TX 71,EB/WB @ US 87(mile 0) to mile 2. Work zone, Brady.

Brady, TexasFeb 19, 20180 Comments

As blatant a speed trap as I’ve ever seen in my 65 years. 0.1 mile after turning onto TX 71 EB from US 87, south of Brady, TX, the speed limit sign reads 70, even though there is a 60 mph work zone less than half a mile ahead over the crest of a blind hill. TXDOT always places orange flagged “reduced speed ahead” signs, usually a half mile before the hazard. Those signs are conspicuously absent here. Instead, your first hint of trouble is an orange warning sign another 0.1 mile ahead. The sign is not a warning however, it is a fluorescent orange sign admonishing drivers not to text and drive. A perfect opportunity to warn drivers, wasted. By this time, drivers are about halfway up the hill when the next orange sign comes into range. It is a standard speed limit sign bolted onto an orange diamond with a black arrow pointed up, meaning “speed limit 60 somewhere thattaway (ahead). The last speed limit sign passed was 70 mph, 0.6 mile behind you. The sign ahead of you warns of a speed reduction, but does not say how far ahead. Literally 250 feet, past that sign is another reading “begin work zone, speeding fines doubled when workers are present”. you’ve just entered a work zone at 70 mph 2.2 SECONDS after the first hint that it is there. You are now about to crest the hill when the first reduced speed limit appears. “Speed Limit 60”. Seconds later you crest the hill while reducing speed, but it’s too late. You can now see the work zone . Two lanes are being added on the right side of the highway and the orange cones and barrels stretch for another mile or so. Just over the crest of the hill, you pass a second “Speed Limit 60” sign. This one is temporary, mounted to a sandbagged wooden frame, but it isn’t next to you like the ones before, it’s all the way over on the other side of the two new lanes, out of the sight line of drivers and completely invisible at night. Not that it matters, the moment you crested the hill, while you were decelerating, you were nailed by a DPS trooper 0.56 mile from the hill, hiding behind a stand of trees, off to the right. In my case, I had reengaged my cruise control upon passing the first 70 mph speed limit sign. By the time I realized I was approaching a blind hill with a mystery hazard on the other side, I disengaged the CC . I probably crested the hill doing about 64. The trooper was not even slightly interested in asking if I might have had a medical reason for speeding, it was just “I’m going to cite you for your speed”. It wasn’t until I got home and read the ticket that I noticed that he cited me for 82/60, just high enough to prevent me from taking a defensive driver course. I will see that crooked cop in court. I was prepared to plead guilty to sixty something, but the greedy so and so put his thumb on the scale. It’s on!

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