[filament]

I have a BIG Beef. As a snow bird, I received a ticket... not bad, I was speeding on Morris. I had to go to the traffic school.So you know that I was very careful, putting on my cruise control everywhere I wentOne day I was on my way to the airport to pick up a friend. I had to drop off some books at the Sumpter County Library on PARR Drive... the road that runs parallel to 477.

That morning I went to AAA to get the directions. The scuttlebutt that was going on was that the cops target out of staters... with upscale cars... on 301 and in that area... the MPH changes without too much notice quickly. In other words they "profile" we seniors ... thinking if we have a nice car with out of state plates.. their fines are chump change to us.

I was really cautious, but not being familiar with the territory I made a deadly error.

I was pulling out of the Library to make a turn to go to 301 toward the TP. I was in the left hand lane making the turn onto 466-- which put me in the middle lane.. not the curb lane

I drove for about 1 mile and saw a blinking school sign.. so I slowed to 15 mph and put on my cruise control. I continued on past McDonalds when I saw the lights flashing. I pulled over thinking that they must have someone in mind in front of me. The cop stopped me for not slowing down for the first school - directly across the street fromthe Library.

I got 2 points and a $180 ticket. Here is the rub...

#1. There is one tiny little sign after you turn the corner onto 466.. about the size of an 8 1/2 x ll" paper... stating that between certain hours the MPH changes to 15.

No sign on the street...SCHOOL ZONE ...like we have up north...NO blinking light above the street.... If you were turning as I was there would be almost no way you could see that sign..

#2. There is no break in the curb on 466... in fact there is no entrance to that first school. The entrance in on the street leading to 466.... There is NO way anyone would be crossing or pulling out in that area..

#3. The cop followed me for about .7 mile before he stopped me. It was obvious that he wanted to get me for passing two schools... or else he would have stopped me after the 1st school.

What I want to do is to find out if --through freedom of information---I can get the # of tickets that are written there in the first three months of the year..

I am confident that it is a Purposeful Speed Trap to get you and me.... with chump change to fill their coffers.

Not only is it a speed trap, but I think that they are purposefully after out of state licences...people who may not be familiar with the environs...Then I would write an article or visit the Sumpter Landing council meeting... but I cannot let this thing sit.. I really feel had.

Any comments? Little old lady from Pittsburgh

[The Great Fumar]

WOW..
I FOUND YOUR SITUATION VERY INTERESTING, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A SPEED TRAP ON 466...I DON'T KNOW IF THEY TARGET OUT OF STATE CARS , BUT I DO KNOW THAT I'M NO LONGER GOING TO RETURN BOOKS TO THE LIBRARY ..SOUNDS DANGEROUS TO ME.....

[Villages Kahuna]

I got one there as well. When I went to traffic school, 21 of the 25 people in attendance had received tickets in the same place. If you happen to be there in the morning, there are often two sheriff's patrol cars writing tickets at the same time. In my traffic class there were three people with the same story as yours, a left turn onto 466 from either the library or Belvedere. One guy got a ticket for 3 miles over. It's a BIG money-maker for the county!

Having been nailed myself, I will admit that the penalty was effective. I really watch my speed all over TV now and particularly in front of the schools. I guess the speed trap worked, at least as far as I'm concerned.

[chuckster]

Didn't realize sumter landing had a police force :dontknow:

Think it is 20 mph by the various Villages schools on 466 and 103 from 7:30 to 8:30 am and then again from 2:00 to 3: 30 pm. :dontknow:

They do seem to stop a lot of people on 466 in front of the Villages two schools in that area.

On a topic related to traffic in this area, while going East, I made a right turn off of 466 onto Belvedere http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=&d...%20Villages+FL. Almost did not see the lawn care worker with their truck and trailer parked very close to the corner of 466 and Belvedere. That's one of my pet peeves about driving in the Villages. You really have to watch out for these lawn care people with their vehicles as they seem to park wherever they feel like. Doubt if parking right there was at all legal. :dontknow:

[filament]

It is time to warn all the snow birds about the profiling of out of state cars, esp. the upscale cars like the Acruas and the Lexius' ... these are the ones they love.

