Saturday, March 8, 2008

Avoid Speed Traps and Fight Traffic Tickets

Now here is a nifty little site. If you tend to have a heavy foot on the gas pedal or a light foot on the brake when you come to a stop sign, then this site is your magic mirror.

Speed Trap Exchange has listed the known speed trap locations in all 50 states. I checked out their listings for the speed traps I know that are in tiny little towns... and yep, they were indicated WITH comments!

I grew up in a small town surrounded by even smaller towns. All the locals knew that the bored cops would spend Saturday night lurking just around the bend on the stretch of road where unsuspecting motorists tended to speed. We all knew to slow down, but someone just passing through DIDN'T. Almost every time I ever drove down that road, I would see the "hidden" cop car or the "unhidden" cop car and a pulled over car.

The folks at Speed Trap Exchange, sponsored by the National Motorists Association Foundation, just don't think that this is right. They have set their sights on having a site that lists all the known speed traps and also helps motorists fight speeding tickets. Guess that they just want to live the fast life.

Another great site for help on how to fight a traffic ticket is Ticket Assassin. This is a fabulous site. There is quite a bit of free information, however, the really meaty information (like forms, examples, guidelines and personalized help) are available only after you agree to pay a $25 membership fee. I assure you that the information available for $25 is well worth it if you are trying to fight a traffic ticket. The fee is substantially less than the traffic ticket fine and raised insurance rates due to points you will get if you don't fight the ticket. This site focuses on the laws in California, but has useful information if you live in other states as well.

Now, I'm not telling anyone to speed (especially not my 16 year old just-learning-to-drive son) but, I don't like traps. They just don't seem fair to me.

So, check out the sites. Take a stroll through memory lane and revisit the places where you have gotten speeding tickets. Perhaps it will be a relief to you to know that you were trapped into that ticket. Check out the known traps in your area. Drive wisely. Drive safe.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In my country cops hidding around corners to catch you doing an infraction are called crocodiles, because they are acting just like these reptiles :-) I love the expression and me and my friends are always on the look out for crocodiles, for our own safety.