Beware! SpeedTrap Town
 

For those traveling through the Parish of East Carroll, City of Lake Providence, take extra precautions to remain within the posted speed limits! If the sign says 55, go 53. No Kidding! The stretch of road about 2 miles from the Arkansas border is a favorite "nab" site. Also, be very aware of your speed within their little "burg" as there is an abrupt change with the posted speed. Poor signage! If you don't want to pay next month's mortgage on their courthouse, be very cautious in this area.

Remember back in the day when this type of thing would be used in a sitcom (think Lucy) and the local hick police department would put the perpetrators in jail. Ahh memories

Spring-breakers and snowbirds beware! Anywhere on Hwy. 301 from I-95 north of Jacksonville to Gainesville. This desolate short-cut to I-75 can be an expensive one.

Waldo, FL is another speed trap.

Amen to that last one. I clicked on this thread guessing it might be about Waldo -- one of the best known speed traps in the US. There's another meaning to "where is Waldo?"

I-295 northbound in Richmond, Maine...between Brunswick and Augusta. BEWARE!

If you see people headed the other way who are flashing their headlights at you...that's a warning sign!

I think a speed trap thread is a GREAT idea!

Fairplay, Colorado. Anywhere you go from 55 to 25 in a heartbeat is a major speedtrap.

A legendary speedtrap in Texas is on 190 between Belton and Killeen.
You go through Nolanville and Harker Heights. This is the main route to the largest Army installation in the US (maybe the world?) They know there are loads of people headed there for the first time and the speed used to fluctuate between 55 and 65. I have not been in a while, so I am not positive it is still a 'trap' BUT, even if it is all 65, you better set that cruise control.

A REAL speed trap is between Southlake and Trophy Club, Tx, just west of DFW.
The speed limit goes from 65 to 45 suddenly. I work right where that change is and see cops giving tickets all day long.

Waldo's not the only Route 301 problem in Florida. If you're using that route be extra careful in Starke as they have their speed detectors going all over the place.

Emporia Virginia is another speedtrap on I-95 - AAA has gotten after them but they still get out there looking for out-of-state drivers.

We find it's wiser to ride with a radar detector cause if you don't you may as well fly.

By the way, I think some of us have different definitions of "speed trap".

To me, a true "speed trap" is where they illogically lower a speed limit in an open area to purposely catch people going at a speed that would normally be reasonable.

But an area of interstate with a standard speed limit that happens to be patroled to catch people actually speeding is NOT in my opinion a "speed trap".

Another place that is a place to definitely not speed is on I-49 between Opelousas & Alexandria, LA (St Landry Parish). They will nab you but quick. It usually isn't heavy traffic so the urge to let 'er rip is there. Don't give in!

and especially beware near the end of the month. Cops trying to reach their quotas will be especially vigilant then!

And be careful in States with huge deficits that their former celebrity Governors are trying to make up for.

Fredonia, AZ unmarked car parks on shoulder as far from road as it can get. North and south sides of town rte 89 and west going out of town on rte 389. Be careful if you're headed to the north rim.

If the speed zone changes with no apparent reason, it's probably a speed trap. A friend driving west from Asheville on I40 was stopped on the last day of last month. The officer was waiting at the sign and pulling over cars that didn't notice the change.

Thank goodness I read this thread and didn't just write "Waldo" without seeing it was already listed! Guess what...we reconnected with some of my husband's shipmates from his Navy days recently, and one that was a good friend and at our wedding is now City Manager of Waldo. :) In an unusual fit of discretion, uncommon for me recently, I did not mention what I knew about his little town.

I agree with Patrick that legitimate speeding nabs on interstates should not qualify as a speed trap. That said, do be careful driving the interstate through Macon, GA.

Post, TX qualifies as a real trap, and my son's only ticket (as far as we know) in his 15 years of driving, as he sped during Freshman year from Texas Tech in Lubbock to visit his high school girlfriend in school in Abilene. The ticket stuck, the 3 year high school romance did not. :)

In NO they also hang out by the Airport, in an effort to catch visitors in their rental cars (I guess). Welcome to Louisiana !!

SAnParis:
I don't think the cabbies know about the speed trap around the airport in NO...our cabbie gave us whiplash with his speeding!:D

Oh Yes! From the aiport into the city is bad! Also from the aiport South on 90 in Paradis, if anyone is traveling that way. And don't even THINK about speeding in Golden Meadow, LA - though I doubt many of you will be anywhere near there!

I think Louisiana is just bad all over... just don't speed and watch the signs. Oh, and don't piss anyone off and be sure you don't 'look' suspicious and don't have tinted windows and don't drive a sports car, etc...
I love Louisiana but worry about the cops in some of the backwater bayou towns.

The airport access road is rarely patrolled these days. If there's a police cruiser there, chances are it's an empty decoy!

Txtravelpro, you summed it up exactly!, be on alert in LA, I'm from Bastrop, north LA.

OO and those interested in Florida, there was a big to-do about Waldo a few years ago. Apparently AAA started marking their triptiks with "speed trap" for Waldo and Lawtey, 20 miles apart on the same road, US 301. They even put up anonymous billboards advertising the fact! The towns were furious with this designation, and denied the charge. But AAA (I read it in their magazine) proved it by pointing out that these small towns get over a third of their general budget, and ALL of their police budget, from traffic citations. OO, I would not want your friend's job, that's for sure - he has his PR work cut out for him!

The story: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...ws/6528905.htm

Sewall's Point, Fl - between Stuart and Hutchinson Island. They hide and wait !

How about a couple of places in Florida where there aren't any cops?

