On the "out of state" argument.
I remember driving through Van Alstyne Texas a few years back. I was clocked at about 10 over and was being passed by EVERYONE. DFW area is crazy.
Local small town cop is clocking people out on the main highway (not really even in the town) and he pulls me over.
I was polite, and he asked me if I knew I was speeding. I guess I missed the last speed limit change so I told him I'd had my cruise set and didn't see where the speed limit changed. He said OK, then wrote me a $200 ticket. At that point, I stayed civil, but I asked him if he specifically targeted out of state drivers, as I had been passed like I was sitting still for about 15 miles (from up around Sherman) by every car on the road, and was in fact, being passed by a 3/4 ton GM truck with a Texas flag Chevy Symbol on the grill, pulling a 500 gallon water trailer, lifted and running on 35's or 37's. he had to be going 15-20 MPH faster than I was, and when I saw the cop pull out I knew he was going after that truck. He kinda smirked at me and said "nope, you were speeding" and I asked him if he saw the lifted, crew cab 4wd truck pulling a 500 gallon water trailer that was passing me, going at least 15mph faster than I, when he clocked me. He said "I didn't see that one, just you."
Nope, in TX they have front tags, so I guess he was waiting on a vehicle with no tag on the front, so he nabbed me instead.
I thought "well, I was speeding" so I was just going to pay the ticket.
Then I hear about "deferred adjudication" which in Texas means you can pay MORE and they'll withold the fact that you got a ticket from the insurance company. That is extortion, and really, really pissed me off.
Add to that the red light cameras installed in the DFW area, and the fact that Texas changed the law to a civil infraction for running a red light camera so they could fine the owner of the car (that way they don't have to PROVE who the driver is), and then reduced the yellow light time to up the number of tickets....
Needless to say I was glad when my company pulled out of Texas so I didn't have to deal with the DFW crazyness anymore.
Revenue generating. We all see that there are dangers on the roads, and traffic enforcement is definitely needed, but 90% of tickets are given to generate revenue, NOT for public safety.
http://blog.motorists.org/6-cities-t...es-for-profit/
http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Documents...ht_Cameras.pdf