The other day I passed a car that had been stopped by an unmarked police vehicle. IIRC, this was in Howard County on Rte 100 near US 95.

The thing was: the unmarked vehicle was a minivan! Blue light on the dash, strobes in the front and rear turn signals.

I obviously couldn't tell whether this was a state or county cop, nor did I get a good enough look to tell what make and model it was. All minivans look alike to me.

So Maryland drivers: watch out for that minivan following you at 85 mph!

 

I got through Maryland once and a while. The state motto for Maryland is "Maryland: One big speed trap!"

They got a little state with a few highways and they mine the highways for income like they are goldmines. It really makes a bad impression for the state.

 

Hey, Connecticut (5,544 sq miles), who you calling small?!? Maryland is more than twice (12,300 sq. miles) as big as you, so watch it!

Sorry, you got caught (let me guess: I-95?), but I think most states set lots of speed traps on the main highways in and out of the state. As a 47-year resident of the Free State, I don't think we have any more (or any less) speed traps than other states similarly situated.

FWIW, the real motto of Maryland is "Fatti maschii, parole femine," which literally means "Manly deeds, womanly words," or as this site explains, "strong deeds, gentle words."

 

In my opinion, if y'all up there didn't have the (legal) use of those fancy-smancy radar detectors, then your troopers wouldn't have to resort to using some soccer mom's impounded minivan for stalking those accelerator addicts who roam your highways.

Also, by having to drive "the old-fashioned way", you would reap a multitude of benefits such as those enjoyed by the drivers in the Commonweath of Virginia.

Yes, yes, I can hear you now..."what benefits?".

Now, if I were to just blurt them out, I would be robbing you of the pure sense of satisfaction you would gain by finding these gems yourself.

So, to the drivers of Maryland I say free yourselves and disconnect those devices. Find the benefits of driving and not having to be the Pavlovian slave of a beep/blurp/bing detection signal. Let Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. know of your new-found freedom. Not only will he find a new respect for you, but I'm sure the trooper community will as well. With trooper respect on your side, I'm sure they will see no need to resort to the Minivans or even, heaven forbid, the VW Beetle.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(see what happens when things get slow at work)



VG

 

Ok, sorry about the small crack. I know CT is beyond small and well in to puny. (3rd smallest state and all). But we make up for it with arrogance and money!

At least our beaches aren't contaminated with crabs and stinging jellyfish! <hehehe>

 

"In my opinion, if y'all up there didn't have the (legal) use of those fancy-smancy radar detectors, then your troopers wouldn't have to resort to using some soccer mom's impounded minivan for stalking those accelerator addicts who roam your highways."

First off dude, it is the 21st century, when technology upgrades so do normal people. It is not our fault that your state cannot keep up with the rest of the country. maybe once your state figures out how to create fake teeth, so that everyone can walk around with more than 3 of them, then they can concentrate on better advances.

"Sorry, you got caught (let me guess: I-95?), but I think most states set lots of speed traps on the main highways in and out of the state. As a 47-year resident of the Free State, I don't think we have any more (or any less) speed traps than other states similarly situated."

I completely agree that maryland doesnt have more speed traps than anywhere else. However, they are by far the worst drivers i have ever encountered in my entire life.

As for connecticut, dude, seriously, your state just sucks. It is the money that made you all arrogant. PS- maybe your beaches dont have crabs and jellyfish, but you know what they do have......Too many fat girls that got the ItsWinterICanEatAlotofShit syndrome.

 

I'm not arguing with you about Maryland, but have you ever driven in Boston?

 

um i think so dude,
i am from boston and go to school in maryland. so i have driven numerous times between the two of them in my maxima. Dont get me wrong i may be a masshole, but at least i move when im on the road. Seriously though, no offense, maryland produces the 2nd to worst drivers i have ever seen, virginia being the first. Nothing will top the time the guy in VA proceeded to follow me off the highway and yell at me while i was pumping gas for going at least 90. WTF was he doing in the left lane anyways.....gentleman you think they would teach you the rules of the road when they taught you your supposed manners. The left lane is for passing, not for creating traffic.

 

Thanks, I live right off of 100 and 95. I'll keep my eye out now

 

Andy,

The difference is that many Maryland and Virginia drivers are slow, inattentive, and inconsiderate, but in Boston they're just crazy.

It was in MD/VA region that came up with the concept of "Nestoring," i.e. intentionally driving at the speed limit in the left lane with the attitude, You shouldn't be going faster than the speed limit.

It's called that because the guy who practiced it, and went on radio talk shows to explain his attitude, was named Nestor.

I remeber how stunned I was to drive in Michigan for the first time and observe how when I was going faster than the traffic in front of me, people would actually move right long before I got to them. Amazing! People there also moved out of a lane that was going to end long before they got to that point, instead of rushing down the ending lane to cut in front of everyone who had already merged.

Back here in Maryland, I had one of the nearest misses I've ever had last Saturday. I was in in Annapolis, and had just made a left turn when a big black SUV suddenly dashed out across my nose from a side street on my right. I braked and missed hitting his rear quarter panel by no more than an inch or two. I didn't even have time to hit my horn, and he was gone in the opposite direction.

So I'm not defending Maryland drivers.

 

I searched on "nestoring" and found this reference. I got it a little wrong, but it's worse than I thought:

45 mph!

 

This seems to be an even better account of Mr. Nestor:
http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/2046936830-6839.html

It was 1984, not the 1970s, and he told newspaper reporters, not radio stations.

 

well, if nestor isnt dead somebody should do the rest of the world a favor and ..... As far as speed limits go. The original reason they were inacted was because of gas shortages in US and cars back then were more efficient at 55 than at 85. Newer cars are more efficient at faster speeds. When i am president i will change the speed limit and have cops give tickets to the jerks doing the speed limit in the left hand lane. Seriously, what difference does it make to that person if i want to pass them or not.

 

oh yeah, and about the minivan, if i am ever going slow enough for a minivan to keep up with me, my car will be on ebay because i dont deserve it....

 

Can't we all drive just a'bit normal-like Left lane =passing; next lane to the right: fast lane: next lane to the right: faster than the far right lane: far right lane: granma?



VG

 

I have seen a Mercury Villager on I-97 pulling over an aggressive driving Honda Civic (with clear tail-lights).

Other weird MD unmarked vehicle sightings:

Ford Mustang V6 models at the Baltimore tunnel areas on I-95, and at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge area.

Buick Century pulled over a motorist in Edgewater, MD (last year)

Jaguar XJ8 speeding down route 4 in calvert county MD with blue lights flashing.

BMW 328....... errr.... wait a sec, that was something to do with the Olympics years ago.