I've seen an alarming rise in laser usage myself.

The HPD revenue generation machine is in high gear lately.

he says pretty much the same thing. he sees lots of people getting tickets for those lights in the windshield washer. can't have blue lights on the front half of your car

in between white to amber on the front; you can only show red to amber or any color between red or amber on the back (with the exception of your backup lights and your LP light). Those are getting more and more common up here in Longview, too. I honestly wonder if the install / custom shops are telling these kids about it being illegal before they install them...

I'm not commenting on whether or not HPD should be writing tickets for that offense, BTW; I'm just confirming what your neighbor told you as being correct.

But while I've got your attention, does anyone else want to come to the driving school Nov. 2-3 in Kilgore? We've still got about four openings!

:-)

small, blue LEDs. Those don't meet the federal standard for color because they're actually blue (or red, or purple, etc.). The Xenons are OK because they do meet the federal standard for color. The Xenons are not actually blue...they have a blue hue to them.

There aren't any extra judges presiding over traffic ticket cases, and the backlog is getting to be pretty big in many courts, with the increased pressure to write tickets due to city and county budget shortfalls combined with the recently decreased speed limits. At the minimum, fighting it buys you several months until trial.

Did not know there were any tracks there. A lot of us have been to Texas World Speedway with the Drivers Edge.<ul><li><a href="http://www.thedriversedge.net">http://www.thedriversedge.net</a</li></ul>

either way .. good to know info. =)

<b>As some of you know, I teach for a police academy in Kilgore. One of the topics I teach is police emergency driver improvement, affectionately known as PEDI.

The interesting thing about the Audi Quattro Challenge program is that the things they teach are very, very similar to what we teach in our PEDI courses. IMHO, the only real down side of the Audi Quattro Challenge was that there were too many people there and not enough time to drive. I saw an opportunity to provide some hands-on, practical driver improvement instruction for folks who might want to improve their street-driving skills. Let me stress, though, that THIS IS NOT A RACING SCHOOL NOR IS IT A PURSUIT DRIVING SCHOOL. This class is designed to help you become a better "real-life" driver.

The school is 16 hours long, held on a Saturday and a Sunday, and would be held at the East Texas Police Academy driving range just south of Kilgore, Texas. The tuition, which would be paid to the academy to cover materials and instructional costs, would be $50 per participant. The class would have no more than 20 students...which means that each person would be allowed to drive more. Spouses and/or friends are allowed to come and video, photo, etc., if they want. The basic setup is:

SATURDAY AM:
-register, get oriented
-inspect cars for safety
-short amount of classroom instruction (range rules, safety issues, etc.)
-serpentine ("slalom") course
-lunch on your own from 11:30 - 1:00

SATURDAY PM:
-evasive lane change
-perception / reaction course

SUNDAY AM:
-precision manuevering course
-precision backing course
-lunch on your own from 11:30 - 1:00

SUNDAY PM:
-short classroom presentation
-highway course
-evaluation, finish up

At the end of the course, each person who successfully completes the course would receive an East Texas Police Academy certificate for their wall, a letter stating that the person had completed the class (some insurance companies have, in the past, accepted this much the same as a DDC certificate and have given a 10% discount on the liability portion of your insurance...but this is totally up to the insurance company), and a MUCH better understanding of how to safely, effectively handle a car.

So, my question is this: how many of you would be interested? I think you would have a really good time and learn a great deal. I taught the first session of this class in July and the participants LOVED it. I've got about 15 folks signed up so far for this session, with vehicles ranging from TTs to VWs. You can ask any of the folks who were in the last class and I think you'll see why they enjoyed it so much. Dustin Loftis ("dloftis") and his fiance', JoTT, and 3.14ryTT, all from TX, took the class and learned something. If you're interested, please let me know ASAP so I can put you on the list. The reason I limited enrollment to 20 folks is so that you get a chance to drive, drive, and then drive some more.

One other thing: even though you're responsible for your own meals, we all ate as a group last time and had a blast. We ate Mexican food Saturday at noon, BBQ ribs @ the Country Tavern for Saturday evening, and then ate at a great buffet place Sunday at noon.

Thanks!
Ferg</b>