Warning! Speed Trap Ahead
This weekly post features recent news stories that highlight and update themes previously covered throughout NMA E-Newsletters and Alerts.
Editor’s Note: The National Sheriffs’ Association recently expressed concerns that the mobile app Waze was putting police officers in harm’s way. Waze allows users to track the location of speed traps, ticket cameras, traffic congestion, etc., in real time, and the association feared that the app could be used to stalk and ambush police. In a follow-up statement, however, the association stated that Waze could also potentially interfere with lucrative speed trapping operations. This of course is the main reason police don’t like their locations shared among drivers and will often go to great lengths to prevent it, as described in this e-newsletter from 2011.
NMA E-Newsletter #156: Driver-to-Driver Communication – It’s Complicated
From a friendly wave to the more emphatic middle-finger salute, drivers have been communicating with each other since people started driving. The NMA encourages thoughtful communication among drivers through our “7 Sensible Signals” brochure, which includes headlight flashing to warn of an upcoming hazard.
This shouldn’t be a problem if you’re signaling another driver about a cow in the road or a snow drift ahead (we’re in Wisconsin after all), but you should be aware of the larger issues involved if you alert other motorists to an upcoming speed trap.
Last year a Florida motorist was ticketed after he flashed his headlights to warn oncoming traffic of a speed trap set by the Florida State Patrol. Erich Campbell thought he was being helpful by engaging in this time-honored practice. The police thought otherwise and charged him with obstruction. The charges were dismissed, but Campbell filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other motorists who received similar citations.
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