
Can You Buy A License to Speed? - arnauddri
http://priceonomics.com/can-you-buy-a-license-to-speed/
======
Pxtl
Let's just take a step back and note something:

This is about human lives. Once you eliminate birth-defects, car accidents are
the _leading_ cause of death for people under 35. Particularly for young kids,
who obviously aren't driving.

Car accidents kill 34,000 Americans per-year. That's like if 9/11 happened
_once a month every year_.

And speed matters. Stopping distance and kinetic energy go up with the
_square_ of velocity. A pedestrian hit by a car going 20 mph will almost
certainly live. A person hit by a car going 40 mph will almost certainly die.

~~~
michaelochurch
Speeding in a residential area is a lot worse, for the reason you described.
New York City's speed limit of 30 is way too high (should be 20, without the
10mph tolerance). Most highways are underposted and should be 70-90.

Bizarrely, 40mph in a residential zone is a minor offense while 100mph on the
freeway (which isn't exactly good, but not as dangerous as it sounds with a
good car) with zero traffic can cost you your license in almost any state, and
put you in jail in some.

~~~
bluedino
>> Most highways are underposted and should be 70-90.

Maybe in the middle of Montana or Texas where it's 50 miles between towns, but
not anywhere with off/onramps. People are very bad at merging and it'd be very
difficult for many vehicles, especially trucks to get up to speed if 90 was
the limit.

~~~
rmc
Don't trying going on the German Autobahns (motorways). Unlimited speed limit,
and unlike USA bendy roads, and lotsa on/off slip roads.

------
mitchellh
My grandfather is a retired police chief from a major metro. When I purchased
my car (which has over 400 horsepower, so I like to... play), he told me to
become part of the highway patrol or police charity organization. He told me
when he was in law enforcement, any member of these organizations were treated
"much more lightly" than others.

For only $25 or something like that, you can get a piece of paper you can put
in your wallet to show you're a member. For around $2,000, you can get a
license plate frame.

He said even with the piece of paper, if you're pulled over, you have a pretty
good shot of being given a warning. You just need to make sure you show it to
them when they pull you over.

With the license plate, he said he would never pull over someone with the
license plate, because law enforcement doesn't have enough money as it is and
they'd rather not piss off those who have money to donate.

I didn't really believe him (grandfathers and all), but I donated anyways (for
a piece of paper, not the license plate). Now I see this article, and I'm
starting to think he was serious.

~~~
graeme
If stopped by an officer, do you pull out the paper and say "by the way, i'm a
member"? Doesn't seem smooth.

~~~
67726e
Hand them that card along with the license, registration, and proof of
insurance?

~~~
shasta
With a $20, too, right?

------
mrbill
Grew up with both parents in law enforcement. The one time I risked name-
dropping my mother in another county about an hour away, I lucked out and the
guy knew her and gave me a warning - and I was in a vehicle with out-of-state
plates (had come up to visit).

Friend of mine is a county cop near Houston. He told me, "The bigger the stack
of 'I Donated to the 100 Club' stickers or whatever on their back window, the
bigger the chance they're going to be a dick and they'll get a ticket anyway."

I'd say that having a Texas Mason license plate (not frame), being polite,
saying "Sir" or "Ma'am" as appropriate, and handing over my CHL (as required
by law) with my license/insurance - showing that I've undergone a background
check already - has more of a chance of getting me out of a ticket than any
stack of stickers.

Unless I run into an officer that is anti-CHL - but so far, that hasn't
happened. Had one ask me "Sir, do you have your weapon on you?" "No sir, I'm
not allowed to have it on property at work." "Well, you never know when you
might need it."

~~~
raldi
_> CHL_

Please don't use cryptic acronyms. Not everybody's from Texas.

~~~
liuhenry
CHL is the Texas concealed carry license.

~~~
midas007
My grandfather had at least two pistols on him on any trip out of town. I'm
guessing that's the license he had considering he was 82nd (later 101st)
Airborne and then head of an AP (Air Force MP) outfit.

~~~
mrbill
You don't need a CHL to have a firearm with you while traveling in Texas.

