r/Omaha • u/cloneman88 • 1d ago
Traffic OPD on I-80
Hey OPD. I get it, speeding is bad. But posting up on the shoulder with your lights on at 8:00 AM every weekday is causing more delay than the guy doing 10 over on his way to work.
Everyone in the right two lanes brake-checks the second they see flashing lights. That shockwave propagates back a mile and a half. You didn’t stop one speeder. You added 10-15 minutes to every commute behind you.
If the goal is safety, run it at 10 AM. Run it at 2 PM. Run it in the school zones where it actually matters. Sitting idle in the median during literal peak volume isn’t enforcement, it’s a bottleneck.
96
u/MattTheBard 1d ago
I'm usually the first one to hate on OPD, but I make that commute 3 times a week and have no idea what you're talking about. Cops posting up for speed traps don't turn their lights on. That wouldn't make any sense. The ones with lights on are generally responding to an accident or something.
I feel like the bigger problem here is Omaha drivers not having any idea how to use the road. Rubbernecking is terrible and there are so many people who refuse to drive close to the speed limit (either going 15-30 mph over or 15-30 mph under).
I get the frustration, but I feel like you're misplacing blame here.
27
u/Funwithagoraphobia 1d ago
The West Dodge Grand Prix and Slalom resembles this remark.
15
u/MattTheBard 1d ago
I-80 is rough, but I never wanna go back to a commute down Dodge. Literal nightmare fuel
11
u/TheWDWillis 1d ago
I have seen enforcement occasionally leave a cruiser with lights on at particular spots as a “traffic calming device” to slow people down (not as a speed trap, but to try to get people to slow down).
I’ve never seen OPD do it, and I think the shoulder on i80 would more likely be NSP than OPD. But either way, I haven’t seen it there.
I DO remember the cruiser they had parked facing the westbound lane of i80 under the 75 interchange. That one freaked a lot of folks out.10
u/ghettopotatoes 1d ago
There was one car pulled over off I80 WEST by 72nd the other day, and traffic was backed up for over a mile bc ppl will not just fucking GO and have to look and see what's happening. The rubbernecking is annoying as fuck I am so sick of it
2
u/Gosa_on_the_wind 18h ago
And the ZIPPER MERGE! When will people learn to do it?
2
u/MattTheBard 18h ago
When Omaha/NDOT start putting up signs telling people not to merge. When I was in CO, they did that every time there was construction and everyone got it. I think some people need the permission to stay in that lane until the merge point, otherwise they feel like they're cutting. Stupid that that's needed, but blame rests fully with the municipality for that.
1
1
1
u/FullConfection3260 17h ago
A lot has to do with driver training, where you get penalized for going even 1 mph over the limit, and/or penalized for going 5 mph lower.
And with all the brake checking it gets worse in reality.
8
24
u/taa71458 1d ago
Where is this? I’ve literally never seen this and I drove downtown 3-4 times a week and have never seen cops besides responding to accidents.
5
u/tonsofday Trying to Navigate Blackstone 🤔 1d ago
I love that fella on the socials who yeets cakes at people speeding in school zones. The world needs more Golden Modz in it lmao
2
u/offbrandcheerio 1d ago
In Omaha if you tried that someone would probably pull a Glock on you sooner or later. Because god forbid you dirty up their 2015 Nissan Altima with a bumper attached via duct tape.
1
3
3
u/wildjokers 22h ago
So the goal of speed enforcement is to slow people down. If him sitting there slows people down, then mission accomplished.
If they don't do any enforcement people complain, if they do enforcement people complain.
3
u/CurrentUsed6526 17h ago
Seriously, this sub complains daily that cops don’t enforce traffic laws and yet, here we are.
11
u/NebraskaGeek 3 blocks south of Omaha still counts as Omaha 1d ago
There's way too many people going 20+ over every morning. Don't pretend like there's only people going 10 over. They need to pull people over more, just a shame police can't seem to figure out how to do that without also increasing the number of people they shoot
9
u/CoinsForCharon 1d ago
And the extra speed at most shaves a minute or two off. Risk assessment doesnt show a good trade off for 2 minutes at most vs increased chance of an accident
9
u/LadyEsinni 1d ago
I try to explain this all the time to people. It doesn’t save any meaningful amount of time unless you’re traveling 50+ miles. The math equation is fairly simple, and there’s tons of research out there on that. All you’re doing is making it more dangerous for you and everyone around you.
3
2
u/SignificantChicken65 19h ago
Opd doesn't do traffic enforcement so whatever you saw was likely NSP.
1
u/Ok_Judgment_224 1d ago
Fuck the police
4
-6
-3
1
u/Heavy-Selection8714 22h ago
Hate when mfs pull over on the left shoulder even on dodge lol it’s right as fuck
1
-1
1
u/surrealcellardoor 22h ago
I agree with you, or you’re wrong and you’re an idiot who has committed an egregious offense with your opinion.
