New Speed trap in Sebastopool

[Barry]

I was aghast :eek: to see Sebastopol's finest :policeman:on my street this morning trolling for speeders on 116 near Foster Freeze/Papas Y Pollo heading towards towards downtown Sebastopol.

Even though this is the last place I'd speed typically, still it was too close to home!

Anyway, I thought I'd give you guys a heads up!

[Braggi]

I was aghast :eek: to see Sebastopol's finest :policeman:on my street this morning trolling for speeders on 116 near Foster Freeze/Papas Y Pollo heading towards towards downtown Sebastopol.

Sounds like a dangerous place for police to be pursuing speeders and pulling them over.

The one where I got snagged is on Laguna Rd. on the way to River Rd. There is a place where the road elevation drops quickly into a little valley bottom. As you find yourself going steeply downhill the speed limit drops from 45 mph to 35 mph and then a CHP officer sits there at the bottom with his radar out. So gravity is speeding you up as the speed limit drops. The CHP sits there writing tickets.

CHP cars often troll on that road so fair warning to all! Observe the speed limit on Laguna Rd. even though it's tempting to speed.

Any other places we should watch out for?

The State is in a severe budget crisis so I can easily imagine law enforcement officers are being pressured to write more tickets. You can bet the fines will be going up too.

-Jeff

[MsTerry]

.

The State is in a severe budget crisis so I can easily imagine law enforcement officers are being pressured to write more tickets. You can bet the fines will be going up too.

-Jeff

I heard they had a windfall because of the high gas prices.

[sd gross]

Our Biz, G-Wiz Graphics + Printing has been directly across the street from Papas (near Hutchins) for more than 10 years and I've seen a tremendous increase in speed and the number of speeders, particularly those headed South. As they get further from downtown they adjust the speed upward for cruising. A few weeks ago there was a horrendous fatal with damage done to a number of properties on the west side of 116. Accidents happen with regularity. I had a letter to the P.D.'s editors published about a year ago, in which I pointed out how difficult it was for pedestrians to cross, and for drivers to pull out of a driveway. l suggested something be done to encourage drivers to slow down. Any suggestions?
stephen

Sounds like a dangerous place for police to be pursuing speeders and pulling them over.

The one where I got snagged is on Laguna Rd. on the way to River Rd. There is a place where the road elevation drops quickly into a little valley bottom. As you find yourself going steeply downhill the speed limit drops from 45 mph to 35 mph and then a CHP officer sits there at the bottom with his radar out. So gravity is speeding you up as the speed limit drops. The CHP sits there writing tickets.

CHP cars often troll on that road so fair warning to all! Observe the speed limit on Laguna Rd. even though it's tempting to speed.

Any other places we should watch out for?

The State is in a severe budget crisis so I can easily imagine law enforcement officers are being pressured to write more tickets. You can bet the fines will be going up too.

-Jeff

[glenclem]

Maybe if the Sebastopol police inforced (ticketed) the speeders on 116 they could raise enough money so the city would not have to implement a utility tax. Hwy 116 is policed by three (city, county and state) entities yet the frequency of speeders and accidents makes Sebastopol less inviting for commerce and decreases the quality of life for those who live there. The Northeast plan is just a way to not deal with the problems of having a state highway run through town. Bypass Sebastopol, Llano to Irwin to Occidental, and create traffic calming systems to make Sebastopol pedestrian and bike friendly.

Our Biz, G-Wiz Graphics + Printing has been directly across the street from Papas (near Hutchins) for more than 10 years and I've seen a tremendous increase in speed and the number of speeders, particularly those headed South. As they get further from downtown they adjust the speed upward for cruising. A few weeks ago there was a horrendous fatal with damage done to a number of properties on the west side of 116. Accidents happen with regularity. I had a letter to the P.D.'s editors published about a year ago, in which I pointed out how difficult it was for pedestrians to cross, and for drivers to pull out of a driveway. l suggested something be done to encourage drivers to slow down. Any suggestions?
stephen

[amalia]

How about simply planning your car trip with enough time to get to your destination? Respect the speed limit and stop tailgating.
Seems like common decency to me.

Amalia

Any suggestions?
stephen

[Tars]

How about simply planning your car trip with enough time to get to your destination? Respect the speed limit and stop tailgating.
Seems like common decency to me.

Ah...I wish I lived in that universe. In mine, the SPD sits in the Safeway parking lot, (2 of them, eating donuts & chit-chatting?) waiting for potential revenue sources to come driving by. I was tagged by them there recently as I turned onto High School Road. The officer had no specific reason to stop me, as I used signals and was driving under the speed limit. It was just my bad luck to be the only car there on the road at that time of day.


"Bad cop, no donut!"

