National
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33392 Responseshttp%3A%2F%2Fblog.motorists.org%2Fthe-worst-speed-trap-cities-in-the-united-states%2FThe+Worst+Speed+Trap+Cities+In+The+United+States2007-11-16+22%3A12%3A19NMAhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.motorists.org%2Fblog%2Fspeed-traps%2Fthe-worst-speed-trap-cities-in-the-united-states%2F to “The Worst Speed Trap Cities In The United States”

1. Ronin1 says:

   February 9, 2008 at 7:55 pm

   There was an article recently in the Tampa Tribune entitled “Bay area tops for lead foot”. An “independant” report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety looked at driver in eight major US cities and found that on major highways, guess what? mosy people speed. Then further reading reveals that the study was wholy funded by insurance companies. Imagine that. Now my rates can go up again in the Tampa bay area. Insurance companies suck.

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2. sakdsfhsl says:

   February 1, 2008 at 3:26 am

   The biggest problem in my opinion are the smaller citations cops can write. In the states of Illinois and Missouri there are around 10 laws in each one that are vague enough that any officer could write one at any time.

   I do in fact know someone who was written 11 tickets by one off-duty police officer for one encounter in which the off-duty cop followed this person in a personal vehicle at high speeds (30mph over the limit) for about 12 miles. The person claims that while s/he knew s/he was being followed they didn’t know it was a cop (I wasn’t there and am trying to allow this person some anonymity). The tickets were not thrown out and the cop is still out there and was given no penalty.

   I was at one point written 4 tickets. One speeding, one for not having a car licensed (It wasn’t my car), one for not having the car inspected (this was because it wasn’t licensed to me the owner had it inspected), and one for not having proof of insurance ( the cop had my insurance card in his hand). Two of these were thrown out and I paid about $450 for the other two between court costs and fines.

   The joke that comes to my mind is “Cops are like snakes: The only good one’s a dead one.”

   Though I have met a few good cops so the joke’s not true but it is amusing.

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3. Richard F. Jones says:

   January 31, 2008 at 9:54 am

   Personally speaking, I do not break driving laws intentionally. Sure, I may be in a hurry just as much as the next person, but over all, I make it a point not to speed. I was coming north on Cleveland Avenue in Canton, Ohio this past summer. I was next to two other vehicles going at the about the same speed and before I knew it, all three of us were being summoned to pull over into an abandonned parking lot just south of 12th Street NW. The officer individually wrote citations for all three of us and claimed he had clocked all three of us at the same time. I learned shortly afterwards that no police radar gun can identify three vehicles side – by – side, all at the same time. Yet I was told that if we were all keeping pace with one another, if one was speeding, all three of us ahd to be speeding. Why fight it? The law always prevails whether they are right or wrong!

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4. thomas frederick says:

   January 30, 2008 at 9:54 pm

   IF POLICE OFFICER’S STOP THE LIE’S TO GIVE TICKLET’S. POLICE OFFICER’S LIE ALL THE TIME TO WRITE TICKLET’S.ALL POLICE DEPARTMENT HAVE A UNWRITEN RULE THAT SAY’S ALL OFFICER’S MUST WRITE 100 TICKLET’S PER 30 DAY. NO POLICE OFFICER SHOULD ON THIS SITE.I AM A EX POLICE OFFICER MYSELF ALL 28 YEARS.THE REASON 100 TICKLET PER 30 DAYS IS TO SHOW DEPARTMENT THAT THE OFFICER’S IS DOING THERE JOB.OFFICER’S HAVE TO AREST SO MANY PEOPLE PER 30 DAY TOO.

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5. Joe says:

   January 29, 2008 at 1:16 am

   I have worked afternoons for years and use a major local expressway. Driving home from work, you better not be in the far left lane (six lane road) unless you keep a close eye on your tail. Your likely to get run over by a local cop moving fast enough rock your vehicle as he passes….w/no light or siren engaged. It’s common practice around here. Local blogs even bring it up frequently.

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6. Nancy says:

   January 29, 2008 at 12:05 am

   I have to agree with Mr Bleaux. I have witnessed all these crazy driving cops. As a nurse I am out weird hours sometimes. I used to think better education and better pay was the answer but with the school teacher things that are going on………..well, I digress……The cops can be real hazards themselves sometimes.

