Speed Traps...

[Tomahawkin]

Name Em... especially the notorious ones...

US 63 in Arkansas was one of the worst in the Country before it turned into I-555

I wonder if speed traps have increased because so many towns are hurting from the bad economy...?

[mightyace]

Coopertown, TN along I-24 NW of Nashville has made AAA's list of worst speed traps.

Spring Hill, TN has higher than average enforcement, but it would be a stretch to call it a speed trap.

The village of Boston Heights, OH which straddles OH 8 and the Ohio Turnpike was one when I lived in OH (1985-1995).  The village had approximately 1,000 residents but had around 8 cops and six patrol cars!

[jdb1234]

US 280 through Harpersville, AL
US 301 through Waldo, FL

[Scott5114]

I've heard Childress TX is quite bad.

In OK we thankfully have no real speed traps anymore due to our law which prohibits towns from deriving more than a certain percent of their revenue from traffic fines. If that limit is exceeded, the local PD is barred from traffic enforcement on state highways and OHP is called in to do it. Thanks to this law the former notorious speed trap of Big Cabin was shut down and one other town was forced to disincorporate because without the traffic fine money they fell into bankruptcy!

[mightyace]

Oh, I forgot about Lakewood, OH which is a Cleveland suburb.

A whole 1/4 mile of I-90 passes through the city and there is no exit within Lakewood city limits.  Even so, they used to catch speeders going through their city with "hot pursuit."  In the late '80s, the Ohio legislature put an end to this foolishness with a law that required cities to have at least a mile of freeway in their city AND have an exit within city limits.

[Chris]

In OK we thankfully have no real speed traps anymore due to our law which prohibits towns from deriving more than a certain percent of their revenue from traffic fines. If that limit is exceeded, the local PD is barred from traffic enforcement on state highways and OHP is called in to do it. Thanks to this law the former notorious speed trap of Big Cabin was shut down and one other town was forced to disincorporate because without the traffic fine money they fell into bankruptcy!

I like this idea. Unfortunatly, they even have "fine targets" in my country, meaning they just have to get an x number of fines at the end of the year. And they say it's all about traffic safety. 

Let me say just one thing, police is only interested in traffic safety if it brings in some revenue, on this side of the pond... They only do a full staff alcohol/other check with dozens or even more than a hundred policemen a couple of times per year because it costs more money than it brings in... while these are really the best for traffic safety, they always catch a lot of DUI's and vehicles that are way below the safety treshold. But it takes too much working hours to make this profitable. 

[Scott5114]

I like this idea. Unfortunatly, they even have "fine targets" in my country, meaning they just have to get an x number of fines at the end of the year. And they say it's all about traffic safety. 

Oh, they have ticket quotas over here too. Though the cops always officially try to deny it, there are always a few (usually former) officers who will admit to it.

They do DUI checkpoints here as well, although normally only on special occasions where there's likely to be drunkards out driving (New Years Eve especially). I have a feeling that the reason they're not done more often isn't because of staffing/revenue concerns, but probably more likely because if it were done more often it could be protested as a violation of the Fourth Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

[njroadhorse]

Emporia, VA is a notorious one along I-95.

Watch out for Nichols, SC along SC 9 and US 76.

[ctsignguy]

I used to live near one of the most notorious speed traps in America....

NEW ROME, OH

A small berg of less than 60 people, whose police force was far and above what such a small town really needed...they would enforce speed laws arbitrarily, esp if you were minority, black, so somehow piqued their interest in emptying your wallet...their mayor's court was little more than a kangaroo court (How do you plead, you guilty bastard?).....much money they raised through their over-aggressive traffic enforcement ended up going to pay lawsuits filed for excessive police force, or disappearing never to be found again....

in recent years that place was run by a small group of people who had a vested interest in hyper-speed law eforcement (even illegally changing US 40's speed limit from 45 to 35....ODOT kept saying the limit change was illegal, but they had no legal teeth to enforce that....every time ODOT put up 45s, the signs would magically change back to 35 within a day or so....)