Wikipedia explains it well: "Gov. Perry also signed H.B. 1815 after passage by
the 2007 Legislature, a bill that allows any Texas resident to carry a
concealed handgun in the resident's motor vehicle without a CHL or other
permit.

The bill revised Chapter 46, Section 2 of the Penal Code to state that it is
in fact not "Unlawful Carry of a Weapon", as defined by the statute, for a
person to carry a handgun while in a motor vehicle they own or control, or to
carry while heading directly from the person's home to that car.

However, lawful carry while in a vehicle requires these three critical
qualifiers: (1) the weapon must not be in plain sight (in Texas law, "plain
sight" and "concealed" are mutually exclusive opposing terms); (2) the carrier
cannot be involved in criminal activities, other than Class C traffic
misdemeanors; and (3) the carrier cannot be a member of a criminal gang."

~~~
midas007
Thought you'd say that. :) Oh my grandfather carried a concealed pistol or
plural everywhere that was legal.

------
TamDenholm
I've always wondered if it would be worth the government actually creating a
"license to speed". The same as you can get a license to drive a lorry or a
motorcycle, why isnt there a license with a proper test that trains you
specifically on driving fast. Then when you're on the motorway only you can go
up to 100mph instead of 70mph (UK), if the camera's get you, it first does a
check on your plate to see if you have a proper license and then decides on
that if you get a ticket.

Cars are the safest they've ever been and are only going to get safer,
unfortunately i think that driving ability is getting worse because of
technology that keeps us safe in cars but i think an actual test to
demonstrate you are a good driver would help. Hell, even make it only valid
for 1 year and you have to sit the test again, and the test costs £5,000.
You'll STILL get plenty takers and hopefully make the road safer for the
people that are going to speed regardless anyway.

~~~
kylec
I would be willing to take a stricter driving test and have my vehicle
subjected to higher inspection standards if I could be permitted to drive
faster than the speed limit. Sure, some people and some cars can't safely do
it, but why not allow those that can to do so?

~~~
optimusclimb
Probably lack of incentive to change the laws. Getting anything done in the
government is tough and time consuming - Who's going to champion the cause of
letting certain people with faster cars be able to drive another 10-20 mph
faster versus other issues their constituents may have?

------
bagels
I was really hoping that they had done a study to find out if it actually
works.

They didn't.

~~~
nulltype
I was hoping as well. It seems like you might be able to do it with a decent
number of frames, a year, and some sort of OBD+GPS log to measure speeding.

It seems like it would be hard to do from say, data relating to getting pulled
over by cops etc, since they may not pull over someone with one of these
frames. But if you could compare frame owners vs everyone else, it could be
interesting.

------
grecy
I think everyone is missing the real point:

> _The CHP 11-99 Foundation has donated over $21 million in emergency
> assistance to the families of police officers, particularly officers killed
> in duty_

Why do Police officers (and families) need donations to care for them?

Shouldn't their job/benefits do that?

------
briancaw2
Anyone who is proud of speeding should come hang out and I'll throw punches
near your head just out of range. It's cool I have it under control; it will
bring me some pleasure and you will only be at risk if you get in my way or if
someone dumber than me follows my example doesn't have as much control.

~~~
sukuriant
You do know that's a common practice in martial arts, right? Instead of face,
it's your stomach, generally, but the point is still the same.