I am glad i had such a good response to my first post. I'm back and plan to do something about the injustice of that school situation. There isn't even a cut curb on the 466 bypass of the school.. No tell me... daaaa...This is their cash cow

[Bubbalarry]

Got nailed for same reason missing the signs, while the police watched me pass. I was lucky and only got a warning. It was a couple years ago during February and was it pouring out.

I would take a pic with digital camera and fight the ticket period. If the cop is going to give me a piece of trash ticket, I would hope my fighting it makes him come to court on his day off.

What if you found that small sign and had to squint to read it causing a multiple car crash.
If the judge finds against you send a copy of the ticket,cancelled ck and the pics along with a letter to the Gov asking him to have someone from Florida Dept of Transp to come out and view the scene. After viewing determine if your money should be returned.

Communities pull this quite often and it doesn't make them right. This spot is notorious for nabbing everyone because it's setup to do so.

Good luck and I hope hundreds read this and send the Florida Governor tons of mail. After all aren't we as seniors the ones who get out and vote.

[DDoug]

Be careful in Fruitland Park they are worse than anywhere else Lady Lake is getting bad also.On 466A the speed use to change 6 times from The Villages into 27.

When you received your first ticket, you were on Morse Blvd.... not Morris. When you received your second ticket, you were not in Sumpter Landing or even Sumter Landing.
Two tickets? Please be more careful when you drive in our community. Thank you.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by BOMBERO

Two tickets? Please be more careful when you drive in our community. Thank you.

Filament: Purposeful speed traps or not, if you don't speed, you won't get a ticket.

[mike1472]

I've read many threads complaining about speeders in TV and lack of enforcement. Speed trap or not, YOU WERE SPEEDING AND BROKE THE LAW! Kudos to the police for doing their job. TWO TICKETS already. Give me a break!

[beady]

A school zone is not a speed trap. It is a 20 mph zone to protect the kids. They are in every state I have visited and very closlely watched. Nothing new,or unusual. So, why would anyone be surprised to find one in the Villages ????? Just drive that portion of the road at 20 mph and don't get a ticket. It has absolutely nothing to do with the make and model of your car.

[gfmucci]

I sincerely doubt that "profiling" was taking place.* It's often edifying to play the "maltreated victim" when we're guilty of something.* Sometimes when we are caught doing something wrong, especially if unintentional, we might feel persecuted and resentful.* The police have better things to do than profile old people.* They really would like to avoid pi----g us off.* But they would rather do that than see drivers rip through school zones.*

I've felt persecuted on occasion.* But after I gave it more thought - sometimes years later - I realize I deserve what I got. It is true we are not always fully aware of what we're doing when we're driving. A fine helps enhance our awareness.

[redwitch]

If you don't know the schools are there, it is very easy to get caught speeding. While I didn't get a ticket or even pulled over, I was doing the speed limit on 466 when all of a sudden I noticed I was by a school. I noticed no warning signs, nada. The next time I went this direction, I was on the lookout -- it was a very small sign and easily missed. Why not paint "school" or something on the street or at least make the sign visible if it is to protect the children? This spot really does smack of a speed trap and cash cow for Sumter County.

I plead guilty to being a speeder but never knowingly in a residential area and never in a school zone. Give me an empty road or a highway with light traffic and I'm taking off like the proverbial bat. I'll happily follow the speed laws on Morse, 466, 421, etc. There's no reason to be speeding on these roads.

[nanci2539]

When we visited in November, on our way to the airport (returning) we pulled into DD. When we left, we took a right onto the highway (sorry, not familiar withe the route names) and was pulled over. I guess this was a school zone and we didn't see the sign. Tired explaining that but it fell on deaf ears. We got a $210 ticket!