Photo Radar Flashed me doing 20 UNDER the limit

[Champ]

Well I got a weird one:

last night I was driving along a known photo radar spot in Calgary and I spotted the clean minivan with blacked out windows so I slowed down to 30 km/h next to him. Started to speed back up towards the speed limit as I passed him and he flashed me! There were no other cars around me.

WTF is with that? Doesn't the camera auto flash on a speed reading of "too fast"? Or does the guy sitting there have a button he can press just for fun?

Wouldn't it be an abuse of power to flash cars for no reason other than the guy being bored?

Can't see how I'm getting a ticket either way but is there some number I can call to find out why I was flashed?

I feel violated :)

[aklalani]

you have to wait to see if u get a ticket in the mail. that happened to me once but i never got the ticket

[digi355]

Did you have your seatblet on? They don't always use it for speed...

[01RedDX]

.

[eb0i]

Originally posted by digi355
Did you have your seatblet on? They don't always use it for speed...

What?!:nut:

[avow]

ahaha this is the best thing i have heard all day. i would love to randomly flash people for no reason (oh wait, i already do do that...)

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Champ

Wouldn't it be an abuse of power to flash cars for no reason other than the guy being bored?


How would it be an abuse of power? As long as you don't get a ticket, and why would you even slow down to 30 unless it was a 30 zone?

I don't know about here, but in BC (before they banned them) they would set-up the van, and take the first 10 cars speed, then that would be the speed at which you would get a ticket (assuming it wasn't below the posted limit). Maybe this is what happened?

[Champ]

I slowed down to get a better look at the shiny new looking blacked out windows minivan! Wow, what a beauty! :)

[Champ]

And ya, I had my seatbelt on but there is no way that the guy could see that anyway.

[pinoyhero]

Wait to see if you get a ticket or not, trying to explain the situation and look for answers from the police I would assume will lead to nothing but frustration and wasted time.

[nos_efx]

You deserve the ticket for going 20 under..... People who slow down to 80 on deerfoot because they see the photoradar vans are doing no one a favor and are likely going to cause an accident because of the abrupt stoppage.

[zoik]

i got that flash too once, it's been 2 months and i still haven't seen the ticket in the mail.

[jdmXSI]

Originally posted by nos_efx
You deserve the ticket for going 20 under..... People who slow down to 80 on deerfoot because they see the photoradar vans are doing no one a favor and are likely going to cause an accident because of the abrupt stoppage.

No offence, but i do agree with now_efx statement! Any one that goes under the speed limit(except for bad road conditons) Should get a ticket! They cause accidents.

[teggypimp95]

Yeah i heard they were going to start giving tickets for people going way to slow when road conditions are fine. So i think you just screwed yourself over. Why didyou need to go so slow? 5 under or even the speed limit u would of been fine lol

[rage2]

Start? They've been giving those tickets for years. I know a chick that got a ticket going 45 on McLeod (60 limit).

[teggypimp95]

Well i know they always have but i think their just cracking down on them more. There starting to discover how many accidents are cause by the slow drivers.

[jdmXSI]

All of them, lol Fast drivers+slow drivers= accident IMO

[rage2]

Originally posted by jdmXSI
All of them, lol Fast drivers+slow drivers= accident IMO
Yea, that's why speed limits are BS. On US freeways, 80% of the drivers drive at a comfortable speed, which is usually well above the speed limit. Highway cops will only target ppl driving over and below those speeds.

Driving on Cali freeways are wicked. 65mph speed limits, everyone drives 85mph. You don't even want to pass people, everyone's just comfy at that speed.

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by rage2

Yea, that's why speed limits are BS. On US freeways, 80% of the drivers drive at a comfortable speed, which is usually well above the speed limit. Highway cops will only target ppl driving over and below those speeds.

Driving on Cali freeways are wicked. 65mph speed limits, everyone drives 85mph. You don't even want to pass people, everyone's just comfy at that speed.

Haha! Straight roads, sun year round, no gravel or anything like that, of course you'd cruise at 85 MPH! That's the shit right there!

[clem24]

Just got back from a trip in the US. In California, the slowest driver went 10 miles over the speed limit. I was doing 70 in a 60 zone. I passed NOBODY. I got passed a lot. And Cali has fairly high speed limits (like 70 on freeways and 45 on very busy roads). At every light, people would punch it until they hit the next light. It was pretty funny and stupid at the same time.

In Oregon, everyone there drives like a granny. People were doing 5 under on the interstate.

But ya, I was already doing 10 over the limit and got passed by leisurely cops. They don't care. Unless you're doing something blatantly stupid, then they usually leave you alone.

[eb0i]

Originally posted by clem24

But ya, I was already doing 10 over the limit and got passed by leisurely cops. They don't care. Unless you're doing something blatantly stupid, then they usually leave you alone.

Yeah just as long as you aren't swerving in and out of traffic you should be fine with cops in Cali...or that is what I gathered from my experience.

[Euro_Trash]

Originally posted by digi355
Did you have your seatblet on? They don't always use it for speed...

Have you ever seen a picture that one of those setups produce? I don't think they can tell if you are wearing a seatbelt or not

[nadroj23]

Originally posted by Euro_Trash


Have you ever seen a picture that one of those setups produce? I don't think they can tell if you are wearing a seatbelt or not

Even if they could they would have to prove it was you driving as photo radar tickets are registried owner tickets.