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7. pillsbury says:

   January 28, 2008 at 6:51 pm

   We need traffic laws, law enforcement and law enforcment officers. But we need officers with a higher moral standard than probably half the population. Money doesnt need to be an incentive. Just as the Bible says “the love of money is the root of all evil” Unfortunatly, our law enforcement is “eat up” with the love of money.
   I advocate exceeding speed limits when its safe, prudent and courtious.
   But that gives THEM an excuse to take what little money I have.
   I remember both on h.p. and local police cars – on the speedometer lens, there was a decal that read “I set an example”
   Hmmmmm I wonder —–

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8. pillsbury says:

   January 28, 2008 at 6:40 pm

   I can relate to Mr. bleaux’s comment abount h.p. hiway conduct. Its been several years back, when s.c.h.p. had 90-92 model mustang patrol cars, I was very nearly run off the road by one. I was just coming into a 45 zone on a curve when he flew at me like a bat out of hell – in the middle of the road – on a curve – double yellow line – coming out of a 45 mph zone. If he wasnt runnin at least 90 I aint FAT!! Im 5.6 280lbs

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9. Joe Bleaux says:

   January 28, 2008 at 2:39 pm

   In a couple of posts I made earlier, I’m sure I came across as defending lawmen. This is hardly true. I would like to think all lawmen are trying to do a good job, but that is just not the way it is. Before all lawmen can get respect and uphold the law, they must first abide by the laws they are sworn to uphold. Not long ago, I had a state trooper pass me at a high enough speed to actually shake my car. He had no lights or siren on. I don’t know of any law that says an HP has a right to drive above the speed limit without lights or siren on. This was just one time of many. Just last night, I had a city policeman pass at a very high rate of speed. As soon as he passed and finished showing off, he turned off, slowed down and turned the blue lights off. Believe me, when he passed, he was by far the biggest danger on the road. At a convenience store one night, A group of lawmen got a call about a business about 2 blocks away. One of them did a 180 degree turn backward in a busy parking lot squealing tires all the way. This was to go 2 blocks away. Luckily, this fool didn’t kill anyone. If I had been his boss and seen that, that would have been his last day on the job. Add to this that our local sheriff is probably one of the biggest crooks in the county. These are just some examples of why lawmen will never get a lot of respect until they decide they are not above the law. I really don’t see that happening.

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10. STEVE says:

    January 27, 2008 at 4:45 pm

    MCminnville tn. has a new chief of police, and he has set up numerous speed traps in various locations in the city limits.
    visitors beware!!

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11. Nancy says:

    January 25, 2008 at 10:55 am

    Two years ago I moved from Louisiana to Washington state. It’s very frustrating here as the speed limits change from 25 mph to 45 mph randomly with few signs to note this. Often signs are rather far off the road. Woodworth LA is a piece of cake compared to Lakewood/Dupont/Olympia area, also Puyallup, well, the entire NW area of WA!

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12. Greg A. Garofalo says:

    January 17, 2008 at 5:50 pm

    Speeding enforcement may be necessary in residential neighborhoods, especially with curving streets. Small children are at risk here. School zones when children are present also makes sense. What does not is when motorists are on a controlled access highway, not under construction, and excellent road engineering.

    Traffic, mostly speeding tickets, are definitely sought for revenue for the Village/City/Township government. The court and the municipality split all fines. I have learned that Village Managers actually consider it a “Budget Item”, source of income that should go up at a minimum of 5 to 10% a year, while crime they don’t care about.

    Police Chiefs, being Political in nature, are pressured to insist their officers write a minimum quota. If the cop does not, solving a murder case, two rapes, 4 burglaries and arresting and confiscating 5-10 illegal handguns, plus a multidude of drug arrests, matters little in his evaluation. “But how many tickets did he write is all important.” I learned that so well in 22 years of law enforcement.

