Yeah, I bet "Barney" is down to 3-4 tickets a day!
Edit: This thread has gone off topic, so it was detached and the title was changed.
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[quote Jedidiah]Yeah, I bet "Barney" is down to 3-4 tickets a day![/quote]
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A "hot topic" news item on TV news right now is about how the state is taking a look at "speed traps". They are concerned that some cities are getting more than 25% of their revenue from issuing traffic tickets. And...whaddayaknow?...Mantua was featured prominently in their investigations.
http://fox13now.com/2016/01/31/strict-en...fic-fines/
They had the Mantua chief of police on an interview with Channel 13 and his "disclaimer" was that if they were writing a lot of tickets it was simply to keep the public safe. Come to think of it, that guy looked at lot like "Barney".[/#0000FF]
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Well now that they know the state is keeping an eye on them, maybe Barney will back off a little[:/].
tacklebox- Nice going on the gills, I'm glad a few folks are finding some willing fish.
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No disrespect intended, but sardine canyon used to be one of the bloodiest stretches of road in Utah. Slowing people down through there is a good idea and has no doubt saved lives. Just my take on it as a firefighter/medic.
No one is being tricked into speeding and the limit is 60 from Brigham City to Logan so I really don't know how people think it's a speed trap. A person MAY get pulled over for 4-5 over, but they will definitely not get cited until they are at least over 5 mph over the limit. Sounds pretty fair to me.
I have come to expect that the fuzz will be set up at the pumphouse/utility shed right there off the highway and I'm glad for it because it reminds me to watch my speed, which I appreciate because I tend to get a lead foot if I don't get a reminder now and then
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If mantua gets 25%+ of their revenue from tickets I think it's just fine. The cops definitely don't have to wait very long to write a slew of 70 mph+ tickets.
Off my soapbox now, time to fish and have some fun!
Mike
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[#0000FF]They were first notified and it was made public back in the spring of 2015. If anything, they got worse. And on the news interview the police chief said they were not going to cut back. Public safety, y'know?
Worst story I heard was a guy taking his two young kids to go fishing. Got stopped by Barney and a $60 ticket for going 28 in a 25 mph zone...more than 10% over the speed limit.
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Wow, thats bad and here I thought they would give us a 5 mph leeway, I guess not. In most local places I would take that(3mph over) to court and fight it but I hear Barney is also the Mayor and it would not surprise me if he were the judge there as well[:|].
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[#0000FF]I agree with Mike that there is far too much speeding on the main highway, and I am all for socking it to the folks that drive unsafely.
But the problem I have always had with Mantua is the almost "sting" tactics they use off the main road to keep somebody under surveillance until they can swoop in and write a ticket. I have been harassed while launching a float tube to the side of the ramp...to avoid blocking boats launching. And I know other tubers who have been ticketed for minor infractions...while megamotor boats roared by well within the proximity zone.
I know of several folks who have been stopped and ticketed for minor overages of the 25 mph limit off the freeway. And the attitude is even worse. When one of my friends replied to a bogus citation by saying they would not visit Mantua again the reply was simply "Good."
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Well, I was just commenting about the highway 89 speeds, I have no knowledge of the in town situation. I have never been pulled over in town, but because of the presence on the highway I don't think I've really pushed my luck in town. I HAVE been told to move along while temporarily stopping along the south dike to talk to some fisherman and ask how the fishing was.....got told there was no parking along that stretch and I needed to move along and park in a designated area.....problem was, I had no intention of parking as I was just passing through and I was just in my truck temporarily stopped and sitting in my running truck while asking the fisherman how it was going. It kinda bugged me.
Mike
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[#0000FF]As I mentioned to Curt, I agree 100% on the need to heavily patrol the Sardine Canyon stretch of highway. Can't believe how many boneheads I have had blow by me even when I was "a bit" over the speed limit. I do try to keep it down, both in the interest of public safety and my net worth.
My major peeve...as we seem to agree...is the almost exclusionary attitude of the constabulary in Mantua. Seems like they view visitors as an interruption of their daily routine and a nuisance to be run off rather than as a potential source of business and revenue for area businesses.
