Just curious to know! what happens in the US?
- Thread starter 2dogs
- Start date
It depend which state you live in. I live in Pennsylvania and you get points based upon the amount you exceed the speed limit by. 5 points and 1st offense you get a 10 day ban on driving. 30 MPH over the limit is 5 points so if the speed limit is 50 and you are caught at 80 or more 5 points and suspension for 10 days. The ban or suspension can become much longer and even years for DUI, reckless driving and frequent speeding tickets.
The best think about Pennsylvania is only State Police can use radar and it must be from a fixed non moving position and they must give you 10 MPH over the speed limit before they can cite you for speeding. They are no speed cameras and the use of Lidar is not authorized in PA.
Virginia is known for very strict speeding laws. 20 MPH over and your looking at jail time. 30 days I believe and $1,000 fine. I understand that for a first offense you can usually avoid jail time but your wallet will be much lighter as you will need to lawyer up and you will likely spend $2,000 or more before it all said and done. You will still likely be looking at a license suspension.
The best think about Pennsylvania is only State Police can use radar and it must be from a fixed non moving position and they must give you 10 MPH over the speed limit before they can cite you for speeding. They are no speed cameras and the use of Lidar is not authorized in PA.
Virginia is known for very strict speeding laws. 20 MPH over and your looking at jail time. 30 days I believe and $1,000 fine. I understand that for a first offense you can usually avoid jail time but your wallet will be much lighter as you will need to lawyer up and you will likely spend $2,000 or more before it all said and done. You will still likely be looking at a license suspension.
pvr said:
But it is. But not directly. They ( insurance companies ) have many lobbyists in the state capitals as well as in Washington DC. And wield much influence over the politicians via channeled contributions to the politicians reelection campaign.
I don't think very many actually go to jail unless the speed is well over the 20 MPH threshold or something more serious. However the financial cost is unreasonable and I know of one individual (Friend of Mine) who had a daughter in college in Virginia until she recently got a ticket for 22 over the limit. It cost her dad almost $3,000 in lawyer fees and fines to avoid jail time for his daughter. As a result what he described as Virginia's draconian speed laws he pulled her out of college in Virginia and had her transfer to a college here in Pennsylvania. His daughter is 21 and this was her first ever traffic violation and she has never had an accident. I can't use the language that he used to describe his outrage with the Commonwealth of Virginia but I learned some fine new cuss words.mrlozzer said:WLH said:
That's pretty heavy stuff...
The only good thing that Virginia has done recently is on the Interstate highways where they raised the speed limit from 65 to 70 and I understand they only allow about 3 MPH over the limit.
Remind me to never go to Virginia.
Most of the Western states West of the Missouri river have a speed limit on the Interstate Highways of 75. Parts of Texas and all of Utah are 80 MPH. As far as what happens if you are caught speeding I really don't know. I do know that everywhere there is a trend to raise the cost of a ticket for a traffic violation as at the end of the days it's not about safety but making money.ksher said:
Lightning87
Member
oh in the netherlands were more lucky, you wont loose your licence if you stay und 50 km/h to fast outside the towns/villages etc,
and udner 30 km/h when you are driving in a urban enviorment. if you're above thos limited you loose your licence for at least some month's
after 30 km/h on normal ways the districts attorny ( or how do you wright that) will have you pay alot but no 1000's of euro's, it up to 600-700 euro's
if you as a foreigner drive to fast ( above 50 km/h) you'll get a change to inmediatly pay the fine and you won't lose you licence.
and udner 30 km/h when you are driving in a urban enviorment. if you're above thos limited you loose your licence for at least some month's
after 30 km/h on normal ways the districts attorny ( or how do you wright that) will have you pay alot but no 1000's of euro's, it up to 600-700 euro's
if you as a foreigner drive to fast ( above 50 km/h) you'll get a change to inmediatly pay the fine and you won't lose you licence.
