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Beware anyone driving on I-10 East of Tallahassee

11K views 66 replies 30 participants last post by  Lord Warlock 
#1 ·
Drove to Pensacola on Friday, drove back today to Jacksonville. Friday I managed to get caught speeding for the first time in 12 years, not upset with cops, they were doing their job, and I was speeding well over the posted limit, I'll gladly pay my fine of 296.00 and take the online drivers course to avoid points, first time in my life I've been caught doing over 90. previous high for me was 88, and that happened in 1983. I got tired of being blocked in by mobs of cars and just wanted to get past the cluster and into the clear, got caught midway thru the attempted pass. Cop was courteous but didn't flex any on the speed, usually i can talk my way out of a few mph.

After getting pulled over, I noticed about 8 cops hunting drivers in a 20 mile area just East of Tallahassee FL. I've always known that the areas near the state capitol were usually patrolled and they gave tickets there, but no joking, I saw at least 8 people pulled over in a 20 mile stretch on Friday afternoon. Today, on the way back, I kept cruise control set at 75 and when I got within 25 miles of Tallahassee, I dropped down to 70 and kept it there for 30 miles west of tallahassee, to 40 miles east of tallahassee. As I crept along slowly and watched Prius owners pass me at 80 to 85mph, I counted LEO's, both Florida highway patrol, and County Sheriff's officers patrolling both sides of Tallahassee, there were 3 or 4 on the west side of that town, but when I got through tallahassee and got on the Eastern side, I counted no less than 27 different cops, mostly in marked cars, spraying the zone with Radar from FHP and Sheriff's deputy cars, Saw SUV's marked, saw unmarked, marked newer Charger cop cars (like one that got me) and the older style Crown Vic's.

If anyone has to drive through this zone in the next day or so, I would definitely tell you to watch your speed and keep it down to 75 or so or you'll get pulled over (limit is 70 except in construction zones where it drops to 55). The Colleges are finishing up the school year and college kids are driving home for the summer...and they usually do drive quite fast along this highway, as do most everyone else who average 80mph or more. I slipped up going over 85, that is usually just asking for a ticket.
 
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#10 ·
I don't agree, I've got 2 tickets in my life, last one last one in 2005 I believe. I was ticketed at 62 in a 55 zone, but was really doing about 70, so he gave me a break. I took the class, which forced you to sit down and spend some time re-learning and thinking about driving safely. They give you a break if you show enough interest to attend the class, if it was all about revenue, why would they? If you don't want to pay, don't speed, it's not like you're forced to drive over the speed limit.

I'm glad to see people here not trashing the cops for doing their jobs, especially after reading this article on the Bay News 9 (Tampa news station)website:

Third person dies in I-75 crash near Ocala that killed trooper

OCALA --
The third person struck by a pickup truck that swerved off of Interstate 75 near Ocala and killed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and tow-truck driver Saturday afternoon has died, authorities said
The crash happened sometime around 2 p.m. near SW County Road 484 in Marion County. Trooper Chelsea Renee Richard, 30, had pulled onto the east shoulder of the southbound lanes behind two vehicles that had been involved crash.
She was talking to tow-truck driver John Duggan, 57, of Levy County and George Robert Phillips, 52, of Ocala, when the pickup truck plowed into them, the FHP said.

Richard and Duggan were pronounced dead at the scene. Phillips was taken to Ocala Regional Medican Center in critical condition, and he died Sunday.

Richard was a nine-year veteran of the FHP and had been with the Ocala District Office for about a year, troopers said. She is survived by her 4-year-old son, parents, a brother and grandparents.

"Today the Florida Highway Patrol experienced a great loss," said FHP Col. David Brierton. "Trooper Richard chose a life of public service."
The driver of the pickup truck, whom authorities haven't named, was not seriously injured. Charges are pending, the FHP said.

Richard is the 45th Florida Highway Patrol trooper to be killed in the line of duty.
 