As a semi serious float tuber and moderator of the Float Tube boards on BFT, I get a lot of PMs from folks who solicit my sympathy and kindly words when they have been unjustifiably aggrieved by Barney (and similar ilk). Hard to believe that any public entitiy...private or government...would tolerate having employees who went out of their way to create ill will. But at Mantua it seems to almost be a requirement.
I used to love that little lake, and the surrounding area. After a particularly distasteful discussion with one of their overbearing representatives I have not been fishing there for about 6 years. Nobody who matters probably notices or cares. But I do.
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Hey now, I care!
I can't believe it's been 6 years since we fished there with Jeffery.
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[#0000FF]As Kermit the Frog says..."See how fun times when you're havin' flies?"
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http://kutv.com/news/local/the-mantua-sp...9s-revenue
"In Mantua, police wrote 2,185 tickets in fiscal year 2014. That helped the town bring in more than $221,000 in speeding fines, which makes up more than a third of the town's $649,000 revenue."
I'm sure we totally understand rules for safety's sake, but Mantua Barney is pretty much an embarrassment to the state. Let's also not forget the tickets for fishing within 100 feet of the ramp, which are written based on an eyeballed measurement.
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I'm
how writing tickets is an "embarrassment to the state"? For writing tickets for illegal activity? Because we all think we should be allowed some leeway with the law? How else is mantua going to get revenue? From all the paying customers that come to use the lake? Almost everyone who visits mantua is a net cost to the town. Sure a few spend a few dollars at the one store in town and some pay to launch boats. On the other hand we all drive on the roads the town maintains,( I manage facilities at an industrial site and my road repair and snow removal budget is over twice the mantua ticket revenue) we all enjoy the plowed roads in the winter, the garbage service, the lighted heated restrooms, etc.
to the OP. Sorry your thread got hijacked with the same ol complaining. Glad you found some fish at mantua! That is a good looking gill.
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I agree. if you stay under the 60 mph speed limit you don't get a ticket. It's not like the speed limit goes from 60 mph to 30 mph to create an obvious trap. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
Larry
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Taxation by Citation
When citation revenues become a significant percentage of the budget the object of public safety becomes secondary to simply supplementing the budget. It is very wrong, and not good public policy.
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[quote Jedidiah]
I'm sure we totally understand rules for safety's sake, but Mantua Barney is pretty much an embarrassment to the state. Let's also not forget the tickets for fishing within 100 feet of the ramp, which are written based on an eyeballed measurement.[/quote]
That's the one that really rubs me the wrong way. I got a ticket in my float tube 5+ years ago for fishing within his 100 feet imaginary line. I fought it in court with what I thought was a great idea and asked Barney how far from where he was standing in the court room to the back of the wall was. Then busted out my tape measure, his guess was something like 20% closer than what the actual measurement was. I motioned to dismiss the ticket because if he couldn't get an accurate measurement in a controlled set environment like that, how could he know where 100' is with a float tube out bobbing around in the waves, wind, reflecting sun, etc. Got told no, still had to pay the ticket.
I do agree with them enforcing that stretch of highway though. I don't buy the "speed trap" argument at all. Everyone knows what the speed limit there, it isn't a trap by any means. People are just oblivious when they get behind the wheel.
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That's crap. A town with a population of less than 700 writes 2400 tickets a year and makes $221,000 from it, while taking more than 20,000 planted fish a year from the DWR. They're trying to chase off the paying public while taking fish that we all pay to harvest. And you think the tourism that goes into Mantua is costing them money? Tickets for going 2-3 MPH over is basically entrapment when the rest of the state isn't doing it, and apparently the state government thinks so too.
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Sounds like we need to agree to disagree. 700 tickets a year is only an average of two a day, in my eyes not excessive when you look at the number of vehicles that travel that stretch of US 89 every day. Furthermore, Mantua didn't set the speed limit on that stretch of highway. Laws are laws and should be enforced. If you disagree with the law, work to change it but don't ignore it.
Larry
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Correction - 2400 a year is an average of seven a day. Still not excessive.
Larry
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