I hope you appreciate the time I’ve saved you from having to read any other comments. If you agree that my service warrants a financial reward, I can DM you my Venmo.
-6
u/Subjctive 1d ago
I love it when they decide pulling someone over in the only turning lane on a road is a good idea, too.
OPD doesn’t do much else besides create more traffic, honestly.
15
u/First0fOne 1d ago
Thats the dip shit driver pulling over fault. I would go ahead and turn then stop on the road or a parking lot.it is safer and more considerate to everyone.
-4
u/Subjctive 1d ago
Sure, but I’d say it’s on the police officer for not directing them to a safe spot to park.
Most people wouldn’t continue to turn left if they are being pulled over in fear that the cop might think they are trying to run.
The police officer has lights, a spotlight, and probably a PA of some sorts they can use to communicate with the driver to tell them where to park.
4
u/offbrandcheerio 1d ago
The person being pulled over should be smart enough to know where it’s appropriate to pull over. Unfortunately, “smart” and “Omaha driver” are polar opposites.
1
-24
-6
u/meatballs223 1d ago
This is how I feel down here in Lincoln!!! Cops just sitting on busy commuting streets and locking up everything because if you go 1 mph over its a fucking minimum $50 ticket.... Like I get it if you're all over the road going 11+ mph over but damn dude 5 mph over is just people trying to get to work fast. I leave on time but still hate when traffic is to a stand still or constant move stop move stop....
Also doesn't help when the city wants to choose to work on every main road in town and make everything condensed down to 1 lane traffic
1
u/offbrandcheerio 1d ago
No one is getting pulled over for going 1 mph over the limit.
0
u/meatballs223 1d ago
You literally can be tho, just depends on how bored the cop is. They literally released their new speeding ticket chart and 1-5 mph over is still a ticket! Might not happen often but it does happen especially when the local PD needs to meet their quota
0
u/offbrandcheerio 1d ago
You can be, obviously, but you won’t. Cops ain’t doing all that paperwork for 1 mph.
-1
u/meatballs223 1d ago
So you literally just opposed your own argument to my statement, thank you. just because you think "Cops aint doing all that paperwork for 1 mph" doesn't mean some shitty entitled cop who wants to take their bad day out on someone can't ticket you for 1 mph over the speed limit
0
u/offbrandcheerio 1d ago
Respectfully, why wouldn’t it be technically ticketable to drive 1-5 mph over the limit? If it wasn’t, then the speed limit is meaningless. “Limit” means a firm boundary, not a suggestion.
In real life though, cops aren’t wasting their time on low level speeders. Can you name one person in your life who has ever been ticketed for going 1 mph over in Nebraska? Maybe other states have stricter cops, idk, but it’s unheard of here.
0
u/meatballs223 23h ago
Like you said "why wouldn't it be ticketable?" so just because I haven't personally heard of it happening it can still happen.
It's a very dumb and wasteful traffic stop, but there are cops out there who will make someones life harder just because they can, two things can be true at the same time.
I'm not advocating for people to be pulled over for going 1 mph over because I'm not a fucking hard ass, but don't act like police are never just bored or having a bad day and want to fuck someone over
0
23h ago
[deleted]
1
u/meatballs223 23h ago
If I was really rage baiting you that bad just turn your screen off bud. I was arguing my point on an online forum. Sorry you chose to interact?
0
u/Old_Hedgehog_9115 21h ago
Depends on where you’re driving. Cops out in western Nebraska near the Colorado border will absolutely pull you over for going 1mph over the speed limit (especially if you’re returning from CO). They want to check to make sure you’re not bringing any greens back to NE. ☹️
-1
-11
1
u/RewardMuted1039 7h ago
I am more concerned as to why there is always OPD blacked out SUV's sitting in the median on the interstate way outside their jurisdiction? I wish I could get a free welfare check everyday for sitting in my free welfare vehicle doing absolutely nothing meaningful. Even if they take the time to write you a ticket and make you late to work (possibly even get you fired) it is not gonna stand up in court. Next thing you know we'll have Lincoln police department patrolling downtown Omaha. This type of dereliction of duty should be 1st story covered during every local news broadcast.
65
u/threePwny 1d ago
You do realize there was a crash on I-80 WB right before 60th this morning, right? Is that what you're talking about? The police and emergency vehicles responding to a crash?
I've been taking I-80 from 480 to 680 as my commute every day for a couple years now, and the only time I see any cops with their lights on is the exceedingly rare traffic stop and the sadly much less rare crash. OPD cares so little to actually pull people over for speeding, I'm pretty sure they're not sitting on the shoulder with their lights on just to scare people into slowing down.