Nice night at Worton Creek

[Dan Johnson]

Jim (and others)...

just in case you dare visit Merryland again, keep in mind that the state cops can run radar on the move in the on-coming lane. I found that fact out the expenseive way last year when I got picked off just after passing a farm truck in a legitimate passing zone just before a curve which the trooper was rounding. When his lights came on I knew I was going to make a new acquaintence. I was stopped before he could turn around. A young guy, he did cut me a MPH break for not having to chase me down.

Another little known fact: did you know that you can't exceed the speed limit when passing? They can ticket you while doing so, on the other side of the broken yellow line, which is how he nailed me.

 

[Mike B]

MD Troopers are creative

Dan, I've witnessed the MD Troopers pull some very sneaky moves to nail speeders. First of all they run the most varied unmarked cars I've ever seen. Pick up trucks, foreign makes, etc. One of their favorite tricks is to sit with the hood up sitting facing traffic. You think it's a car broken down but it's not. The best was a trooper sitting on Rt95 coming out of Baltimore. He had positioned himself between oncoming traffic and the bright setting sun. You couldn't see him until you were right on him. The dirtiest trick is when they sit on the shoulder just before the toll booths on RT 95 where the speed limits drop without notice. Once you enter the new zone they've got you.
I've dropped my speeds as a result.
Mike

 

[Dan Johnson]

MIke...

I lived in the Annapolis area for a half a dozen years and am quite familiar with some of the tricks the troopers used. They had "aquired" and 18 wheeler and would park it along the side of I-95 and a trooper would pop out the driver's window with a radar gun in hand. Another time I saw a trooper along Rt 100 sitting in a lawn chair in the back of a pickup under an overpass with a radar gun in his hand. The best one was two troopers sitting in the back window of a Winnabago in the median of I-83 faking a breakdown, complete with spare tire leaning against the bumper. All had chase cars further down the road and were doing a "land-office" business.

Yes, they can be quite tricky, but on-coming working radar is down-right sneaky!

 

[Mike B]

They have my attention

Dan,I agree which is why they have my attention. We're also careful around the local towns and highways on the Eastern Shore. They use a mix of local and state police. All have radar and none are very flexible once thay have you pulled over. I'm sure it's there way of generating revenue for the small towns. Something I'm trying best to avoid contributing to.
Mike

 

[tcbro]

The epitome of crafty

Sorry to go off topic but these "crafty law enforcement" stories reminded me of one. I was coming home from Bike Week in Daytona on I95 in Georgia (I think) and saw a sign in the median that said "Drug Checkpoint ahead. Be prepared to stop". We immediately rounded a curve and we could see a patrol car with lights flashing in the median way up ahead and there was an exit ramp right there. Well, the pickup in front of me made an immediate right, crossed all lanes and headed up the (blind) exit ramp right into the drug checkpoint! We laughed for miles!

 

[Dan Johnson]

Hey Tom...

the locals up here in PA do the same sort of thing for sobriety checkpoints. Damn good thing I've grown older and wiser and don't do that stuff any more ;-)

 

[Dan Johnson]

Mike...

once I cross the PA border into MD I set the cruise control for about 7 over and open my box of mental patience...saw a MD state trooper in a black Mustang GT last weekend standing leaning against the car talking to a Cecil Cty cop...talk about bait fish...

 

[Rick Webb]

I'll be Sure to Dust Off the CB and put it in the Car Next Time I Go That Way

In the 70s there was a radio station in Honolulu that right after the Surf Report gave the Radar Trap Report. Wonder if they could get away with that now?

 

[Doug Burton]

I saw that!

"Be prepared to stop. Drug checkpoint 5 miles." My first thought was "they gonna stop all of 95? But the burnouts would take the next exit, we laughed at that one too! Ahh bike week, lots of laughs.

 

[Ross]

Now I understand why some of my dock neighbors

who live 50-60 miles away from the marina claim a 45 minute drive. i live 15 miles and face 4 traffic signals and it takes me 20 minutes to get from the house to the boat. On the other hand I have been driving for 54 years with one (count-em ONE) traffic ticket, for rolling through a stop sign when I was 17.