Portland, Oregon Speed Traps

The cops are great. Every weekend, this motorcycle cop will sit on the median. He’s sitting there in the break-down lane next to the concrete divider. Just standing next to his bike, nailing people coming home from their nights of revelry. Early Saturday and Sunday mornings. Between 2 and 3 AM. Careful.

Black Ford Van on the side of the road.

I often see police officers at the base of the hill on canyon in west slope with radar/ Lidar waiting for people that don’t slow from the 40 to the 35. There are also sometimes cops with laser hidden on the side streets of where canyon goes up the hill (eastbound) with lidar. I got a nice ticket from one going 12 over. He was actually pleasant and told me that if I had been doing ten over he would have not bothered. D’oh! But I have to say, with the exception of certain townships (ahem, lake Oswego) Most of Oregon lets you go within ten over the limit. Something to keep in mind.

There is often a cop or two sitting on the zoo overpass and the on and off ramps. The westbound lane is the worst because he is hidden until you have passed and gets you from behind with radar. Sometimes there is also a bike cop with laser on the overpass itself that sends one of his "buddies" after you. I always slow to 60 here, and that seems to work, but I have had a few friends with led feet get caught here.

This one is crazy and one that Portland Police just love to sit at over and over again. it’s like shooting fish in a barrel to them! Ok…when you turn onto SE Division street to head east from SE 122nd avenue, there is one sign that says 30 mph. However, there it also placed low enough on the pole that a city bus, large truck or camper or anything else with some height can BLOCK it completely. Many times the Tri-Met bus pulls out from the bus stop and sits at angle to wait for traffic to let it in. When this happens, such as what happened to me, you can’t see the 30 mph sigh. However…it gets better…the photo radar unit usually sits around the 12500 block of SE division near the Hong Kong Restaurant. BUT….only ONE CITY BLOCK ahead of the photo radar van is the sign that reads (40 MPH)! That’s right…about 3 city blocks of 30, then 40 a block ahead. Now THAT is a speed TRAP. The designated speed for SE Division street runs from 40-45 in most areas, usually 40. So, if you’re doing 43 on division…or even 41….pass that van and SNAP…you’re the next fish in the barrel. When you see the flash or the van, you look at your speedometer when you pass it…and you’re only doing 41-43…ok, you look at the 40 MPH sign IN FRONT OF YOU and you shrug your shoulders…you’re doing nothing wrong…but they got ya…illegal as hell I’d say, if not even morally wrong. There is NOTHING that would give a reason for 3 city blocks to be posted at 30, when only 1 city block away (with more residential areas than the 30 mile area), the speed is RAISED 10 MPH to 40! Oh yeah, I also conducted surviellance on a photo radar unit sitting there most of the afternoon the other day. Boy, did they flash a lot of drivers going by at 41…42…43….BAM…tickets! Here’s another interesting thing to note about that unit. I recorded hundreds of readings from the reader board that lists the approaching vehicle’s speed. There were at least 20 TIMES when the readerboard had NO information on it when cars would pass usally when the number was around 3 in two lanes. I don’t know if it "confused" the radar unit or what. Also, when a car pulled out to turn left, two other cars slowed down to near zero. the photo radar unit "flashed" at this and the speed recorded on reader board was "00". This tells us all that the system IS FLAWED and can have serious errors from time to time. The problem with that is that relying on technology to affect a lazy approach to their job, officers are infringing on the rights of the citizens which they are sworn to protect. Your privacy is affected, complete strangers get to "view" your picture when you are in your vehicle, which could private to you but some private company that develops the film and sees it sends you a notice from the "Portland Police Bureau" on an official looking form with a "digital reproduction" of the photo the van took. This is wrong and more people need to get up and fight. not only are there costly court fines but your insurance goes up for the "speeding" ticket even if you were not speeding! (Like in the trap I mentioned here.) Contact your elected officials, do research on the net. the info is out there. it’s time for the public to tell the police what they can do with their neat little shooting toy game. Sorry about the long winded speach, but I’m fed up. they’re taking advantage of you and you’re letting them.