My (most recent) Speed Tax Collecting story...
The Fri before the last long weekend, I'm drifting down the I5 just N
of Seattle on my way to OR research riding, when I pass a WSP STC who had pulled over a pylon for a little speed taxin'.
Good sign for me I thought,. But not more than two minutes later, I see another STC coming up through traffic behind me with his emerg lights on. Hmmm I thought, wonder who he's after, didn't see any obvious insanity among the pylons passing me. The usual, heavy bumper-to-bumper Seattopolis I5 traffic is pretty much all flowing at the same reasonable pace.
Oh, turns out it was the guy on the red 2002 VFR. Me.
The briefer than usual conversation was as follows:
STC: "We had air surveillance picking you up at 10 and sometimes 11 over"
ME: "10 and 11 over? Really, that fast?" (Sotto voice: 10 and sometimes 11? Like all the traffic that isn't doing 15 to 20 over, you mean? Guess those airplanes are pretty expensive to run.)
STC: "Yes, and he says you were tailgating."
ME: "Really?" (SV: Doesn't that kinda define Seatopolis bumper-to-bumper?)
STC: "License and insurance. Don't move, I'll be right back." At least he had no time to make me take my helmet off.
While waiting for the speed tax form, I watched the tailgating 10 to 20 over traffic whizzing by, wondered how much revenue WA was missing out on because they`d never have enough on the ground vehicles to take advantage of the rich pickings the eye in the sky would find, and pondered, as I had many times before, my preference for a red VFR over one of a less conspicuous colour at 3000 feet.
Later, as I was showing the speed tax form to my lawyer (Mike), he says I think we may have a case here. He pointed at the form which showed that I was apparently not riding the red VFR but rather a blue 1992 Virago.
Well, we`ll just have to see if this will help "throw a little sand in the wheels of justice" in this particular case. And if I lose, at least the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that speed taxes are a valid business expense.
From: http://www.trafficticketsecret%u200Bs.com/speeding-ticket-facts.ht%u200Bml
Over 100,000 people a day receive a speeding ticket in the USA.
That's over 41,000,0000 speeding tickets per year.
One in every 6 drivers will get a speeding ticket this year.
The average speeding ticket costs $150.00.
41,000,000 x 150.00 = $6,150,000,000 That's over 6 BILLION dollars per year in speeding ticket fines alone.
The average raise in insurance costs for one speeding ticket over the course of 3 years is $900.00.
Multiply 900 by 41,000,000 and you get $36,900,000,000 (36.9 BILLION dollars) in extra insurance money the insurance industry makes in a single year just from speeding tickets.
Over 95% of people who receive a speeding ticket never contest it and just pay the fine.
The other 5% who make an effort to fight their ticket usually have their case dismissed or receive reduced charges that don't get reported on their driving record.
There are 196,000,000 licensed drivers in America today.
A police officer will fail to show up to court between 30 to 50% of the time. This is immediate grounds for a dismissal.
More men than women receive speeding tickets.
More women fight their speeding tickets than men.
The earliest known speeding ticket on file was issued in 1910 to the Prime Minister of Canada's wife. She was traveling at a whopping 10 mph over the limit.
Doctors receive the most speeding tickets than any other profession.
The average traffic cop will cost a city about $75,000 per year in salary, bonuses, and benefits. This same police officer will make the city an average of $200,000 per year in traffic ticket fines! That's one hell of a profit margin.
Top 10 States Notorious for Writing Tickets:
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- California
- Texas
- Georgia
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Washington (okay, okay, I added this but I've had way more trouble here than in CA)
- Oregon (i added this one too, don't get me started on Oregon...)
