Route Dr. - FLA speed traps?
 

Going from Clearwater to Jacksonville - anyone know what the best route to take would be? Shortest route would be up through Ocala and Starke but I've heard that towns like Waldo have 30 mph speed limits strictly enforced which could slow you down?

I never understand questions like this. Why shouldn't speed limits going through small towns be strictly enforced? Don't you want speed limits going through your neighborhood/ community to be strictly enforced?

Google maps shows 3 route options and they range from 3 hours, 44 minutes to 4 hours, 14 minutes. The interstate route is 3 hours, 57 minutes. Drive the route that appeals to you. That sounds like you'd choose the interstate route because you hate to be "slowed down". That route differs from the other two by 17 minutes and 13 minutes. Pick the one that will irritate you the least. My choice is usually the one that goes through countryside I've not seen before because interstates are so boring. In any case, the difference is well less than 30 minutes.

How long does it take you to get through a small town at 30MPH.

Well said, starrs.

I never understood speeders - they jeopardize others on the road just to arrive at their destination a minute or two sooner. Makes no sense.

To OP, yes you'll find plenty of speed traps on the secondary roads but in FL there's a good deal of speed enforcement on the major highways, too.

Thanks, Roams.

I got rear-ended in my tiny town, waiting to make a left turn. The 45 mph speed limit extends for about a mile. I sat with my blinker on and watched the car speed toward me in my rear-view mirror. My last thought was "That SOB isn't even going to slow down!". Just before impact, I hit the gas so I wasn't sitting completely still when he hit me. He totaled his car. Mine wasn't hurt much at all, but folks have been killed at that intersection.

The idiot was racing through the little community and was manic about the town he was looking for. He passed it about 7 miles prior. Maybe if had slowed down a bit he would have seen the damn signs for his turn. ;)

I hate watching speeders and tail-gaters on the road. Why do they think their time is more valuable than others'? Why are they willing to risk the lives of others just to save 12 or 17 minutes on a four hour drive?

Waldo, Fl, used to have, if it doesn't still, one of THE most notorious so-called "traps" anywhere. You look at the web speed trap site and Waldo popped up all the time.

The most "logical" route between Clearwater and Jax is pretty obviously a combo of 4 and 95.

I bet you won't get stopped for speeding in Waldo if you're not speeding in Waldo. ;)


"...most 'logical'...obviously..." LOL
But I hope that's the one he chooses. Keep the secondary roads safer for the rest of us. :-)



Waldo more famous that Ludowici? pshaw!

But then there is McBee, SC. They have a BIG warning sign at the town limits.
They also have a gas station with the best fried chicken!! We always slow for fried chicken.

"We always slow for fried chicken."

Excellent priorities.

Ludowici? Please. Do they have a Waffle House, too?

Does Waldo?

Colonial Heights, Virginia, on the I-295 bypass around Richmond and Petersburg, got a lot of publicity this winter for "strict enforcement."

On the whole, I think that if a jurisdiction wants to set low speed limits and enforce them strictly, that is their right, though it is nice if they have a sign that says "30 MPH and WE MEAN IT" like some small towns in Georgia used to do.

starrs: >>I never understand questions like this. Why shouldn't speed limits going through small towns be strictly enforced? <<

Maybe what we have here is a failure to communicate -- specifically on the definition of "speed trap."

This is strictly personal and probably doesn't match any book definition, but to me a "trap" is a spot where the local police selectively enforce the law, particularly when it comes to out-of-state drivers.

For years, mostly before the completion of I-95, drivers in the Northeast clung to urban legends about speed traps in southern towns, including police demands to pay the fine on the spot or go to jail.

I have no idea if any of that was true, but I do know that a lot of people think of a trap as quasi-illegal.

With the abolition of capital punishment in many states, many on Fodor's had turned to the enforcement of traffic laws. This topic is mild compared to the discussions on the Europe Board about CCTV capturing the license plates of terrorists and tourists going 3,5 kph over the limit.

"This is strictly personal and probably doesn't match any book definition, but to me a "trap" is a spot where the local police selectively enforce the law, particularly when it comes to out-of-state drivers. "

vin, I still contend that if you are not speeding, you're not going to get a speeding ticket.

KISS.
Speed. Risk getting a ticket.
Don't speed. You're not going to get a ticket.

Per Ack's comment -
"...though it is nice if they have a sign that says "30 MPH and WE MEAN IT" like some small towns in Georgia used to do."

I assume a small town means it.

I've driven an average of 30K miles in the southeast in a company car for 20+ years and I've never gotten a ticket in a "speed trap" town. I assume they mean it.

Having said that, when giving directions to my mountain place I do use the words "speed trap" in describing two towns along the route.

I completely discount that people are selectively ticketed. They aren't in my tiny town. Maybe it's because the locals know the town "means it" and non-locals think it's no big deal to speed. The only "selective ticketing" going on is selecting speeders for tickets.

FWIW, my definition of a speed trap is any drastic lowering of the speed limit that a reasonably alert driver--not drunk, not exhausted, not massively distracted--could still miss.

I have driven through towns in Appalachia where this was true: blink and you'd miss the lone speed limit sign advising a decrease of 20-30 mph, with a cop hidden behind a billboard not ten yards past it. Was it posted? Sure. Was it still a trap? Yep.

So I understand asking for a route that avoids such speed traps, and do not self-righteously judge the request to be that of a hardened scofflaw.

AAA used to list cop behind the billboard speed traps back in the pre- I-95 days.

Everyone in Massachusetts believes that out of state cars (i.e., Massachusetts cars) get tickets in Maine when the locals would get a pass. Could be, or maybe Massachusetts drivers (i.e., me) are aggressive drivers.

I-4 to I-95 is the quickest route, just check traffic on I-4 through Orlando (I use beat-the-traffic app on my phone, works great) if backed up take the 417 around Orlando. Just drove through Waldo a couple months ago (had to go to Starke for a wedding) from Orlando. Took about 5 minutes to drive through Waldo at 30 mph.

I used to think Waldo was indeed a "speed trap" -- but that was years ago when literally they hid the signs and then hid behind things waiting to stop anyone going just a couple mph over the 'invisible' speed limits. That was a "trap" -- well posted speed limits being enforced are NOT a trap. Nowadays, their speed limits are well marked -- often with flashing lights. Anyone ignoring them and speeding today DESERVES to be stopped. And they really aren't so long that driving a few miles at 35 or whatever really makes much difference in the grand scheme of things.