I lost interest in issuing traffic citations a long, long time ago, for a variety of reasons I won't go into; let's just say I found more pleasure in arresting folks who'd committed serious crimes.
That's not to say that traffic enforcement doesn't have a place in the cop world, because it occupies a prominent segment of the face of enforcement. Imagine a driving environment in which no speed limits exist, driving while impaired is ignored and traffic lights mean nothing.
You wouldn't want to ever leave the house.
Traffic laws exist and are enforced because they are needed, period. The zeal with which they are enforced is another issue altogether.
That brings me to the topic of so-called 'speed traps'. There's a little secret about them that I'll reveal to you:
They don't exist.
That's right...there's no such animal. I don't care if a copper is hiding behind a billboard or sitting with his lights out at night. It's not a trap. One definition of the word says a trap is '...a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.' The key word in that definition is 'surprise'.
Speed limits should not come as a 'surprise' because, through rules set forth in the Ohio Revised Code, they must be clearly posted along the roadway on standardized signage. They can't be altogether absent or in lettering so small they can't be read. The only exception is on rural roads where, if the speed limit isn't posted, the presumptive speed limit is 45 miles per hour.
That's it.
So, if Ohio regulation requires a speed limit posted in standardized signage, how can there ever be a 'trap'?
It is only a trap when you make it so by not paying attention. Drive the speed limit and there'll be no speed traps.
Here's another hint: the speed limit changes at the point where it's posted, not 200 feet before you get to it or once you've passed it.
So, if you pay attention to posted limits, you avoid being 'trapped' by a copper who's just doing his job.
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