> My dad (when gowing up) was pulled over for a cop for doing a california stop in Colorado. The police officer let us off, because we had california plates.
I'm confused. A "California Stop" isn't even legal in California.
I'm confused. A "California Stop" isn't even legal in California.
I commented as I have a concern that an uneducated reader may walk away with the idea that it's legal in that state. It most certainly is not.
Apparently, though, Idaho does have some provision for bicyclists and rolling through stop signs. So, there you go - an "Idaho Stop" is a thing for any potential bicyclists in Idaho.
As does Oregon. I would guess there are others, too.
Here in Georgia I've heard people call it a "Texas Turn Off" when someone dives for the exit from the center lane of the highway.
I'm informed that these are actually legal as long as you don't disrespect the police by doing it in front of them. It's the same way that going slightly over the speed limit on freeways is legal as long as you don't insult the police by passing them.
Going over the speed limit is not legal, but no officer will pull you over at +1, unless you piss them off for some other reason, like by being black in a white community, for example. Racial biases aside, this is actually a really good thing. If every law was enforced perfectly today, everyone would be arrested, fined, or jailed tomorrow.
I think the parent knows that, and was being a bit tongue-in-cheek ;)
Usually when I have cruise control set to exactly 75 and I'm in the right lane, I'm very often passed by people who are probably doing 80 to 82 mph.
AFAICT, the reason is that there's a big jump in the median fine if you're going >15mph over the speed limit vs <= 15mph over. Economically-speaking, it's not worth the police officer's time to pull somebody over who's "merely" 10 over, because somebody going 16+ over will appear in a few more minutes of waiting.
Interestingly, the state website says the official "maximum" fine bump occurs at 11+ mph over. I suspect they wait for 15mph to rule out the plausible cover stories "I was only going that fast to overtake the other car" or "new here, I didn't realize the incline was so sharply downhill with nobody in front of me".
You probably wouldn't get pulled over for going 80-82 in Washington (i.e. they people passing you probably have their cruise controls set for 80), but it might be less enjoyable of a drive. You have to pay more frequent, closer attention, because you're overtaking people more frequently.
Ironically, California dives deep into "low fines for speeds under 15 over". the under-15-over fine base is a meager $35! For 16-25, it jumps to $70, which is still paltry.
It's more like $300-800 depending on how much you are over the limit. There's a bunch of extra fees they toss in.
Googling it doesn't bring up any kind of official source, but several websites for law firms that corroborate that range.
You and I have a very different view of what makes something legal.