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#Post#: 19166--------------------------------------------------
Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest word in
your favorite language
By: SHL Date: August 16, 2019, 8:38 pm
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[quote author=SuKi link=topic=1330.msg19161#msg19161
date=1565987294]
I first learnt German when I was 12, and I remember discovering
the longest word I'd ever seen in my coursebook - it was
Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung. Very impressive! I've never
forgotten it.
And just in case anyone has never heard this old joke:
The longest word in the English language is SMILES. Why?
[/quote]
There's nothing wrong with that word, SuKi, but I‘ve only heard
Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung, the same thing. Speed limit. And,
boy did I learn about German speed limits.
I just got in the mail a nice little letter with my picture on
it in black-and-white, from the Landkreis Cuxhaven.
They don‘t need to pull you over to give you a speeding ticket,
they just have this nice little camera called a „Blitzer“ and
you get geblitzt with it for going too fast. Clever little
hidden device. It snaps a photo of the driver and the license
plate and then they send you a ticket in the mail.
I recall taking a side road to avoid a Stau (traffic jam) on the
Autobahn last July and trying to use google maps to navigate
around it. I think the detour cost me an hour. Dumb idea indeed.
Such a waste of time. Sort of half lost, I ended up going
through this little place, what I‘d call a Puppsdorf, literally
a „fart-town“ called Kirchwistedt. It was so small if you
blinked you’d miss it. Then all of the sudden this flash went
off and I thought, „Oh no. Someone took a photo of me.“
Now I‘m looking at a little letter „Anhörung im
Bußgeldverfahren“ (hearing on a case involving a ticket). How
delightful.
„Ihnen wird vorgeworfen, am 13.07.2019 um 17:07 Uhr in
Kirchwistedt, B71........als Führer des PKW SKODA (CZ) HH-LI
8627 folgende Verkehrsordungswidrigkeit(en) nach § 24 StVG
begangen zu haben: Sie überschritten die zulässige
Höchstgeschwindigkeit innerhalb geschlossener Ortschaften um 25
km/h. Zulässige Geschwindigkeit: 50 km/h. Festgestellte
Geschwindigkeit (nach Toleranzabzug): 75 km/h.“
So I’m accused as the driver of a Skoda to have committed a
traffic offense on July 13, 2019 at 17:07, in that delightful
little town of Kirchwistedt by exceeding the speed limit of 50
by going 75 inside of a village/small town. (Incidentally, you
can see in German, all the words are pretty long.)
You’re driving along at a modest 75 km/h and all of this sudden
this little place pops up with two houses and a gas station and
no warning sign that the speed limit is now 50, and you get your
picture taken and sent a ticket. The fine is 80€. After you exit
this delightful village, which takes 2 seconds, the speed limit
is 70-something again.
I wonder if it would be a defense to write back and say, „You
know guys, that little place you call Kirchwistedt, that place
with two houses and a gas station, I don‘t think really
qualifies as an Ortschaft (village). It looked more like some
place in the Australian outback. Are you sure the speed little
was suppose to be that of a real town, 50? It looks to me like
it should have been a 70 zone.“
Inside towns/villages the base speed limit is 50 unless posted
as higher. It’s often not posted. You are just supposed to know
that. And the fines are higher too for speeding.
I doubt that argument will get me far. :'(
#Post#: 19167--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: Nikola Date: August 17, 2019, 3:15 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Oh Steven, you like living on the edge, you little rebel :D
#Post#: 19168--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: SuKi Date: August 17, 2019, 3:32 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Steven,
In defence of my German primer, it was written in the 1960s, so
vocabulary might have changed somewhat. At that time, the French
books still had 'plume' for pen.
What struck me about your speeding story was that it wouldn't be
out of place in Nikola's thread about villages. Much as you love
Germany, it seems you can't shake off your US-centric derision
of small settlements :)
Still better than California, though, isn't it? The son of a
friend of mine landed in San Francisco, rented a car then
inadvertently exceeded the limit by a couple of m/p/h. He spent
the next few days in jail, along with psychopathic gun-wielding
crack addicts, and took home a criminal record as souvenir! Give
me a black and white photo from a German village any day....
#Post#: 19170--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: SHL Date: August 17, 2019, 12:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SuKi link=topic=1330.msg19168#msg19168
date=1566030749]
Steven,
In defence of my German primer, it was written in the 1960s, so
vocabulary might have changed somewhat. At that time, the French
books still had 'plume' for pen.
