Quartzsite speed trap

[Dwain & Debbie]

this year will be our 18 th year going to the q.  we are heavy haulers. have sever small rallys there over the years. but we are desert people. lived in  calif most of or lives. so we did do the desert thing. we just like camping  in the desert, and prospecting fore shinny  stuf gold

[Ray,IN]

On 11/29/2018 at 3:14 PM, cactus said:

Main street in the "Q" is now being closely observed and enforced by the City Police who are busy writing `em up.

They even have signs showing your speed.  Beware!

Having visited  Quartzite I say it's a good thing. Pedestrians are everywhere, and in the majority of states have the right-of-way at intersections.

[dhuse]

As far as cops enforcing the speed limit and out of area visitors getting stopped more frequently than locals, if the cop is using radar, and she/he measures a vehicle doing 45 in a 25, the distance he can use the radar and get a reading is a lot farther then they can read a license plate. And to pass up a good ticket like that because it's a 'local' (whatever that is in Q) doesn't make sense.

 

[Pappy Yokum]

On 11/30/2018 at 2:39 PM, Pat & Pete said:

We once saw a picture of Q in full swing . 

That was close enough for us .

And , we do our best to obey any posted speeds . It seems that out of state plates are an attention magnet , maybe because traffic stops of folks 'not from around here' gets the message across without egging the locals . 

 

.........."without egging the locals"??

Maybe the "locals" are smart enough to obey the posted speed limit. (Novel idea!)

I reside in CA - and in the jurisdiction where I live - the "locals" (with in-state plates) don't get cut any slack, nor do I think they should.

.

[Pat & Pete]

6 hours ago, Pappy Yokum said:

 

.........."without egging the locals"??

Maybe the "locals" are smart enough to obey the posted speed limit. (Novel idea!)

I reside in CA - and in the jurisdiction where I live - the "locals" (with in-state plates) don't get cut any slack, nor do I think they should.

.

 I agree . No 'local' slack . In fact , I think locals should pay a higher price when they break the law .  

[richfaa]

Been there twice because we were in the area. Interesting place and IMO a event    that should be on the Rvers bucket list. We enjoyed the visits but would not deliberately go there again. Been there, done that, got the T shirt.

[Kirk W]

51 minutes ago, richfaa said:

Been there, done that, got the T shirt.

We didn't lose anything, so won't go back to look for it.   😎

[Carlos]

On 12/17/2018 at 5:49 PM, dhuse said:

As far as cops enforcing the speed limit and out of area visitors getting stopped more frequently than locals, if the cop is using radar, and she/he measures a vehicle doing 45 in a 25, the distance he can use the radar and get a reading is a lot farther then they can read a license plate. And to pass up a good ticket like that because it's a 'local' (whatever that is in Q) doesn't make sense.

 

 

I've sat and watched their methodology.  They "shoot" a vehicle and determine it's over the limit.  Then let it go by, see the plate, and decide from there whether to plunder them or not.  I was in a group of motorcycles, spread out a bit, all doing the same speed.  Who got nailed in our group for doing FIVE over while the cars were doing at least that much or ten over?  The one with the CA plate.

 

[Big5er]

10 minutes ago, Carlos said:

 

I've sat and watched their methodology.  They "shoot" a vehicle and determine it's over the limit.  Then let it go by, see the plate, and decide from there whether to plunder them or not.  I was in a group of motorcycles, spread out a bit, all doing the same speed.  Who got nailed in our group for doing FIVE over while the cars were doing at least that much or ten over?  The one with the CA plate.

 

Yeah, right.  I suppose he makes a bigger commission that way? Two more Californians this week and he gets a microwave? 

Please explain this big conspiracy to me. Why would he care? Do you think his supervisors tell him at roll call, "Today, we are stopping Texas license plates. Tomorrow we are going after New Jersey tags."? Or maybe he has a personal grudge against Californians? Do you honestly believe he cares who he writes a ticket to? 

[Carlos]

They will just pay it and not drag him into court.

But heck, I've only watched it with my own eyes, whatever.  I spent almost an hour watching.

 

[Carlos]

Oh, and yes, there are lots of Arizonans who hate Californians for various reasons, including police.  I've heard the words, "You people come here and think you can drive like you do there..."

 

[Big5er]

9 minutes ago, Carlos said:

They will just pay it and not drag him into court.

But heck, I've only watched it with my own eyes, whatever.  I spent almost an hour watching.

 

And I've been writing tickets for over 30 years. I get overtime for going to court, win or lose. 

