VSP will again be running "Operation Air Land & Speed" on 95 and 81 this weekend, be aware if you're on the highway. Last time they wrote almost 7000 tickets in one weekend.

damn it. i'm driving back to WI this weekend. guess i'll have to keep it under 80

Guess they need some money.



I was driving back from Tennessee on Wednesday, and there were cops all over the roads.  

Thanks for the warning...  I'll be heading to Gore Sunday AM.

So there is plenty of money to harrass drivers, but none to build new roads?

G

A ton of money is being spent on roads up here in NOVA. Also on 295 around Richmond.

Thanks for the warning, I'm heading for Centerville in 4 hours.

Well I saw 1 SP patrolling the Greenway. Didn't see any on 7 or 28.

Just remember....it's all about safety

Like in in the 70's where it was about saving fuel?

I think it's pretty simple.  don't exceed the limit by more than 5mph and it doesn't matter.   I have never understood by people bitch about the police running RADAR and writing tickets.

I agree.  

The loudest voices of complaints about Air, Land and Speed will also be the loudest crying "where were the police" when it's their loved one lying on the pavement while the fatality investigation is conducted.

There needs to be more, not less daily targeted enforcement, and not only during special operations.  Since January of 2003, I've logged an average annual minimum of 34,489 miles commuting to and from work, mostly on I-95/I-395 in the Richmond-Washington, DC corridor.  I'm sure several people reading this know exactly the kind of thoughtless, willfully stupid and dangerous behavior that I see on a daily basis, not to mention the consequences of that behavior - property damage, injuries and death.  The biggest shame of all is that it's so easily avoidable.

If you don't want to be the target of motor vehicle law enforcement, how about applying a little courtesy to the rest of the drivers on the road and use some [un]common sense®.  

Slow down!  If you're in such a hurry that you have to dart across three lanes six times in one mile trying to squeeze ahead of the rest of the traffic, you left the house too late.  

Leave a safe interval between cars and be more aware of your surroundings.  I-95 ain't NASCAR and you can't draft off of me, Bubba.  But for Pete's sake, don't impede traffic and contribute to the stupidity of others by toddling along at 61 mph in the passing lanes, either.

Get the cell phone out of your hand, put both hands on the wheel, control your vehicle and drive like an adult.  

You're more than welcome to take your own life in your hands, but leave mine the hell alone.

WRONG

You and the tard above you are prime examples of why its such a pain in the ass to drive in NoVa. You are also a prime example of why the local governments get away with the extortion and fleecing that is 'traffic enforcement'. Driving 20+ mph above an artificially low speed limit is not inherently dangerous in and of itself. Cruising on an open highway, doing 85 in a 65 is not going to cause deaths of babies and puppies. Morons impeding the flow of traffic is much more likely to do so.

Second, get it through your heads that surpassing the speed limit isnt the same thing as cutting off people haphazardly and in general driving recklessly. The reason NoVa highways are such a mess is precisely because ninnies who wont drive a few mph above the speed limit clogging up the natural flow of traffic. Yet it seems you willing to subject yourself to a greater degree of govt. sanctioned extortion in the name of 'safety'. ITS FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

QFT!!

So what are you saying?  you want bumper to bumper traffic traveling 80+ mph on the beltway?   If everyone did the speed limit then traffic would flow smoothly.  It's that one or two idiots that think they need to be going faster zigging and zagging through traffic that causes problems.   The natural flow of traffic is the speed limit plus or minus 5mph.  I write speeding tickets for a living and I see the results of those people that think similar to you.  They drive as if rules don't apply to them, tailgating, speeding, and cutting in and out.  The normal result of this kind of behavoir is a rear end crash with the aggresive driver being involved or it's the person doing the speed limit that has to avoid hitting the jackass that ends up crashing.  You can tell me speed limits are wrong until you're blue in the face, but I know from working traffic that they are there for a reason.  It's not govt. sanctioned extortion.  I don't know of a single officer that is forced to write tickets.  None of the money earned from tickets comes back to the officer and quite often none goes to the department, it goes into the local general fund and is funneled to the schools.   The incentive to write them is we know being visable and issueing tickets does make a difference.  

Yes

So if 395's speed limit was changed to 70 the "Natural flow" would still stay at 55 +/- 5mph?  

Funny, I've heard the exact opposite from friends that are officers here in NOVA. They say that while there is no "quota", if their number of tickets is not in line with what others are writing, they WILL get a talking to.

I don't have a problem with "tickets", or traffic enforcement, I have a problem with the idea that nobody ever seems to get ticketed for anything else other than speeding.   How about ticketing drivers obstructing traffic in the left lane?  How about ticketing the lady I was behind that was going 35mph on 66 Friday evening?  How about ticketing semi's that cruise in the far left lane?

