Take my license, all that jive
I can't drive 55!
- Sammy Hagar, Musician

So you like to drive fast?

Doing so in Pennsylvania will cost you plenty if you don't know some simple tricks of the road.

Know What Jurisdiction You're In

It is critically important to know which of Pennsylvania's 2567 political subdivisions you're driving in if you're contemplating exceeding the legal speed limit.

Why? Because of the state's 1548 townships, 962 boroughs, 56 cities and one town¹. About 1200 of these have local Police Departments. The remainder of the Commonwealth is patrolled by the Pennsylvania State Police.

So what?

This is important because the state legislature allows the State Police to use only radar to calculate the speed of passing vehicles. All the local police departments are required to use some type of timing device to calculate the speed of a passing vehicle.

To convict a person of speeding using radar, a State Police Trooper must give a 6mph leeway - meaning you can drive at 61mph in a 55mph zone and not get booked for speeding. To convict a person of speeding using a timing device, a municipal police officer must give a 10mph leeway - meaning you can drive at 65mph in a 55mph zone.

In practice, both state troopers and municipal officers give an additional 5mph cushion on top of the leeway required by law.

What If You Get Caught?

First, don't panic!

Second, why didn't you take the advice given in the first part of this entry?

OK, so you were in a hurry and forgot to pay attention to where you were driving and got nabbed for doing 51.7mph in a 35mph zone. What happens next?

You're going to get a speeding ticket - unless you're extremely lucky and the arresting officer only wants to give you a warning.

Speeder Etiquette

There are a few things you should never do after being pulled over for speeding:

• Use your hands suspiciously - Nothing makes a police officer more paranoid than a driver who reaches under his seat or into his glovebox. Are you going for a weapon? Stashing drugs? Getting your registration card? Don't make the officer guess. Keep your hands where he can see them.

• Be rude - Will it kill you to say 'Sir' and be meek and sycophantic? Probably not, and it might just get you off with only a warning.

• Argue - Generally, a police officer will not pull you over without cause. Don't argue with him as to whether you were speeding or not. They don't like that, and any chance of getting off with a warning will be dashed when a driver displays a bad attitude.

Fines and Costs

The fines for speeding are relatively straightforward:

• For exceeding a posted 65mph speed limit, the fine is $42.50², plus $2 per mph in excess of five mph over the limit. This means that doing 75mph in a 65mph zone will cost you $52.50.

• For exceeding any other posted speed limit, the fine is $35, plus $2 per mph in excess of five mph over the limit. This means that doing 50mph in a 40mph zone will cost you $45.50.

The system for piling 'costs' on top of your speeding fine, however, is something else entirely. There are four surcharges which anyone who is caught in violation of the state's vehicle laws must pay. These additional costs can often add up to more than the initial fine. They include:

• A $28.50 fee to cover the 'administrative costs' of processing your speeding ticket

• A $10 fee to help support volunteer ambulance companies across the state

• A $1.50 fee to help support upgrading computer systems in the state's courts

• A $30 - $50 fee to help fund the Catastrophic Loss Benefits Fund³

Points

Speeding also results in penalty points accumulated on your driving licence. The points system is described below:

• 6 - 10mph over the limit - 2 points
• 11 - 15mph over the limit - 3 points
• 16 - 25mph over the limit - 4 points
• 26 - 30mph over the limit - 5 points
• More than 30mph over the limit - 5 points, plus a court summons.

Any time a driver accumulates six points he is also required to attend court, which can result in suspending the driver's licence for 15 days, or forcing the driver to take a driving improvement course.

Points are erased from a driver's record at the rate of three points for every 12 months of driving without a conviction.

Other Tips to Avoid Being Caught

One of the simplest and best ways to avoid being stopped for speeding is to not exceed the posted speed limit.

Again, knowing the police jurisdiction in which you're driving is very important. Not only for the reasons stated above, but also because some local police departments are much more aggressive about speed enforcement than others.

For example, the police department in Hershey, Pennsylvania has a three-officer unit which concentrates on speed enforcement. They will use non-traditional methods like sitting inside municipal dump trucks or unmarked cars - they have even used a BMW confiscated during a drugs raid. A good rule of thumb is to watch what other drivers are doing. Most locals in and around Hershey know some of the locations where the police monitor speed, and will slow down for no apparent reason when approaching these locales.

Another good rule of thumb is to avoid speeding when a police car is behind you. Officers can use their speedometers as a timing device, and pull you over if you're pulling away from them as they drive at the speed limit.

Lines painted on the road are another dead give-away. Local Police Departments use painted lines as a start and finish line for timing purposes. So slow down when you see lines on the roadway which serve no obvious purpose.

On highways, slow down approaching bridges and hoardings. The state legislature has considered passing a law to prevent state police troopers from hiding behind bridges and hoardings (usually after a local lawmaker has been stopped for speeding by a trooper who was using a bridge or sign as cover!). But so far, they have been unsuccessful in taking away the Troopers' favourite hiding spots for speed enforcement.

Beating the System

If you really want to avoid paying the fine and costs, and are willing to take a gamble, there is one final option open to you - taking a chance in the judicial system.

If you plead 'Not Guilty' in person before the local district magistrate, you might get lucky and beat the fine. But only if the officer's busy schedule prevents him from attending your court hearing.

The arresting officer's failure to appear in court will quash your case. But if he shows up, you've not only got to pay the fine and costs, but you're also liable for the court's time and will pay even more.

Generally, it's not worth the risk.