Yes, just like everyone else, I sped. In the nine years of driving now, I have had only one ticket (knock on wood), and a couple of warnings. Most of the time, the
police couldn't even catch me because of certain circumstances, or the fact that they were not present.
However, over the years, my speed has actually slowed down considerably and my driving habits have been a lot safer. (This comes with age.) And so, most of the following stories actually involve ways to
avoiding speeding tickets in the most self-controlled conditions:
Stories
Travelling on the two-laned 401, I see a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the road for speeding. The police were cracking down in that one kilometre stretch of highway. When I spotted the activity ahead of the road, I was going at speed and passed a tractor-trailer. I noticed that as I passed the truck, the police had already taken a reading on my car but failed at attempts to signal and stop me because of the large, rolling truck on my side. I inadvertantly used it as a sort of "baracade" between me and the cops.
***
On the Gardiner Expressway, I was returning home from my friend's place near High Park. There was a construction zone just before the Don Valley Parkway and was posted as a 60km/h zone. However, anyone who's everyone remains travelling at highway speeds of 90 to 100 km/h in that area. As I was travelling about 90 to 100km/h, a car approached my right side and started to pass me. Around the bend was a cruiser hiding behind a construction barrier ready for the killing. The passing car spotted him first and accordingly slammed on his brakes illuminating his brake lights for a good five seconds. A spilt-second after seeing his brake lights go on, I slowed accordingly, slightly putting my brakes on, but only up until when the cruiser could see my rear. I didn't want to bring attention to myself by illuminating bright red lights at the cruiser. At this point, we were both travelling at about 80 km/h. However, for some reason, the other car just kept slowing and eventually got stopped once we were on the DVP. I still questioned whether it was my stealthiness or if the driver of that car was previously in "trouble" that contributed to my not being stopped.
***
My one speeding ticket was when I was on my way to Ottawa on the 416. When I was stopped, the officer asked for a reason why I was speeding. I merely said, "I'm going to help my girlfriend move (to a new place)." - which was true.
I tried to make this time the quickest and most painless experience for both me and the officer. He reduced my fine by half. I don't ever speed on the 416 after this happened.
***
Travelling on the 401 once again, it was night when a car sped up and tailgated me. I was wondering what idiot would ever do such a thing. I later discoverd that it was indeed a police cruiser when it passed me at 160km/h. A minute or so later, it went onto the off-ramp to the service station. As I passed him and the station, I was keeping track of his whereabouts in my mirrors. He skipped the station and literally sped up again to play catch-up with our echelon of faster drivers (we were only doing 110 to 120km/h). He passed the group once again but without trapping anyone. Pretty sneaky!
***
Realizations
Over the years, I have learned one important factor in avoiding speeding tickets altogether - use your mind. Being smart is the best defense. Also:
1. Do not bring attention to yourself. Use some stealth techniques.
2. Anticipate the locations of where speed traps are most likely.
3. Remain aware of your surroundings and possible unmarked vehicles. The OPP are using the following stealth vehicles to trap speeders:
- White Crown Victoria with black tinted windows. The long antenna in the back gives it away. Stealth-like in cloudy and foggy days.
- Burgundy or blue Chevy Lumina. The antenna is not as obvious.
- 4-door blue Chevy Blazer (new model).
- 1999 Toyota Camry (unconfirmed).
4. Behaviour of your driving may contribute to an officer's decision of whether or not to stop you.
All in all, others might say, the smartest thing to do to avoid getting a speeding ticket is to don't speed.