I had gotten snapped by photo radar a few times this year, all driving in Tempe, Arizona and all along the Rural Road going either Southbound from Scottsdale, AZ or Northbound from Chandler. Photo Radar is a borderline entrapment system in my opinion. Chandler has a speed limit of 45mph on the same road, but when it crosses the Tempe border, the speed limit drops to 35mph with barely any warning or sign postage. This is easy to miss especially in high traffic, you usually are too busy keeping up with the flow of traffic.
So I got snapped doing 47mph in a 35mph, but five streets back the speed limit was 45mph. This type of photo radar has tagged me twice before this year, and I paid both tickets outright. This time however, I had to take a Driver’s Education Class for 5 hours, or my license would be suspended. Since I would exceed the 8 points in 12 months on my license which would have caused a suspension. The driver’s class can be taken once every 2 years and it negates your last ticket from ever reaching the DMV.
So I attended Driving School, which was from 5:30pm to 10:30pm and though it was boring and much of it common sense, I did learn some new things about Arizona Law and how much every day people are breaking laws, causing accidents and Arizona has the highest motor vehicle collisions per capita than any other state in the country. Arizona also has the highest rate of “Hit and Run’s” than any other state, why would anybody collide with a person and try to flee the scene and “not get caught” is beyond me. It says alot about someone’s character when they can’t simply admit when they are at fault and accept the consequences.
The main points of the class which was very much an open class where there were questions asked and answered by the audience, audience told their stories of injustice and all of that. Some funny law’s like if your car gets into a wreck that involves no other vehicle, you still get a ticket. Or, some more clever law’s like if you try to drive through a deep puddle hoping to make it through and you stall, you can get a ticket from the “Stupid Driver Law”. They did point out some of the loop holes and idiocy in Arizona law, like how visitors can come to Arizona for 6 months out of the year and never need to learn Arizona Driving Laws, or how people who move to Arizona are not required to re-test to gain an Arizona License, it automatically gets transfered. There is also no law to inspect your vehicle annually to make sure it is running and doesn’t have faulty parts and a risk to other drivers. This is in effect in some states, and though it costs people money, it also goes a long way to making sure vehicles are operable and have lower risk of breaking down.
There was one person in the class who interrupted the teacher numerous times and had dozens of stories to tell about himself, his children, his wife, his grandchildren. Literally every type of traffic violation either he or someone in his family had gotten at some point in their lives. The instructor even had to inform him to “Get to the Point” several times as his interruptions delayed the class. Half way through the class during a break, I had to buy a redbull just to make it the rest of the class.
All in all, $133 and 5 1/2 hour class means no 3 points off my license, no license suspension it was worth it. I just wish they would do something about those photo radar, set them to 15 over instead of 10 over, since most people who go between 5 and 12mph over are typically just keeping up with traffic or haven’t adjusted to the speed limit sign’s that switch between cities.
-Dragon Blogger
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