#3 ·
I got busted New Year's Day coming back to Biloxi from Pensacola doing about 95 in the 70. Cop asked why I was going so fast and I straight up told him there's nobody on the road but me and I'm in total control of my vehicle... plus what's the point in having a car like this if I can't open it up a little bit? He laughed and knocked the ticket down to 85. But like you I wasn't mad either, he was doing his job and I got caught messing up.
 
#4 ·
You get caught in North Carolina doing 90 and you might be heading to the county jail. I love Florida! I grew up there and I miss being able to hammer it and not have as bad of ramifications.
 
#6 ·
Incidentally, I was on I10 East today in Texas and barely dodged a three car accident right in front of me when an elderly handicapped lady in a newer Toyota sedan decided to quickly change lanes without warning - and immediately got smashed into by the little mazda sedan which was in her blind spot at the time. The impact deflected the second car into a nearby old Tahoe, which absorbed the impact well. Luckily everyone else was able to swerve/brake and avoid adding to the pileup.

Moral of the story is cops on I10 need to be focusing more on the crazy people who don't pay attention to the cars around them instead of tagging speeders.

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#7 ·
Yes, I usually make one or two trips a year to Pensacola from Jacksonville, both myself and my wife's parents live in Pensacola, we live in Jax though. There is almost no police presence from Pcola to Tallahassee, but there is always police around both sides of Tallahassee, usually I'm aware of where I'm at and slow down when i get close to it, Kind of spaced out on Friday and forgot, to my chagrin. I never get irate at cops doing their jobs though, the wife's dad and younger brother are both county cops (or were, her dad is retired now) I've always earned my tickets, may be why I don't fight them in court. I could say i was lucky though, if I'd been caught at 95 it could have pushed it to reckless driving with a mandatory court appearance which would have been troublesome having to drive two hours to get there and back.

I should have got my 18 year old daughter to bat her eye's at the cop, he was a young one, might have helped. At least i got my seatbelt on before I pulled over.
 
#33 ·
#9 ·
Good to hear you can take your licks and accept responsibility like an adult...unlike some other people who get upset with LEO for doing their job. I've gotten tagged once or twice and all I could say is "you got me" I too just licked my wounds and paid the ticket...guess its the price you pay every now and then with these fine automobiles :icon_wink:
 
#14 ·
:nono: that really makes sense....everyone has their own ideas about the what the cops "should" be doing...
 
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#12 ·
Warlock -

Are you running radar/laser detection and laser jamming?

Considering the ticket cost, and the inevitable increase to your insurance premium for a few years (even if you take the DD course) a top-shelf radar/laser detector would have pretty much paid for itself.
 
#13 ·
I have an Escort 9500ix and it has paid for itself many times over already in the 6 months I have owned it with my 392. I have detected cops from miles away running KA (which is all they run in MN for radar). It will pick up laser, but if you get laser, you're caught. Thing with laser though is they have to be stationary or sitting outside their car to do it...so you just gotta watch it coming around corners or over hills.

And of course you can't beat them timing you in a plane.

Picked up my detector used on ebay for $285, bought the $25 escort mirror mount and a $6 wire tap power cable to run it off of the mirror power cord so it looks clean. I love that thing.
 
#15 ·
I had a 9500ix for a few years and donated it to my wife who has long commutes. And picked up the Passport Max.

If you watch the vids of LIDAR guns in action, the display flat lines for about 1.5 seconds and then displays the speed. If you going no more than 15 over and instantly hammer the brakes when LIDAR warning sounds - you can scrub off enough speed to beat it. Most cops start writing at 10 over. I've beat LIDAR at least 5X this way. Scares the crap out of you when it goes off - but that's actually a good thing.

Now if you are going 25 over (say 90 in a 65) you're done. But that's pretty reckless unless the road is empty - most drivers keep it to 15 over or less.
 
#16 ·
Are you sure you can go to traffic school for that ticket? Here in CA, anything over 15mph over the speed limit and traffic school is off the table. You get the points and there isn't anything you can do about it.
 
