Hearse driver fined for speeding

[yoder7652 21]

Click below to see the link:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13750781/

This is great...I can't hardly imagine a police car pulling a hearse over while it is leading a funeral procession to the gravesite. That must've been some sight...I bet the other cars following the procession couldn't believe what was going on.

[Constantina 5]

That's odd. But i think it was right to do so because hearses are not emergency vehicles, ever.

[callagrafx 3]

Actually, in this hot weather, it could have been an emergency.....

Anyways, this sounds very much like a concealed speed trap which are actually illegal..I've seen Gardai hide in ditches to catch motorists, it's a good way to make money.

[paperboy15 4]

43 mph in a 30 mph zone? That seems odd for a hearse to be doing that speed while leading a procession. He probably would have been pulled over even in California.

[yoder7652 21]

yeah he was moving pretty fast....

[Camaron 1]

Well hearses aren't exempt from speed laws so I suppose it was right of the police to do that but I still hope the person to rest in peace didn't have their funeral to badly disturbed.

[rhino120 2]

If he/they were speeding they deserve what they get.  Excessive speed is a major cause of traffic crashes, and I might be reading more into the article than there was, but if they were having a crackdown in that area it was probably due to speeding being a problem.  Either there are a high number of traffic crashes in the area or someone has complained.

Question to callagrafx:  

I'm not from Ireland so I don't know the answer, but are "speed traps" really illegal there?  Do they define it as illegal if the officer's vehicle is concealed or is there some definition for speed trap that makes it illegal?  What happens if an officer is sitting on the side of a street in a hilly area where speeding is a problem and they can't be readily seen until the offender crests the hill.  Do they not enforce the speed in that area because of that?  What if the officer's vehicle is parked in plain site but can't be easily seen because it's night-time or because of inclement weather?  I don't mean to sound like I'm picking on you and please don't take offense, but I'm curious how they enforce something as vague as "concealed speed trap"

Here in Ohio (US), there is no law prohibiting how traffic laws are enforced except for the following:  if the officer's primary function at the time is traffic enforcement, then he/she must be in a marked patrol vehicle, i.e. it must say "Police" on it.  

My personal belief is that if the offender were not speeding then they would not have to worry about whether the officer was concealed or not and it seems that most of the complaints would be from people who were stopped.
 
There are many in law enforcement who believe that being visible is a significant deterrent to speed.  A violator sees the patrol car sitting there and, realizing that he/she is speeding, they slow down. The driver corrects their behavior without any action from the officer.  

There are also many who believe that some drivers will slow down until the officer is no longer in sight, but will increase their speed again after that.  The driver's behavior is temporarily corrected, but no long term change is made.  For those people, the only way to effectively change their future driving habits is to "hit them in the wallet".  In other words, give them a ticket (or more than one in some cases) which costs them money.  They stop speeding because they don't want to spend any more money.  

All that being said, I believe that both types of enforcement are useful, depending on the particular driver.  Also, when I was on the job, I never made any attempt to "hide" my patrol car when I was doing speed enforcement and there was never any shortage of people who I would "clock" at 15 or more MPH over the posted speed limit.

[jvlm.123 0]

I'm from Ireland and think this is hilarious!

Speed limits in Ireland are -

50km/hr in urban areas.

80km/hr on "R" roads.

100km/hr on "N" roads.

120km/hr on "M" roads (motorways).

So doing 69km/hr in a 50km/hr zone is quite a lot over the limit in urban areas, so it's no surprise that this guy was pulled over. The reason for this crackdown is that County Donegal has one of the highest rates of road deaths in Ireland, aswell as the worst roads.

I don't think that speed traps are illegal in Ireland either, at least not in the ROI, maybe in NI. If they stop people form speeding it doesn't matter, really. 

Anyway, this proves one thing - that County Donegal people are the stupidest in Ireland (after County Leitrim people)!

[Bravesjunkie15 0]

I think that's hilarious!!

[McJason513 1]

Here in Ohio (US), there is no law prohibiting how traffic laws are enforced except for the following:  if the officer's primary function at the time is traffic enforcement, then he/she must be in a marked patrol vehicle, i.e. it must say "Police" on it. quote>

 Are you abosolutely positive? I could of sworn that unmarked or unmarked  police cars in America could catchspeeders. If it wasn't true why would they need unmarked police cars?

[Micah 16]

That has to be the most funny thing I have read all day.

Hope the dead guy won't sue.

[rhino120 2]

My statement only applies to Ohio law.  We do use unmarked cars in Ohio, but there primary purpose is not for traffic enforcement.  They are used by detectives and for some undercover operations.

You are right though, I know some other states do use unmarked cars for traffic enforcement.  Each state is different.

[Easy Bakes 253]

What i want to know is why was there not a police escort for the procession?