~~~
briancaw2
OK well when people need to do martial arts to get to work then we can talk.
And btw in that world, speeders would be the people who swing unsafely fast
while practicing with common folk.

~~~
sukuriant
No, speeders would be the people with /insufficient relevant training/ doing
that.

If everyone were trained, it wouldn't be so bad... which leads me back to
better driver's ed at high speeds, like in non US countries.

------
abruzzi
Since a lot of the discussion has moved towards the relative safety of
speeding, I'd be curious to see a break down of accidents and fatalities, by
absolute speed, by in-excess speed, and by roadway type.

If I had to guess (having been in a number of accidents caused by other
people) is that accidents are more common at lower speeds (because they are at
intersections and other conflicting right of ways where you are more likely to
be going slow) but fatalities are more likely at higher speeds where the
safety systems fail to protect those involved.

However high speed accidents are not automatic death sentences as some posters
have implied. I was in a head on collision on a small two lane residential
street with no other traffic. Both vehicles were going 35mph, so effective
collision speed was ~70mph. I was on a motorcycle and the oncoming truck was
on a cell phone. He veered into my lane, and I tried to move left but parked
cars limited my ability to avoid him. After the collision, I flew for a
distance, and on landing my head hit the point of the curb. The two things
that saved my life was (obviously) my helmet--without it, by brain would have
been on the street--and I had crash bars that were severely deformed after the
accident, but they kept my left leg from getting pinned between the bike and
the truck.

So relatively high speed accidents can be survivable, especially with modern
technology. The only injury I had was a badly sprained hip.

------
brandonhsiao
Wow, that's not even a rich people thing. $1,800 for a lifetime speeding
license is a decent deal for anyone who regularly likes speeding.

~~~
bagels
Your basic ticket comes to about $400 with all the extra fees in California.
If you were to get a few, it pays for itself.

~~~
jffry
Wouldn't your insurance rate go up as well after a speeding ticket?

~~~
nobodysfool
If you're rich enough to spend $2500 on speeding ticket insurance, putting
away $50,000 for an insurance deposit isn't a big deal, so no, that $50,000
deposit costs the same as it did.

~~~
laxatives
That's a pretty slippery slope. You just lumped 20x as not a big deal.

~~~
midas007
Also anyone that can afford posting their own bond instead of lieu of an
insurance requirement also has their own legal representation.

------
jds375
I find it very likely that when the foundation issued these license plates
they knew people would donate to get them in order to avoid some speeding
tickets. This probably resulted in a lot more funds raised than if they gave
away jackets, hats, or something like that. Thus, it was clearly in 11-99's
best interest to do this.... And I don't even think it's a bad decision. Sure,
some more people get off on speeding tickets, but the additional money raised
allows 11-99 to better support the families of officers in times of crisis. At
the end of the day, more of the latter seems a lot better to me than less of
the former.

------
chrisBob
Things like that only work to a point. I had a good friend who liked to drive
fast and had a nice BMW with a purple heart license plate. He got out of a lot
of trouble with that, until an incident where they revoked his license, and he
couldn't drive for a few years. Right or wrong the police give preferential
treatment to people who gave money, time, or blood to a cause they support,
but only to a point.

Personally, I have a bronze star plate on my car, and I don't push my luck too
much any more, but I also know for a fact it got me out of a ticket for an
expired inspection.

------
optimusclimb
I don't understand why reporters/investigators in articles like these bother
asking such loaded questions to officials as, "Do officers give leniency to
license frame bearers?"

I feel like, if you're in that person's shoes, even if you know damned well
they do, saying "yes" would be equivalent to answering "yes" to, "Would you
like to lose your job or at least be put on leave within the next week?"

------
GrinningFool
People go to such amazing lengths to avoid getting a ticket, but it's very
easy to speed and not get pulled over.

1) Don't drive stupid. It's perfectly possible to drive very fast without
driving badly. If you're swerving a lot, accelerating then stomping on your
brakes, jerking from lane to lane... it's an indication that you're not
planning ahead and are therefore driving badly. You deserve to get pulled
over. And for heaven's sake, don't race unless you're willing to get pulled.
Be a little grown up.

2) Go as fast as you want - but don't be the fastest car on the road. Always
let a cop-catcher run about a 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile ahead (don't tailgate them,
that'll get you pulled over for speeding _and_ being an ass).

3) Don't use a detector. They give you a false sense of security and will
guarantee that if you _do_ get pulled, you get a ticket. Not only that, 90% of
the time no officer is going to leave the radar "wide open" on all passing
cars - which means your detector won't go off until _after_ you've been
tagged.

4) Don't speed in residential areas. There's just no gain.

Bonus tips:

1) As much as possible, stay out of the left hand lane. That's just easy
pickings right there. edit: that doesn't mean it's okay to zip around people
on the right. Just don't sit there with the pedal on the floor. be there when
you need to be - but don't be there when you don't .

