In over 10 years of dealing with people getting tickets, today I saw the first one ever for a failure to keep right. I don't think want to help him (or her) !

"Dear Ivan,

I got a ticket this morning on Rt 128 going north. The officer stopped me.
I asked him why I was stopped.
He was rather annoyed by my question. He said, Failure to use right lane
when available. As an after thought he also claimed I was speeding . He
said 71mpH at 55 MPH. I really thought I wasn't speeding. More
importantly, I have never heard of this violation. I am going to appeal.
Are there any procedures and evidence I should gather. I was noticing that
several cars in the middle lanes were traveling much faster than me.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Nagarajan Sankrithi Ph.D."

that's a good one! Hey Ivan , what are those groups of three rubber hoses taped down to Rt. 95 in the LEO capitol of the world between Danvers and Newburyport all about??

Rubber hoses are used by MassHighway engineering usually to get a traffic count.

Rubber hoses are used by MassHighway engineering usually to get a traffic count.

I thought they were used in the back room to beat Ivan "The Speeder" into submission.

"Okay punk, where'd you get the Blinders?"

Somehow "up your nose with a rubber hose" comes to mind. :)

Driving on 91 in southern Vermont on Friday, I saw a pickup truck in the median. Easy to assume it was some maintenance worker from a distance. Then my laser jammer went nuts.

The officer was out of the vehicle and after a confused look turned and contined on zapping traffic in the other direction (which I was sure to flash a warning with no one ahead of me).

Not only was it a pickup, but a very nicely detailed (It reminded me of this extravagant police vehicle (http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/11/texas-law-enforcement-issued-700-hp-hummer/)) extended cab with plenty of chrome and vinyl artwork. The lettering on the side read DMV ENFORCEMENT.

Glad to see even Jason's tax dollars are being wasted for profits.

Ivan, I'm not sure how I would respond to that letter. If cars were going by him in the middle lane, then he knows he should have been over. Time for some lane courtesy education.

Not only was it a pickup, but a very nicely detailed (It reminded me of this extravagant police vehicle (http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/11/texas-law-enforcement-issued-700-hp-hummer/)) extended cab with plenty of chrome and vinyl artwork. The lettering on the side read DMV ENFORCEMENT.


It least you cannot complain that it was unmarked. :D

I was behind one of those DMV enforcement pickups one evening a few weeks ago, and it had a tail light (is that one word or two, it looks wierd as one word) that was out.

You'll find the Vermont has a lot of police SUV / pickups. They need them in the winter, and even in the summer to get to some places.

But they were also clearly violating the vermont law that all pickups must be covered in mud! ;)

Good article on cell phones:
http://faultline.org/index.php/site/comments/hang_up_and_drive/

Traffic police have a new tool to add to their speed trap arsenal allowing them to ticket even people who are not speeding. For an extra $700, Laser Technology Inc. (LTI) will add a tailgate ticket feature to its popular 20-20 Ultralyte lidar gun ordinarily used to issue speeding tickets. The Colorado-based company convinced the Colorado State Patrol to embrace the technology, which it now uses to issue $41 tickets that come with 4 license demerit points to raise insurance rates. Lidar guns are primarily distance measurement tools and only estimate speed based on multiple distance measurements taken in rapid succession. This makes the tailgating feature a simple addition to the device. An officer aims the laser gun at the front bumper of the lead vehicle and the distance is measured and the speed estimated. Next, he points the gun at the front bumper of the tailgating vehicle. The gun then performs a calculation to estimate the distance between the two vehicles based upon these measurements. The LTI 20-20 Ultralyte speed measurement gun has caused controversy overseas as wildly inaccurate speed measurements have been documented by major British newspapers and the BBC. Nonetheless, many US police agencies have expanded their use of the gun to include the tailgating feature. In Oregon, police in Portland, Gresham, Clackamas, Salem, Grants Pass and Lane County use the device. Departments in Arizona, New Mexico and Tennessee have also begun tests.

That makes no sense. If the speeds are not the same, than the distance is changing. And of course the length of the front vehicle is a factor. Not to mention that from the forward angle of the officer, if someone is tailgating, there's no way he will be able to aim a gun at the front bumper; it's blocked by the front car!

I know (and support) that tailgating enforcement is common in europe. But they use a much more evolved piece of technology: a cop on a bridge above simply radios down when he spots a tailgater!

Lidar guns are primarily distance measurement tools and only estimate speed based on multiple distance measurements taken in rapid succession.


How else do you measure speed?
speed = distance / time

How else do you measure speed?
speed = distance / time


I think that sentence means that contrary to popular belief, LIDAR does not measure speed directly.

Therefore, the accuracy of the calculation depends on accuracy of the distance measurement which can vary, most notably with the officer's skill at aiming a very focused invisible beam at a target typically more than a 1000 ft away, and the proper alignment of that lidar beam with the scope the officer is looking through.

From personal observations I can tell you any slight movement of the LIDAR gun during the measurement process produces false readings. And I can also tell you, since calibration of the scope alignment involves getting out of the cruiser and accurately measuring a known distance, it is very rarely, if ever done.

I think that sentence means that contrary to popular believe, LIDAR does not measure speed directly.

