Jake inspired me.
 

Back in September, a fellow Pelican to the north started a grassroots effort to calm the traffic near his home. I read his thread here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/367511-speeding-residential-areas.html.

I was inspired. So much so, in fact, that I ordered my very own radar gun and undertook a similar effort for my own neighborhood.

My site went live this morning. www.ellenwoodside.org

I mailed out notices today to the local newpaper, the local TV stations, the local politicians, and the local sheriff. Tomorrow, I will mail out notices to each of the homes in our neighborhood.

I fully expect some pissed-off neighbors, but in the end I hope that this will generate a positive result.


And comments?

copycat

LOL, awesome stuff!

I think you'll be surprised by the media attention, I sure was.

Hey... if it works, it works!

All I want is people to drive safe. If it takes them being shamed on TV, well so be it.

On my website is a photo of a white SUV. She speeds that thing through the neighborhood regularly with 4 kids in the back. I expect if I went to her section of the 'hood multiple times per day, speeding on each pass, that she would have plenty to say regarding the safety of her children. I just want her and the others to show the same concern for their neighbors children.

Vigilante.

I'd say a little over the top for 10MPH over? I can run faster.
However, I can see a zero tolerance level in a sub neighborhood like that!
Good effort and I'm sure you'll get results; at least within the hood.

I personally limit my speeding to open highway roads.

Your sense of humor is great. You need to get close enough to read the license plates. And the drivers face's and then print them out and post them in some public place like at the supermarket or the local elementary school.

Well done! I ditto Hugh on the plates. A longer lens?

In my neighborhood the speed limit is 20mph, my neighborhood is considered very safe and family friendly and like the old days, kids ride their bikes in the street and dogs/cats occasionally wander around. when little kids are around 10mph makes a big difference.

I don't know if your gun compensates for it, but due to the cosin angle effect the readings are probably inaccurate and reading slower than the actual speed.

I was surprised at what a difference the angle makes.

In my case, I can sit right at the end of my driveway and be out of sight... I can get them pretty much head-on, and they don't see me till the last ~25 ft.

This public notice is going to prevent more speeders than $100 tickets ever would!

When the drunk on the motorcycle who almost killed my Dad turned around and sued him, I proposed a full page ad in the local paper with the details of the lawsuit. I was vetoed. The judge threw out the case, but the *****bag's neighbors never got to know what a scu*bag he was...

I love how some of the pictures show kids out playing, on bikes, etc...

One suggestion would be to make the images "clickable" to open a larger version.

Also, nn my camera there is a "sport" mode that allows you to shoot continuously as the trigger is depressed. That gives you 3-4 pictures to chose from.

I had read a bit on the cosine effect. Due to the gentle curve in the road, I am able to radar the drivers at a fairly head-on angle. By time I get the camera in had and take the photo, it doesn't portray the radar angle properly.

Unfortunately, my camera will never be able to give me much better resolution, speed, or anything else. It's one of these point and shoot type:
http://www.aecom.yu.edu/aif/gallery/.../cybershot.jpg

Well, the first email just came in.

Although I have both email and written correspondence with the county engineer, she denies knowing anything about there being a problem in the neighborhood and denies that I ever contacted her. (Not surprisingly, she CCd the denial to her boss.)

Glad I kept copies!

That's pretty cool. I do think it would be great if you could nail her to the wall.

I applaud you for your efforts. The fact that you have never had a speeding ticket will also give you much more credibility.SmileWavy

Excellent use of the green text.
I have never had a speeding ticket in a residential area.

My complaint isn't about speeding per se... it's about where they're speeding. I don't feel they are adequately considering the risks. I don't care if these drivers get out and speed on the freeway. There are no children playing ball next to the freeway, or riding bicycles on the freeway. And there's a huge difference between going 10 or 15 over the limit in a neighborhood, and going 10 or 15 over on the freeway.

This is my biggest beef with interstate highways having a 65mph speed limit on straight and flat sections. If the limit was 100mph, the speed patrolling would move to the neighborhood level, where it should be.

Changing the freeway limits to 100 or greater would, of course, have to be bundled with a host of other changes. Changes I would welcome.

These changes would include:

- Annual safety inspections of vehicles. I love that a car will be tested for emissions, but drive away with shocks so far gone that the wheels perpetually hop OFF OF THE ROAD. This safety inspection would be for permission to drive on interstate highways. No bald tires, no worn-out brakes. You can still drive your jalopy to the grocery store, but if you go onto a freeway without your new sticker, you lose your car. BAM.

- Annual driving tests. Tests would be really hard. If you want to drive on highways, you need to pass a secondary test. Even more 'difficult'. Test would include MERGING, CHANGING LANES USING SIGNALS, KEEPING RIGHT WHEN NOT PASSING, etc.

- Re-scaled traffic violation fines. Serious offenses would include- lane change without signal, failure to merge properly, failure to yield, erratic driving. With police vehicles having quality on-board cameras, these offenses should be easier to prove in court.

Until we accept that the times have changed, cops will be forced to sit on I-95 and pick off cars for going 75 in a 55, when in your neighborhood people are going 20 over just feet away from kids on bikes.

Maybe this should be a political hot-topic instead of whether or not a candidate smoked weed 20 years ago or said something negative about gays or something.

typical public official, more concerned with keeping their job than doing it.

Now that I think about it, I never got a ticket of any sort in a residential area. Got one for running a yellow light(fought it and lost, that lying SOB of a CHP motorcycle cop, how could I be running a light when I saw it turn red in my rearview mirror) Got a speeding ticket in Texas once on the interstate, twice in California.

I did get one at a red light camera, noticeably short yellow light, fought that one too but was guilty until proven innocent. The vendor making the money off the red light cameras got busted for monkeying around with the timing of the lights, but the judge did not like my face apparently.

It is all about revenue generation, not public safety. Where is someone more likely to be going greater than 10 mph over(where the big money starts), residential area or interstate?

They have safety inspections in all of Texas(like 10 or 20 bucks) with smog checks in some big cities, smog inspections in all of California(40 or 50 bucks) with no safety checks at all. I registered a car for the street that had been on a non-op(not driven on road) for several years. I even asked if they wanted to come outside and take a look at it, thinking they might be interested in 30 year old car that has not been driven for a while, silly me, long as I have the dough for the registration I am fine(no smog on a '74)

I got dinged in Texas because the horn on the bug got oxidation on the contacts since I rarely honk and did not work. Little emery cloth got me squared away so the horn would work. Have to have your all your lights working, brakes, signals etc. Seemed like a good idea, which explains why they don't do it in California.

Jeeze we have yearly inspections here, and if your car fails... you aren't going to the grocery store. Tires, lights, suspension, brakes. Heck, my 20 yr old samurai has a 3/8" hole in the floor and they failed it for that. Had to weld it (no fiberglass or pop rivets allowed) and bring it back in.

You should see what's on the roads here. I should carry a camera.