If police would target those that disrupt the order of things, and not concentrate solely on speeding, it would help keep the timid drivers off the interstate, and reduce the amount of people that feel it necessary to swerve in and out of traffic.  There are a whole lot of rules that a driver has to learn before they get their license, however all that is ever enforced afterwards is "speeding".

The problem is that modern technology makes speeding the easiest to enforce.  Just sit on the side of the road in a nice hidden spot with radar, laser or other speed detection device on and wait for speeding idiot to drive by, then pull out and write ticket.  Repeat every 10-15 minutes until your shift is over and you have plenty of tickets written.

Driving a marked police car and catching someone weaving in and out of traffic aggressively is much much more difficult because they most often spot you first coming up from the rear.

And the people speeding by at excessive speeds are often the ones weaving in and out of traffic.

FWIW I drove 1,300 miles this weekend the vast majority of it at 9MPH over the limit and didn't get a single ticket.

I completely understand that.  I just don't like hearing sanctimonious bullshit from a lazy cop who acts like he is saving all of our lives by only ticketing speeders.

Yes

So if 395's speed limit was changed to 70 the "Natural flow" would still stay at 55 +/- 5mph?  

Funny, I've heard the exact opposite from friends that are officers here in NOVA. They say that while there is no "quota", if their number of tickets is not in line with what others are writing, they WILL get a talking to.

[/quote]

Um yeah I'm gonna have to back you up on this one.  While their might not be a written quota family that is an officer in NVA does have this as a factor in their dept's evaluations.  If they aren't active in writing tickets and going to court dates they do dinged on their evals.   And he will be the first to admit most traffic enforcement is BS however he does love to stick it to the aholes who are reckless drivers that they can catch.  Which doesn't always happen do to a wide variety of reasons which include dept policy.  So think for a minute and that tells you right there what that dept uses traffic enforcement for and it ain't safe driving.

Noooooooo.....

I seriously hope this was not directed towards me.

Why? Are you going to set up a speed trap on his block? You know, to assure 'public safety' and write him one of those tickets that you're 'not forced to write' a single one of?

Does it apply to you?  I don't know you, who you work for, or how you spend your day; so I can't say one way or another.

Either way, I think that we both can agree that some middle ground can be found in this argument.  You have a segment of the population on both ends of the spectrum that exist because of the other.  You have the people who (are probably from MD) that weave in and out of traffic at 85mph without using signals, either because they are an asshole, or because they cannot deal with being behind someone driving at school zone speeds on the interstate.  And you have the people who drive at school zone speeds on the interstate because they are terrified of people weaving in and out of traffic.   Both of them can be dangerous, and both of them contribute to accidents. But currently only one of these groups is targeted for enforcement, while the other is given a free pass to continue their dangerous behavior.  

Hell, I'd be 100% content if for every 10 speeding tickets you wrote, you wrote one for obstructing traffic, or any other offense that disrupts the flow of traffic in this area.   I honestly think that if more emphasis was put on mixing things up enforcement wise, not only would it improve public relations (I think right now you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who honestly believes that you are running radar for any other reason than revenue generation), but you would see less people driving like fucktards in the long run.

Then again, a "Slower Traffic Keep Right" sign every few miles would probably have a greater effect.  


Mike

Why all the bashing?  I know I write all sorts of tickets (yes for all those reasons that you listed i.e. impeeding the flow of traffic, speeding, running stop signs, failure to yield, etc...).  There is no money to be made by writing them in our area, so the concept or idea of revenue generation is out the window.  State is requried to show that they are out enforcing the laws.  Speeding tickets are one of those measurements (and sometimes the easiest).  I don't understand why everyone is so hostile towards each other here.  If you don't like what state police is doing then tell people whom it will make a difference.  Complaining to the officers whos job it is to enforce the laws (yes, speeding is one of them) is not going to help.  If it makes you feel better then I get it is one way to vent.

I can honestly say I have never had a problem with the VASP.  They have always been professional when I've dealt with them, and I've never got the "OMG YOU WERE SPEEDING YOU MUST BE TRYING TO KILL SOMEONE!!!" line that Fairfax and Alexandria are fond of giving.  

I don't venture north if I don't have to.  I guess we must be doing something different down here.  Since state police run traffic, we try and stay out of their way and look for other things.  It works pretty good.  A stop was done the other night on a speeder and the officer found several thousand dollars worth of stolen merchandise in the car (plain view).  The guy hit several houses and vandalized several others.  If the officer was not running radar she would never have caught them since they were from out of the area.