IDOT: PREPARE TO GET PISSED OFF

I never have, never will speed in a work zone. I think its stupid to increase risk especially considering you can never control nor predict what others will do especially if they are taken out of their normal comfort level of a daily drive, are lost, or feel to confined and edgy and their driving reflects that. But if you get tagged for just a few mph like 5, which can happen as I know, there is reason to feel that the big bad corrupt machine is just finding another way to screw you. Fight back, remain stealthy?

http://www.radarbusters.com/products/photo-radar/vf.asp

I'd just say let things run its course. Perhaps the frustation will lead back to a single source and the man at the top? I hope the crack down on speeders increases but the chaos of our toll ways does not. After all of this, will Rod really be voted back for a second term? I hope not.

RocketBoy

 

I never speed in a work zone. Not just for the increased penalties, but due to the workers on location. Somehow I have the feeling though that IDOT will use these photo vans even when there are no workers present...

 

You can count on it... and also in areas which aren't work zones at all.

 

Not that I would ever intentionally speed in a work zone, I also agree that IDOT will start using these cameras when no workers are around. I wouldnt be surprised if they move them into non-work zone areas, just to catch everyday speeders.

Time to get one of those illegal Photo blockers on my plate. Anyone have that?

 

No... but I will be looking into options soon.

Now someone just needs to invent a face mask which appears clear to the human eye, but shows up as a middle finger on camera... that would complete the package

 

Get a Valentine instead.

 

Get both... then see the Jame Bond thread for additional ideas.

Frank can help me out here but Im pretty sure it is legal to have all your windows tinted in AZ along with the front half tinted.

RocketBoy

 

If these camera's make IDOT a lot of money (which im sure they will), its only a matter of time before they put them up everywhere. Fu*$ers.

 

Personally, if they are JUST used in Work Zone areas. I think they are a great Idea. As far as I know,so far there have been at least 3 IDOT or outside Contractor/Construction workers Killed in Work zones by Speeding morons in just the last Year or so. There's absolutely nobody anywhere that can tell me that people shouldnt be forced to obey the Work Zone Speed Limits for the short time/distance that they are invoked. If they won't do it on their own, well, then Big Brother has to step in. VERY Unfortunate, but what can you do if the "Chosen few" decide that they are above the Law and don't need to slow down. To save someones LIFE? NO QUESTION!!! What is more important? Saving someones LIFE or saving an extra couple of minutes in your Travel time?

Don't forget...These are THIER job Sites. They did not ask to be put there to work. They were Told to. How would somebody like it if, say, you work in an Office. And someone put a HUGE fan, with GIANT Blades, and no sefety screen in front of them, a foot away from your desk all day? Or a one armed man trying to juggle 3 running Chainsaws? Not a pleasant thought....

Ask Spike, (an ER Doc.) or Richard, (an Orthopedic Doc) What the chances of someone surviving being hit by a car, or worse yet, a Semi doing 60+MPH are.....And, what does the Human Body look like after such an incident.....


One of them was a young Mother of 3 LITTLE KIDS! She was just a Flagger or something, and some ****** had to take Her life, and those little Kids Mother away from them forever. Think about That when you have to slow down during a Work Zone. Think about those little kids when Mothers Day comes along. Birthdays. Christmas. FOREVER! You can't turn that situation back around,Man. It is Final.

Besides, these Work Zones ALREADY ARE benefitting drivers by allowing traffic to flow through while the work is being done. They COULD close down the Road and make Detours, you know. Then, they can get the work done alot faster, and without worrying about getting Killed.

No....no Radar detector, or Photo Blockers for me. I'll just opt to obey the law.

 

Last comment then I'll STFU. Their Road Signs say: "Give 'em a Brake". And why not? They are just trying to get something done that will benefit us all. And, it's nice to actually see some of our Tax/Tolls getting applied to where they are supposed to be. We just had a thread talking about how crappy the roads are. And I'm sure that they could easily complete these jobs much faster if they closed the road. So,why not just slow down for the very small period of time that it takes. Let them do their job and get it over with... Amen...

 

How about this for an idea...

Instead of using camera vans, how about relocating the lazy, crooked cops who are hiding out in low traffic areas which are generally safe to speed in to the work zones? A hidden van is far less likely to cause someone to slow down than a visible cop.