8 minutes ago, Carlos said:

Oh, and yes, there are lots of Arizonans who hate Californians for various reasons, including police.  I've heard the words, "You people come here and think you can drive like you do there..."

 

Maybe that's just a statement about how poorly Californians drive. Maybe there is some truth to it and that would explain why the Califonian in the group got stopped? He did something in addition to speeding that called attention to his poor driving skills?

EDIT, btw it's like fishing, you can only catch one at a time and 5 mph over is still speeding. The sign says speed LIMIT, not speed SUGGESTION.

[Carlos]

She was trying to be exceptionally careful since she knows how our small town cops view Californians.  She was in my eye line to my left quarter and just rolling along with traffic.  The overtime thing may or may not be the case in small towns, don't know.  Having spent over 30 years in various small towns in AZ, I've seen interesting patterns.

 

[richfaa]

It is not hard to spot a out of State plate in the Q during  the festivities. The secret is do not speed and you will not get a ticket.

[Carlos]

Yeah, that's a tough one when you're on a motorcycle, and large rigs are tailgating you and/or passing unsafely because you're blocking them.  In the RV I wouldn't care.  On a vulnerable motorcycle you have to realize that obeying the law and being safe are two very different things.  I drive slow; and still have to drive above the speed limit in my area or cars will be tailgating and passing me at 10-15 over.  All day.  The speed limits are artificially low and create more problems.

 

[richfaa]

Q traffic is usually a nightmare during the "event" been there twice during the event and once  after the event. Large RV's trying to maneuver and there is no shortage of RV drivers who  lack experience. We drive 62/65 at all time on the interstates and TPKs and are passed by everyone doing well over the posted speed not to mention the speed rating of  their tires. I do not know how many police officers Q has but bet it is not many and they could use  several during the event.

[Carlos]

2 hours ago, richfaa said:

I do not know how many police officers Q has but bet it is not many and they could use  several during the event.

Small towns in AZ share police all the time.  Even not very small towns.  My city has an interagency agreement to have part of the city handled by Maricopa County Sheriffs.  AZ police have state-wide jurisdiction and can go to work "on loan" for other areas as needed.

[Randyretired]

I had a friend who was a state LEO and stationed in a small town in a rural area.  He talked a lot about writing tickets.  He knew everyone and they knew him.  He said just think about how it feels to go to a restaurant or whatever and the waitress was someone you just ticketed.  The other thing is everybody in town knows when anybody gets a ticket and who wrote it.  It certainly adds another dynamic to things and it weighed on him.  It would seem it might be a little less stressful to write an out of towner.

[Carlos]

Yeah, I hadn't even considered that.  I dated a nurse once, and drove her sports car rather fast.  Police would wave and keep going.  She said no cop wants to end up in the ER being attended by a triage nurse who he just ticketed.  "Pain meds?  What's that??"

 

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, Carlos said:

She said no cop wants to end up in the ER being attended by a triage nurse who he just ticketed.  "Pain meds?  What's that??"

Nurses prescribe meds in AZ?

 

[Barbaraok]

ER triage nurses decide who gets seen first, second, ....., which means how long one waits for physician to write orders depends upon their decisions.  

[chirakawa]

8 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

ER triage nurses decide who gets seen first, second, ....., which means how long one waits for physician to write orders depends upon their decisions.  

Not only that, but ER nurses, paramedics, intensive care nurses, etc. administer drugs daily based on a physician's protocol.  I'd be dead now if my ICU nurse had waited long enough to find a doctor to prescribe the med to defib me.  I imagine that's standard practice in all States, not just Arizona.

[Carlos]

This wasn't AZ, but yeah.  Also, too literal.  How about just "being cared by someone you just ticketed."

Then again maybe it was just because she was smoking hot.

 

[FL-JOE]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 11:22 AM, Big5er said:

Yeah, right.  I suppose he makes a bigger commission that way? Two more Californians this week and he gets a microwave? 

Please explain this big conspiracy to me. Why would he care? Do you think his supervisors tell him at roll call, "Today, we are stopping Texas license plates. Tomorrow we are going after New Jersey tags."? Or maybe he has a personal grudge against Californians? Do you honestly believe he cares who he writes a ticket to? 

Wasting your time getting into a debate about such matters.  Have you ever been employed as an officer in the Q area?  There are good cops and there are scrum bag cops, there are real cops and there are internet fake cops...….who is to say if they are picking on a certain class of people with their traffic enforcement?  If would be pretty strange but since I am not there how can I argue the point?