What struck me about your speeding story was that it wouldn't be
out of place in Nikola's thread about villages. Much as you love
Germany, it seems you can't shake off your US-centric derision
of small settlements :)
Still better than California, though, isn't it? The son of a
friend of mine landed in San Francisco, rented a car then
inadvertently exceeded the limit by a couple of m/p/h. He spent
the next few days in jail, along with psychopathic gun-wielding
crack addicts, and took home a criminal record as souvenir! Give
me a black and white photo from a German village any day....
[/quote]
Oh I have nothing against small settlements.
I‘d be curious to know how someone can exceed the speed limit by
a couple of mph and wind up in jail. People wind up in jail for
drunk driving, reckless driving, which is something like driving
greater than 50mph over the limit or driving dangerously, or
driving on a suspended license. Things like that. I‘ve never
heard of arrests over minor traffic violations. Stange indeed.
The only exception to this rule is where the party stopped
refuses to sign the promise to appear. That’s simply the ticket
with a date on it and time, and location of the court the person
utilizes to contest the ticket before a Judge, if he or she
wants to. The appearance isn’t mandatory, although the tickets
implies this. I think that’s just a flaw in the system that
needs better clarification on the ticket. If the person says,
„oh I‘m from out of town so I can‘t be at the hearing on that
date“ they still have to sign the promise to appear (which is
what the ticket is called) and it clearly says on it that, by
signing, they are not admittuing guilt. But if they refuse to
sign, then they do get arrested. That’s the only reason for an
arrest in a minor speeding ticket. The police officer explains
all this on the spot.
#Post#: 19172--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: Aliph Date: August 18, 2019, 3:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SuKi link=topic=1330.msg19168#msg19168
date=1566030749]
Still better than California, though, isn't it? The son of a
friend of mine landed in San Francisco, rented a car then
inadvertently exceeded the limit by a couple of m/p/h. He spent
the next few days in jail, along with psychopathic gun-wielding
crack addicts, and took home a criminal record as souvenir! Give
me a black and white photo from a German village any day....
[/quote]
Incredible. This same exact story happened to friends of us in
Southern California. Handcuffs for the husband, an armed
sheriff and the wife scared to hell driving the hired car to
follow the police car to an unknown destination. The husband in
jail for a night and the woman in the police parlor trying to
bail him out among metamphetamine dealers who waited for their
pals. The next day there was a trial. The judge told that the
sheriff abused of his power. No idea if there still is a
criminal record for the husband.
#Post#: 19175--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: Truman Overby Date: August 18, 2019, 7:18 am
---------------------------------------------------------
SuKi & Sofia, my BS detector is going wild. Neither story from
your friends make any sense. You will not go to jail in the U.S.
for exceeding the speed limit by 'a few mph.' Your friends are
either lying about what happened or are fabricating the stories
in whole.
#Post#: 19178--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: Nikola Date: August 18, 2019, 11:27 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=The Artist formerly known as Truman Overby
link=topic=1339.msg19175#msg19175 date=1566130712]
Your friends are either lying about what happened or are
fabricating the stories in whole.
[/quote]
That's a bit of a rushed conclusion, in my opinion. No one's
saying that the system is wrong on the whole, besides, each
state has different rules. I just read that in California, you
can get five to 90 days in jail for reckless driving, which
starts at 15 mph over the limit, but the limit is also kind of
flexible because if the weather conditions aren't ideal, for
instance, it can be temporarily lowered, apparently. However,
from what Sofia said, the judge decided the sheriff had abused
his power so that clearly tells us that it wasn't the normal
procedure. Is it really so hard to believe that there could be
an idiot, somewhere in California, who enjoys arresting random
tourists in rented cars for speeding?
#Post#: 19179--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: SHL Date: August 18, 2019, 12:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Sofia link=topic=1339.msg19172#msg19172
date=1566116436]
[quote author=SuKi link=topic=1330.msg19168#msg19168
date=1566030749]
Still better than California, though, isn't it? The son of a
friend of mine landed in San Francisco, rented a car then
inadvertently exceeded the limit by a couple of m/p/h. He spent
the next few days in jail, along with psychopathic gun-wielding
crack addicts, and took home a criminal record as souvenir! Give
me a black and white photo from a German village any day....
[/quote]
Incredible. This same exact story happened to friends of us in
Southern California. Handcuffs for the husband, an armed
sheriff and the wife scared to hell driving the hired car to
follow the police car to an unknown destination. The husband in
jail for a night and the woman in the police parlor trying to
bail him out among metamphetamine dealers who waited for their
pals. The next day there was a trial. The judge told that the
sheriff abused of his power. No idea if there still is a
criminal record for the husband.
[/quote]
Sofia, and SuKi. Neither of your stories makes the slightest bit
of sense. I totally agree with Jerry.
I have never heard of anything happening even remotely close to
what you related.
No one is taken to jail for exceeding the speed limit „by a
couple of miles an hour.“ That simply doesn’t happen.
