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To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

nyc.streetsblog.org

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Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#51

Post by eightysixfour »

OutOfHere wrote: post #11
nslsm wrote: post #4

Has he ever hit something or someone? If the answer is no, then speeding laws are too strict and must change.

I am of two minds about it. On one hand, speeding alone when done by a mature highly-attentive driver isn't really dangerous no matter the limit, because the driver has enough expertise to know what his personal limit ought to be. The residual risk is more from immature drivers, the mistakes of other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. I have been on both sides of it. I have been the speeder who can drive very safely, a…

Is your underlying assumption that cars should be have the highest priority as a method of transportation, everywhere? Do you live in a rural area or something?

> School zones and other low-speed zones are a complete moneygrubbing racket because we already use schoolbuses which have protections.

What does this even mean? Does every kid ride a bus where you are? Do your school buses have seat belts and crumple zones?

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#52

Post by strongpigeon »

raybb wrote: post #42

That's absolutely horrifying... Relatively small increases in speed dramatically increase the stopping distance and as such the danger of driving. Especially with a huge truck like that. That's why Amsterdam (with much more food traffic) has recently reduced speed limits a lot. > At 30km/h, the stopping distance of a car is 13 metres. At 50km/h it’s more than double at 27 metres. That 20km/h reduction is the crucial…

What you're saying is all true, but typically road design influence driving speed more than anything. Changing speed limits rarely has an impact on that (at least in the US).

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#53

Post by cmdoptesc »

OutOfHere wrote: post #11
nslsm wrote: post #4

Has he ever hit something or someone? If the answer is no, then speeding laws are too strict and must change.

I am of two minds about it. On one hand, speeding alone when done by a mature highly-attentive driver isn't really dangerous no matter the limit, because the driver has enough expertise to know what his personal limit ought to be. The residual risk is more from immature drivers, the mistakes of other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. I have been on both sides of it. I have been the speeder who can drive very safely, a…

> On one hand, speeding alone when done by a mature highly-attentive driver isn't really dangerous no matter the limit, because the driver has enough expertise to know what his personal limit ought to be. The residual risk is more from immature drivers, the mistakes of other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The problem is the vast majority of drivers overestimate their skills and underestimate the risks. Many people are also emotional drivers and will drive faster when angry or stressed. A great combo.

> I settle for a middle position, which is that the speed limit should be no less than 35 mph on most streets, with heavy mandated use of automated collision avoidance systems.

So what are you going to do about all the millions of existing cars out there without collision avoidance systems?

Given all this, the easiest solution is for people to drive the speed limit, especially in urban areas with pedestrians and bicyclists.

If you really want to gas it, go to a racetrack or buy a motorcycle and donate your brain.

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#54

Post by BobBagwill »

If you can't arrest the human, arrest the vehicle. The vehicle is obviously guilty, and is not protected by the right to confront its accusers, which are also machines.

Of course, with the advent of AI-enhanced surveillance and "smart" cars, we have have to have a separate traffic court for machines.

Then snowflake SJW machine-huggers will demand a machine Bill of Rights ...

Nevermind. ;-)

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#55

Post by gerdesj »

diath wrote: post #27
haritha-j wrote: post #19

I don't understand, doesn't NY have a points system for driving licenses? In most places you could speed at most half a dozen times before you lose your license.

From the article: > State law classifies camera-based tickets as mere violations, and they don’t add any points to a driver’s record, even though exceeding the speed limit by 11 miles per hour is worth four points on a license — but only if the offender is caught by a cop instead of a camera. Just three of those tickets suspends a driver’s license, but Giovansanti can keep on driving.

Can't he be considered as the arresting cop, after all he has witnessed all the speeding offenses? Sounds like dereliction of duty at best 8)

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#56

Post by toast0 »

ceejayoz wrote: post #32
tantalor wrote: post #25

What is the point of this article? > Like all drivers in New York State, Giovansanti is immune to consequences as long as he pays the $50 tickets So he's allowed to do this. Why are we talking about it?

NYPD policy should probably consider repeated reckless disregard for the law to be a discipline issue.

If he paid the fine, I don't know that it's disregard for the law.

The laws says if you do this, you owe a fine. If you pay the fine, it's following the law.

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#57

Post by mindslight »

plorg wrote: post #47
OutOfHere wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am of two minds about it. On one hand, speeding alone when done by a mature highly-attentive driver isn't really dangerous no matter the limit, because the driver has enough expertise to know what his personal limit ought to be. The residual risk is more from immature drivers, the mistakes of other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. I have been on both sides of it. I have been the speeder who can drive very safely, a…

What you are describing is a legislation of the attitude of the average careless driver in the United States. I should be able to drive however I want until or unless I kill someone, the car should be the thing that keeps me from killing people, and anyone who doesn't use the roadway like me should be responsible for preventing me from killing them.

Spot on, well said. Personally I think inattentive driving is a bigger problem than speeding, but by the time someone is justifying it for themselves by saying they're safer than everyone else, they've lost the plot.

In my experience, the only thing that really feels too fast in a car is going faster than you've become used to driving.

And yeah, how someone talks about cyclists is always a tell.

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#58

Post by iso1631 »

MiiMe19 wrote: post #50
nateguchi wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK, the owner is liable for identifying the driver at the time of the incident. This is how it works with e.g. rental cars. If the owner doesn't identify the driver, they get the points

That sounds like guilty until proven innocent.

Not really, you are asked who was driving.

If you are driving:

You say "Me", then they give you the points

You lie, say it "Bob", then you're guilty of perverting the course of justice. They then write to Bob,

If Bob agrees, then he's also guilty of perverting the course of justice, but most of the time you'll both get away with it.

If Bob disagrees, then they look more into it.

If you refuse to answer then you're guilty of not saying who was driving the car, a completely separate offence to the original speeding one, and one which is typically more serious

In the US you can mow down a child, drive away, and despite people having your plates and giving them to the cops, they can't actually arrest you because it was only your car which was used to kill someone?

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#59

Post by robhlt »

The Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program was meant to deal with drivers like this, but it was allowed to expire in 2023 after the NYC DOT failed to actually implement it.

The program allowed the DOT to make drivers with more than 15 speed camera or 5 red light camera tickets in a year to take a safe driving course or have their car siezed. The DOT only took action against a small fraction of eligible offenders however.

More: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/09/22/analysis-dangerous-ve...

Re: To Protect and Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets

#60

Post by toraway »

OutOfHere wrote: post #11
nslsm wrote: post #4

Has he ever hit something or someone? If the answer is no, then speeding laws are too strict and must change.

I am of two minds about it. On one hand, speeding alone when done by a mature highly-attentive driver isn't really dangerous no matter the limit, because the driver has enough expertise to know what his personal limit ought to be. The residual risk is more from immature drivers, the mistakes of other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. I have been on both sides of it. I have been the speeder who can drive very safely, a…

I live near a middle school in the suburbs and it may come as a surprise but kids are frequently crossing a busy street using a regular, unprotected crosswalk.
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