always makes me laugh how slow you guys drive in this country... back in Europe though the speed limit is 70 we average around 80-90. We have cops but they are generally less numerous and less fascistic than here. ALso we have a LOT of fixed automatic speed cameras. Many people moan about them but since the government passed a law stating they had to be painted reflective yellow and be clearly visibile I see no reason to get caught by one of these. They are rear facing so when you see one you just slow down unti lyou pass the road markings then speed up again. Suprisingly or not despite the much higher speeds in the UK I believe we have far less accidents than the US. I dont know how the rest of Europe Germany (with no speed limit) compares. The Italians are the craziest but very skilled, 130mph in driving rain with a guy 6ft on my tail flashing me to move out of the way anyone.. scary. France they just dont have any police on the freeway but since they are tolled they tend to time you between tolls and fine you appropriately. So you do a stretch at 120-130 whatever and then slow down later, just keep your average speed down. Australia is certainyl worse where speed tickets are a way of life and its alost impossible to not get one. driving thousands of miles in the outback with nothing visible as far as the eye can see and they have hidden automated cameras in trash cans, road signs and all sorts. I think the police get more of a power trip here than in many other places. just my 2 cents I have had a clean record fro 10 years but I am sure that is about to change. One reason I didnt get a 'fast' car and bought my skylark so I was less likely to lose my licence in a week!
If you're getting into the undercover... I remember in high school (graduated in 1971) the next town over had an orange GTO Judge undercover car. Fox River Grove, Illinois. Population about 3000. I don't remember if it was a 68 or 69. But once we knew about it, it was pretty obvious sitting on the shoulder of the road. They radar'd the only four lane highway going into the town, where it went from 55mph to 35mph as it went into two lanes. Since that was the only four lane road in a 5 mile radius, it was a good place to sit. They also had a Rambler Ambassador black and white unit we tried to take the lights off the top of one night, when we were feeling our oats. We got em loose, but the dog started barking so we ran away. LOL
In one city in the North of England they had a real problem with joy riders. They tried an idea out, they 'borrowed' a Lotus Esprit turbo supercar. They painted it like a regular police car complete with flashing lights, flourescent strips on the rear spoiler. It looked crazy. It couldnt actually go anywhere fast else all the lights etc. would be blown off! They just cruised and parked it around trouble spots. Since the all the kids wanted to do was race the police and try and outrun them when they saw this thing they stopped the joyriding. They realised that there was no way their stolen merc or beemer was going to outrun that thing either in speed or cornering... Joyriding was cut dramatically in that town
http://www.andywhittaker.com/lotus/police.htm or in a lotuse elise.. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=14&h=0&t=93080
I drive a retired highway patrol Crown Vic as my daily car. It's great! Ride 80-85 in the left lane through radar and get the friendly cop wave as you go by! Slow cars always move out of the way! I've driven retired state trooper cars for years as a daily driver. Great cars that last a long time and NO TICKETS!!!!