In fact, most people here exceed the speed limit by 5 mph or 10,
all the time (I do) and no one pays any attention, even the
police.
In the US they don‘t have an automatic Blitzer that takes your
picture and sends you a ticket in the mail because to do so
would likely be a constitutional violation of what we call „due
process of law.“ Due process of law, at a minimum, is the right
to know what you are charged with and right to go to court and
be heard by a Judge to contest the case. „The right to notice
and to be heard“ is the common definition of due process.
The police have to hand-hold a Blitzer in the US, then pull you
over if you’ve exceeded the speed limit and write you a ticket.
They tell you on the spot why you were stopped, write out the
ticket with a hearing date and place on it for going to court to
contest the ticket and have you sign receipt of a copy, and then
let you go. That’s how it works.
Immediate arrests occur for 1) drunk driving (for obvious
reasons), 2) reckless driving (exceeding the speed limit by 50
miles per hour, maybe more in some places, or driving
dangerously, or 3) refusing to sign the traffic ticket Promise
to Appear. The later, like I said, it a poor choice of words and
probably should say Notice of Hearing and make it clear the
person‘s attendance at the hearing is not required. It also says
very clearly that you are not admitting guilt by signing the
Promise to Appear. As I said it's just a proof that you
personally received the ticket.
That’s it. I‘ve gotten plenty of traffic tickets for all kinds
of things and was never arrested. Both of the above stories are
simply not credible.
The automated camera just taking a picture of you exceeding the
speed limit and sending a ticket in the mail would probably
violate due process because the person is never personally
served the papers. How do you know the person got the notice if
it were sent by mail? It could be lost in the mail, stolen, you
could have been away of vacation. Hence you could lost your
right to contest the ticket. That’s the problem.
When a police officer hands you a ticket at least they have a
record you got the picket personally. No such record exist when
tickets are merely mailed.
Sofia, what did this person do to be arrested? If a Judge said
it was an abuse of power the next day the case was throw out and
there is NO criminal record. Case dismissed means no criminal
record.
Without more detail, it's impossible to comment more on the
allegations.
#Post#: 19180--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: Nikola Date: August 18, 2019, 12:22 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=SHL link=topic=1339.msg19179#msg19179
date=1566147839]
Immediate arrests occur for 1) drunk driving (for obvious
reasons), 2) reckless driving (exceeding the speed limit by 50
miles per hour, maybe more in some places, or driving
dangerously, or 3) refusing to sign the traffic ticket Promise
to Appear. The later, like I said, it a poor choice of words and
probably should say Notice of Hearing and make it clear the
person‘s attendance at the hearing is not required. It also says
very clearly that you are not admitting guilt by signing the
Promise to Appear. As I said it's just a proof that you
personally received the ticket.
[/quote]
Steven, most sources quote 15 (as I wrote above), some 20 mph
over the limit. I've not seen a single one that would quote 50
for California.
#Post#: 19181--------------------------------------------------
Re: Exceeding the speed limit SPLIT FROM What is the longest wor
d in your favorite language
By: SHL Date: August 18, 2019, 12:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Nikola link=topic=1339.msg19180#msg19180
date=1566148943]
[quote author=SHL link=topic=1339.msg19179#msg19179
date=1566147839]
Immediate arrests occur for 1) drunk driving (for obvious
reasons), 2) reckless driving (exceeding the speed limit by 50
miles per hour, maybe more in some places, or driving
dangerously, or 3) refusing to sign the traffic ticket Promise
to Appear. The later, like I said, it a poor choice of words and
probably should say Notice of Hearing and make it clear the
person‘s attendance at the hearing is not required. It also says
very clearly that you are not admitting guilt by signing the
Promise to Appear. As I said it's just a proof that you
personally received the ticket.
[/quote]
Steven, most sources quote 15 (as I wrote above), some 20 mph
over the limit. I've not seen a single one that would quote 50
for California.
[/quote]
Reckless driving is not defined by driving at any excessive
speed in California. I was wrong about saying 50. excessive
speed is just one factor the court can take into account in
deciding if there was reckless driving.
We do have a specific law of driving over 100 mph, but that’s
different:
1. What happens if I drive over 100 miles per hour on a
California highway?
California Vehicle Code 22348 (b) imposes specific penalties for
those motorists that drive over 100 miles per hour on a
California highway. These are:
A first offense results in a ticket with a base fine of $500 and
up to 30 days of license suspension.
A second offense within three years of time results in a ticket
with a maximum base fine of $750 and a possible license
suspension of six months.
A third offense within five years of time results in a ticket
with a maximum base fine of $1,000 and a possible license
suspension of one year.1
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