Finally, the State put an end to this little dictatorship by placing a law on the books that was squarely aimed at New Rome...a village under 100 people had to supply so many services to stay in business, and New Rome failed badly....

There are two other dinky locales in the Columbus area where the cops are a bit more aggressive than the average bears...Valley View, and Minerva Park......elsewhere, Gahanna cops love to hang out on I-270 as do Hilliard cops....

so if you pass through Columbus, beware....and hang on to your wallets!

[74/171FAN]

VA 106, Wagner Rd, and US 460 in Petersburg.  The speed limit on all 3 is only 35-40 mph when they could be 45-55 in some spots 

[Alex]

U.S. 98 in Gulf Breeze is rigidly enforced, and the city limits extend all the way to the National Seashore boundary. Speed limits are 45 in the seashore area and 35 elsewhere. The three-mile bridge over Pensacola Bay is jointly enforced by the cities of Pensacola and Gulf Breeze too, with varying levels of enforcement. Speed limits are 45 overall and 35 on the approach to Gulf Breeze.

Elsmere cops in Delaware used to tout their stretch of Delaware 2 (Kirkwood highway) as the "Best Speed Trap in Delaware." They even flew a banner over the four-lane highway as you entered the city. Despite a grassy or concrete median, speed limits drop to 25 through the community. I'm not sure if its rigidly enforced these days as it was in the 1990s.

Speeding anywhere in the city of Newark, Delaware is really not a good idea either as cops started getting more serious about traffic enforcement in the mid 2000s.

[agentsteel53]

US 98 in whichever county has Panama City.  Sheriff got behind me at the county line, tailed me all the way to the other end of the county. 

It was 4am.  I had California plates.  I also had cruise control.  Sucker!

[florida]

US 90 in Madison, FL. If you miss the first 35mph sign, by the time you see the second one just after it, there are sirens behind you.

SR 528 in Orlando from US 17/92/441 to I-4 is a place where troopers like to hang out.

[agentsteel53]

US-77 heading south out of Lincoln, Nebraska has speeds going 65-55-65-55-65-55 alternating.  it's 55 at every traffic light (which are about a mile apart) then 65 for several hundred yards between them.  I had cruise control on 61 and was hitting a green wave on a Saturday night when I got pulled over.

doesn't seem to generally be much of a speed trap, as I was let off with a verbal warning, on the 26th of the month.  I am thinking it was more a sobriety check than anything else. 

The entertaining part was the officer asked me to *show him* some of the photos of old signs I had claimed to be taking!

[Scott5114]

The entertaining part was the officer asked me to *show him* some of the photos of old signs I had claimed to be taking!

Closet roadgeek, perhaps?

[Hellfighter]

US 24/Telegraph Road in Redford Township. I once saw a cop pull over 3 people within the hour.

[Chris]

In my opinion, pulling someone over has more impact than getting some automated bill 4 weeks after the traffic offense in the mail... Especially considering 80% of the speeding fines are for less than 6 mph too fast over here...

How's some 4 weeks overdue bill for driving 4 miles over the limit gonna change someone's driving behaviour?

[getemngo]

US 127 between Ithaca and St. Johns.  Goes from 70 mph freeway to 55 mph divided highway with few intersections and no traffic lights.  I have not seen a cop while traveling that stretch only twice.

I can't think of any speed traps in the Upper Peninsula, but there are some very rural areas where the 55 mph limit is enforced strictly: US 2 in Mackinac County, M-28 between M-94 and Seney (the "Seney Stretch"), and US 41 between US 141 and L'Anse.  On other roads up there you can get away with going 15 over.

[Bryant5493]

I-85 (College Park/East Point/Hapeville/Union City)
I-285 (East Point - Between I-85 and East Point-Atlanta line)


Be well,

Bryant

[Truvelo]

We have them everywhere in the UK, fixed (around 6000) and mobile (countless as the can park their Talivans anywhere). Most of our fixed cameras are made by a Dutch company, Gatso, as Chris will probably tell you.