If profit wasn't their number one motivation for doing this, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

 

FerrariFrank,
I absolutely agree with you that the construction workers should be protected.

What shouldn't happen is the scenario we see way too often: "work zone" signs are posted (along with 45 mph limit signs), barrels set up, 1 out of 3 lanes closed (from March through November), no sign of any construction, but revenue collectors armed with their radar guns spaced 2 per every mile. That's BS!

 

Hey, I whole heartedly agree with you. Nothing worse than cruising by a Work Zone and when you get up to where the "Action" is supposed to be happening, then nothing is going on. Sometimes they have Electronic signs that say (something like) "Obey Work Zone Speed Limits when light is Flashing". So, you do not have to do it when there are no workers around.

Yeah, it definitely IS all about the Politics, Corruption, and other B.S. But....you can't take it out on the people that are DOING the ACTUAL work there. They just do what they are told to do. Take it out on the Pork Bellied Suits that create all of the Red Tape and other B.S.

Sometimes when I know that I will be taking the Tollway. I will have my kids Pre Count 100, 80, Etc... pennies at a time and put them into plastic bags. And when I stop at an Automatic Tollboth, put 'em in. Honest to God truth! The Tollway Authority HATES pennies. Maybe everyone should do that!...

Believe me, Man. I have no warm and fuzzy feelings in regard to the Tollway and Freeway system in Illinois whatsoever. None. Nor am I sticking up for them in any way whatsoever. 20 years ago I drove trucks all around the area and it sucked. But, I DO have compassion for the common working stiff who's out there busting his ass to make a living. While these (use your personal choice word here....) beaurocrats and politicians sit all nice and warm in their nice big offices, in their nice expensive Suits, sucking up money and benefits and pensions like there's no tommorrow. And keep playing around with our tax dollars like it is their own personal Monopoly money. With Total disregard to as to where the money comes from, because, hey, there's more where that came from....And, lets not forget maybe a little sumpin' sumpin' for themselves and their friends, while they're at it.

But after seeing the story about the young Mother getting Killed...Needlessly. That just made me stop and think about it for a minute, and get my priorities straight.

 

Well in work zones, its a safety issue. The situation is that we all know that most of the speeding tickets issued are for sources of income. They are issued in residential areas. Usually were there isn't a speeding problem as much as an easy place to be able to issue citations.

The squads are all over the place near me. There was one in front of my home at night last week. I am one bock off the main road in a subdivision. Two days ago, one accross the street siting a little ways in on a dead end street. They nailed the neighor's daughter last night as she came into the subdivision. This morning two squads are splitting up on the main drag to sit and wait, and it is early Saturday morning.

One sped up behind me last week when I was in my Vet just leaving the subdivsion like I was surely going to "hit it" because I was driving a sports car.

Fun in the big city.

 

Bigger shoulders to better ram a baseball bat up everyone's ass!

 

Oh yeah, I totally do agree with you regarding Speeding tickets being a revenue maker. I have been hassled by the Cops plenty in my Life by them simply judging by whay kind of car that I was driving. "Picked out of the pack",so to say. But, I often think .....What IF everybody actually DID obey all of the Traffic laws? First, think of how safe it would be. Alot of people (Tens of THOUSANDS, really. ) wouldn't be Killed needlessly Every Year. Auto Insurance rates would be dirt cheap.

I don't know....in my old age, ( will, be 46 on Wed....) I've grown less tolerant of Traffic scofflaws. Just the "Oh, those traffic laws apply to everybody except me" attitude. Speeding. Tailgating. Running Red lights. All are very dangerous.

Once I was driving in to the City on the IKE on a Saturday Morning. Oh, it was around 09:00AM. Then, suddenly there were both a White and a Black AMG Mercedes coming up from behind. Driving what appeared to be WELL over 100MPH, I'd say closer to 150MPH. Racing, IN TRAFFIC. Whipping in and out between cars, passing on the shoulders, with absolute ZERO regard to the Lives and Safety of everyone else. You don't know how much I wanted to see one of them smashed up against a Viaduct ahead. And ofcourse there's never a Cop around when you need one. Stuff like that is intolerable.

