Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: Redcrown on October 17, 2025, 09:42:12 am
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I'm back in the USA from a tour of Italy, one of many in decades. Lot's of driving, on my own and with my Italian hosts. They have lots of speed traps in Italy, much more than the US, and my hosts taught me all about them. But this time a major difference dawned on me. The Italians advertise their speed traps well in advance. Multiple warning signs, and the camera boxes are painted bright orange and blue. They actually want you to drive slow through their little towns. They don't want to give tickets and grab the cash.
The USA speed traps are well hidden. Sure, with practice you can learn to spot them. But they really want to catch you and grab some cash. There is a little one-horse town near me that's famous for its single trap because it generates 70% of the town's budget. And the town is rich. It's just off the Interstate (AutoStrada). So in less than 100 meters you go from 75 mph to 25 mph. They have a new city hall, a new police station, and a new band shell in their one city park. The mayor owns the bank, and the town council are all relatives.
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i think that is illegal in Texas. ;)
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i think that is illegal in Texas. ;)
Yeah, but Italy has the various branches of the Mafia. You can't extort money from a stiff, so keeping the right people alive makes sound common and business sense. Anyway, the old ways have been greatly influenced by the new, which are well exemplified in Redcrown’s neighbouring town. The perfect crime is the crime where nobody realises that it has been committed.
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What happened to the rule that the Bear Pit is the only place for politics?
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What happened to the rule that the Bear Pit is the only place for politics?
Maybe they were PHOTO radar speed traps, so the thread is photo related. :)
Besides, the topic is only political in a very tangential way. But it's the moderator's purview.
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This is definitely all about Photography. My Italian host showed me a ticket he got for 1 kilo over the limit. It included a full color, high rez photo of his angry face behind the wheel. I think those Italian speed boxes all have a Canon EOS R5 inside with a 200mm telephoto. My wife and I now wait anxiously to see if we get any pics in the mail.
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ahhh, the new "candid camera" show ! ;)
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Gotta add about how great Google Maps has become. First plus was quick and easy integration of our phones to our rental car via Android Auto. Years past that was a struggle and often failed. We never got lost, in spite of navigating to some fairly obscure locations. We made several round trips from our hotel to our Italian friends' home. A distance of only 6 kilos, but thru a city center maze of about 10 roundabouts. We noticed that Google often gave a different route, apparently based on time of day.
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What happened to the rule that the Bear Pit is the only place for politics?
It is still very much extant. If I consider a thread to be political, I shall enforce it.
Jeremy