You already said, you were breaking the speed limit by 11 MPH.
 
What part of that makes you 'not guilty'?

I said I received a ticket for 56 in a 45. Nowhere have I admitted to that. I also suggested that I could have been given a warning.


Anyways..

You sow the seeds, you reap the rewards. Sorrry my friend.....

Here in France there are two types of radars :

* those that flash you for an excess of speed (speed limit + 10% for device error)

* those that now calculate your average speed over a set distance (and they are exact)

You really have to be silly to mess with both these things especially as there are big signs advertising their presence like one or two kilometres in advance., even on motorways.

And now, the fines are being expanded cross Europe, so the Brit or Italian who thinks he's mebbe safe doing 160km hour on a French motorway, watch out. Keeps my local taxes down .......

Just sayin. But grand frere is now watcing over Europe........

Cheers
Jerry

I don't live in France.

We have a different system here in Finland. If the speeding is minor, say 7-11 mph over the limit in a 45-60 zone, you pay a fixed fine, I think it's around 80 euros nowadays. Lower than that, you officially get a warning, in practice nobody pays attention.
If it's higher, you get a fine based on your incomes. The wealthy folks have paid tens of thousands for a single speeding.
Around 22 mph speeding is the limit when they start to think about taking your driver's lisence.
 
I don't think the insurance companies get any info on normal speedings, but I'm not 100% sure. We don't have this "fault point system", allthough it's been discussed.

Here in the States we have an easy to understand system.
 
If the police think you are actually paying attention while driving they usually give you a lot of leeway with regards to a posted limit.
 
If the police think you aren't paying attention while you are driving they pull you over.
 
If they pull you over and you treat them with respect and act as if you realize what is going on you usually get away with a warning or at worst a ticket that documents a much lower speed than they actually observed while you were driving.
 
If they pull you over and you get a ticket for the speed, or something greater than the speed, you were actually driving at, most everyone you tell your story too will realize that you have not figured out how easy the system is too understand.
 
 
 
best regards,
mike
 
 
 
 
edited to add a comma.

pretty cynical Mike; I have to disagree that's the way it is all through the US as you stated.

In Abu Dhabi the speed limit was 120 Km/h but extensively abused. In order to counter the high number of accidents they announced they were dropping the trigger for the speed cameras from 160 to 140 km/h.
 
Radio and television announced the speed limit was now 140, but it was never raised from 120. Now signs have appeared saying 140, almost along side the other signs saying 120. Confusing or what? 
 
At least here on the Dubai side of the border its clear its 120 or 100 depending on the section of road. Most road users stick to the limit apart form locals who regard the fine as a form of taxation, so there is a policy of vehicle confiscation. X Km/h over and you loose your car for x days.

I need to add that here as well the end result depends a lot on the traffic situation etc. The officers have reasonably much "head room" to decide whether legal actions are needed or not.
On an empty road in the countryside you can get away with much, but risky driving, too close to other cars, needless passings etc. lead to actions even if the speeding is minor.

It changes from place to place. Off the interstate, I know the limit and I drive it (unless it is 15MPH or 20MPH, no can do, will usually keep it under 35 and have never been tickted for that) However, if it says 35MPH, I may push 40, if it says 45MPH, I will drive 45, 55MPH maybe 60. There is something about 35MPH and 45MPH in localities that they seem to be picky about. They never wseem to expect anyone to actually drive 15 or 20 MPH or 55MPH. I don't knw why, but that has been my experience. In school zones, all bets are off.. if the lights are flashing, I drive what the sign says.
"Road construction areas", I don't know how many there are in GA but they are everywhere, all the time. There may be workers, there may not be but it don't matter, they can ticket you anyway but you can usually get away with 10 over if orkers are not present (mostly because there are always other drivers who insist on driving 20 over). In Alabama, road construction signs say you get the extra fine if workers are present, in GA it does not matter... on a side note I wish that they would cut back to maybe 15 or 20 cnstruction sites and put all their workers and effort into them and get it DONE. Mst sites have either no one, or maybe two or three workers. (pet peeve there). For example, the Cartersville exits on I-75, north of Atlanta. They decided to "improve" the exit ramps maybe 12 or 15 years ago... it took them over two years to complete work on three exit ramps because most of the time there was nothing there but orange cones and signs.
I agree with Herb, on the interstate anyway... I use the cruise control. I set it on 80/81 MPH and never have a problem. If I don't set it I will look down and see I am going over 85... so I use it. People who don't use it are a PITA, they don't necessarily want to go fast, they just want to go faster than me... until they get in front of me. Then when they get beside other cars or trucks they ALWAYS slow down, I really don't think it is intentional, too many people do it. My cruise control brings me up short of their tailpipe and I have to disengage it to back off. Then once they get past the "herd" they find that they can go faster than 80. That is one instance where I will hit 90, downhill where I can see there is no patrol car, and I will pass them, get a bit ahead and reset my cruise. In any case, at least on the interstates around here, 80 is not enforced, there are always people going 85 or 90 and the officer would MUCH rather catch them because the fines are a lot more. I pretty much ignore them and just go about my business, I don't slow down from 80 either, they never even look at me. They lower the radar gun and keep looking down the highway. For some reason they seem to allow more speeding Between ATL and Chattanooga than they do between Macon and Florida. I think I have gotten one ticket in the last 30 years on the interstate. A stoplight camera got me a few years ago in Cobb county.
About 15 years ago my father in law had surgery for a cancer they found in his lymph nodes. It happened rather quickly so we got our affairs in order and took off for Gainsvillle, FL. From Cartersville, GA to Gainsville, FL the drive took a few minutes over 3 hours... I was flying low and with lady luck that day.
I don't know but, like I said, I think there is something about 35 and 45 MPH. 55, 65, 75... you can get away with driving a bit over in most places. 25 mph and 20 mph... pfffft.
I am just glad that patrol cars never (well almost never) drive the speed limit. They know that they will cause traffic problems around here if they do, so they fly.
BTW, people who slow down to 55 MPH because they see the blue lights flashing because someone else has been pulled over are morons...
 
There is a little town on HWY 319 in SOWEGA named Omega... some use 319 to head to Tallahassee. It leaves the interstate at Tifton and goes straight to Tallahassee. In Omega, the limit drops from 55, to 45, to 35 and they enforce it. I got stopped there one Christmas eve going maybe 10 over. Because it was Christmas eve and already night, we were loaded with presents and kids.. the officer gave me a warning and a Merry Christmas. Since then I have always been careful of the limit in Omega. You should too, again it is the 35/45 thing. Being a GA town it is pronounced Oh mee gah not Oh may gah. There is alsoa little town named Berlin outside of Moultrie, it is pronounced Ber l'n, there is no "in" sound to it. I digress ... again.
 
J