Waldo Florida Spped Trap

I'm not sure I understand your beef with the JP. Having the guilty/no contest pleas go to a clerk where they can pay their fines is a fairly common setup for larger traffic courts, rather than time wasting individual appearances before the judge. Both pleas are essentially the same for the purposes of this violation. If you wanted to present any potentially mitigating evidence, then you should have plead not guilty and waited for your court date.

... what...?

Recently paid the fines for two tickets to the local JP and Constable Precinct. While I was upset about being ticketed for something that I was doing for the previous 12 years. But what really made me mad was the simple fact that going by the time on the citations I was in the backyard cutting back some bushes. (No contact by the Deputy Constable)

The garage door and gates were open. Yard implements in the driveway. Obvious that someone was doing yard work. I found the citations two hours later when I went to move the vehicles back into the drive. This should indicate that someone was outside and about.

At first I questioned how my vehicles could be cited for "Parking in an intersection when: 1. I live on a dead end street and there is a cul de sac a house down and across the street. Again, I have lived here and parked there for 12 years. (I looked up the State Transportation code and definitions of "an intersection"

To add salt to the wound there is a Lt. from the same precinct that parks his "Command Vehicle" behind the stop sign in front of his house. (This is against the Transportation Code). I took photo's and videos for record on three occasions in a four week period. (I was out of town on of those weeks)

Anyways, I did all the google map/satellite stuff for my house. Got all my info together to see the JP as required by the citation. (No mailing or e-pay allowed according to the JP site for my citations) I took off of work to appear as required.

I was going to plead "No Contest" and submit the definitions of an intersection and the video and photo's of the Command Vehicle.

There is no traffic control signs in my yard or near the entrance of the cul de sac. Only a stop sign if leaving the cul de sac. Measurements with a laser and survey equipment showed my curb in front of the house to be outside the control distances for the traffic control signage and the residential roadway does not meet the definitions of a highway or thoroughfare according to the Transportation Code. The Transportation Code states that intersections are at roadways or alleys intersecting Highways and Thoroughfares.

Anyway, The bailiff came out and stated that if one was there for traffic court to go to the next room over and pay your fine if you were pleading guilty or no contest. Then he stated if you are pleading "Not Guilty" to also go next door and they would schedule you for a court appearance that would be at least 60 days from today.

I was a bit miffed since I had planned to plead no contest and had expected to be admonished by the JP and pay my fines accordingly. If I had known I would not have to "appear" I would have just paid my fines on line and not missed a day of work.

To back track a little. While I believed I was in compliance with the Transportation code after doing my due diligence I started looking at the street, were my vehicles were sitting, and what my neighbors on the cul de sac would need to do to get to their house.

The approach is clear, one has a good visual of the cul de sac entry and for quite a good distance. Since my street is a dead end and only four houses long we do not have any speeding and the only traffic is the cul de sac coming and going. Even with all of that being good I could see that at a minimum I was Not being a good neighbor.

BTW, I turned over the videos, photo's, address, dates, and name of the Lt. to the Watch Captain while I was there at the court house. As I explained to the gentleman, "It may be an obscure or little known transportation law/code and that some awareness training may be needed." The code does not allow parking within 30 ft of traffic sign or control device and the roadway running beside his house is classified as a thoroughfare so the area in front of his house does encompass an intersection. Besides he has a driveway that is sufficiently wide enough to allow three vehicle to park in front of his 3-car garage and as could be seen in the videos and photos the garage doors were open and there was no vehicles inside and only one vehicle in the driveway.

In other words, I was willing to let it go. I was at least not being a good neighbor. I will not vote for the JP come Nov. because he runs his court this way, it was not a fluke day I found out. Now for the Constable, he is up for election next year. Depending on how his office handles the awareness training may or may not get my vote.

LOL

happybooker1 wrote:


Actually, I'm a bright & cheerful person -- always making my friends laugh. I lead a pretty stress less life, sleep well at night, don't worry about much of anything.

Alfred E. Newman: Actually,.....that's hard to believe.

However, you *did* get some laughs here - unfortunately they were *at* you rather than *with* you.

Yes, you *do* have an enemy - just look in the mirror!..:S

~

westend wrote:
spoon,
Just so you know, not everyone has you on the enemy list. Thanks for keeping our roads safe.

