DIY Life

Whaddya know? A guy attempts a little DIY traffic calming on his own street and gets attention from the cops. No, it's not because he was pointing a radar gun at passing cars, but because of the pink tricycle he planted on the side of the road. Hmm.

If you have a problem with speeding cars on your street, I'll concede it's not really practical to stand out there all day with a radar gun anyway. So here are some suggestions that might really work to solve your traffic issues once and for all.

1. Invest in a brightly colored "kids at play" driveway sign. I'm willing to bet these signs are more effective than the presence of actual children. Why? It's because the signs are designed to be all official-looking. Responsible drivers react automatically when they see a "go slow" reminder.

I schooled and trained to be a cop. As a matter of fact I spent a couple years certified as a humane officer, although I never took the job. Suffice it to say that I've talked with more cops than the average person has and I've probably known more cops than I really needed to. One of the things that I learned was that, given the right circumstances, almost every cop lets a speeding motorist "skate the rap" now and then.

There is a somewhat prescribed course of action which will help "put you in the drivers seat" when it comes to escaping the wrath of the ticket writing cop and the traffic court judge. The very first thing you must do is immediately accept that you have done wrong.

If a cop flags your plates and turns on those lovely colored strobes on top of his car, speeding or not, you're caught. They are right and you are wrong. Yeah it sucks, but that's life. Signal your departure from the traffic lane, ease to the shoulder nice and smooth, stop your car like a good citizen and shut off your engine.