#18 ·
I agree with the earlier comment that if the police were actually interested in safety, they would sit with their lights on every at various intervals on highways to make people slow down.
 
#20 ·
That would work for about an hour then once everyone realized there was no threat of a ticket they would go back to speeding right past.

The revenue argument is stupid. Cops get paid hourly. They get the same hourly wage no matter what they are doing. They have no monetary motivation to write tickets. They are doing it because that's what their job is. If you get caught speeding just acknowledge that you got caught, accept the consequences that you knew were in place and move on. You sound like an irresponsible whinny baby every time you come on the internet and say, " I got caught doing 90 in a 65 but...(insert this weeks lame excuse here)".

Take some tips from some of the others around here who put the pedal down knowing the risk they are taking and are prepared to deal with the consequences if things don't turn out the way they want.
 
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#22 · (Edited)
I had a quality radar detector in the car, and turned on, it doesn't help if they target you with instant on, I'm pretty sure the first beep of the radar was when he tagged me with radar. I only use a detector while driving across the state, I don't bother around Jacksonville, they usually won't ticket you here unless you go 15 over the limit. And as I said, its been 12 years without a ticket.

As for revenue generation, there are several cities well known for using tickets to generate income. WALDO florida is famous for it, AAA even warns people to avoid Waldo as its well known as a regular ticket farm. My daughter got caught a few months ago in Waldo, but only because she snuck out and went without us knowing, if we'd allowed the trip we would have warned her. Her ticket was two dollars less than mine was, and I'm pretty sure she wasn't doing 90. Triple AAA usually marks the town with a big red circle and its been identified as a hotspot now for over 10 years. They target kids and parents driving between Jacksonville and Gainesville where they send their kids to college (Univ of Florida)

Here in town, they usually set up in obvious places and use them over and over so you know where to slow down, occasionally they'll set up in places where speeders have become a problem and it usually makes people slow down, a good thing in my mind. People shouldn't be doing 55 in a 30 mph residential zone.

I do appreciate the option to attend traffic school to avoid points, you can only do it once a year so it won't help the chronic speeders that get caught alot, and the elimination of points keeps your insurance company from raising rates on you...usually. I usually won't take the class on my first ticket, I usually save it for when I've gotten two or three and I'm worried about a license suspension...that hasn't happened in 20 years but was a concern when i first bought my stealth turbo in 1994, got pulled over 3 times in one weekend, cops saw it as an exotic. But in this instance, I got caught doing 20 over the limit and I want that off my record, I can live with a ticket or two that was for 5 over.
 
#24 ·
It'll work for more than an hour...lol.

And yeah if you area speeding in the open not around any other cars and you get hit with KA, you're obviously gonna get a ticket. That's why you don't speed "stupidly". By that I mean try to travel in packs of cars, stay in the right lane, slow down when approaching hills and curves you can't see beyond and so on.

Cops that run with their radar on, which is the dominant situation while they are cruising around, a quality radar detector is going to save your behind.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Not sure about yall, but I will NOT speed right past a cop cruising in the right lane. I will creep by him doing one or two mph faster than he's going, and won't pick up the speed until i can get two people behind me that can block the view of the cop blocking traffic, and even then I'll only do 5mph over till i'm a half mile ahead and then and only then will i resume speeding.

Over the past four years, I've often bragged about speeding across the state, even made the 5.5 hour trip in 3.25 hours once averaging 100-110 for the whole trip EXCEPT the 20 mile stretch on both sides of Tallahassee. This has been a well taught lesson and will slow my trips down quite a bit, as there is no real decent reason to be driving that fast, except that it is an extremely boring drive on long straight roads with nobody in your way. Usually while driving in the fast lane people will pull over as i get within 50 to 100 yards of them to let me by. Sometimes a yellow car is an advantage, with police its a disadvantage as it glows thru the grey and boring color cars. I usually try to stay in the right lane, and only go left to pass, it isn't uncommon to look back and see 6 or more cars following in my wake as I pass cars at speed. I usually like to follow another speeder who is 50 to 100 yards in front of me, if he slows I'll slow, if i see brake lights I'll slow, and let someone behind me pass me and get the ticket, then speed up again after I pass them on the side of the road. I speed often, but I also do it smart most of the time. It also helps to say that in 30 years of driving, i've never run into another car, never totalled a vehicle, and never caused an accident, I have been run into before. The only mishaps i've had were merging from one lane to another and finding a car in my blind spot and jerking to get back in my lane. The only incidents I've had that were my fault were against my own property and in my own driveway, I have a tendancy to back up without looking behind me, as cars shouldn't be where I didn't park them.

