Speeding...again

[Hunt Stoddard]

"Cruise control is your best friend, the traffic won't creep you higher and higher."

I'm curious to know from anyone with car GPS, is there a way to get your GPS to warn you audibly when you exceed the speed limit by more than some amount? It would require that your GPS know the posted speed along each road you travel, but it seems that these days that wouldn't be a very hard problem to solve. That would be a great thing to have.

As for "speed traps" in the popular sense. You'd have to have accident data to prove it one way or another. There's always the argument that just handing out tickets wherever you can get them deters speeding to some extent. This is almost certainly true, but it's still frustrating to see known danger zones, like highway/access road intersections, almost completely ignored by the cops in preference for the easy ticket places, like sudden speed limit changes. Personally, I would love to see a cop parked at each HPP highway access intersection during every rush hour. It might not be as glamorous as revving your Charger in pursuit of speeders, but it would be very welcome.

[jackson]

There is a great Mitigator to growth on the Big Island.

[mac nut]

I have noticed lately that no one is going 35 in the construction zone along 130 unless there is a cop car on the shoulder with lights flashing. more like 50 or 55

[ericlp]

so far so good I guess. I haven't gotten a ticket since I've been here. Don't need one either. But I admit I seem to have been in a rush a few times already. I guess I've been lucky on those accounts.

I don't mind 25 in downtown keaau but all the way to 130 bypass is bit of a stretch to do 25. I usually find a rabbit and stay well behind that guy ... Let him see the cop and hit the breaks to let me know. I think as long as you go with the flow your ok. But if I'm first in line or the only car on the road I try not to go 5MPH over.

My car is white tho. So that might have something to do with it as well!

[Hunt Stoddard]

Beware that section of road in Keaau. That was my first ticket. Can't remember what I was doing, but it was way over 25. Guy was in an unassuming, unmarked economy size car, looked like maybe a Honda Civic or something, so there was no way at all to tell he was a cop until it was too late.

[Hunt Stoddard]

Basically, I think the rule to survive Hawaii driving without a ticket is this: Go ridiculously slow, then go slower. If you think you're making good time, you're probably about to get a ticket. For people like me who come from the frenetic Bay Area and have been programmed their entire life to push the limit, that's the only way you're going to retain your license here.

[TomK]

Hunt - I had a bit of sympathy for you when I read your original post but am having second thoughts, especially after being tailgaited by some moron this evening - no lights, it was getting dark, and then they just overtook in an unsafe place just because I wasn't going fast enough for them. I was driving at the speed limit, perhaps a little over, but it wasn't good enough for them.

The rule to survive is to obey the speed limits. Many of us do and it's the frustrated driver who wants to go fast that ends up getting the ticket. As to retaining your license, well, sorry, that's a bit of a red flag to me. Losing your license here takes some doing.

[Hunt Stoddard]

I haven't lost my license, not yet anyway. As far as I know, since Hawaii doesn't implement a "point system" (it did, but then had to abandon it due to clogged courts), the only way to lose your license is either through extreme speeding, which I think is defined as 30 mph over the limit or over 80 mph (!), reckless driving, or of course, DUI, none of which I plan on doing. I suppose if a person were unfortunately enough to collect an absurd number of speeding ticket in a short enough span of time, some judge or another might choose to revoke one's license. Thankfully I don't think I'm anywhere near that point.

Edited to add that I know of one very civic-minded woman who is now in her 70s who was given a ticket for hitting 80 on long stretch of the improved Saddle road by a particularly--I would say with reason--sadistic cop. In a modern car, on an open road, in open country without a soul in sight, 80 is not hard to do. In fact, I doubt it's an overstatement to say that one can blithely reach that speed without a second thought. This is the kind of situation where I think cops have something of a duty to exercise common sense. This woman had to go before a judge and then hire a lawyer, luckily only at an expense of about a thousand dollars to clear the situation. This was all, of course, fully realized by the cop who wrote her ticket.

[lattelady49]

Hmmm
I can't comment on the sadistic nature of the police officer, but the rest of this statement gave me pause. Not sure this OP in her 70's has any business driving 80 on a road not designed or built for that speed. It is the potential harm or fatality to herself and others that would dictate common sense and a lower speed. A thousand dollars to "clear" the situation? What exactly does clear mean if she was indeed doing as ticketed? I think common sense was indeed in place when she was ticketed, the purpose of which is to slow her down.
Again, hmmm

quote:

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Originally posted by Hunt Stoddard

Edited to add that I know of one very civic-minded woman who is now in her 70s who was given a ticket for hitting 80 on long stretch of the improved Saddle road by a particularly--I would say with reason--sadistic cop. In a modern car, on an open road, in open country without a soul in sight, 80 is not hard to do. In fact, I doubt it's an overstatement to say that one can blithely reach that speed without a second thought. This is the kind of situation where I think cops have something of a duty to exercise common sense. This woman had to go before a judge and then hire a lawyer, luckily only at an expense of about a thousand dollars to clear the situation. This was all, of course, fully realized by the cop who wrote her ticket.

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a m here

[Kapohocat]

I got one for 38 in a 25 on Ainaloa Blvd.

Fair? I dont think when 75% of the people traveling at that speed or greater. Court said sorry but no.

Now I do 25 on Ainaloa even if people are flipping me off when they pass me.