Synopses & Reviews
Chapter OneThe Facts of LifeWhy would a recently retired member of the State Police or Highway Patrol tell you how to avoid a speeding ticket when he just spent the last twenty years trying to see that you got one? For this book to have credibility I feel it would be necessary to answer that question for you before going any further. After you finish reading this short first chapter, the answer to the question "Why?" will be self-evident. In spite of the system within which I worked, I feel I made it through those two decades with my integrity still intact. (Tattered in places but still essentially intact.)Some of my cohorts will say I am committing treason, while others, those who go to the trouble of reading the book, will say "Right On!" Sooner or later someone has to call a spade a spade and reveal the foolishness that is modern day traffic enforcement. In addition to helping you, this book is my effort in that regard.To be quite honest, I would be perfectly happy if I were to know that you the reader would, after finishing this book, decide it wasn't worth the effort and made the decision to never exceed the posted speed limit again. I am not writing this to encourage you to speed. You are doing that already and we both know it. If you were not so inclined, there would be no reason for this book to be of interest to you. With that in mind let me now list the reasons for authoring this little bomb.A) Hypocrisy: Speed enforcement in this country is a mockery. When I was a young recruit, I was taught the term "selective enforcement" and was told it was the act of making a special effort to nab a particular type of violator who presented a special danger. Some examples of "selectiveenforcement" would be a police patrol following a school bus while trying to catch anyone who was passing illegally, or running radar in a school zone. I quickly learned that the real "selective enforcement" was the freedom of nearly unlimited choice exercised by the police officer in deciding who gets a ticket and who is let off. Police work has evolved to the point where the cops and everyone else in the system prefers that you speed. It makes their job easier.While the general public is subject to a ticket at almost any time, there are, as in every society, members of the "privileged class." In Moscow, it is my understanding that there is a special middle lane for those who are not subject to the traffic laws of society.In our country, they issue them badges and identification cards, saying they are cops. Just as the privileged class in the Soviet Union would not be inclined to travel in any lane but their special one, our privileged class often act as if they would be committing an atrocity by obeying the speed limit.My experience has shown that if a person on an interstate is traveling in excess of thirty miles an hour OVER the speed limit, is following too close to the rear of anyone who dares impede his forward motion and almost forces other cars out of his way, there is at least a 75% chance he is a police officer. It is also very likely that he is either off duty or if working, is NOT going to an emergency. There is better than a 99% chance that, when stopped, he will not get a ticket. All cops don't speed while off duty, but those who do manage to do it with impunity.I have heard officers rationalize the actions of their peers by making the claim that police are trained inhigh speed driving and so it is "not so bad." The truth is most police work in congested cities and rarely get their patrol cars up to 60 mph. The maintenance on their personal cars is also rarely as good as can be found on a highway patrol cruiser.If everyone who was stopped had to receive a ticket, cops would also be required to obey the law and there would be no reason for you to buy this book. As long as police have the option of stopping a car and not writing a ticket, there will be abuses of the system. With rare exceptions such as a Georgia deputy who hates all Yankees, even if they are cops, or the occasional mini-feuds that sometimes rear their ugly heads between agencies or portions of the same agency, cops would sooner face a loaded gun than ticket a "brother" officer. Is that so bad? I can't really say but because there are exceptions made for cops, then exceptions can be made for others such as politicians and other "special" people. The final result is that traffic enforcement is often exercised with prejudice and bigotry by officers who see nothing wrong with their actions.B) More Hypocrisy: The next time you hear of a vintage car show, go look under the hood of a 1950 through 1965 American made automobile. The engine block, carburetor, wirings and other trappings are simple, basic and logical. Then go look under any car sold in the good old U.S.A. during the last five years. Our Federal Government has accomplished this metamorphosis by passing stringent pollution laws. They also succeeded in requiring every state to pass a 55 mph speed law that, only after many years, has been repealed in some areas. My point is this. If the Federal, State and Local Governments reallywanted everyone to obey the speed limit, vehicles sold in this country would be legally required to have a governor that would limit the speed to 65 mph and the tampering with one would be a federal offense.If I drove for any length of time in a marked police cruiser at...
Synopsis
Regardless of your record as a driver, everyone speeds sometimes. You are on the open road, no one around for miles, and so you step on the gas pedal. Then you experience a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach -- and in your wallet -- when you see a flashing red light in the rearview mirror. Now you can ease on down the road without paying the high price of traffic tickets, inflated insurance premiums and expensive lawyer's fees. Former New York State Trooper James M. Eagan tells you how-with invaluable tips and trade secrets that the police don't want you to know.
- What makes a cop "tick" -- and how to use it to your advantage
- What dates and times are safest to step on the gas and when you are most likely to get caught
- How to avoid talking yourself into tickets
- What stories and excuses will often work
- How to spot an unmarked car
- Clipping the wings off "The Bear in the Air"
- And much more!
Whether you drive for business or pleasure -- or simply suffer from occasional leadfoot -- you cannot afford to be without this book!
About the Author
James M. Eagan is a former New York State Trooper with more than twenty years of experience.