I'll be making the trip again in July, when I take my 2nd daughter to start college there, we were going to pensacola this time to celebrate our 1st daughter graduating from college at UWF.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I think the tickets generating revenue is arguable depending on where you live. In arizona most tickets written by municipalities don't even see the money from the citations...and what they do see is a very very small percentage. I don't agree with traffic school being offered as an option to points on your license as a valid argument for tickets being a revenue generator. Like Warlock said you can only do it once a year...so if you are a repeat offender you deal with the consequences. If this wasn't an option people would complain about that. I think its a good thing...decent honest working people make a mistake from time to time and this gives them an option instead of making their lives harder. No need to go to the extreme for someones first offense...just my thoughts but obviously other people have different views that probably won't ever change. Just sucks how people make assumptions without knowing the facts.
 
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#29 ·
So you don't think that being given points that you can't erase with an online class wouldn't help? If you can lose the points once a year what is accomplished?
If you're caught speeding and given a punishment then it should stick until they (points) expire.
 
#30 ·
So, we're having a debate on driving record points now? You keep focusing on points when you can only "erase" a limited amount every certain amount of time. That is for the accidental and occasional offender. Habitual offenders are going to get nailed big time. As far as I'm concerned, with my record of 2 tickets in 39 years of driving, you can take away the classes, both online and in person, make ALL radar/laser detectors illegal and confiscate speeders cars if caught doing more than, oh, let's say, 20 mph over the limit. Street racing, if proven should require jail time. You getting the drift here?

Your original statement about fines were only for revenue, and had nothing to do with safety. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say the last thing I need to do is to hand more money to any town, city, county, or state government. Fines are a deterrent to unsafe driving for me and a lot of other people I know. Do some of these government agencies count on and some even scheme (speed traps) to get as much as they can? Of course some do. If you don't like it, don't drive there or don't give them any excuse to pull you over. I've driven through Waldo, it saves me about 30 miles when I travel up to North Carolina. You carefully watch every second as you go down 301, the speed limit changes constantly, up, down, up, down, then there is the school zone waiting in town, 15 mph, I think and there is always a cop there, always. Most of the time I don't bother and stay on I 75 and I 10.

You asked what I think, so there you go......
 
#31 ·
Having a system where you couldn't erase points for the rarely caught offenders like myself, would only cause people to drive more without insurance, as was the case here 15 years ago, rates would skyrocket. One ticket and 4 points for just me would likely raise my rates about 200-300 a year, not too bad, but a hefty penalty, but if I had to also pay higher rates for each of my kids that also screw up and get a ticket, my rates could go up 1000 a year, and that's with having insurance with the best agency possible. I won't risk losing USAA insurance, I'll drop my kids before I have to worry about it. My rates were pretty reasonable before i added two teenagers to the policy. One of them will be coming off soon, the other won't be driving next year, but I'll have to deal with 3 more years of higher rates, at least they aren't teenage boy rates. Can't imagine how my dad felt paying for 3 teenage boys added to his.

