Simbad

Be interested in a few folks opinons...

I recently moved to the US from the UK. I live near Seattle.
Reluctantly sold my CLK55 in the UK but now have a C32 over here :-)
Anyway.. Having not lived in the US all my life i have no "cop" experience to learn from. I'm curious what kind of trouble you get in for speeding here.
couple of scenarios.
I travel home on a single lane road in the country. there are definatly cops about but if it's clear i often find myself between 85 and 100, i'm guessing it's a 50 limit.
i travel on a few of the freeways and force of habit from the UK see's me often sitting at around 95 when crusing, then backing off thinking it will het me in serious trouble here.

So what sort of trouble would those kind of speeds get me in if the blues and twos come on behind me?
and finally if i just happened to really open her up on the freeway and got clocked at say over 130mph, what would the deal be with that?

before any flames. i'm talking about empty roads here i'm not a nutter, i just like to open her up when the road suits :-)

STLTH_AMG

This topic seems to be more suited for the Off-topic section. but anyhow, it depends on what state you live in. research your state laws because it differs from state to state. some states will not care how fast you go and will slap you with hefty fines and insurance surplus. Other states will automatically consider an 85+ a reckless driving violation and might press criminal charges against you.

In summary, make sure to equip yourself with the best radar detector and laser jammer ( Front and Rear) if you have a heavy foot syndrome! My recommendation would be a an Escort passport 9500i radar detector and a Laser Interceptor laser jammer .

Happy driving and be safe out there!!!

Al Bundy

Just be happy that the US doesn't have the 95% coverage of speed cameras that the UK does.

flush

around Seattle? over 25, go straight to jail. no questions.

The speeding fines are nutty, not as bad as California but enough. AND there's no points system or way to work them off via defensive driving class etc. Get a chance to say sorry, pay your fine and promise not to do it again for a year otherwise you get dinged again and it goes on record.

just drive slower some parts of highways are just money making speed traps. there was a tv expose about how much more revenue the cops are pulling in around here from speeding violations in the past few years, so they aren't too lenient.

check out pacific raceways in kent (they have a website) and go to their track days if you want to speed up.

Simbad

So what do you mean by over 25, you mean just being 25mph over the limit will land you in jail. If so i better slow down

thanks for tips, noticing you are in Seattle, is there a good place you take your C32, i have only been to Merc in bellevue and not overly impressed there, i'd love to find a good independant that knows what they are doing and i'm keen to get my resonater deleted somewhere?

Thanks

TemjinX2

you'll just pay mostly finanically in terms of fines and insurance premiums.

speeding tickets range from $100-200 depending on your area. Usually 20+ mph above the speed limit is considered reckless driving and can serve jail time. Its usually left up the cop whether he considers it reckless or not.


Do not buy a radar jammer, they are illegal in all 50 states and most of the time dont work. Radar detectors are legal except in washington dc and west virgina.

Going on the track is probably the best way.

lauer87

who told you radar detectors were illegal in west virginia? The border is about an hour from pittsburgh and i use my radar down there alot????

MRAMG1

Correction, thats Virginia, NOT WV.

And oh yeah, if they catch you with a jammer, LOOK OUT. ALL jammers broadcast on an assigned FCC frequency for police radar guns, and if you don't have a license to broadcast, OUCH. That, and I too agree they don't work up to their reputation.

See yeah

MidnghtPressor

yeah virginia blows, anything over 80 is reckless i beleive, and u cant even have a radar detector

rory breaker

DC & VA no radar detectors.

And is that for real over 25 automatic jail? holy sh*t man, this is getting insane. 80 in a 55 puts you behind bars....how sad, what a waste of tax dollars.

dkflipse

Yeah that does suck. In FL you pay an attorney $69 and if you have a clean record it gets dropped.

STLTH_AMG

I was refering to Laser jammers BTW, those are legal in most states.

trbo2nr

I'm in VA and I've heard some stiff fines as high as $3000. If it's over 90, I hear it's a day in jail for every mile over 90. Not sure how true that is but something a couple of people have mentioned.