2) When in an area that you can't see possible hiding spaces get adept at
feathering your speed down a bit and letting a car (ok) suv (better) , van or
truck (best) on the left side shield you from that spot. Edit: again to
clarify this doesn't mean zip around on the right. You're actually going to be
gong slower or matching these cars, preferably from two lanes away. If you
don't have two lanes, don't do this.

3) At night it's especially easy. I don't know if it's the same in all staets
,but every one I've driven through cops have their headlights on while they
wait. If you look far enough ahead - and you should be anyway otherwise you're
driving poorly and deserve a ticket - you can see a copy waiting a half mile
off or more.

4) If you think you've been tagged, don't slam your brakes. In addition to
being a hazard, the cop has already tagged you - and the sudden flare of
brakelights is a surefire giveaway to the fact that you _know_ you were
speeding. (This one is the hardest for most people...)

In the 1980s "A Speeder's Guide to Avoiding Tickets" came out, written by a
state patrol officer. I think most of what I do up there is a variation on
what's in that book. If you speed a lot but are willing to do so intelligently
and safely, you should get it. It's excellent and still as valid.

Anyway - that got long-winded. TL;DR: speed smart and safe, don't be an idiot,
and pay attention and you don't need to spend money on a fancy license plate
frame. (Or a FOP sticker in other states...)

\- Speeding ticket free (and driving fast and smart in muscle cars) for more
years than I can recall.

~~~
nanidin
How much time do you save by speeding? To me, speeding significantly,
especially for short trips, is futile.

Say in a 20 mile commute, 14 miles is on the highway with a speed limit of
65mph, 3 miles is on a road with a speed limit of 45mph, and 3 miles is on a
residential road with a speed limit of 35mph. Furthermore, to simplify this,
let's say you only speed on the highway. Going 65mph will result in 12.9
minutes on the highway, going 80mph will result in 10.5 minutes on the
highway. By speeding, you exposed yourself to financial risk, and yourself and
others to physical risk in order to save 2.4 minutes.

Now, let's say you encounter 6 stop lights on your commute, each with an
average red light time of 1 minute. Let's say on average, you get caught in
half of them each time you make the trip and that there are no backups
requiring you to stay at any given light for more than 1 cycle. So your
average red light time per commute is 3 minutes.

You've now spent more time waiting at red lights than you have saved by
speeding on your commute.

On long trips, speeding can save you hours instead of minutes, so it seems
more justified. But for a savings of 2.5 minutes that can easily be negated by
red lights or other drivers? Why put yourself and others at risk for such a
small reward?

~~~
politician
I imagine it's less about time saved, and more about fun. Most people don't go
downhill skiing to get somewhere.

~~~
nanidin
Then why not speed on a track, or some other closed environment?

I imagine that shooting guns at targets is fun too - but most people wouldn't
find that to be an acceptable excuse for shooting guns at targets in a public
park.

~~~
saraid216
> Then why not speed on a track, or some other closed environment?

Because freedom.

> I imagine that shooting guns at targets is fun too - but most people
> wouldn't find that to be an acceptable excuse for shooting guns at targets
> in a public park.