Hey, at least you got the maximum fun out of your points. 1 mile more and it would have been trouble.
95 for 3 points is better than 79 which would have been the same.
Insurance depends on which company you are, some don't count the first lot but more and more do nowadays.
95 for 3 points is better than 79 which would have been the same.
Insurance depends on which company you are, some don't count the first lot but more and more do nowadays.
In California, we have a point system as well. 1 point for minor traffic violations (speeding up to a certain amount above the limit, illegal u-turn etc, at-fault-accident), 2 points for major violations (reckless driving, hit&run, DUI). 4 points in 12 months and your license gets suspended or revoked altogether. Over time, the points are cleared. Usually, it takes 3 years for a 1 point incident to be removed from your driving record. For some violations, you can go to traffic school. This takes a whole day and, at the discretion of the person teaching the class, can keep a point from appearing on your record. "Teaching" mostly means making you feel like an idiot. (Traffic schools are commercial, licensed businesses and come in all sorts: "pizza traffic school", "comedy traffic school", etc. Pro-tip: do not go to comedy traffic school. The only thing made fun of is YOU.)
Points directly affect your insurance rate and even if you can get your insurance renewed at all. Each year, your points are used to determine your new rate for the year. Some insurance companies give a "good driver" discount for having a spotless record over the years.
In California, the speed limit is pretty much 65 MPH on the freeway with some parts of the interstate having a 75 MPH limit. General wisdom is that speeding within 5 MPH over the limit won't get you a ticket. This is mostly to avoid speed gun/speedometer calibration challenges, I think. Given the size of California (and its economic cutbacks), you don't run in the California Highway Patrol (CHP) all that often, unless you're near one of their hubs. On a recent trip from San Jose to San Diego (about 450 miles one way), I counted exactly one CHP motorcycle officer and one local sheriff. There are signs on the interstate indicating airplane patrols taking place but I've never seen one or heard of anyone getting a ticket because of it.
Once you get out in the boonies, you're more likely to run into a speed trap. Local cities can set their own speed limits (never more permissive than state or federal) and do so, enthusiastically, to shake down travelers who would otherwise never stop in their crappy little hick towns.
Traffic speed laws are pretty much the same throughout the western United States, I think. The differences per state are mostly the level of enforcement. It takes money to patrol and enforce the law on the freeway. The CHP budget has been cut back significantly this year, for instance. As an aside, I remember the San Jose PD running out of their gasoline budget early one year in the nineties. They had to significantly cut back on the use of patrol cars and use bicycles instead.
Points directly affect your insurance rate and even if you can get your insurance renewed at all. Each year, your points are used to determine your new rate for the year. Some insurance companies give a "good driver" discount for having a spotless record over the years.
In California, the speed limit is pretty much 65 MPH on the freeway with some parts of the interstate having a 75 MPH limit. General wisdom is that speeding within 5 MPH over the limit won't get you a ticket. This is mostly to avoid speed gun/speedometer calibration challenges, I think. Given the size of California (and its economic cutbacks), you don't run in the California Highway Patrol (CHP) all that often, unless you're near one of their hubs. On a recent trip from San Jose to San Diego (about 450 miles one way), I counted exactly one CHP motorcycle officer and one local sheriff. There are signs on the interstate indicating airplane patrols taking place but I've never seen one or heard of anyone getting a ticket because of it.
Once you get out in the boonies, you're more likely to run into a speed trap. Local cities can set their own speed limits (never more permissive than state or federal) and do so, enthusiastically, to shake down travelers who would otherwise never stop in their crappy little hick towns.
Traffic speed laws are pretty much the same throughout the western United States, I think. The differences per state are mostly the level of enforcement. It takes money to patrol and enforce the law on the freeway. The CHP budget has been cut back significantly this year, for instance. As an aside, I remember the San Jose PD running out of their gasoline budget early one year in the nineties. They had to significantly cut back on the use of patrol cars and use bicycles instead.