The old “show-‘em-a-decoy” trick

I was north bound on I-5 in southern California. V1 sounded off, radar ahead, so I adjusted my pace to be in accordance with all known traffic laws, and watched for the source. I soon saw a CHP cruiser sitting on the side of the road facing traffic and in plain view. After I got by the Chippie, I was thinking, would be safe to speed up again?

So as I passed I watched the arrows, waiting for them to point to the side, then behind. But that didn’t happen. The front arrow hung on, and on, and on. At first I was confused but soon realized there had to be another source. So I continued watching the right side of the road. Soon I saw another CHP, this time hiding behind a brushy tree wide enough to give him cover. As I passed, the arrow switched to the side, and then back.

It was the old “throw-‘em-a-decoy” trick; the first CHP was just for show. With any other detector, it would have seemed safe to speed up after passing the show car. I believe in never saying never, but in this case I will make an exception—I will NEVER use any other detector.

Anthony Boosalis
La Canada, CA

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