So, just how does one measure speed "directly"?

;)

Tell the average person how the speedomoter in their car works, and they probably wouldn't believe you.

So, just how does one measure speed "directly"?

;)


I don't know how LIDAR would measure speed "directly" because I'm not the one who believes that.

Ask any cop who testifies in court that it does and any judge who accepts that testimony as the truth.

;)

You can't measure speed instantly; in any instant the car has not moved.

But the meat of the matter here is the doppler effect. Radar guns can use the doppler effect to tell the difference in frequency of the bounced-back radar waves to instantaneously get a speed reading. Speeds would have to be several orders of magnitude higher to change the frequency of the lidar light beam enough to be measurable to use the doppler effect. Therefore lidar guns really are just infrared range finders--just like the laser measuring tapes--and take a difference over a time iterval of multiple measurements. That time interval is long enough in the real world, especially given the extreme distances and angles, that the beam could have easily moved from the grill to the windshield for example, and show a large speed error.

Geez, I actually understood that.

Well, you know how you *think* there should always be a LEO at the Weston St. Police barracks, but there rarely is (westbound)....the other day, a beautiful Saturday, was heading home from my daughter's soccer game in Newton and crested the hill, my V1 went LIDAR crazy.

I was in the middle lane, had just fortunately pulled over after passing and was only going 72 mph. The guy in the left lane blew by me, but no LEO activity.

Saw something different yesterday....

Rt. 93 sb, just north of Wilmington..
Trooper was parked in the breakdown lane, car appeared to be an unmarked Crown Vic.

The weird part is that he had the driver's door partly open with his RIGHT leg on the ground and right arm holding a laser gun while facing the oncoming traffic. Guess he wanted to get going as soon as he clocked someone.

Or maybe he just wanted to be close to the donuts on the passenger seat...

We saw him too....

Saw something different yesterday....

Rt. 93 sb, just north of Wilmington..
Trooper was parked in the breakdown lane, car appeared to be an unmarked Crown Vic.

The weird part is that he had the driver's door partly open with his RIGHT leg on the ground and right arm holding a laser gun while facing the oncoming traffic. Guess he wanted to get going as soon as he clocked someone.

Looks like Boston now wants to install (illegal) Red Light Cameras. Prepare to be rear-ended.
TheBostonChannel.com - News - Cameras May Catch Drivers Who Run Red Lights (http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/9988822/detail.html)

The good Dr_doogie doesn't stand a chance...........



Prepare to be rear-ended.

I don't like big brother. I don't like cameras. I especially don't like speed cameras.

But running red lights.. that's a whole different thing and causes lots of accidents. A friend of mine got his car totaled when a cop ran a red light (no siren). If the cameras really work (busted clearly guilty drivers) I wouldn't necessarily fight them (nor would I endorse them). I don't run red lights (except for those times when I go 'whoops, I just ran a red light' ) :D

The way I see it, if we have red-light cameras today, we'll have speed cameras tomorrow!!!

I expect someone will tell me how inaccurate these things really are..

I don't like big brother. I don't like cameras. I especially don't like speed cameras.

But running red lights.. that's a whole different thing and causes lots of accidents. A friend of mine got his car totaled when a cop ran a red light (no siren). If the cameras really work (busted clearly guilty drivers) I wouldn't necessarily fight them (nor would I endorse them). I don't run red lights (except for those times when I go 'whoops, I just ran a red light' ) :D

The way I see it, if we have red-light cameras today, we'll have speed cameras tomorrow!!!

I expect someone will tell me how inaccurate these things really are..


First off, a red light camera cannot prevent type of accidents you're taking about.

Secondly, every time you'd go 'whoops, I just ran a red light' it would cost you $100. The alternative, as Josh mentioned, is to slam on your brakes and hope the poor slob behind you is paying attention.

And yes, in Arizona where they got these first, the municipalities are already turning them into speed cameras, even though as some point they all said they won't.

And yes, these cameras are accurate, provided they are periodically calibrated, which they are not, and the duration of the yellow light is set for the prevailing speed, which is never the case. Why?

Because it's a business. It's not a coincidence that the salesmen first approached communities such as Lawrence, Springfield and Saugus. Do you think they have a higher incidence of red light runners than Weston or Wellesley?

Best one I think I've ever seen. A Ford pickup with tool boxes and ladder racks. Blue lights blaring through the front grill chasing someone on RT 2 west in Acton.

Which reminds me- I saw a Jeep Wrangler with dash mounted lights pull someone over near my house in Rochester in August, and thought of y'all. :)

What would happen if you didn't pull over, figuring the nut behind you was just that, a nut with blue lights.. and it turned out to be a cop?

You'd get charged with everything they could think of, because it really hurts their feelings if they are being ignored.

Much more interesting question is what would happen if the nut behind you was just that - a nut with blue lights.

I think at the very least I would call *SP on my cell phone and tell the State Police that I was being pursued by a nut in a pick up with ladder racks and blue lights............and not pull over until they told me it was safe to do so......doing the speed limit the whole time , of course.There has to be a limit to how far LEO'S are allowed to go in pursuit of the almighty speeding ticket buck. Livery plates, pickups with ladder racks.......what's next, MINIS????? :angry: :hmph: