[Reads FP story about a man charged with a felony for using a gadget to try and avoid tolls]

"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats) 01/16/2017 at 08:44 • Filed to: None

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“A thing like this could pay for itself” says practically every commenter on the article.

Dear FP commenters: your conception of risk versus reward, coupled with almost certainly owning a car, terrifies me deeply.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Honeybunchesofgoats 01/16/2017 at 08:52

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From a purely mathematical POV, they’re correct. Probably.

Probenja > Honeybunchesofgoats 01/16/2017 at 08:58

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Why is it such a big deal to evade the law? Just pay your tolls and deal with it, if you got a car then you have the money to operate it and use it normally without doing anything special.

Same thing with radar detectors, I just find it silly.

Dave the car guy , still here > Honeybunchesofgoats 01/16/2017 at 09:00

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Its about once a year we see a story like this. Considering they sell plate flippers and other devices on the web, I’m amazed it isn’t more frequent.

PS9 > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 01/16/2017 at 09:01

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Gotta factor in court costs and loss of economical opportunity due to having a felony on your record as well. It no longer pays for itself under those circumstances.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Probenja 01/16/2017 at 09:02

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On radar detectors—as long as limits are set deliberately low, and as long as the cops are more interested in revenue than slowing you down (which they are. That admission has been made a few times, albeit usually in a roundabout and evasive way) I consider radar detectors perfectly reasonable.

That said I still can’t use one because Ontario.

PS9 > Probenja 01/16/2017 at 09:06

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You’ve sold out to The Man ™ ! I don’t care what johnny law says I can’t do, THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY DAMNIT, IF NOT WHAT DID OUR FOUNDERS FIGHT AND DIE FOR!? F DA PO PO, IMMA DRIVE ON WHATEVER ROAD I WANT NO TOLLS ALLOWED!!

* one license suspension later*

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > PS9 01/16/2017 at 09:08

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Ah but I, like the FP, am not counting those. Therefore YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER DONE IS WRONG. HOW DARE YOU DISAGREE ON THE INTERNET.

For the sake of continuing the argument even though I know you’re right, there are a few other factors:

- How long you got away with it.

- How many times you took the toll roads in that period.

- How far you traveled on each trip.

- Where you live. Eg court costs in the US vs other countries.

Mercedes Streeter > Probenja 01/16/2017 at 09:16

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Why is it such a big deal to evade the law?

Some of us live in very corrupt towns and cities. It’s great to know where a police officer is (radar detector) just so you can at least have some sort of forewarning. The last time I was stopped, my car was searched for invisible drugs and I earned a patdown because Mr. Officer was a freaking goober.

Mercedes Streeter > Dave the car guy , still here 01/16/2017 at 09:19

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I’m actually not that amazed. You really only hear about the folks they catch. The guy in the FP only got caught because a police officer watched him...just like that trucker who got away for a while doing it until he did the same. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. lol

LOREM IPSUM > Honeybunchesofgoats 01/16/2017 at 09:36

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I think a felony is a bit harsh. With any luck they’ll let him plead it down to a minor misdemeanor.

Milky > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 01/16/2017 at 09:39

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Seriously though, what the hell Canada (or is it just Ontario)? You have the lowest artificially set speed limits and I cant use my radar detector. Got pulled over for doing 129 in a 100 around 11pm like a month ago. There is nothing wrong with doing 80mph on a perfectly smooth (something you do very right), empty highway.

Actually got in a big, boozey debate with my Canadian friends on the ethics on not being able to use a device to know where public servants are.  

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Milky 01/16/2017 at 09:40

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Mostly Ontario. The rest of Canada is still low afaik but Ontario sucks. Which is really annoying. It’s such a nice place to be... apart from the government.

Where did you get pulled over, and what time of the month? In a lot of places 130 is where they start hauling you in. Others (London area springs to mind) 120 is the safe upper limit.

And the stupidest thing? Those highways were originally 70MPH limits, designed to be safe at 80MPH for 19-fucking-70's vehicles. And here we sit at 60. Well, in theory.

There’s reasons the cops don’t bother you right away. #1 there’s plenty of meat without going for the vast majority of speeders. #2 the courts are so packed (probably another reason they picked on you, being out of province) due to the idiotic limits that if you fight a ticket you’ve got a very good shot at getting off if it’s less than 20% over. Hmm, that’s some coincidental math right there... 100+20%=120kph... or maybe NOT. #3 the cops know the limits are stupid too and most of them aren’t comfortable hauling you in until you’re well over. After all if you do take it to court they’re just going to get laughed out.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Milky 01/16/2017 at 09:51

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BTW I edited/enlarged my other comment.

CB > Milky 01/16/2017 at 09:51

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Wait, you got pulled over for 129 in a 100 in Ontario ?

In the GTA, I do 100-110 in the right lane on the 401. I get passed like I’m not moving. I know of a cop (dad’s friend) who was doing 130 with his lights on and still got passed. You must have been far out from the GTA.

Milky > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 01/16/2017 at 10:04

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Middle of December and around the Chatham-Kent area I believe. I’d have to pull out the ticket to get more specific. But they actually lowered the speed limit? They do realize cars are safer, stop better, etc., right?

I don’t know if you’ve seen on the FP or not but Michigan is going from 70mph to 75 in rural areas and everyone already does 80.

In all honesty the officer was “nice” and saw that I had zero record in Canada and only wrote me up for 15 over. So no points, just a fine ... go figure. I also didn’t know this until I looked it up but apparently Ontario and Michigan share points.

Milky > CB 01/16/2017 at 10:07

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Yea I was about an hour from Windsor/Detroit. But for my first dozen trips in Canada I was doing 130 every where (read: Windsor to Detroit) with no problem. Just found the wrong cop at the wrong time.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Milky 01/16/2017 at 10:21

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Yeah, that’s a danger zone. The whole 402 (and related stretch of 401) actually. One end is close to the border and the other is close to London. Bad news. Which really sucks because the highway itself is so boring.

Yeah, when we went metric they changed it for reasons of, oh I dunno, $$$? And I guess the fact that there would be a number with 3 digits helped their case with most people who couldn’t wrap their heads around unit conversion...

Heck, my trip this summer was spent at 110-130 on 80-90kpm limits. It’s a weird thing we’ve got going on up here... the convention is pretty much “go fast, apply brakes as token of respect to officers and a lot of the time they won’t look up from their Timmies”. Unless end of month/bad day/acting like a dick/etc. So basically it gets treated like a deer in the road. You can’t do jack about it, so take it as it comes.

They do that. The logic is that you won’t fight it if they’re nice. So they “let you off” with no points, and in comes another $55. But in reality, the insurance companies don’t look at the points so much as “you had offense X in a range of 0-49kph over prevailing limit”. So fwiw you get fucked either way and the insurance rates are already retarded.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > CB 01/16/2017 at 10:22

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Oddly, the 407 is worse to go fast on than the 401. Too much traffic to safely set up shop. 407 is easy pickings.

Milky > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 01/16/2017 at 11:26

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My insurance is bad anyways, I really shouldn’t get anymore points though. This last weekend I just set the cruise at 125 to get there (daylight in Friday) and 120 last night. Until some points go off my licence I’ll just take it easy in Canada.

The upside is I got the best mileage I ever have! Normally only get 300-320 miles a tank, but I got to 380. There hasn’t been one time in 4 years of owning the Crossfire that I haven’t gone 80 on the highway for an entire tank.

AMC/Renauledge > Probenja 01/16/2017 at 11:57

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Some people get off on the rush of getting away with something illegal. Mostly people with personality disorders. But still...

wiffleballtony > Honeybunchesofgoats 01/16/2017 at 12:37

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Unless their objective is the stupidest way to get a felony.