[barbarian]

Originally posted by clem24
Just got back from a trip in the US. In California, the slowest driver went 10 miles over the speed limit. I was doing 70 in a 60 zone. I passed NOBODY. I got passed a lot. And Cali has fairly high speed limits (like 70 on freeways and 45 on very busy roads). At every light, people would punch it until they hit the next light. It was pretty funny and stupid at the same time.

In Oregon, everyone there drives like a granny. People were doing 5 under on the interstate.

But ya, I was already doing 10 over the limit and got passed by leisurely cops. They don't care. Unless you're doing something blatantly stupid, then they usually leave you alone.

You generally get less shitboxes on the road in California, due to laws about vehicle inspections and emissions testing. I found that coming back from California to Calgary was quite a shock, as I sat behind a 2 truck + one minivan 85 km/h rolling barricade on deerfoot trail, not during rush hour and on a clear road.

Original poster: are you sure it wasn't a playground or school zone? In any case, I believe photo radar takes 2 shots, a 1/2 second apart, so in the event of an error, it can be determined after the fact if the car was speeding based on landmarks on the road.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by rage2

Yea, that's why speed limits are BS. On US freeways, 80% of the drivers drive at a comfortable speed, which is usually well above the speed limit. Highway cops will only target ppl driving over and below those speeds.

Driving on Cali freeways are wicked. 65mph speed limits, everyone drives 85mph. You don't even want to pass people, everyone's just comfy at that speed. So true. I drove in LA for a week last summer and it was awesome. You don't have to worry about cops or photo radar, very casual drive on a 6 lane highway.

Also, I hate slow mergers. I can't count the number of times where both of us could have exited a merge safely but the car in front of me would take it's fucking sweet time going 50km/h trying to enter a 80km/h road. Next thing you know I am stuck in between cars. :guns:

[creeper]

You deserve a ticket if you were going that slow. No need to go dramatically slow through a photo-radar.

[Moe Man]

It is abuse of power, because they know your slowing down on purpose to piss them off cause we know its them so they flash you to scare you. I've done it too i got flasshed but no ticket...

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by rage2

Yea, that's why speed limits are BS. On US freeways, 80% of the drivers drive at a comfortable speed, which is usually well above the speed limit. Highway cops will only target ppl driving over and below those speeds.

Driving on Cali freeways are wicked. 65mph speed limits, everyone drives 85mph. You don't even want to pass people, everyone's just comfy at that speed.

Fuck that... Texas FTW... 80 mph speed limits!

[smontyLS1]

I get flashed for no reason all the time.
I must be rediculously good looking

[soobad]

Good... hope you get a ticket.

[Champ]

Originally posted by Moe Man
It is abuse of power, because they know your slowing down on purpose to piss them off cause we know its them so they flash you to scare you. I've done it too i got flasshed but no ticket...

To answer the question as to why I was going so slow. I was doing what he said. I was blatantly showing the photo radar that I saw him and that when I was out of range I would resume speeding. He saw me and knew what I was doing so he blatantly flashed me even though he couldn't do anything about me.

There was nobody anywhere around me so I wasn't endangering anyone.

Nor have I received a ticket and now I realize that I won't as he flashed me under the limit. No crime is occuring :)

My point of the entire post was to kinda laugh at how the photo guy can just take pictures at will and that he used this power to annoy me because I was annoying him :)

I'm still waiting for the day that some traffic is comming the other way and the bright flash happens to blind somebody and cause a traffic accident. Now that would be funny. If I remember, early on when they were first using the photo radar, some guy parked on the LEFT shoulder of the deerfoot and everytime he took a picture he was blinding drivers comming from the other direction. Enough people called the police to complain that they made it mandatory to park on the right shoulder only. I have also noticed that the photo vans when on the deerfoot have their flashers on to make them more visible to prevent accidents at night due to a darkened parked vehicle being a few feet away from traffic moving at 100 km/h.

[Tik-Tok]

I thought those vans were unmanned?

[Champ]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
I thought those vans were unmanned?

Well, I wouldn't call the guy who sits there and makes everyone angry a "man".....

[CalgarySupra]

Originally posted by nos_efx
You deserve the ticket for going 20 under..... People who slow down to 80 on deerfoot because they see the photoradar vans are doing no one a favor and are likely going to cause an accident because of the abrupt stoppage.


when theres a police car on the side the new law is you have to slow down.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by CalgarySupra



when theres a police car on the side the new law is you have to slow down.

Umm.. I thought the new law was that if there is an emergency vehicle with flashing lights, the adjacent lane had to slow to 60 or the posted speed limit, whichever is slower. So, ye old cop car on the side of the road with no lights on means nothing, other than don't be an idiot.

Right?

[Unknown303]

Yeah that laws for emergency vehicles and that includes cop cars with flashing lights on edge of road. The nearest lane has to go 60 or posted whatever is lowest.

[naheed187]

i always see things flashed behind me when im drving at night time and i get nothing in the mail

[Moonracer]

--Champ: just for the record, you most certainly can get a ticket for driving to slow for the conditions. :)

[CalgarySupra]

Originally posted by codetrap


Umm.. I thought the new law was that if there is an emergency vehicle with flashing lights, the adjacent lane had to slow to 60 or the posted speed limit, whichever is slower. So, ye old cop car on the side of the road with no lights on means nothing, other than don't be an idiot.

Right?


i was being sarcastic