Bluff City? Scary...
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Former Bad Ass
Speed cameras really exist? Speed radars better work with those!
I am so fucked.
Sorry about the ticket. FWIW, we always hire a lawyer when we get a speeding ticket (the normal way) here who makes us not get any points taken and only pay court fees. He actually had me declare not guilty last time.
But I didn't do it.
Damaris
Never saw one ever until today in Montreal. I then wondered if they would track me to MA, or keep a ticket waiting for me at the border.
Penguin Power!
They also have these cameras in Phoenix on the loop. Anyway, they can't assign points to your license for it, but I'm pretty sure that you have to suck it up and pay the fine. (I think they'll eventually send a collections agency after you) In Phoenix they actually take a picture of who is driving the car -- one time about 4 or 5 weeks after visiting my grandmother there she calls up my father and says "oh they sent me a bunch of pictures of you driving my car, and a bill for $300" (too funny!)
In NYC they have red light cameras at some intersections that will take pictures of people running reds and send them a fine.
Upcoming Races: Run as One 4M (4/24) * Japan Run 4M (5/8) * Brooklyn Half (5/21)
Speed cameras really exist? Speed radars better work with those! I am so fucked. Sorry about the ticket. FWIW, we always hire a lawyer when we get a speeding ticket (the normal way) here who makes us not get any points taken and only pay court fees. He actually had me declare not guilty last time. But I didn't do it.
From the reading I've done, it's not a "ticket" - it's a civil penalty. The form says that no points will be added to your record. It also does give you the option of challenging the fine, but you then must show up at a hearing in person. Fuck that - it's a 2 hour drive each way. It would cost more in gas than the $50 fine.
Looks like the worst that can happen if I ignore is that it gets turned over to a collection agency. My credit score can withstand a $50 zing. This baby is going in the trash.
They also have these cameras in Phoenix on the loop. Anyway, they can't assign points to your license for it, but I'm pretty sure that you have to suck it up and pay the fine. (I think they'll eventually send a collections agency after you) In Phoenix they actually take a picture of who is driving the car -- one time about 4 or 5 weeks after visiting my grandmother there she calls up my father and says "oh they sent me a bunch of pictures of you driving my car, and a bill for $300" (too funny!) In NYC they have red light cameras at some intersections that will take pictures of people running reds and send them a fine.
They cannot because they cannot assure the person who owns the car was the one driving. That would be illegal to do. But hey, it's AZ, you never know.
From the reading I've done, it's not a "ticket" - it's a civil penalty. The form says that no points will be added to your record. It also does give you the option of challenging the fine, but you then must show up at a hearing in person. Fuck that - it's a 2 hour drive each way. It would cost more in gas than the $50 fine. Looks like the worst that can happen if I ignore is that it gets turned over to a collection agency. My credit score can withstand a $50 zing. This baby is going in the trash.
I am not sure if the penalty will be just that. In here, the cameras that take pics from people that run the lights can make your license be suspended or not renew until you pay the fine.
I don't know about PA, but Maryland charges loan-shark like interest on unpaid speed camera, park in and red light tickets. A $50 ticket becomes a 4 figure collection agency debt.
Maybe there will soon be nationwide cameras. Our wonderful governor (not) is considering a run for president.
Healed Hammy
Being from PA I can speak with authority. Just pay the ticket. The speed cameras are calibrated and are really difficult to beat in court. Your time notwithstanding, if you ignore it they will hunt you down. Plenty of Civil Service workers making $56k in that area who have nothing to do and will prosecute the smallest thing.
BTW: slow down driving, but run faster.
Barking Mad To Run
We have some of them around Texas. But since Texans are also now allowed to carry concealed guns by law, hardly any tickets are issued....since all the evidence - and the cameras- keep disintegrating into tiny little pieces....
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
The Maryland cameras are constantly vandalized. For construction zones, we have mobile cameras in a Jeep Cherokee. I'm sure it wasn't funny to people who got stuck on the highway, but someone went after the Jeep with an axe. That resulted in a major highway being closed at rush hour. I think it was also the exit to the airport.
The camera I most frequently run by is used as a trash can.
Chief Unicorn Officer
I agree with Docket, unpaid tickets can cause your license to be suspended. I don't know the ins and outs of interstate suspensions but I've seen tons of driving records in the course of my job that list unpaid fines or "fail to respond" as a reason for a suspension of the person'a driver's license. And yes, if it's turned over to a collection agency, I'm certain the final figure will be much more than $50, with late fees, charges for using the agency, etc.
Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54
Labrat
In the UK they now have average speed detectors on certain motorways.
Number plate recognized passing point A and time stamped, then several miles down the road, the plate is scanned again and an average speed calculated.
If its faster than the posted speed limit, ticket with points on the owners licence (or they can say who was driving it but *someone* gets 3 points)
Whats even better, is that these are in use where there are variable speed limits so it could be 70 on one trip, but 50 or another...
5K 20:23 (Vdot 48.7) 9/9/17
10K 44:06 (Vdot 46.3) 3/11/17
HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17
FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18