I have had my 2000 Vert for over 6 years and Saturday night the wife and I put the top down and headed for the fire works show in Central Illinois, a small town on East route 36, about 30 miles away.

There was two cars in front of me, the first one was going a steady 50 mph. I waited several miles, with several openings for the car in front of me to pass him but he never did. Finally I had enough, pulled out in the passing lane, blinked my lights and nailed it. The two cars were close together so I took them both. I was up to 80+ when I pulled back and let off, and there he was. A STATE TROOPER.

I slowed to 55, but I saw him pull out after me. It took him several miles to pass the two cars I had passed, but when he did his lights came on.

I pulled off on a small side road and the wife yells, " well you finally did it know, there goes 300 bucks". He comes up to me, a young state trooper, I would guess 28 to 30 years old and the first thing he says is, " I got you at 74 in a 55, man that is a nice vette, great color combo". I knew there was a chance!

We talked a while and he took my license and insurance and went back to his car to call me in and check me out. When he returned, he admitted that he had a hard time getting around those slower cars and said, I giving you a verbal warning

Needless to say I was thrilled! And the wife said NEVER MIND.

Question to you police guys. Is there a speed limit or something when you are passing on a two lane road? I always nail it when I pass and when you nail a vett from 50 to 80+ it only is a matter of a few seconds.

The fire works were great, and the warning made it better.

Thanks, Mark

 

Usually 5 to 10 mpd over the limit we pull you over. Me, if its a Vette I let the person enjoy the ride, as long as the driver is not crazy like zipping in and out of the lanes.

 

But on a two lane road, I always thought it would be better to get around and back into the lane, as quick as possable. Mark

 

Yes it's safer just not legal!

 

 

not a leo, but the speed limit is the speed limit isn't it? bub

 

As with many traffic laws, it is not about safety, it's about revenue collecting.

Jay

 

I don't know too many LEO that will write you if you pass, get back in and resume a safe/legal speed.

As for you that say traffic laws are just revenue generators, I would love to see you tell the family that their loved one was killed by a speeder or drunk (the two major causes of fatal accidents). I know it's an old argument that I will never convince some of you of but those of us in LE have lived it.

 

 

I have found that if you see him pull out and you know he is after you, then go ahead and pull over. This way the police will not get their pressure up by haveing to chase you. It has worked everytime for me. Its just a technique........

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe in VA it is a violation to pass more than one vehicle in line.

I don't know about any speed limits for passing but I'm of the school.........the sooner you get back in your lane, the better!

 

The two I passed were very close to each other. As soon as I passed and pulled to my lane, I decreased speed to about 58+-. Even when the Leo pulled out of his spot, he was behind the two I had passed.

Like I said, I consider myself lucky !! He could have given me a ticket for 74 in a 55. Mark

 

 

Speed limit does not change even when passing, BUT, it is a factor if the LEO is weighing the situation. And as for revenue, BULL Sh.. The cost to hire, equipment, train and pay LEO's to enforce traffic laws far outweighs the income any town or city obtains from tickets. Besides, most people don't understand, The majority of ticket fines go to state and local highways upkeep and building along with state police acadamy's, courts, not local government. Traffic laws do save lives. How many of you would open up your vette on the freeway more often if you knew there where not any troopers learking around the bend. Think about it, speed limits do save lives.

 

OK, so why aren't droves of people dying on the autobahns of Europe? They routinely drive 100+ MPH....

...........just playing devil's advocate I realize there are limits to everything, but a blanket statement like that deserves a response.

 

Traffic laws are there for many reasons besides revenue, but is BS to deny that it's not a major part of the picture. One of our local municipalities has set up with lots of new gear that is guaranteed to increase revenue by the manufacturer. The manufacturer sells the photo radar and photo intersection equipment on the basis that it makes more moneyin actual net profit than it cost, ......or they buy it back.....AND in some cities thay provide it free in exchange for a portion of the fines/revenue the equipment generates. There ought to be a law against this crap. Some of the people I have known in city government over my many years of life have told me that under no uncertain terms that traffic fines are HUGE profit makers. They like to keep the LEOs in the dark on this so that they will beleive, as has been mentoned above, that traffic enforcement is a loss and a 'pure' public service. TO that notion I say We DO need traffic laws and regulations. It is human nature that we who have well engineered fast cars and take pride in developing good driving skills would like to have different rules than those who drive unsafe junk boxes, or those that are grosly unskilled AND/OR Rude behind the wheel. The only people that get to play that game for real are either LEOs on the chase, or those very few with diplomatic immunity.

One time I got passed by 2 LEOs going REALLY FAST, probably in the range of 90-100, one after the other. About 5 minutes later I found them parked at the restaurant I was heading to, inside and already having placed their lunch order. I walked up them and said Hi, .......and that if I had driven my Lotus past either one of them the way they passed me, and found me at the restaurant they were on the way to, I bet they would have more to say than "Hi"....We had laugh over it, but I put them on notice that they got caught doing a Code 3 high speed run for no good reason. About a year later one of them pulled me over for 83 in a 55, in the same area. He gave me the ticket for a lower speed, and I sent in my fine,,,didnt even go to Court. About 3 months later I got my actual check back from the Court with a letter explaining that the Officer never filed his copy of the Citation/Summons, hence no formal charge, and a full refund with no add-on to my driving record. So he played the game on me too, Showed me that I got caught, and he let me 'go' in the same way that I didn't file a complaint about their illegal chase to the chow line the year before. I kept the letter for years, showing it to a lot of peope to proove my story, but alas, I havent seen it for about 15-20 years.

 

Maybe because the autobahn is built for that kind of speed. Furthermore the Europeans are taught how to drive on the autobahn. You don't see someone doing 55 in the fast lane over there. If they drove like they do there over here guarantee there'd be an accident soon after.

 

Well as to the argument of how the highway is built one of the original design requirmenyts for interstate highways is speed of 100mph any where except special requirements (tight radius curves or steep grades)
The autobahn isn't any better than our interstate and we have much more open spaces to travel than europe. Now that said In Europe traffic travels in the right lane and pases left (everyone) trucks do not sit in the left and slower driver do not either They are ticketed! As to their driving liscence requirements are much tougher! Not just any one has the privelege to drive there.
Speed does add to the severity of accidents and excessive speed kills.
However what is excessive to one person (unskilled or drunk) should not set the standard for all.
It's just a cop out to arbitraily asign speed as the cause of an accident.
Just because it can be stated that no accident would occur if every one was stopped as there would also be little or no progress towards ones destination.

 

I can't speak directly to the quality of the Autobahn as I have not driven it, maybe you have. My son drove it while stationed there 3 yrs ago. He says it is alot smoother and the long sweeping curves are very different than our interstate roadways He also said there are alot fewer on/off ramps. He was astounded at how differently the europeans drive though.

I would also suggest that their roadways are built for speeds in excess of the 100 mph that ours are built for. If their speeds are routinely in excess of 100 mph then the roadway would be designed for probably 150 mph or more.

 

Having driven on the autobaun I would have to say that its design is not much different than our highways, if it is at all. I would say the big difference is the way the Europeans drive. As has been mentioned before they are much better at staying to the right, except when passing. A driver in the left lane is watching their rear view mirror very closely, and when they see a car approaching from behind - they get into the right lane as quiclky as possible. I know the laws are different, and maybe that is the cause of their 'better manners' - no matter what the reason, they do better at this than we do.

And by the way, many parts of the autobaun are no longer unlimited speed zones - it is getting harder to find sections where you can go fast.