The Florida Turnpike between Ft. Pierce and Yeehaw Junction doesn't seem to have a speed limit. I've driven it 4 or 5 times a year for the last 10 years and each time, people are driving faster and faster. A few months ago, I put the cruise control on 85 and the only people not passing me were the trucks and RV's. Average speed was 90 to 95 and I'm not exaggerating!

I-75 in the western suburbs of Miami/Ft. Laud averages 80 mph during non rush hour times. I drive it every day and haven't seen anyone getting a ticket in years.

A few more speed traps...
- Tulia, Texas (DPS on the I-27)
- Sheridan, Wyoming (I-90 southbound when you start climbing up the hill)
- Anywhere in Eagle County, Colorado (especially around the Minturn area)
- Post, Texas (north side of town where you come off the caprock and start to come into town)
- Schertz, Texas (northeast side of San Antonio)
- Anywhere between Denver & Colorado Springs.
- Walsenburg, Colorado (south of town on I-25)
- Clayton, New Mexico (east & west of town on 87/64)

I sort of have a fondness for J Turner Butler Blvd in Jax going out to the beaches. The speed limit on this "Boulevard" is 70. And everyone passes you if you are going 70 :D

Our last speed trap ticket was coming from Sanibel Island, we were somewhere on I-95 when waaay ahead we saw a trooper walk out onto the (empty but for us) highway and out up his hand!!
An airplane had clocked us at 92 so we got our ticket. Hard to argue with an airplane..

I clicked on this link thinking about Waldo. :) I grew up about 10 min from Starke. Lawtey/Starke/Waldo are death traps! They'll pull the whole pack of speeding cars over, not just the front car!

I'm frequently fleeing Oklahoma, and one of the worst speed traps I've ever encountered is the stretch between Atoka and Durant on HWY 75. This is one of the main north/south routes between TX/OK, and the speed limit dips down to 45 mph in an eyeblink. I've been ticketed three times in the last three years, most recently as I was on my way to Dallas and my mother's deathbed early one morning last fall. The officer had zero sympathy, and I still haven't forgiven him.

TxTravelPro - I grew up around Nolanville. OO -- I used to live in Amarillo. And, as you might expect -- my driving record is rather checkered!

In deference to Patrick's point, I can identify two longstanding ZAPs (Zones Aggressively Partolled) on some folks' routes to Myrtle Beach, SC.

First, if you take Highway 9 off Interstate 95, don't speed through the little town called Nichols (in SC). The speed limit drops to 20 or 25 (can't recall), and they mean it.

Similarly, but not quite as much of a ZAP, is McBee, SC. This is a route many Charlotteans take to get to the beach, Highway 151.

Happy Motoring!

While this is not a speed trap it is a little piece of information to save you from a $50.00 ticket. In the small town of Ridgeway, Colorado (Northeast of Telluride) beware of the fact that the town does not have adequate lighting in their downtown area (which are dirt roads)as soon as you pull down thier "main" street you will be pulled over and informed with a nice ticket that you were going the wrong direction on a one-way street.(a very wide DIRT ROAD!!!) A nice street light illuminating the sign would have helped my husband and I out a lot.

Just what I get for trying to be clever. I meant to say *Patrolled* above.

No need to write them all out. Click here: http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/stetlist.asp
Ok. I mean copy and paste.

Nichols SC, Avoid at all costs, unscrupulous, unsafe and a RACKET. If I sound a little upset I am. For three decades I have been very cautious about my speed on the road and thus avoided any such tickets. Upon traveling to MB I took the wrong turn off 95 and that put me on 9 which went through Nichols SC. With a sleeping family there was no rush as getting in at 3:30 or 4am does not really matter. I played the small town game with their speed limits going from 55 - 25mph. With blue lights blazing I pulled over and received my first ticket for 38in a 25 zone. Surprised, startled and upset I headed down the road. Now with a fully awoken family they hit their smartphones and disappointment turned to utter disgust. Nichols SC, where 13 over is the norm. Where out of state plates cost you dearly and vanity even more. Stay clear, avoid their gas stations and their restaurants. Avoid Nichols SC like the plague. Never again.

38 IS over the speed limit when that speed limit is 25...and you said there wasn't any hurry. How do you ALLOW people to take advantage of you like this anyway?

How interesting to revive an 8 year old thread. But bsracket, I'm missing something in your post. You were going 38 in a 25, got a ticket for doing so, and therefore everyone should avoid this place that doesn't allow you to drive more than 50% above the speed limit? What am I missing here?

Oh, but you were right about one thing -- you called Nichols SC "unsafe". Indeed it is if people like you drive through the 25 mph zones at half again that speed!

Oh, we go through McBee, SC 4 times a year at exactly their speed limits--and they warn you with a big sign outside of town.
I think towns (and particularly if they are on the beach route, have the RIGHT to tell people not to speed through their towns. 13 over the speed limit in town IS dangerous--or can be.

Disappointment and disgust in the driver who had their lives in his hands, no doubt.

To repeat something I said on this thread 8 years ago . . .to me a speed trap is a place where they try to catch people by posting a low speed sign where it is likely not to be seen -- like within a bunch of other signs, around a blind corner, or behind some trees blocking it from approaching cars. But when someone admits he saw the 25 mph signs and drove 38 and got caught -- he did NOT encounter a speed trap -- he just decided he was above the law and got caught. Boo hoo to him!

Incidentally, the above mentioned Waldo, Florida used to indeed be a major speed trap. My last trip through there, it was almost funny how many flashing lights there were on all the signs, how many signs said "low speed limit ahead" and various other things. There is no longer ANY way, ANY driver could not know what the speed limit is, so I'd no longer call it a speed trap, even if the limits do seem a little low for the no more congestion there is in the area.