FWIW, got my first speeding ticket two years ago. That was 44 years of driving without a speeding ticket. I had a moment of distraction and was 10 mph over on an open two lane road. I think I'm doing pretty good since I've been over the limit about 10,000 times and got ticketed once.

I appreciate that westend! I **think** that in general most people appreciate cops... but only if we are enforcing the law on SOMEONE ELSE =)!

spoon059 wrote:
Enemy here... We use Lidar in my area, and a lot of departments are moving towards Lidar. Its vehicle specific (point at a specific car) as opposed to radar (just alerts to a vehicle speeding and the officer has to look up and determine which vehicle is going the fastest). The benefits are that I can testify that I aimed the laser directly at YOUR vehicle and tested YOUR speed.

The drawbacks for you are that the laser unit isn't continuously on. I watch traffic and wait until I see a vehicle that appears to be speeding. Then, and only then, I aim the laser at your vehicle and pull the trigger. The laser fires only as long as I hold the trigger. By the time you react to your laser detector, I've already got your speed and made a decision to pull you over or not.

I would suggest that if you want to continue your streak of no tickets you slow down. I don't have a radar or laser detector. I haven't been pulled over in 14 years... I just drive within reason most of the time.

Enemy out...

I had to laugh. I remember when I was still working and we got laser. I stopped a guy doing 25 over. After I stopped him, he was not at all happy with his high dollar detector he had just bought. I don't think he was happy with the ticket either. Just out of curiosity, one of our dispatchers had a detector so we borrowed it and ran two cars side by side with the detector in one. We clocked the other one and the detector never went off until we clocked the one with the detector in it. Of course we never had a quota (which is and should be illegal), we were allowed to write as many tickets as we wanted.

spoon,
Just so you know, not everyone has you on the enemy list. Thanks for keeping our roads safe.

FWIW, got my first speeding ticket two years ago. That was 44 years of driving without a speeding ticket. I had a moment of distraction and was 10 mph over on an open two lane road. I think I'm doing pretty good since I've been over the limit about 10,000 times and got ticketed once.

Enemy here... We use Lidar in my area, and a lot of departments are moving towards Lidar. Its vehicle specific (point at a specific car) as opposed to radar (just alerts to a vehicle speeding and the officer has to look up and determine which vehicle is going the fastest). The benefits are that I can testify that I aimed the laser directly at YOUR vehicle and tested YOUR speed.

The drawbacks for you are that the laser unit isn't continuously on. I watch traffic and wait until I see a vehicle that appears to be speeding. Then, and only then, I aim the laser at your vehicle and pull the trigger. The laser fires only as long as I hold the trigger. By the time you react to your laser detector, I've already got your speed and made a decision to pull you over or not.

I would suggest that if you want to continue your streak of no tickets you slow down. I don't have a radar or laser detector. I haven't been pulled over in 14 years... I just drive within reason most of the time.

Enemy out...

happybooker1 wrote:

JJBIRISH wrote:

happybooker1 wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:

Sometimes you just can't win. If the cops decide they're gonna give you a ticket -- well, son, you're gonna get a ticket. Regardless of if you're doing 10 miles UNDER the speed limit or not. They WILL find a way.

If you've never had the opportunity to have a run-in with a crooked cop good on you. But ONE experience with a bad cop will sour you on EVER thinking they're looking out for your "own good" forever.

To me, they are The Enemy. That's why I have a radar detector and NO tickets for the past 7 years. The radar detector warns me of The Enemy.

You must be a very unhappy and angry person… not a life I would choose to emulate…

The enemy, good grief…

There are bad people in all walks of life, all professions, all economic levels… dealing with them is a part of life, and as with all things some have poorer skills in dealing with than others…

Your post is outside the area of strict enforcement or even overly strict enforcement… I suspect it is more likely that you just don’t like any authority, or any organization, rules, or regulations and except for the ones you agree with…

If you’re getting tickets when going 10 under I will assume your attitude toward any supervision precedes you and is well known by those bad establishment cops…

I can say in my entire life I deserved to be stopped every time I was… I pushed the envelope got caught and knew the cost of doing so… still I was a slow learner, but I did learn… it wasn’t the tickets that woke me up though it was extricating people from the crumpled mess of what was once a car that experienced an extremely sudden stop while speeding…

Actually, I'm a bright & cheerful person -- always making my friends laugh. I lead a pretty stress less life, sleep well at night, don't worry about much of anything. And I'd like to keep it that way. Hence -- the radar detector. It's helped so far!

