There are three resources that I currently use for reporting and avoiding speed traps. These are Trapster, the National Speed Trap Exchange, and Twitter. Each of these sites has a slightly different focus. Trapster and National Speed Trap Exchange are both are geared to helping everyone avoid tickets. Twitter is a simple service with the broad focus of helping everyone via short (140 character) messages.
Trapster is available both on the web and as an application for most hand held devices such as the iPhone. The mobile Trapster application allows drivers to have real time information as they travel. In some cases, this works better than a traditional radar detector.
National Speed Trap Exchange is a web site dedicated to listing speed trap locations. It is not available as a mobile application though discussion on this site is much easier than with Trapster.
Twitter is available from any web browser, including those included on most mobile devices. Example: To find out traffic information for the Edmonton area, go to http://search.twitter.com/ and enter the hashtag #yegtraffic. Or, go to http://twitter.com/yegtraffic which is a special Twitter account set up to rebroadcast the contents of the #yegtraffic search. The traffic hashtag for other cities will vary though usually it is easy to guess such as #yyctraffic for Calgary. (YEG and YYC being the airport codes for each city.)
Since my mobile device is an iPod Touch (which is an iPhone without the phone) I am more limited to what I can do while on the road. When I encounter a speed trap in the Edmonton area, I stop at the nearest wireless hotspot and enter the location into Twitter, making sure I use the hashtag #yegtraffic at the end. When I get home I can update both Trapster and National Speed Trap Exchange.
Most Safeway grocery stores have a Starbucks. Most of which have free public wireless.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Fake Radio Ads by Police
The Labor Day weekend has reminded me of one of my favorite police tactics: The fake radio ad.
Occasionally we hear a public service announcement on the radio that goes something like this, "Highway traffic is heavier today due to the long weekend. Please note that police have increased their presence in the area and will be more prominent on the roads today. You likely have noticed a police cruiser already during your travels. Have a safe weekend."
What this announcement really means is this is probably a good time to put the pedal down as highway enforcement is at a minimum. Mainly these announcements are played during a long weekend. Police are usually Union, operate twenty-four hours a day, and want their holidays as much as the rest of us. It is much more difficult for an organization that runs 24/7 to accommodate holidays and time off than for organizations that keep regular business hours.
It is my experience that, except for serious locations such as construction zones, police rarely announce when and where they are doing traffic enforcement.
Please note that in Alberta, the Sheriffs tend to prefer Holiday Mondays to monitor speed on roads such as Highway 2 between Wetaskiwin and Leduc. The Sheriffs also don't usually broadcast fake public service announcements.
Occasionally we hear a public service announcement on the radio that goes something like this, "Highway traffic is heavier today due to the long weekend. Please note that police have increased their presence in the area and will be more prominent on the roads today. You likely have noticed a police cruiser already during your travels. Have a safe weekend."
What this announcement really means is this is probably a good time to put the pedal down as highway enforcement is at a minimum. Mainly these announcements are played during a long weekend. Police are usually Union, operate twenty-four hours a day, and want their holidays as much as the rest of us. It is much more difficult for an organization that runs 24/7 to accommodate holidays and time off than for organizations that keep regular business hours.
It is my experience that, except for serious locations such as construction zones, police rarely announce when and where they are doing traffic enforcement.
Please note that in Alberta, the Sheriffs tend to prefer Holiday Mondays to monitor speed on roads such as Highway 2 between Wetaskiwin and Leduc. The Sheriffs also don't usually broadcast fake public service announcements.
My Very First Ticket
My desire to help others deal with tickets began in about 1989 when I received my very first speeding ticket. Back then I assumed that the Police were right and I was wrong and just paid the ticket and got it over with. Later on I discovered I had been robbed. The Police were wrong but the ticket was paid and it was too late to do anything about it.
Police said I was traveling 70 km/h and that the speed limit was 50 km/h. Closer investigation of the area revealed that the speed limit where I was tagged was actually 60 km/h. Edmonton Police Service had their radar trap set up just ahead of a 50 km/h zone. The speed sign that they were behind read 50 AHEAD. Not MAXIMUM 50. I was traveling 70 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, not a 50 km/h zone as Police had told me. Whether that would still have been ticket-able would have depended on the officer's threshold. Bottom line is Edmonton Police Service lied to me that day. Whether they did it deliberately or not, I will never know.
Fast forward twenty years and we now have photo radar (aka the Scam Cam). Whether or not this is legitimate enforcement or a tax grab I will leave for another post. My purpose here is to provide solid information so that the average driver can understand how to avoid tickets and contest them when necessary.
For a list of potential problems in your area see Trapster - Speed Trap Sharing System.
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