The National Speed Trap Exchange

[FordTruck]

Not that ANYONE towing an AS would exceed the speed limit, but maybe while you're NOT towing, you just might.

Huge List of Speed Traps | The National Speed Trap Exchange

[polarlyse]

According to this list they are " Everywhere". If you pay any attention to what it's trying to say you simply must slow down and watch your speed. I guess that is a positive result. But I just can't give any credibility to what it's publishing since today's "speed traps" are so highly mobile. They are, simply put, just about every police vehicle. Cars and Motorcycles, marked and unmarked. What's a more interesting thing to monitor is the new enforcement cameras being employeed at high risk intersections to monitor and ticket those that pass throught the traffic lights. I'm starting to see them in my locale. Something new, something interesting. Have to see just how they work out.

Happy Motoring, watch you speed !!!!!!!!

[Gene]

Roger, I think you are right. I've looked at lists of speed traps and they seem to include every town and county there is. Sooner or later someone gets a ticket everywhere and is angry because they think it was a speed trap, and then they post it. And some places can't resist photo radar and use it for revenue—it's almost impossible to fight such a ticket no matter how wrong it may have been.

And, in conclusion, Hotchkiss, Colorado, is a speed trap. They've got more police cars than such a small town (about 1,000) can support, and that 25 mph limit through town is very tempting to the local cops. And no, I have never gotten a ticket there, but I know a lot of people who have.

Gene

[polarlyse]

We drove through Hotchkiss back in July. Stopped at the grocery store and headed out. Missed the speed trap, or maybe it was lunch time. Actually it was after lunch. Didn't see much of the town we were on the way to see a friend up in Craig. I guess the moral of the story here is to watch your speed.

[Skater]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

According to this list they are " Everywhere".

Yeah. This is my favorite example of that, for the town I live in:

Bowie now has its own police force. They are out to make sure the city perceives they are doing their jobs by setting up radar all along Rt 197, old "Levit Bowie" deveopments and Rt 450. They will be writing as many tickets as they can.

[Dave Park]

While I personally don't speed, I do have a good quality radar detector. This alerts me to police presence and can often detect traps up to three miles away on straight freeways. It also has a neat road hazard warning system - some cruisers have transponders and can warn of accidents or flood/rockfall hazards ahead, and it can also alert me to approaching emergency vehicles before I can hear them.

[r carl]

Radar detectors can actually help keep you from accidently speeding.

[Dave Park]

That's how it happened. Being a Brit, I am comfortable driving at 80 or 90. After getting a couple of tickets, I decided a radar detector was in order. It changed my driving behavior and has virtually eliminated speeding

That said, I am sure it paid for itself several times over already.

One time, I was driving in Colorado, and it alerted "rock fall ahead" and I slowed, turned the corner, and the road was completely blocked, and there was a police cruiser buried in the rubble. I backed up and put on my blinkers to alert people coming up to the corner - turns out the cruiser had just hit the rockfall about three minutes before me. The trooper was ok.

[Airtandem]

Iowa and Illinois put out their "NEW" speed/fine list yesterday. Speeding STARTS at ONE MPH over the limit. Fines are $50 or $75 for up to 10MPH over depending witch state you are in. Yes, they started and posted on 9/1.
We have several Interstates that go through the middle of cities and the locals sure like this plus we ahve the RED light cameras for both speeding and failure to come to a COMPLETE stop before right on red. $$$$$$$

[tpi]

Radar is everywhere now. One place to really watch it is Beatty NV. Follow the signs to the letter.

[DaveFL]

My TomTom has a speed warning, alerts you when you are over limit, set it to 5 miles over and had a surprise alert in our town, after you pass the school zone with 35 mph, a couple of blocks later it went off at 35, they must have put the sign in recently or I have been speeding since the highway was constructed. Busy watching the road and didn't notice the sign.

Waldo Fl is a famous speed trap, well patrolled, but good signage, I set the cruise control as the road is too easy to exceed posted speed.

[FordTruck]

R-Carl - I agree about the value of Detectors. Unfortunately, we live in the only state in the union that makes radar detectors illegal. The cops won't confiscate yours if it's in the 'off' position but if they catch you actually using it, it becomes theirs.

[gaylejoe]

Most Law Enforcement agencies will write a citation if they see a radar detector. Otherwise a warning would have been issued. My experience is, a lot of motorest let their mouths over load their butts. If I'm being stopped, and that is not very often, I am very humble and polite. That will go a very long way in keeping the officer from writing the citation. Also, anything over 15mph over the posted speed limit is a citation. Anything over the posted speed limit is a school zone is a citation even if God is driving. If I stopped a vehicle and I thought the family was in financial difficulty I would do everything in my power to keep from issuing a citation. I believe you will find that many officers also have feelings like the rest of the population and many times someone pushes them past the point of no return. Been there and done that.

[Dave Park]

This is one of the most important things that people forget: passing the attitude test. As the previous poster says, being polite goes a long way.

I always remember it's not the officer's fault I'm being pulled over - I must have done something to draw attention to myself. I make his job as easy as possible.

I also follow the other rule: never incriminate yourself. The officer will almost always ask as his first question: "Do you know why I have pulled you over today?" If you answer this question, you are either making an admission (ticket!) or a denial (calling the officer a liar - ticket!) - you should always answer the question with, "why have you pulled me over, officer?"

[Gene]

Dave, even if you are going 75 in a 35 zone, if you are asked if you know why you were pulled over, answering "no" is only a denial of knowing the cop's motivation. Every traffic stop is a choice—generally you don't get a ticket for going up to 10 miles over the limit, but in a speed trap you will, or the cop may not stop you because it's lunch time, or he only stops pretty girls.

I haven't gotten stopped since the speed limit was raised from 55.

The radar detector is a good defense measure—the cop needing to make quota that tails you through a small town will be often picked up before you can see him, for example. This doesn't work as well with a trailer because the radar detector can't see through the trailer—they do pick up radar behind you otherwise and may get some signal around the trailer on a curve. I drive slower with the trailer because it's safer, so there's not much risk of getting a ticket unless it's a cop looking for tourists to ticket and they can always claim something. In places where they take you to a local JP because you are not local, there's plenty of room for corruption. Fortunately the old JP system is disappearing. In Colorado municipalities can pass traffic ordinances locally—they are the same as state statutes—so they can prosecute them with a town judge and collect the fines for themselves. That is the temptation in Hotchkiss where they have done that (I do know the judge, but I don't know that would help).

Gene