[sonomatom]

River Road traveling west just past the Hacienda bridge. There is an alternative school there and I can see the reason for the reduction from 45 mph to 35 mph over the bridge and past the school.

However, the speed limit doesn't increase to 50 mph until about 800 feet or so past the school heading west towards Korbel.

I've seen many pullovers there, or just past. Two friends of mine have received tickets right there. Often by an unmarked white CHP, who sits in the long dirt shoulder where people park to walk to the river.

Almost everyone gets impatient when I drive past the school and don't throttle up until I drive PAST the 50 mph sign. Oh well, they just don't know better!

[llovejoy]

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day I saw a retiree when I went downtown and into a shop. She was only there for about 5 minutes, and when she came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
She said to him, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break"? He ignored her and continued writing the ticket. She called
him a "Nazi." He glared at her and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So she called him a "doughnut eating Gestapo." He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more she abused him the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care. She came downtown on the bus, and the car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said,
"McCain 08."

[Sara S]

I got one a few weeks ago on 116, heading south, just before the two one-ways join up again; I had pulled into the far left lane just after the Bodega Hwy traffic light, to put something in the drive-up mailbox next to the public parking lot, and when I sped up to get among all the cars in the far right lane, to continue south on 116, the Sebastopol officer got me for 35 in a 25. I don't know where he was lurking.

Sara S.

Sounds like a dangerous place for police to be pursuing speeders and pulling them over.

The one where I got snagged is on Laguna Rd. on the way to River Rd. There is a place where the road elevation drops quickly into a little valley bottom. As you find yourself going steeply downhill the speed limit drops from 45 mph to 35 mph and then a CHP officer sits there at the bottom with his radar out. So gravity is speeding you up as the speed limit drops. The CHP sits there writing tickets.

CHP cars often troll on that road so fair warning to all! Observe the speed limit on Laguna Rd. even though it's tempting to speed.

Any other places we should watch out for?

The State is in a severe budget crisis so I can easily imagine law enforcement officers are being pressured to write more tickets. You can bet the fines will be going up too.

-Jeff

[alanora]

I missed something....it seems you were doing nothing wrong, according to your words. How could you be ticketed simply for being there? How did you get the cop to pose with the donut? mindy

Ah...I wish I lived in that universe. In mine, the SPD sits in the Safeway parking lot, (2 of them, eating donuts & chit-chatting?) waiting for potential revenue sources to come driving by. I was tagged by them there recently as I turned onto High School Road. The officer had no specific reason to stop me, as I used signals and was driving under the speed limit. It was just my bad luck to be the only car there on the road at that time of day.


"Bad cop, no donut!"

[alanora]

Worthy of a sit-com or something!!!!!!mindy

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day I saw a retiree when I went downtown and into a shop. She was only there for about 5 minutes, and when she came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
She said to him, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break"? He ignored her and continued writing the ticket. She called
him a "Nazi." He glared at her and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So she called him a "doughnut eating Gestapo." He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more she abused him the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care. She came downtown on the bus, and the car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said,
"McCain 08."

[cosmiccorn]

Driving the speed limit.... now there's a thought!
I was pegged at the Hacienda Bridge and I was driving over the posted 35 mph. Although I would have preferred a warning ;~) I was not offered that option. Lesson learned for me is to allow more time to get to where I need to go.

How about simply planning your car trip with enough time to get to your destination? Respect the speed limit and stop tailgating.
Seems like common decency to me.

Amalia

[podfish]

I agree with that, especially in an area like the west county. Much as I might prefer a road system where people focus on driving as if it were considered operating heavy machinery instead of as if they were hanging casually in a little mobile room, that's not realistic. Pretty much everyone has to drive whether they have the skills & aptitude or not.
Except for on freeways, where nothing but cars can live anyway, it really impacts people's quality of life when cars are zipping around too quickly. "Trick" speed traps may be unfair, but I wish they did even more enforcement in areas where people are living or moving around.

Driving the speed limit.... now there's a thought!
I was pegged at the Hacienda Bridge and I was driving over the posted 35 mph. Although I would have preferred a warning ;~) I was not offered that option. Lesson learned for me is to allow more time to get to where I need to go.

[Tars]

I missed something....it seems you were doing nothing wrong, according to your words. How could you be ticketed simply for being there?

I wasn't ticketed - should've said - just stopped. But I drive a funky looking old vehicle (great gas mileage!). I assume the cop thought there must be something on the vehicle I could be ticketed for. Dang it - everything in good working order, and all the right documentation!

Non-speed trap piss-off: I was ticketed by SPD for having the nerve to park a vehicle in Sebastopol which had an expired registration. $35 ticket plus I have to physically go show that the vehicle had been registered, or it would be impounded by the PD next time they saw it, registration tag or not. That would result in an additional large payment to the PD, plus to the contracted impound towing company. The piss-off was that the vehicle was actually registered w/ DMV. All fees paid; I was waiting for the tags, etc. to arrive in the mail. Why does the city of Sebastopol ticket for non-registered vehicles anyway? It's not their jurisdiction, it's the state's. Reason: Generate revenue. Their motto should be, "To Protect And Collect"!