If you are a safe driver, who doesn't have accidents, and only rarely has a ticket, you shouldn't have to pay out the nose when you do screw up and get caught once, if you screw up two or three times in a year, then yes you should pay. Traffic school is only available once a year, and has a max use of 10 times in your life, after that the option is gone. Traffic school used to involve spending a whole saturday sitting thru a class, which was a heavy penalty considering you still have to pay your ticket in full, plus a fee for the course, now they are online so aren't as obtrusive. I don't have to take the course, I can just suffer a 200.00 premium increase for 3 years instead, it just makes financial sense to take the course and save the money. I could always call a lawyer and have them make a phone call - they claim they can get you out of the fine and the points, but i'm sure there is a lawyer fee that will be almost as much. I'm waiting for the mailers to start arriving, they should start coming in the mail tomorrow.
 
#34 ·
The mailers were the way I could tell when my son got a ticket!!
For sure! that is how i found out my daughter got her ticket too, then after a bit of searching found out where and dug out the whole story of deception.
 
#36 ·
The suggestion up thread about running the Waze app on your smartphone - its better than a radar detector in most cases. Also consider joining the national motorists association, and always fight all tickets. Its a racket, and government just increases the penalties every year, more fines, felony speeding, setting up "construction zone" speed traps, they use these "move over" laws to nail drivers just minding their business doing the speed limit in the right lane, who thought they were obeying the law, only to be caught in a trap setup with a police car on the shoulder when they fail to veer out of the right lane, they are ticketed. Another racket.
 
#37 ·
...they use these "move over" laws to nail drivers just minding their business doing the speed limit in the right lane, who thought they were obeying the law, only to be caught in a trap setup with a police car on the shoulder when they fail to veer out of the right lane, they are ticketed. Another racket.
Seriously? Move over laws are a racket or a trap? You can't really think it is safe for anyone on the shoulder to have cars zooming by inches away. Move over laws protect anyone who happens to be on the shoulder from drivers who don't have the common sense to move over without being told. Move over if you can, otherwise slow down. Either way, you're aware of and actively avoiding the hazard instead of just rubbernecking and naturally drifting towards what you're looking at.

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#39 ·
Got my license when I turned 18, then when I was 19 I got a job where I traveled almost 1000 miles a week doing network installations all over the south. Over a two year period, I got probably 20 tickets and they finally suspended my license (Tennessee). It took a year and $10,000+ (paid by my grandmother, otherwise I'd have been completely SOL)to get it back, but then it was like, if you get one more ticket within three years its revoked. Well guess what, got a ticket within 6 months for 3 miles over. It was another $2000 to get it back which I didn't have and wasn't going to go back to my grandmother again for it.
So for the next ten years I learned to drive better. Only got caught twice for driving without a license in ten years, and not for speeding, just for squeaking the tires of the Challenger at a stoplight (it took a while just to learn how not to squeak the tires with the manual trans).
Finally got my license back this past November. I still don't drive stupid though, don't want to lose it again. That's not to say I don't have a little fun. I have probably touched 140 about a dozen times, but I always do it with no traffic on the highway and where I know or can see that there is absolutely no place for a cop to hide. And I only to quick fun runs, I don't try to do 140 for miles like I'm running in Le Mans or something.
 
#40 · (Edited)
When I was young, and could only afford a motorcycle, I received 3 tickets in a few years, and not for excessively speeding. It was like 10mph over each time. Still, I realized that in my neck of the woods, bikes get targeted and I changed my behavior to only do about 5MPH over most of the time (there are a few back country roads which are a bit too fun too keep it down). Anyway, it's been almost 30 years now with no speeding tickets.

Our cars are also targeted. After driving a minivan for 20 years, I was pulled over for the first time in 30 years in my Challenger within a few months. Not for speeding, but for supposedly running a red light. Nope, I did not. It was absolutely yellow, and I drove just like I would have in my minivan. But my Challenger caught his eye. The officer gave me a warning and let me go, saying that if I had been a second later, he'd have given me a ticket. Well I do not run lights, and I know the light was yellow when I entered ... which I think he knew as well.

So yep, I generally cruise at 5mph over the limit. And yes, it really sucks to get passed constantly on the freeway by junkers going 80mph. But I just turn up the radio a bit more and let it go. I don't want it on my record.

But the Challenger, just like the motorcycle, does like the lonely back roads and gets a bit of work out then.
 
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