Where I live is in a really small subdivision. Very quiet, curvy roads, country looking. No sidewalks, so people walk along the side of the road. That is why our posted speed limits are 25MPH. But, it is located right between Butterfield Rd. and 22nd. St. Lots of people have discovered that they can cut through our quiet litle subdivision and miss a traffic light. They speed through here doing 40 or more. Breeze through the Stop signs. We have lots of kids here. Mostly walking to School or to their Bus Stop during the Mornings and coming back in the Afternoons. Riding their bikes. Playing. Walking their Dogs. One day I'm going to toss and egg at one of them, and hope that they stop and get out. (Those of you that know me know what I look like., and some of my past History... )

No, I'm just klidding, that isn't right. But, that is one reason why I hate scofflaws. Other than knowing people that have been Killed in needless Auto Incidents. ( Not accidents) And, myself nearly being Killed-Three times! By people that weren't paying attention to their Driving.

I wish that the U.S. would take driving more seriously like they do in Europe. Make actual DRIVER TRAINING mandatory. Not just studying how to pass a test.

 

Thank you.

How about a different class of license for 7,000lb SUVs while we're at it? There's no way someone with a "normal" driver's license should be able to hop into something that large and dangerous and drive it without special training. I'm sick of seeing 16 year old girls who can't focus on anything for more than 5 seconds, let alone the road, almost killing people driving those things.

 

NO DOUBT! I was thinking about that for along time. I used to drive Trucks. And, they have different vehicle classes for the different size trucks. And, in order to be able to drive a bigger truck, you need to take more training and testing to do so. They DEFINITELY need to do that with SUV's. Besides. They can get more money for our crappy roads by charging more $$ for each class higher...(Referring back to the Road thread here... ) They definitely need to make different vehicle classes for those things. After Cars, you have the so called "Crossover vehicles" and Mini Vans. Then the smaller SUV's. Then the Larger SUV's and Vans

Now, with these gargantuan SUV's. You take, say, a 5'2" person, usually a woman, though, that I mostly see driving these big ass things. Who has never driven anything bigger than the Camry that she's been driving for the past few years. Then stick her into a Ford Excursion with absolutely NO Training or Testing WHATSOEVER. Maybe not fully realizing as to REALLY how big it is. How much higher it is. That you no longer can see out of the back and have to rely SOLELY on the Mirrors. That the Bumpers are much higher and can cause far more sever damage to a "regular Car". That the center of gravity is much higher. Rollover potential is higher. Weight....needs more stopping distance. How long the hood is when you creep up behind some small or low, like my Ferrari!... Yikes!!!!

Oh yeah, definitely agree with you there!!! People just don't seem to realize that Driving is a Privelege....Not a Right.

 

....as they chat on a cell phone......change the CD....put on make-up.....eat.

 

Yep... and sadly, it seems they may be learning these habits from their mothers.

 

Well, guys do things too that distract from driving,too. But it seems like they do less things. Change CD's. Eat. I don't seee as many boys talking on Cell phones as they drive as you see girls.

But, the problem with the boys, and why their Insurance rates are the Highest....much higher than Girls. Is that they need to "show of" when they drive. And are more agressive drivers than Girls. Not good when only a Novice. And when the only Driver "training" that they received was Drivers Ed.

You should see the looks that I get from teenage boys when they ask me how much I pay for the Insurance on my Ferrari....

 

I agree. Honestly - isn't there something more dangerous than 3 deaths a year they would benefit from extra safety ?

Once in a rainy night i decided to follow the speed limit on highway to properly warm my turbos - guess what - i got hit.

 

I agree... I should have just summed it up as teenagers in general. Girls are slightly worse, and most seem to stay that way as women, but you're absolutely right that teenage boys are dangerous and distracted as well.

I've had quite a few of them almost cause wrecks while trying to "race" me both on my motorcycle and in my Elise.

 

Yeah, and it all could EASILY be avoided....or, helped, anyway. If there was REAL Driver TRAINING. Thats all! My Daughter gets Drivers Ed next year,second semester. We are already starting to do some driving in empty Parking Lots. Then, we will drive along the little roads in Cemetaries. ( I can dish out some fatherly advice while we driving are IN the Cemetary....)

And once she gets her license, it is off to a Drivers Training course like Bob Bondorant, or something like that.

But, you really must put alot of blame on these dummy Auto makers who are trying to make Cars and SUV's into Family Rooms and Offices. Driving is for DRIVING!