[shellebelle]

So did you at least get a date from him?

I got one a few weeks ago on 116, heading south, just before the two one-ways join up again; I had pulled into the far left lane just after the Bodega Hwy traffic light, to put something in the drive-up mailbox next to the public parking lot, and when I sped up to get among all the cars in the far right lane, to continue south on 116, the Sebastopol officer got me for 35 in a 25. I don't know where he was lurking.

Sara S.

[Anita J.]

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day I saw a retiree when I went downtown and into a shop. She was only there for about 5 minutes, and when she came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
She said to him, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break"? He ignored her and continued writing the ticket. She called
him a "Nazi." He glared at her and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So she called him a "doughnut eating Gestapo." He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more she abused him the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care. She came downtown on the bus, and the car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said,
"McCain 08."

Great story, loved it! Similar story--an elderly couple in New Zealand were getting ready for bed and noticed that a door in their outside utility shed was open. Since neither one of them had been out there they called the local police. They were informed that they(the police) were busy and would get there when they could. So, the man called the police back and said he had just shot the intruder. The police were there promptly and catching the intruder said to the elderly gentleman, "I thought you said you shot him?" He replied "I thought you said you were busy."

[Sara S]

I have been trying this for awhile, and it's so not as stressful as the rush; also a good opportunity to practice patience, a Buddhist virtue.

Sara S.

How about simply planning your car trip with enough time to get to your destination? Respect the speed limit and stop tailgating.
Seems like common decency to me.

Amalia

[Lenny]

Maybe if the Sebastopol police inforced (ticketed) the speeders on 116 they could raise enough money so the city would not have to implement a utility tax. Hwy 116 is policed by three (city, county and state) entities yet the frequency of speeders and accidents makes Sebastopol less inviting for commerce and decreases the quality of life for those who live there. The Northeast plan is just a way to not deal with the problems of having a state highway run through town. Bypass Sebastopol, Llano to Irwin to Occidental, and create traffic calming systems to make Sebastopol pedestrian and bike friendly.

About 20 years ago there were words regarding the bypass of Sebastopol, pretty much in the same location you wrote in the above. Merchants slammed THAT down quick, fast and in a hurry! To bad, I liked it.

And I have to laugh. LOTS & LOTS of words about wifi and big time huffing & puffing. Not much written about the new tax the city government wants to impose on everyone's utilities!
We get what we deserve.

[danejasper]

Here's a "solution" - you twitter when you see CHP or radar using police:

https://speedtrap.pbwiki.com/

Folks then "track" the local police (sonomachp, for example), and see any public twitters related. Here's an example of someone sending one a while back:

Sonomachp speedtrap on 101 between cotati and petaluma. Many motorcycles

about 1 month ago from txt

[broadbandersnatch]

Worthy of a sit-com or something!!!!!!mindy

Wish this story were true-variations have been circulating on the web for months. Afraid its a tailored version of yet another (sub) urban myth..

[Suz]

So, do you mean you 'typically' only speed in other peoples' neighborhoods? And is your speeding safe, whereas other peoples' isn't?

I can tell you for a fact that one of the most consistent complaints the City receives is about speeding drivers, and everybody wants the City to do something about it--except when it means that they might get a ticket.

Re-framing this issue as "the cops just want to raise revenues" is very disingenuous, to my mind. It is your responsibility to drive safely for your own sake and for everyone else's. And the best place to start practicing safe driving is right here at home. Get in the habit.

[broadbandersnatch]

With one speeding ticket in 20 years (before yesterday,) I would say I was "in the habit" of not speeding. Everyone mkes a mistake once in a while. That stretch of River Rd has a few abrupt changes in speed from 50-35mph. I was slowing down at the time I was nailed. I am sure the CHP will nail someone every few minutes there this weekend. IS this the best way to deter speeding in trouble spots? Is this the best use of our tax payers money?

There are other solutions: those signs that instantly post a person's speed have been shown to be quite effective in lowering driver's speed in trouble spots, thus freeing police to go after people engaged in more serious criminal behavior while effectively reminding otherwise law abiding citizens not to speed in areas where the speed limit is habitually not observed.

Just observe driver's behavior on 116, where one such such sign has been installed. Problem solved. Yes this costs money, but what does it cost to leave an officer sitting all day by the side of the road?

[Suz]

Well I have been driving for 43 years now with never a speeding ticket, and one in 20 years isn't bad. Yes the speed spy signs are effective, but they are costly, and the bottom line is, there's a limit to the speed a car can go on any given road and be safe. It's still speeding, even if you don't get a ticket, and the government isn't the place to where we can really solve a problem that is one of personal responsibility.