I've seen plenty of cops in the US parked on the shoulder/median radaring but I've only ever seen one van with the specific purpose of catching speeders and that was on I-8 east of Yuma, AZ where the east and westbound lanes cross over. The speed limit is lower at this point and I guess it makes lots of money

[thenetwork]

Oh, I forgot about Lakewood, OH which is a Cleveland suburb.

A whole 1/4 mile of I-90 passes through the city and there is no exit within Lakewood city limits.  Even so, they used to catch speeders going through their city with "hot pursuit."  In the late '80s, the Ohio legislature put an end to this foolishness with a law that required cities to have at least a mile of freeway in their city AND have an exit within city limits.

Hasn't stopped the village of Linndale, which borders Cleveland, OH.

There is about a 600-some odd foot stretch of I-71 which passes through this tiny town. No exits, except for Exit 242/W. 130th St. just outside of the village limits. But the cops would sit under one of the two overpasses looking to nab any speeders in this 60 MPH zone.  Nevermind that they COULD make a mint on the speeders on Memphis Avenue over I-71.  The legality of this speed trap have been going back & forth for years.

When I used to live there, when the Linndale cop was on the other side of the freeway waiting for the next victim, I'd lay on the horn just to taunt, since there was nowhere he could turn around to catch up with me.

And yes, the Boston Heights Police are affectionately known as the Boston Stranglers.  I wonder how they are gonna deal with the upgraded SR-8 freeway which will take out the 50 MPH speeds and traffic lights????

[Duke87]

The entertaining part was the officer asked me to *show him* some of the photos of old signs I had claimed to be taking!

Closet roadgeek, perhaps?

Nah, probably just checking up on his story. Cops do that. In case, you know, the person's up to no good and they're trying to cover things up. Then if you catch 'em lying to you, you have an excuse to look into things a bit more and maybe discover something more serious.


As for a bad speed trap area: New Canaan, CT. The speed limit everywhere in town is 25 or 30. Even on roads where it could easily be 40. The problem is, they're a town full of people in mansions with too much money, and they want to keep their town nice and quiet, free of "noise pollution" from people speeding by, and free of riff-raff from the ever-encroaching suburbs of New York cutting through. And on top of that, there's no crime and the cops have nothing better to do. So, they set the speed limits low (you even see people with bumper stickers that say "slow down in our town") and enforce them like crazy. What's worse, they intentionally target out of towners. If your driver's license has an address in New Canaan on it, they'll likely let you go. Another town? Not so much. Out of state? God help you.

[Ian]

New Jersey Turnpike is a place with a lot of cops. Infact, all of New Jersey is one giant speed trap...

A lot of Upstate New York freeways have a lot of cops (especially I-87/Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway). A lot of rural NY roads also have a lot of cops.

Pennsylvania Turnpike has a lot of speed traps and all the cops have pretty good hiding places. Once, there was a cop in between the Morgantown and Reading interchanges that was behind a bridge so cars approaching it had absolutely no clue they were coming up to it.

I-95 in PA is one giant speed trap, especially south of the Philadelphia Int'l Airport.

The Maine Turnpike has a lot of cops aswell.

i

[agentsteel53]

the state of Virginia is a big speed trip.  I got pulled over on I-81 two hundred feet past the WV state line.  29th of the month.  Got me a big fat ticket, too.  No way I was getting out of that one.  73 in a 65 ...

WV dutifully put up a sign that said "speed limit 65 ahead" (as opposed to their 70) - what they should've put up is a big sign that said "assholes ahead - we reverse-seceded in 1862 for less than this!"

[PAHighways]

Pennsylvania Turnpike has a lot of speed traps and all the cops have pretty good hiding places. Once, there was a cop in between the Morgantown and Reading interchanges that was behind a bridge so cars approaching it had absolutely no clue they were coming up to it.

I-95 in PA is one giant speed trap, especially south of the Philadelphia Int'l Airport.

Pennsylvania in general is a giant speed trap.  Whatever crevasse, nook, or crany the State Police can wedge a cruiser into, they will.  Or as they do in Indiana County, don camouflage and hide in the woods next to the roads.