All of the long Funeral processions iv seen have had police out in front and behind to

clear traffic so that every every on in the procession kinda stays together.

On the enforcement front iv heard that some citys sometimes instead of someone   passing out tickets that they  just set a patrol car  on the road  so that  every one slows down when they see it.

[DOXXP29 5]

Reading the comments about marked/inmarked cars, in DC they have speed CAMERAS. Some are mounted on poles, others are attached to cars, vans, whatever, are unmarked and may or may not be manned. Tickets range from $50 - $200. You get 11 mph over the limit "grace zone". Ironic thing is the speed cameras are also used by people with modified cars to verify how fast their vehicle will go without getting arrested. $200 is a cheap price for a "trophy" showing proof that the car was actually doing 150 mph. Tickets are sent via mail to the registered owner of the vehicle. Anywhere else have these infernal devices?

[rhino120 2]

Originally posted by: DOXXP29 Reading the comments about marked/inmarked cars, in DC they have speed CAMERAS. Some are mounted on poles, others are attached to cars, vans, whatever, are unmarked and may or may not be manned. Tickets range from $50 - $200. You get 11 mph over the limit "grace zone". Ironic thing is the speed cameras are also used by people with modified cars to verify how fast their vehicle will go without getting arrested. $200 is a cheap price for a "trophy" showing proof that the car was actually doing 150 mph. Tickets are sent via mail to the registered owner of the vehicle. Anywhere else have these infernal devices?quote>

 

We don't have speed cameras locally (the Dayton area) that I'm aware of, however several municipalities use red light cameras.  Same principle, only for red light violations instead of speed.

Also, several local departments use speed trailers.  They display an approaching vehicle's speed on a electronic board so that the driver is made aware of how fast they are going.  No tickets are issued...it's just a friendly reminder.

[jvlm.123 0]

Speed cameras are everywhere here in Ireland, but the problem is most of them are hidden (except in urban areas). This is meant to make people go the limit all the time, but most people ignore it. There are also signs informing you when cameras are along the road and then another one later saying there are no cameras! This makes people slow down for a few minutes just. We also have them speed trailers aswell, and billboards that show you your speed (eg. on motorways). These always make people go slower as they can see the Garda (Police) presence and don't want consequences later. In the long term, these things don't really make a difference, well at least not here anyway.

[Camaron 1]

In Germany to reinforce speed limits, including parts of the autobahn as not all of it is speed limit free, police often use unmarked cars. When they see someone exceeding the seed limit they open there window and place a blue flashing light on the top of there car to pull over the offender. It is also legal in Germany to have hidden speed cameras.

It would be interesting to see the government try to introduce that in Britain.

[Easy Bakes 253]

They have the Red light cameras in Plano Tx( Dallas Suburb)

on almost all major intersections Dallas is in the process of putting them in as well.

I wonder if its proffitable for them, i mean the maintainance and instalation must costs be tremendous for equipment thats outside all the time( in the Texas heat) and constantly connected to send its info on.

[callagrafx 3]

@Rhino120: It is illegal in the UK for Money Spinners speed enforcement cameras, either Gatso or mobile to be concealed...I thought it was the same for Ireland too. Here, all Gatso cameras must have a reflective plate on the back...the concept is to quash the loophole in the law about entrapment. I was caught a few years back by a hidden camera and used the entrapment argument and the case was thrown out.

[DOXXP29 5]

@Easy Bakes: It's EXTREMELY profitable for both the city and the camera manufacturers. They ran the numbers for the speed camera and red-light cameras last year and though I forget the actual numbers, everybody is getting rich. It's so profitable, a portion of the profits are used to build MORE of them, so every three months, a new batch get installed. More cameras = more profit. There's actually a site by the DC police giving the locations and one can see the proliferation of these things.

[paperboy15 4]

In Fresno, CA there were three major intersections that were outfitted with red-light cameras. Now these cameras are just used for observation because, for one reason or another, using the cameras to nail drivers with tickets failed. Red-light running continues to be a major problem here...you have to blatantly run a red light to get the attention of police officers here. Even then they may not even pull you over.

[DOXXP29 5]

@Paperboy: Yeah, Virginia did the same thing. Had them for five years or so, then the state government decided they were going to abandon them. Privacy issue, I believe was the pretext. Also, they used reports that while broadside accidents from red light running did decrease, rear-end collisions INCREASED due to people seeing the camera and slamming on the brakes and getting hit by the vehicle behind them.

[Micah 16]

They have the Red light cameras in Plano Tx( Dallas Suburb)quote>

Yeah, they did the same exact thing down in here in the Houston area. And because of it, more people are crashing so that they avoid the red light when you would actually think the opposite would occur.

[hamsterTK 93]

How ironic it would be if the speeding hearse driver caused a wreck that killed someone....

Driver:"Oh darn we killed him"

Assistant:"Thats fine, just toss him in the back with the other one"