Speed Trap Web site

Just a few days after I wrote about the Rate My Cop Web site, comes word through the interoffice mail of another site aimed at the law enforcement community.

This one -- the Speed Trap Exchange -- is designed for people to identify locations of regular speeding crackdowns. It's actually been operating for a few years.

Checking ye olde homestead -- Woodbury -- finds three "speed traps" listed, which basically amount to I-94. But the word "speed trap" suggests a fairly consistent location and that doesn't really exist on that stretch. They get you when they feel like getting you.

As with Rate My Cop, its primary purpose ends up being the entertainment value of the people complaining about breaking the law. As one person wrote:

I was nailed yesterday (yes I was speeding, but technically it shouldn't have mattered because I was going with the speed of traffic). Going west towards Woodbury-- two miles or so before the Manning Avenue exit. There were 4 police cars in that general area. I later learned (when I was pulled over) from the officer that they were doing a "speed detail" in the area and that I would indeed be receiving a citation. Be careful! Stay out of the left lane!

It shouldn't have mattered? The law doesn't matter as long as everyone is breaking it?

boooooy, when I heard about Gasbuddy.com for the first time i thought THAT site was the cats pajamas! now there's two places to gripe about any wrong doings (obviously on the 'laws' part).

Actually, there is a question about this very topic when you take the written exam for you drivers license, and the correct answer is to follow the speed set by the rest of traffic. The theorized reason being that you become a hazard if you are not moving with the flow. So it would seem to me that the test one must take to get a license should match, one way or the other, police policy.

"The theorized reason being that you become a hazard if you are not moving with the flow. "

My father has successfully used that defense in traffic court, though not in MN. He asked the judge if he was familiar with the particular stretch of road, then noted that "If I had been doing 55, I would have been run over." The judge nodded & dismissed the ticket.

The following is from the MN Driver's License Manual - Class D

"Freeway Speed and Lane Use
Maintain the same approximate speed as surrounding vehicles, when
possible, but never exceed the posted speed limits. If you are driving
at a slower speed than other traffic, stay in the lane nearest to the right
side of the road. Otherwise, choose the lane of traffic moving at the
speed you prefer and stay in it. If you must change lanes to pass other
vehicles or to leave the freeway, signal your intent and make sure your
path is clear before moving over."

Found on the MN DVS website http://www.dps.state.mn.us/dvs/DLTraining/DLManual/DLManual.htm

I kind of doubt the question on the test in Minnesota including the phrase "even if it's above the speed limit," although I didn't take my exam here.

I drove on Highway 10 in Anoka last night. It does, however, get to the question of when we're going to enforce the law and when we're not.

It's an established fact that a higher rate of speed leads to more accidents.