State Route 120 near Wamble Road
Westbound Hwy. 120 has 2 sections of 2 lanes of divided highway in which the speed is 65 mph, then the highway narrows down to one lane in each direction and the highway is no longer divided and the speed is reduced to 55. It was in the last section of the two lanes where it narrows down to one that I was given a ticket for going 65 in a 55 mph zone. I had just passed a beatup old motorhome with missing bumpers, windows, and a muffler (going 35 mph in the slow lane which was about to merge with the left lane that I was in) and I was re-entering the single lane and braking to slow down to the 55 mph speed in that area when the oncoming CHP made a u-turn and said she caught me in her radar going 65 mph. By the time I slowed down to 55, I was about 100 yards past the 55 mph sign. I didn’t argue that fact; however, I was unable to pull in behind the old motorhome so I maintained my 65 mph speed to get in front of him before the lanes merged and the speed limit changed to 55 mph. The CHP said, as she issued a citation, there was "Zero Tolerance" for speeders like me. We have been making the trip from Sonora to the SF Bay Area once a week and back for 16 years. This is the first ticket of any kind I have been given in 50+ years of driving. Subsequent to this incident, we have seen the same CHP issuing four (4) tickets in the same spot over a four week period. Wonder how many tickets would be issued during peak summer months with all the pleasure boaters, Yosemite traffic, motorcycle clubs, true speeders, fast driving semi-truck drivers, drivers passing recklessly in a hurry to get back to the Bay Area, and all those small cars weaving in and out constantly on WB 120.
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