Posted on 08/26/2011 9:57:59 AM PDT by rawhide
Tampa, Florida -- When the Florida Highway Patrol pulls someone over on the highway, it's usually because they were speeding.
But Eric Campbell was pulled over and ticketed while he was driving the speed limit.
Campbell says, "I was coming up the Veterans Expressway and I notice two Florida Highway Patrol Cars sitting on the side of the road in the median, with lights off."
Campbell says he did what he always does: flashed his lights on and off to warn drivers coming from the other direction that there was speed trap ahead.
According to Campbell, 60 seconds after passing the trooper, "They were on my tail and they pulled me over."
Campbell says the FHP trooper wrote him a ticket for improper flashing of high beams. Campbell says the trooper told him what he had done was illegal.
But later Campbell learned that is not the case. He filed a class action suit which says "Florida Statue 316.2397" -- under which Campbell was cited -- "does not prohibit the flashing of headlights as a means of communications, nor does it in any way reference flashing headlights or the use of high beams."
However, the FHP trooper who wrote the ticket either didn't know or didn't care. "You could tell in his voice he was upset," Campbell says. "He was professional, he wasn't rude... but you could tell he was irritated."
In 2005, a court order was even issued saying the state law doesn't prohibit the flashing of vehicle headlights.
Campbell isn't the only one. Since 2005, FHP records show more than 10,429 drivers have been cited under the statute.
In addition to seeking the refund of the $100 ticket, the lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $15,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtsp.com ...
http://www.geeksugar.com/Trapster-iPhone-App-Warns-You-Cops-Area-2370690
Probably already illegal too.
I’ve got that app but it’s only as good as the number of people who also have it where you happen to be *and* who’d bother to risk a crash while tapping in the trap location.
Got one in MD.
Logically of course one is doing exactly what the cops are there for, warning about going too fast.
But something has gone wrong in America. All over. Government is NOT there to help the citizens who pay for it. It is there to EXTORT. It is called leftism, the sinister twisting of purpose.
Tragically there is virtually NO politician who will say this. Thus the Tea Party.
Johnny Suntrade
>> “*and* who’d bother to risk a crash while tapping in the trap location.” <<
.
The app might be worthwhile if it tracked your GPS position, and required only one or two strokes to activate.
Go for it!
>> “In Virginia it is unlawful to flash your lights at or behind another motorist for any reason at all.” <<
.
And you do know that Virginia is a wierd place?
More to the point, hundreds of learned traffic engineering papers have demonstrated that speed limits, beyond the “Basic Speed Law,” that simply prohibits driving faster than you can safely drive, Are counter-productive to safety, and the highest and best use of the highways.
But they do provide “pocket money” to tyrants and their gophers.
>> “I always warn folks to slow down....coyotes ahead.” <<
.
I call them Rattlesnakes. :o)
Fortunately he didn't have any bulbs out so his car passed the inspection and was allowed to go on his way without a fine, much to the frustration of the cop.
That’s why we stay up in the mountains.
I had to take one of my dogs to Gaithersburg to an eye specialist and we don’t know that area and missed getting into the left turn lane where the clinic is.
Some nice person let us in front of them when the left turn signal changed to green and the traffic camera snapped and we got a ticket for “running a red light”.
We did not, of course, but the camera only catches a split second in time and according to it, we just up and made a left turn from the center when the light was red.
It would’ve cost more to go all the way back down there fight the ticket than pay it.
How convenient is that?
How often does one ever see a speed trap on a dangerous portion of road?
How often does one see a speed trap on a wide, safe portion of road w/ a ridiculously low speed limit?
('can write this w/out any bias, as I have never had a speeding ticket...)
Yes, it would.
Hopefully one of the happy little app makers will invent that, soon.
:)
Pigs...trying to feed at the trough in your wallet.
It's also illegal in Virginia to have a radio receiver in your car that can pick up certain microwave frequencies.
That's sort of the same as in Hitler's Germany when it was illegal to listen to foreign broadcasts.
The Trapster app on my iPhone does precisely that. There's one large blue button at the bottom of the home/map screen labeled "Report". Tap it and your GPS coordinates are transmitted via cellular link and the network gets upgraded in pretty close to real time. Other motorists using the app will get a push notification of the speed trap, if they are within their selected radius of the new threat (phones must be set to accept push notifications or this isn't as immediate). Even if the phone is in your pocket, it'll still sound the warning chime.
I'm sure there's a bit of a lag based on the 3g network's activity, but overall it's pretty slick. It has saved my bacon more than once, and the fact that the revenue collection officers hate it just makes me all the more fond of it.
I saw two unmarked cruisers race through a school zone to pull over a driver who was ... wait for it ... driving too fast in a school zone.
I love living in Florida-
And since I moved here, I have personally witnessed FIVE egregious incidents where Florida Highway Patrol officers FAILED to do their duty. In each case, lives may have been lost because of their negligence.
Also, do you remember the “wrong way drunk driver FBI agent” that killed two members of a family? The ‘good ol boys’ at FHP tried their best alter the facts. They even claimed this innocent family were the ones driving the wrong way.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,71412,00.html
Some FHP officers might be honest... well, I mean, I suppose that’s possible...
So when you come visit our beautiful state, be safe, and keep these facts in mind.
I have a good friend that is retired from the FHP and I asked if he misses working for them? He says no way would he go back.
Better yet, the money should come personally from their paychecks whether the FHP as a whole or from FHP Management such as Captain and above.
> I’m all for them getting their $100 back plus whatever court costs to stop the FHP from doing this but NO on the $15k. That’s taxpayer money!
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