What do you think the "we use them to hunt" justification is for the American
love of owning guns? The overwhelming majority of people who trot out this
justification aren't depending on a good hunt for any real productive purpose;
they go hunting because it's _fun_.

~~~
nanidin
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with driving fast or hunting/shooting
guns - I'm just saying there is a context in which those activities are not
acceptable, and that context is when you are acting unsafely and subjecting
other people to unnecessary risk.

Note when I say park, I mean a city park, not a state park or wildlife park or
wherever hunting is actually permitted.

------
fn42
Yep, I thought this was general knowledge. Here in the northeast we have "PBA
Cards" which can be given out by police to friends/family/donators that you
are supposed to hand the officer with your license if you're pulled over.

Although to be honest I've found that just being nice (& maybe driving a real
clean volvo) has gotten me out of a speeding ticket every time I've been
pulled over

------
johnatwork
Quebec used to have these stickers to place on your plate for registration
(not anymore). And some police families were giving out plate stickers with
VIP written on them, which as it was found out gave them leniency, as well as
parking ticket immunity. Investigations happened, and as a result, no one has
these anymore, at least as far as the general public know.

------
GFK_of_xmaspast
The kind of drivers who would buy a license to speed are generally the kind of
drivers who should have their license to drive revoked.

------
bbarn
I can recall a marketing call where I was asked to donate to one association
or another and told I'd get a window decal or something to that effect, and
while it wouldn't give me a free pass, it would certainly show officers on the
road I appreciate them. I've got the exact verbage wrong, but that was the
sentiment (this was several years ago). It was quite a hard sell from the
solicitor, and I didn't go for it. I was frankly a little disgusted by the
call.

That said, I've been driving for 20 years, and pulled over one time. That one
time, an out of state cop (in my home town) pulled me over because the license
plate frame (from the dealership I bought the car at) partially obscured the
state name and he couldn't tell what it was. I suppose it could have been
another state that ended in -nois, like lilinois, iiiinois, or something else,
but more than likely, it was 5AM in a small town in Maine and I was circling
around one-way streets looking lost or suspicious (I hadn't been back there in
many years). The cop gave me directions to the street my grandfather lived on,
and told me to enjoy my trip.

The secret here is surprisingly simple, and applies to most everything else in
life. Don't be a dick. Drive around the same speed as other cars, and if
you're the only one on the road, don't do more than 5-6 mph over the limit on
the highway. It won't cost you that much time, and if you're the only one on
the road it's probably dark and/or rural anyway so you SHOULD be more
cautious, and in the end, you win either way, at the great expense of.. a few
minutes time.

Another tip I've learned, is do as others do - especially on highways. Think
about it, when you're driving across country, how many other cars around you
are undertaking that length of a trip? It's far more likely most of them live
in the area, and know what's appropriate - both for safety, and for cop-
avoidance.

------
batbomb
You'll almost never get pulled over for doing exactly 11 over on any street
with a speed limit of 50 or higher. Thanks to the law of cosines, a cop is
likely to read you going 10 or less or less, and cops generally don't even
bother with people doing 9 or less over, especially highway patrol.

------
syncerr
A forum discussing plates like these:
[http://forums.officer.com/t124675/](http://forums.officer.com/t124675/)

> Those are just as useless, they actually make me want to stop the car to see
> what the person is trying to hide...

~~~
diydsp
I once read a book by a retired police officer about how to avoid tickets.
(Protip: a new one comes out every few years)

His take was that organizations within the police department are just like
fraternities on a college campus: You have people who are with them and people
who vehemently dislike them. So you're taking a gamble. Still, it seems like
it's worth it if you're a speeder.

~~~
midas007
Yup. One play might be to not display any affiliations or bumper stickers at
all. If you have to advertise X, it seems like you're "trying too hard." Just
as a non-cop, seeing NRA stickers is going to make me immediately assume
irritable, gun-toting jerk.

------
flycaliguy
I would be interested in theories as to how many additional accidents and
deaths this leniency has caused. The thought of a police force increasing the
death rate on their roads in order financially support their coworkers is
depressing to say the least.

------
danfolkes
$20 dollars and make your own:
[http://www.autoplates.com/store/custom_apps_a_FrameStandardB...](http://www.autoplates.com/store/custom_apps_a_FrameStandardBAK.html)

------
13throwaway
In Russia you can buy a blue light bar and they will let you speed.

~~~
midas007
🚨 Hilarious 🚨. (Sorry, I could only steal them in red today.)

✋ Don't leave me hangin', bro, it's Friday after all.

------
aresant
Speaking from experience the 11-99 is as much a badge of bullshit honor
amongst "serious" car enthusiasts.

Like I not only have a Porsche I have $2500 and I am a serious racer.

