Need some skeptical help

[avengingwatcher]

I am hesitant to share this with this crowd as I know it will probably bring me derision and I have shared this with almost none out of a very, very small group of people, but here goes.

I have an uncanny ability to detect speed traps. I'm not talking about a few seconds before, but minutes, usually about 3 minutes before it comes up. I have tried to figure out anything logical I can think of to explain it but I have come up with nothing to explain the time delay. I also get physical symptoms of a tightening in my chest and a tingle in my spine.

I have discounted anything where I can see the traffic on the other side of the road or anything where visual confirmation from cars ahead would give enough time to detect and officer. I don't get any indication when there are construction sites with officers. I visually state every time I get an indication to whoever is with me so that I can rule out confirmation bias. I have also been able to tell on roads that I don't travel and before my wife's radar detector goes off. (She has gotten 3 tickets without me in the car, none with me in)

I know there has to be some indication that I am missing but I can't figure it out. Is there any logical explanation any of you can think of to explain this? It has been eating at me for years.

[Mirrorglass]

First of all, have you really and truly ruled out confirmation bias? Are you always correct, or do you sometimes get this feeling without a speed trap? Is the time always several minutes, or is it sometimes shorter, sometimes longer?

The only way to really know would be to write down the time when you get the sensation and the time you pass the speed trap, and repeat this at least a few dozen times. After you've done that, you need to figure out how likely it would be to get a similar result by chance. My guess is it would be quite likely, but of course I don't have enough information to be sure.

If, after that, you still conclude you have this ability, then the most likely explanation is you've learned to detect some signs of approaching traps, even though you don't consciously realize it.

[MG1962]

If, after that, you still conclude you have this ability, then the most likely explanation is you've learned to detect some signs of approaching traps, even though you don't consciously realize it.

Yeah I was a professional driver for years, and I used to tell people I could smell police cars and radar traps. Clearly I could not, but I had an uncanny ability to pick where they would be and when.

I can only put it down to some intuitive reading of the signs around me

[avengingwatcher]

I have been wrong 1 time in a guess, there was a speed trap but it was over 10 minutes away, so I didn't count it.

Do you think it's possible for people to be adjusting their signals over 3 miles in a noticeable way? If it was a straight road sure, but the area I live I have a lot of winding roads and trees that block line of sight.

I was guessing it was something I was perceiving, I just can't figure out the what. Is it a specific combination of factors? Is it I have subconsciously memorized the patrol schedule and correlated it to the weather? I hate having a mystery, which is why I have decided to share this with you guys. Thanks for the advice Mirrorglass.

[avengingwatcher]

Yeah I was a professional driver for years, and I used to tell people I could smell police cars and radar traps. Clearly I could not, but I had an uncanny ability to pick where they would be and when.

I can only put it down to some intuitive reading of the signs around me

I was also a professional driver for years, I'm guessing experience lends something to this.

[bpesta22]

Assuming cops pick the best spot to hide, and that the best spots mostly stay the same, and that you travel the same route regularly, that might explain it.

You're retrieving memories of what's ahead as you hit landmarks on your over-learned trip. These memories trigger the non-specific memory that 2 miles down the road is often a speed trap, and so you slow down (or have a vague feeling that cops are ahead). That could lead to better than chance abilities but clearly non-paranormal ones.

[avengingwatcher]

Yes don't mistake me saying that I have paranormal powers...that was why I was hesitant, I don't want it to come off as that, my wife makes those assumptions but if I try to explain things her eyes glaze over and butterflies dance in her eyes. The critical thinking is why I decided to share this here and not with my family.

[Jerry Drake]

You're not in held in the grips of paranormal powers, my friend. Speed traps follow a set pattern - cops hide in places where they know they're going to trap a lot of speeders. No doubt over the years you've built up a library of such data in your head out of observational experience and you're capable of drawing upon that library of data - in a rather uncanny way - to make an accurate hypothesis. This is how Sherlock Holmes was famously able to solve his cases - through observing and catalogging set patterns.

That's merely a sign of good observational skills and expertise.