With one speeding ticket in 20 years (before yesterday,) I would say I was "in the habit" of not speeding. Everyone mkes a mistake once in a while. That stretch of River Rd has a few abrupt changes in speed from 50-35mph. I was slowing down at the time I was nailed. I am sure the CHP will nail someone every few minutes there this weekend. IS this the best way to deter speeding in trouble spots? Is this the best use of our tax payers money?

There are other solutions: those signs that instantly post a person's speed have been shown to be quite effective in lowering driver's speed in trouble spots, thus freeing police to go after people engaged in more serious criminal behavior while effectively reminding otherwise law abiding citizens not to speed in areas where the speed limit is habitually not observed.

Just observe driver's behavior on 116, where one such such sign has been installed. Problem solved. Yes this costs money, but what does it cost to leave an officer sitting all day by the side of the road?

[Braggi]

... but what does it cost to leave an officer sitting all day by the side of the road?

Mmmmm, think you missed the point broad. That officer probably brings in 8 or 10 times his cost in ticket revenue, perhaps more.

-Jeff

[broadbandersnatch]

Mmmmm, think you missed the point broad. That officer probably brings in 8 or 10 times his cost in ticket revenue, perhaps more.

-Jeff

Didn't miss that point-but thanks for making it for me.

[Sara S]

I posted the info last year that I had been to traffic school, and the teacher said that cops everywhere were "being pressured" to write more tickets because the departments needed the money.

So, do you mean you 'typically' only speed in other peoples' neighborhoods? And is your speeding safe, whereas other peoples' isn't?

I can tell you for a fact that one of the most consistent complaints the City receives is about speeding drivers, and everybody wants the City to do something about it--except when it means that they might get a ticket.

Re-framing this issue as "the cops just want to raise revenues" is very disingenuous, to my mind. It is your responsibility to drive safely for your own sake and for everyone else's. And the best place to start practicing safe driving is right here at home. Get in the habit.

[Shandi]

"Simply" planning your car trip sounds so simple, if only we could just focus on that, rather than getting delayed by answering phone calls, or other such things that interfere with leaving our homes at the "planned" time, therefore
creating an urgency to speed in order to get to our appointments on time.

The trick I use is to set most of my clocks 15 minutes ahead.....that way it helps me to avoid leaving later than I want, and keeps me on time. Even though I know that my clocks are ahead, when I see the time I don't think about that; I use that time as my guide.

The one clock that's actually correct is the last one I see before leaving the house.

I've been driving for 50 years, and have received 2 speeding tickets, one was when I was 19 and a week before my wedding....the other was about 15 years ago on the GG bridge, when I first came to Marin from Hawaii.

Sometimes I'm going along, looking for speed limit signs, and am just going with the flow of traffic, when I see a sign that indicates a much slower speed than most are going, or there are abrupt changes only a block or two apart.

It just means that we all have to be more aware of our driving speeds and general awareness while driving. Multi-tasking reduces this need for awareness, and increases the chances of a "risky" ride for ourselves and others....sometimes ending in an "unplanned" accident which may leave us or others serious injured, or even dead.

Common decency can increase our chances of living healthy, "uninterrupted" lives.

Sandy

How about simply planning your car trip with enough time to get to your destination? Respect the speed limit and stop tailgating.
Seems like common decency to me.

Amalia

[nikki]

Wish this story were true-variations have been circulating on the web for months. Afraid its a tailored version of yet another (sub) urban myth..

I recieved a ticket for crossing a double yellow line on 116, just outside of guerneville. It was near the garbage dump. I cut the courner, not unsafe, but still illegal. I cried and told the officer I hadnt had a ticket in over 25 years. I was hoping for a warning. BUT no, the officer said he was sorry but he had a quota to fill!! The officers have to give so many tickets per month. Of course I was pissed. It costed me over $200, a hardship for me. I thought what a waste of taxpayers money. I was shocked that he would mention he was giving me a ticket only to fill his quota!!! not something to advertise to the public. If he had no quota, he wouldn't have given me a ticket.

[jbox]

When I speak to people from out of the area, so many of them are surprised by the heavy CHP presence in West County. Most of the locals have a story to tell about how their day was ruined while just going about their daily business. I'm 56 and before moving to west county 5 years ago my last speeding ticket was in high school. I've gotten 2 since. I now really watch my driving but sometimes I think back to ny Oakland and Berkeley days and the police doing actual police work. The sheriff mostly "protects and serves", however the CHP seems to exist primarily to enhance the state's revenues and keep the police boot on the public's neck. Imagine taking the money 3 CHP units cost and putting it into road maintenance instead.....