If pricenomics had presented one piece of actual data vs conjecture this would
be compelling but barring that this is just linkbait and probably good
marketing for more stupid vanity license plates just like the la times article
they reference

------
lawncheer
A police officer friend once told me, to put your hands out the window when
you get pulled over, and leave them there, until the office tells you to stop.
Then you casually say sorry and mention that an cop-friend told you to do it,
to put their (the cops) minds at ease while they walk up. Anecdotal evidence
on my end, suggests it works.

~~~
chrisBob
I have heard to just keep you hands on the top of the wheel, and when they ask
for license and registration I say "Ok, my license is in my back pocket, and
the registration is in the center console. I am getting the license out
first." Then I move my hands off the steering wheel.

~~~
arjie
The trick with the other guy's thing is that he gets a reason to mention a cop
friend. It's a conversation trick.

Situation 1: Cop walks up. You mention your cop friend. Trouble will ensue
because you're obviously trying to say "I'm friends with policemen."

Situation 2: Cop walks up. Asks why you're doing obviously bizarre thing. Say
it's because your cop friend asked you to so that police can know you're empty
handed. You've now responded to a question and managed to mention that you're
a friend with the police. He can't hold that against you because he's the one
that asked.

~~~
midas007
Huh? Not sure if speeding counts as bizarre.

~~~
lawncheer
The "bizarre" thing, he was referring to is holding your hands out the window.
Not everyone does that typically; and one of the most important things you can
do is to keep your hands where the officer can see them as they approach. It's
like a "social cue" that tells them you are clued in. They _might_ be a little
more willing to let you go.

------
eurleif
I watched a friend get out of a ticket in California not by having a special
license plate, but by being dressed in a suit, and being friendly. He was
blatantly going 90+, and the cop seemed annoyed when he first approached the
car. Then, I think "this is a rich kid!" clicked in his brain, and they had a
nice chat.

------
wavesounds
Can you copyright a license plate frame? I'd love to make a bunch of these
things and go hand them out to low income minorities, those people deserve a
break from the cops for once.

------
wnevets
I actually have a PBA card given to me by a police officer that will
supposedly help me get of out a ticket. It has nothing to do with wealth.

~~~
ryguytilidie
"Either be friends with a police officer or pay us $2k for a license plate
frame and you can get out of tickets" both very much has something to do with
wealth and is incredibly corrupt.

~~~
wnevets
do you really have to be wealthy to have access to $2k? While you can argue
this is a corrupt system, you dont have to drive a high end two door sports
car to have access to it.

edit: two door

~~~
ryguytilidie
Seriously? This is a pretty worrisome disconnect. Having 2k to blow on
something like this is almost the definition of wealth to me and is very
certainly not fair or productive to society to have things like this.

~~~
wnevets
> Having 2k to blow on something like this

If this is as trivial as you're making it out to be then why is this story
worth reading and discussing?

------
sscalia
These work. Very much discussed in SV car clubs. Many spotted in my local Audi
club.

This + LIDAR jammer = no tickets.

~~~
midas007
In California VC Section 28150, a LIDAR jammer in of itself can result in a
ticket. Best to coast and switch it off very quickly. In my experience only
about 20% of patrol cars used LIDAR, the majority seem to be using K or Ka
band RADAR. X band is so prone to false alarms and never had an actual alert
on it that wasn't a speed sign so, disabling it is common.

~~~
sscalia
Actually, more than a ticket. They can impound your car.

However, most systems have an "alert then disable after X seconds" system -
giving you time to slow, then disable the jam, allowing the LEO to get a
'speed' eventually (and chalk it up to his crappy LIDAR gun)

Take a look at the grilles of some exotic / fast cars. If you see devices
inset that look like IR blasters -- those are LIDAR jammers.

------
jaysonelliot
If a 11-99 license plate frame were an effective protection against speeding
tickets, the obvious question would be "why not counterfeit one?"

The cost of making even one frame would be far less than $2,500. Even better,
why not make a batch of them and sell them illicitly?

The economics don't seem to add up.

~~~
tonyarkles
Did you read the whole article? People are doing exactly what you're saying.

~~~
jaysonelliot
Yes, that's why I said the economics didn't make sense.

~~~
ryguytilidie
It's a charity organization. It's not about the economics making sense. It's
intended to be a gift for donating money, not a +EV speeding ticket helper.

