Overcharging for a speedtrap “down plead” II

Last month, a blog commenter used the term “down plead” to refer to the action Northglenn mandarins often take to offer reduced “points” on one’s driving license record in return for an exorbitant fine to be paid into the city coffers.

An acquaintance of mine relates this similar story of a speedtrap run-in with the Northglenn traffic bureaucracy. I’ve tried to capture it as she understands the driving scene, the ticket, and the Northglenn municipal response.

driving like a “grandmother” eastbound on 112th Avenue, at the speed limit of 35 mph or a bit below, she continued eastward as the roadway goes up and over an overpass, crossing Interstate 25. “112th Avenue” is renamed “Community Center Drive” as it crosses I-25 — with no visible change in the nature of the roadway, and the speed limit remains 35 mph — and then curves northward heading to intersect 120th Avenue. The street descends a hill as it drops elevation from the bridge over the interstate highway as the land elevation decreases to the north where Community Center Drive crosses Malley Drive. She had gained a bit of speed going down the hill and was now “cruising” at the “high” speed of exactly 35 mph as she crossed Malley Drive. No problem, or so she thought. Well, actually, no. Northglenn drops the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph right where Community Center Drive crosses Malley, which is exactly at the bottom of the hill. A Northglenn mototcycle cop radar-ed her in the first couple hundred feet after Malley, and issued her a ticket for doing 35 mph in a 25 mph zone, immediately after the first posted sign of the new lower limit.

Because she had an absolutely clean driving record, the City Attorney for Northglenn offered her a “plea bargain offer”: a 2-point violation of “Defective Equipment”, plus a $130 fine. She took the “deal”, acquiesced and paid the fine, because she is intimidated by the legal system and the bureaucracy that would drag her before it.

This fine, as with commenter MR in the previous post, seems exorbitant. And the description of the catch point is classic speed trap. I drove through there myself and it is exactly as she described it.

Have a story to share? Write us at dldelong02@gmail.com.

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