Carl Lassiter

That's nuts. In CA I've been clocked at above 90 and it's just the standard c.300buck fine. I've finally woken up and got a Valentine One now though

trbo2nr

Before the laws changed:

I was pulled over in a 55 (highway where the speed went from 65 to 60 to 55 all within 7 miles) doing they said was 77. I screwed up and sped up when the person behind me was coming up fast. Anyhow back in 2003 or so, I paid a $500 fine, license suspended for 30 days and restriction for 6 months.

It slowed me down yet on the same road while I'm doing 55 others are blasting past me like I'm sitting still. Same road since my run in with the po po, yet I've never seen anyone else pulled over and I've taken the same road since 2003 at the same time of day.

Now days I only roll when I'm on the Harley and don't get into trouble......Maybe the po po likes Harleys

flush

yup! slow down! any muffler shop can remove your resonator.

you don't like Barrier in Bellevue? they have always taken very good care of me (still under warranty, starmarked to 100k, otherwise, their rates are obnoxious $140/hr). the MB facility does look a little old; they run volvo, porsche and audi dealerships too. don't know of any independent shops around. I did use Park Place once, around $90-100/hr for labor to do a tranny flush (found out later, MB Barrier would have done it too, I didn't speak to my regular SA when I asked).

Simbad

Barrier messed me around a couple of times. last time i asked them to flush the tranny. they told me $120 i said ok, when my wife dropped the car off they told her it was actually $250, i still said yes, they called me later in the day and said a full oil change would actually cost $600+. I told them no way, they then wanted to charge me 1/2 hour labour for the time spent test driving it before they were about to do the change.
+ they gave me a free rental car, but then charged me and it took 6 weeks to get them to credit me back.

On the speeding issue. I find it scary as hell.
In the UK there are speed cameras everywhere but on the "motorway" everyone still cruises at 90mph. If you are over 100mph you will lose your licence but likely only for a week if you need the car for work.
Going to jail for speeding, that seems totally insane.

I really need to adjust the way i drive but i find it so frustrating, big 4 lane freeway with nothing on it and i need to sit at 60/70 mph.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

flush

err that's crap treatment, did you and your wife deal with the same service advisor? - what kind of full oil change did they say would cost $600? that's nuts. My SA even said, there's really no point doing a Service B (~$400) as it is no different from a Service A (~$200) + a couple extra "inspections".

A 4 lane freeway with no cars? just where are you driving in Seattle? I generally don't go above 90 (unless you are driving out of town and the limits go up by 10, watch out on I-5 North up to Bellingham), 80ish max. 90% of the time I'm in traffic anyways, if I could hit 60, would be happy.

Simbad

ok the empty four lanes was a drive back from Portland, i agree you rarely get much chance for anything on the freeways around here.

The SA at Barrier was Cheryl i think.
On the flip side i got the car home from the service and the battery was dead, rechare, dead agian, every day- i took it back to them complaining that it was fine before the service and "what had they done" good news was they diagnosed the seat modules and agreed to pay for both sides, even though only one was gone, they covered the parts cost, so i was happy with that.
I did curse seeing a $12 item on the bill- "Connecting battery charger: $12"

bumpnzx3

In the St. Louis, Missouri area, at the very least 7mph over, and as much as 12mph over has never resulted in a ticket for me. it is a range from state to'state, and time to time (ticket's depend on the time of month here).

t1n0

Clean record goes a long way...

Last year I was cited for 94 in a 55. Totally ludicrous. I was going about 68, and came up on a group of cars doing about 60, one of which was a cop. So he's surrounded, and there's more cars in between us, but when I am alongside his group, he slows, gets behind my car, and lights up. He obviously got a bogus reading, (94!) but since I have a lengthy record, the judge believes the po-po, and the best my attorney could do for me was no points.

Now I have an escort 85, and I am looking into supplementing the detector with a seperate scrambler. I've heard that cops may smash them if they see them, even though they may be legal. So, I was thinking, have one wired in the top corner of my rear window, and another in the top left corner of my windshield. Eh, it could happen...

Anyway, you'll never see me run a stop sign or red light, but 55 on a dry, open 4 lane is difficult to promise.