    When I did make Sergeant, the biggest reason the Chief and Deputy Chief did not think I should be a Sergeant (Civil Service Commission disagreed), was because I did not right enough traffic tickets. Although my felony and misdemeanor arrest record was the highest on the department; I had a 4 year college degree in my field; was in the US Army 3 years with a year tour in Viet Nam as a Combat Military Policeman; I studied case law monthly for 25 years (two different law bulletins),constitutional law, Substantive Criminal–law-Penal codes, Rules of Evidence and court room procedure, and the laws of Arrest Search Seizure & Confessions; I studied major crime scene and homicide investigation text books and all avenues of evidence collection; advanced traffic crash investigation (fatalities), Arson investigation, 4 courses in interview and interrogation techniques; and having worked as a certified youth officer did extensive work with youth delinquency, abuse/neglect cases, minors in need of supervision; attended an 11 week course at a major university in Police Staff & Command School.

    Having had 10 years of extensive street work, criminal investigations and arrests, traffic or suspicious vehicle stops which literally stopped an armed robbery about to happen, and criminal investigations covering most of the penal code statutes which stuck in court; my main deficiency was not enough speeding tickets or general traffic tickets (I usually gave them in accidents though).

    I worked 5 major crime homicides (for a small town that is a lot); serial rapist cases (got him). With all that knowledge and experience the men below me wanted me to be their Sgt, because they knew I had the knowledge and experience to guide them, and that I was exceptionally fair, fought for them for schools, and cared for them as human beings, not revenue agents; someone they could ask questions of and get an informed answer. But because I did not believe in what the Chief and Village Mgr wanted, ticket revenue for the Village budget, I was told forget about ever being Lieutenant.

    In fact they buried me in a job that nullified my rank back to doing a patrolman’s duties, and advised the officers they did not have to obey my orders as a sergeant. They did other punishments also, like freezing me on midnights; giving me the worst officers on the department (who began to work harder than ever for me because they knew I was tagged); 2nd guessing every supervisory judgement I made, and suspended me for it.

    Three chief’s in a row in my career did this to me, and went as far as telling new rookies not to mix with me or they would not make their probation. I was isolated and ostracized because I didn’t believe in using speeding enforcement to earn revenue. THIS IS NOT SERVE AND PROTECT; THIS IS SERVE AND COLLECT.

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13. dwolfe says:

    January 15, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    Everyone who says speeding is wrong and you won’t get a ticket if you don’t do anything wrong.
    Well, I live in a very congested area, I shudder to think of everyone doing the same speed limit, it would make traffic and congestion worse! There has to be a good mix of people driving too fast, people driving too slow, and people driving the speed limit, which most of the time, is too slow. It is a fund-raising tactic by every municipality. People driving like idiots, whether too slow or too fast are the culprets of accidents, I know plenty of people who drive fast safely, it’s the other people on the road not paying attention that pose the threat.

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14. pillsbury says:

    January 13, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Mr. Joe Bleaux,
    Respectfully, in reference to your Dec. 30 comment, Perhaps the person passing you simply used bad judgment. And perhaps the person entering the hiway wasnt paying attention. The speed probably was not the actual cause of the near collision.
    however, I was not there at the time.

    Reply
15. pillsbury says:

    January 13, 2008 at 10:15 am

    As far as losing our rights little by little,
    check out senate bill #s1959 recently introduced to congress. most of it sounds real good, but as they say,”the devil is in the details” if you oppose, go to http://www.onlinepetition.com. I aint the sharpest tool in the shed, but maybe it could affect our rights later down the road with the issues of this website.

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16. Joe says:

    January 13, 2008 at 12:04 am

    Many municipalities brashly come right out and admit revenue is the motivational force for traffic control. The secret that never was is out. When there’s one factor (speeding) that causes about 5% of all accidents but 95% of all traffic tickets, somethings dire wrong. Read http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/21/2148.asp . I’ve never seen a survey taken of the driving public but I’d expect that most would find it wrong to enforce traffic laws for the purpose of collecting revenue. Yet despite this, governments all over are doing exactly that. Lets face it, we now live in a country in which there’s a big disconnect between governments and the people. E.g. we have a dysfunctional democracy. Example; http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080111_1_A9_hCoun66755&allcom=1#commentform Better yet, we have police departments all over the country who have managed to isolate themselves from the public and only see them when there’s tickets to be issued and then they want respect. I don’t think sooooo under those circumstances.
    Active participation by the citizens in government is the ONLY way it’s gonna work and good luck on that!! Yet, we run around the world advertising democracy like in Iraq.
    Right now most governments, from local on up the command, run on autopilot. Flying the way they want with little to no input from average citizens. Unfortunately this void is often filled by radicals and extremists like MADD, ect. They are all too glad to use the public officials WE elected to represent us….. for THEIR political agenda. They have determined how they want you to drive and…..their getting by with it!! Ladies and gentlemen, until this changes things are gonna get a hell’va lot worse. What I see on the horizon is not pretty for the driving public. I write my congressmen quite often but we ALL need to start doing so.

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17. pillsbury says:

    January 10, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    just because its “illegal” doesnt make it wrong -
    or just because its “legal” doesnt make it right.

    Reply
18. pillsbury says:

    January 10, 2008 at 8:23 pm

    Unfortunatly, I to was preyed upon by n.c.h.p.. Such as mr.David Feryance. Now, in my case, I was ACTUALLY not speeding, but I still payed for it.
    I truly try to be honest and obejective. After what happened in N.C. I have lost a lot of respect for law enforcement.
    Two out of the last three times I was pulled by h.p., there was no actual valid reason to pull me. That makes me wonder if
    66% of traffic fines are legal. Or at least
    “rightful”.
    Obviously, law – particularly traffic laws have no sense of right and wrong.

    Reply
19. David Feryance says:

    January 9, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    Waukesha Wis is the worst city in SE Wisconsin for traffic tickets. Its a poorly designed city with confusing angled streets almost the whole town is a 25 zone. The police there never give warnings for anything I missed a No Turn on Red sign unitentionaly. I told the cop I did not purposly break it. I was from out of town and it was an unfimilar intersection but it did not matrer he still wrote out failure to obey sign and a wopping $79 ticket. I tried to fight it in court but all the judge cared was points. Of all the laws to enforce in Waukesha it’s No Turn On red. Waukesha is very much like New Rome no Police dept just a fund raising dpept. Don’t enter this city there is nothing there for you avoid it!

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20. Bruce Grossheim says:

    January 6, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    The City of Two Rivers Wisconsin wants to charge a $175 DOLLAR FEE FOR the police to respond to your traffice accident. Many other municipalities in the midwest are doing this. They feel they can bill your Insurance. But if your a resident, you should be able to deduct the fee from your proprty tax bill? Bruce

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21. pillsbury says:

    January 5, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    OH BOY!!!!
    Guess who got pulled today in my home town by s.c. h.p. for no seatbelt !!
    and I had it on the WHOLE TIME –
    Id really woulda got hot if he wrote me for it.
    If you come through St. George,South Carolina (thats Stank George) you better watch it.

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22. pillsbury says:

    January 4, 2008 at 7:10 pm

    Sounds like most of us on this webite might maybe oughtta git in touch ( directly )with the National motorists association.
    and put our heads together about some legislation.
    like one of the lawyers told me (refering to h.p.’s enforcement techniques)
    “its another one our rights we’re losing”

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23. pillsbury says:

    January 4, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    Speed is never the ACTUAL cause of a collision. It is a factor in the severity of a crash. Not paying attention,distractions,
    and bad judgement are ACTUAL causes of collisions.
    Propaganda is directed toward speeding
    because it is usually a consious decision -
    making it simple for law enforcement to
    prosicute == EASY MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!

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24. Hubcap says:

    January 3, 2008 at 1:08 pm

    pillsbury,

    I think you missed my point. I was not agreeing with jwilson–quite the opposite–I was mocking him.

    Frankly I think that attitude of sit-down-shut-up-and-do-what-you-are-told is un-American. And to believe that doing so will keep you out of trouble is just dumb.

    You just proved that to the tune of $300; sorry to hear that happened to you.

    Reply
25. pillsbury says:

    January 2, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    enforcement of speeding laws is primarily
    for income generation.
    catching crackheads = costs
    catching child molesters = costs
    catching burglers = costs
    catching dope dealers = costs
    catching speeders = PROFITABLE

    Reply