memes

• on the lookout for any minorities.

Let's not pretend obeying the speed limit will save you.

Once got pulled over for doing 25 in a...25. when I raised my eyebrows he said it was "foggy" out. Could see clear as day all the way down the road. I'm white too so it wasn't even a race thing. I get it was a retirement area but ppl really got nothing better to do.

Meanwhile where I am, if I see a cop on the highway, I just check to make sure I'm going less than 20km/h over the limit. Occasionally I wasn't but still got ignored.

https://www.insideedition.com/tiny-texas-town-with-250-residents-and-50-cops-fires-its-entire-police-department-after-ticket

The town had 250 people and 50 police officers.

It's never very clear in the US if the speed limit is locally a thing, a suggestion, or completely ignored. As a visitor, it's always problematic. I wish they got that sorted out.

I mean you could just follow the limit. Just saying.

A small town near me got in deep shit for being small town assholes recently. That and embezzlement. This town is on a major highway to Myrtle Beach. They also prided themselves on the "safety" and "smallness" of their town, while also preying on vacationers.

Their municipal police police would aggressively enforce the speed limits. Every time I had to go through there you'd see someone running speed at nearly every speed zone change. As little as one to two mph over would get you an interaction with them. They also would issue tickets for far more than was normal. Up to 10 over was easily a $400 ticket, when most places would only do $150. They were also kind and polite about it. They'd offer to take payment right then and eliminate the speeding points. Which was the issue.

If you paid there they wouldn't report the ticket. Or the cash. The town kept the money; the town was making about a million a year. You were fined under a safety ordinance and not traffic law. They were also supposed to share portions with the county and state, but didn't. They argued that it was not a traffic violation. This town of barely 700 people had fifteen police just running speed traps.

They eventually were found out, and the municipal police department was heavily curtailed. The county manages speed through there and is nowhere as aggressive about it.

An article about this situation.

And big town cops... and medium town cops. Goddammit cops, ruining towns for everyone!

Small town cops looking for 1% less white skinned people and even a hint of a foreign accent.

Here in Minnesota we have several "Speed Trap Towns" along country roads and highways with 50+ mph speed limits where suddenly the speed limit drops to 30 and there's a cop hiding behind the bush.

Small towns want every scrap of income they can get and tickets are part of it. There’s also a motivated synergy there between cop and a small town with no other crime really happening because it justifies the small town even having a cop on payroll.

you should have probably put american small town cops as title. Cops have actual training in europe and other places and speed limits or road safety can't be compared either. In the small town I live in cops are very down to earth and are generally fair unless you are being an asshole. Our laws are made so the fine is comparable to the % of speed over the limit and cops don't care much unless you are 5-10% above the limit. This means they go after you if you drive with your head under the arm in cities, but you can go a little above on the highway. We also have car regulation so you don't drive deathtraps that are a safety hazards to OTHER people. Which is why the shit cybertruck is not legal in EU and never will be.

I never understood why americans seem to feel entitled to drive illegally fast over an already heavily overestimated speed limit on their humongous death machines they call cars.

This or if you drive anything other than a big lifted truck the small town cops will swarm you.

No sympathy to drivers of objectively environmentally worse modes of transportation unwilling to follow traffic laws.

That's a huge part of why some of these towns stay afloat. Your ticket is revenue for their population 12 town. It's for sure a racket. I still remember the $500 ticket I got in Beaver, Utah for going 10 over...