Waldo Fl. speed trap update
I don't have the link to the story but the famous (or infamous) Waldo, Fl. police dept. was dis-banded by the city council on Tuesday. The dept. is still under investigation by the FDLE. Reason give...
Forum Discussion
Since this post refers to speed traps, I have observed that when you are in a speed trap your speed is not important. Three times in my life I have received a citation in a speed trap and each time I was driving under the posted speed limit. I believe each time I was cited for the reason that I had an out of state license. Once in Florida, once in California and the last in Texas.
For example, the last time, on US Highway 287 just east of Childress, Texas we were driving on cruise control at 60 mph in a posted 65 MPH zone. We were the third vehicle in a line of traffic, all traveling at the same speed.
We were motioned over by a man in an unmarked pickup truck. The man was wearing a badge but no uniform. I was issued at ticket that stated that I was driving 10 percent over the speed limit, but no mention on the ticket of the speed limit.I was the only one stopped from the line of traffic. The ones in front and passing me I noticed all had Texas Plates.
The "officer" and the information on the ticket gave me an option to go to a county court more than a week later, or call a phone number to pay the fine. Since we live in Colorado I called the phone number. The person answering the phone was not the county court. In fact was not even a court employee. I was informed that the person worked for a private company that collected fines for courts from persons who chose not to appear in court. I was only asked for the ID number on the citation that I had received. I was then informed of a fine amount and told that I could pay by credit card.
I assumed that I was the victim of a scam so I payed by my American Express Business Card, knowing that I could get a confirmation of the whole deal from AMEX. The next day I phoned AMEX, explained the situation to the AMEX Personal Account Representative and was told that AMEX would check it out. If it was a scam the charge on my AMEX card would be cancelled.
About a week later I received a phone call from the Clerk of the County Court in Taxes informing me that American Express intended to cancel the fine charge unless I confirmed that the charge I had made on the citation fine was legitimate. I requested the Court Clerk to FAX me the details on a court letterhead with their identification to prove that they were actually a County Court.
I received the FAX indicating that the court had received the money paid by the company that collected the fine, less a fee paid to the private company by the court, charged on the AMEX card. I notified AMEX to go ahead and pay the fine and close the case.
I believe that I was a victim again of a speed trap.
For example, the last time, on US Highway 287 just east of Childress, Texas we were driving on cruise control at 60 mph in a posted 65 MPH zone. We were the third vehicle in a line of traffic, all traveling at the same speed.
We were motioned over by a man in an unmarked pickup truck. The man was wearing a badge but no uniform. I was issued at ticket that stated that I was driving 10 percent over the speed limit, but no mention on the ticket of the speed limit.I was the only one stopped from the line of traffic. The ones in front and passing me I noticed all had Texas Plates.
The "officer" and the information on the ticket gave me an option to go to a county court more than a week later, or call a phone number to pay the fine. Since we live in Colorado I called the phone number. The person answering the phone was not the county court. In fact was not even a court employee. I was informed that the person worked for a private company that collected fines for courts from persons who chose not to appear in court. I was only asked for the ID number on the citation that I had received. I was then informed of a fine amount and told that I could pay by credit card.
I assumed that I was the victim of a scam so I payed by my American Express Business Card, knowing that I could get a confirmation of the whole deal from AMEX. The next day I phoned AMEX, explained the situation to the AMEX Personal Account Representative and was told that AMEX would check it out. If it was a scam the charge on my AMEX card would be cancelled.
About a week later I received a phone call from the Clerk of the County Court in Taxes informing me that American Express intended to cancel the fine charge unless I confirmed that the charge I had made on the citation fine was legitimate. I requested the Court Clerk to FAX me the details on a court letterhead with their identification to prove that they were actually a County Court.
I received the FAX indicating that the court had received the money paid by the company that collected the fine, less a fee paid to the private company by the court, charged on the AMEX card. I notified AMEX to go ahead and pay the fine and close the case.
I believe that I was a victim again of a speed trap.
