Deputy Dresses As Elf To Catch Speeders

[RamboLiberal]

Now that is not Ho Ho Ho.

http://www.local6.com/news/10485255/detail.html

In Orange County, the problem isn't dashing through the snow. It's cars darting down the street at high speeds.

So the Orange County Sheriff's Office is doing something about it, launching Operation ELF: Enforcing Limits and Fining speeders.

Here's how it works: a sheriff's deputy dressed as an elf clocks cars using a radar gun then dispatches a motorcycle deputy to pull them over and issue the driver a ticket.


More than 150 tickets were written in just over two hours Thursday.

Some people said using a holiday icon to enforce the law didn't seem right.



That is one ugly elf!

[napi21]

1. I saw this on CNn this AM. They videoed one young girl who said

it was just wrong to use a Christmasholiday symbol tohand out tickets. She said it smelled like entrapment to her.

I gotta give the PD a bit of credit for creativity!

[davidwparker]

2. I saw this on Olberman last night. Stop speeding during this holiday

season. Problem solved.

[Kingshakabobo]

3. The caption doesn't say it but those are his real ears!

I'm not sure what the point of the costume is?......other than to be a jag-off?

[Mike Daniels]

4. What's the the problem here?

If they're speeding they're breaking the law. Why are the cops at blame for people acting irresponsibly?

[RamboLiberal]

5. And a lot of speed limits are too damn low

IMHO speed limits ought to be at the speed 80% of the traffic on the road maintains.

[Dora]

9. And if 80% of drivers drive too damn fast, then what?

[RamboLiberal]

12. Whatever speed the 80% drive is probably the safest

IMHO it's the other 20% that drive above or below the traffic flow that cause the accidents and tie-ups.

[Dora]

21. I completely disagree with that opinion.

If we don't equate, at least we balance.

[ThomCat]

10. Except, people tend to go over the speed limit

No matter what you set it at.

[Sherman A1]

7. Agreed

however, the elf is kinda ugly.....

[Kingshakabobo]

8. My comment was in reference to the cop dressing as an elf.

Also, I have a problem with mass dragnets. I think 150 tickets in two hours stinks of budget/revenue enhancement - not safety concerns.

[LisaM]

6. A friend of mine (from Orange County) just told me about a speeding accident

that almost killed her niece; guy careening through a residential district, went out of control around a curve, killed a woman on the sidewalk (who was in a wheelchair) in front of her two young children, and could easily have also killed my friend's niece.

Book 'em. I can't bear speeding.

[RamboLiberal]

Book those who speed excessively

That was an idiot who was driving beyond the road and his ability to control the vehicle plus his not taking in to account this was a residential neighborhood.

I have no problem with giving tickets to excessive speeders. But this elf case is nothing but revenue enhancement. All they are doing is catching a bunch of people who have driven this road at this speed for years and taking away money they may well need. Bah humbug!

And you know what - as soon as the elf and his minions go away the traffic will be back over the speed limit of this road. It's probably set too low. Below is what I'm referring to that traffic engineers know.

85th percentile rule
In the United States, traffic engineers may rely on the 85th percentile rule<2> to establish speed limits. The speed limit should be set to the speed that separates the bottom 85% of vehicle speeds from the top 15%. The 85th percentile is slightly greater than a speed that is one standard deviation above the mean of a normal distribution.

The theory is that traffic laws that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists may have better compliance than laws that arbitrarily criminalize the majority of motorists and encourage violations. The latter kinds of laws lack public support and often fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior. An example is the federally-mandated 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit that was scrapped in part because of notoriously low compliance.

Traffic engineers observe that the majority of drivers drive in a safe and reasonable manner, as demonstrated by consistently favorable driving records. Studies have shown crash rates are lowest at around the 85th percentile. Vehicles traveling over the 85th percentile speed (or faster than the flow of traffic) have a significantly higher crash risk than vehicles traveling around or modestly below this speed.

Most U.S. jurisdictions report using the 85th percentile speed as the basis for their speed limits, so the 85th-percentile speed and speed limits should be closely matched. However, a review of available speed studies demonstrates that the posted speed limit is almost always set well below the 85th-percentile speed by as much as 8 to 12 mph (see p.88) (13 to 19 km/h). Some reasons for this include:

Political or bureaucratic resistance to higher limits.
Statutes that restrict jurisdictions from posting limits higher than an arbitrary number.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit

[Sequoia]

11. Bah humbug!

[shadowknows69]

13. All fucking bad drivers must fucking hang.

That is all. Evil cabbie is peeking out, sorry.

[TangoCharlie]

14. Maybe he just likes it

Maybe this cop is just a guy who likes dressing in elf clothes.

A little strange, but ...

Sorta pointless. By the time you see him or what he's wearing, he's already recorded your speed.

[Kingshakabobo]

15. The worse offenders where I live ARE the cabbies.

.....speding, tailgating, line-jumping, cutting off and excessive use of the horn.

[shadowknows69]

17. I'd be hard pressed to argue with you on that one

I, however, am the exception because I'm the best there is. B-) Also we wouldn't have to blow our horns so much if y'all would get the hell off our roads.

[TlalocW]

16. That's the elf from Rudolph who wanted to be a dentist

He's all grown-up now. He couldn't hack dentistry school so he went into law enforcement, and now he's a bitter, short little man taking it out on the rest of us.

TlalocW

[rinsd]

22. LOL. Outstanding.

[Book Lover]

18. I am not usually sympathetic to LE, but that poor SOB!

I wonder who he pissed off to pull this duty...

[Selatius]

19. I have no real sympathy for you if you're going 10 or more miles above the limit.

If you're doing 1 mile over the limit, yeah, I'd see it differently, but not 10 or more.

[RamboLiberal]

20. You're probably one of those drivers who make me nuts

Ever wonder why everyone is tailgating or passing you?

As I said before many speed limits are too low. If 85% are driving faster than the limit - the limit is too low. Better traffic safety if set around the 85th percentile.

I like to move with the flow of traffic.

[Mugu]

23. If it appears that you're leading a parade,

you should probably pull over and let others pass.


Cheers,

Mugu

[Selatius]

26. Uhh, that's because I intentionally limit my speed, to increase fuel efficiency

I'm not the guy driving slow in the left lane. Unlike some people, I do realize that the right lane is supposed to be the slow lane.

If you want to move fast, then take the left lane, but don't tailgate me if I'm in the right lane. They didn't make highways two or more lanes for nothing.

Also, my point still stands with respect to getting busted for speeding. You elect to drive at the speed you wish. Whether or not you get busted for speeding is your prerogative. If I'm on the interstate and the posted speed limit is 70, then I feel fine driving between 70 and 80, but I'll generally avoid going over 80.

Am I to assume you're the kind driving at 88?

[dogday]

24. That's just plain F**ked UP! nt

[jmowreader]

25. You know this poor fucker is going to be in the next FOP magazine

It'll be right under the head "Don't Let This Happen To You."

We're missing part of the metric here: how many cars drove past Santa's Little Revenue Enhancer? If this road gets 750 cars per hour, 150 tickets in two hours is abominable. At 5000 cars per hour it's not so bad.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. All I can think of is what Bill Hicks would have done with this...

"Awwww, maaaaaaaaaaan.. that's just NOT FAIR to a person who is tripping!"