You write a post and try to paint a picture that places blame to the LEO’s, but your own contradictions prove otherwise…

“To me, they are The Enemy. That's why I have a radar detector and NO tickets for the past 7 years. The radar detector warns me of The Enemy.”

If your statement were true and the big bad cop is going to get you anyway even at 10 under, the radar detector wouldn’t offer much in the way of protection against that it would seem… that just contradicts your following statement and does nothing to bolster credibility for any of the post…

But your ending statement speaks more to your real thoughts…

It is obvious you prefer to break the law and depend electronics to avoid your rightful due, when a little less right foot would accomplish the protection you want and more reliably so at no expense to you, and it would be safer for the motoring public around you as a side benefit…

Sure you saw the enemy and the enemy is you…

The LEO isn’t the enemy for doing the job he was hired to do… quite the contrary… far too many believe the laws don’t apply to them and believe anyone that would try to enforce those laws on them is the enemy… but in reality it’s a way of not being able to accept responsibility for your actions, and using a radar detector to avoid the law isn’t accepting responsibility either…

But I am glad you are bright and cheerful anyway and my post isn’t meant to flame you, but anything that is posted and meant to be misleading as your post was deserves to be challenged… especially when it is designed to cast dark shadows where they don’t belong…

JJBIRISH wrote:

happybooker1 wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Thank-you for providing the warning about Waldo, I do very much appreciate that. But one thing I don't understand about so many comments on this thread: it seems that, even though it is a well know "fact" that Waldo is notorious for being a speed trap, why do so many of you push your luck? It seems if you KNOW there is a potential speed trap, and you are all familiar with the roads, and you drive through these questionable zones, then ... why do you push fate and still speed? So many of you sound angry because you have to slow down, yet you know what the consequences will be if you get caught speeding, and push the envelope anyway. That just doesn't make sense to me. If the speed limit changes 6 times in a 2 mile stretch, I would think you know exactly where those changes occur, where the signs are posted, and prepare by speeding up or slowing down before you pass the sign. Still better yet, if the fastest speed is posted 55 mph and the slowest is 30 mph in that same 2 mile stretch, AND YOU KNOW it's that way, why take risks? Why not just drive the entire 2 miles at 30 mph and be safe about it! I just don't understand why you feel you play Russian Roulette and be able to win? You know it's going to happen! Why tempt fate! I just don't get it.

But, thanks again for the warning. FYI, if anyone is driving through Cedar Rapids Iowa on I-380, there is a stretch of interstate that is photo speed enforced. Don't ask me how I know ... My wife has teased me enough about that for the last 4 years! Needless to say, when I drive that road now to visit my daughter in Iowa, I purposely now, make sure I slow down 5 mph LOWER than the speed limit. Pain the the neck.... yes ... but I simply could not take another 4 years of being teased by my wife ... why press fate?

Sometimes you just can't win. If the cops decide they're gonna give you a ticket -- well, son, you're gonna get a ticket. Regardless of if you're doing 10 miles UNDER the speed limit or not. They WILL find a way.

If you've never had the opportunity to have a run-in with a crooked cop good on you. But ONE experience with a bad cop will sour you on EVER thinking they're looking out for your "own good" forever.

To me, they are The Enemy. That's why I have a radar detector and NO tickets for the past 7 years. The radar detector warns me of The Enemy.

You must be a very unhappy and angry person… not a life I would choose to emulate…

The enemy, good grief…

There are bad people in all walks of life, all professions, all economic levels… dealing with them is a part of life, and as with all things some have poorer skills in dealing with than others…

Your post is outside the area of strict enforcement or even overly strict enforcement… I suspect it is more likely that you just don’t like any authority, or any organization, rules, or regulations and except for the ones you agree with…

If you’re getting tickets when going 10 under I will assume your attitude toward any supervision precedes you and is well known by those bad establishment cops…

I can say in my entire life I deserved to be stopped every time I was… I pushed the envelope got caught and knew the cost of doing so… still I was a slow learner, but I did learn… it wasn’t the tickets that woke me up though it was extricating people from the crumpled mess of what was once a car that experienced an extremely sudden stop while speeding…

Actually, I'm a bright & cheerful person -- always making my friends laugh. I lead a pretty stress less life, sleep well at night, don't worry about much of anything. And I'd like to keep it that way. Hence -- the radar detector. It's helped so far!