Few moments in life are less welcomed than when a sprightly sprint in your automobile is cut short by flashing red lights in your rearview mirror. In that moment, you know that you're out well over $100, you'll have to take time off work for court, and your insurance is likely to go up by 10 percent or more. The Speed Trap Exchange was created to alert drivers of speed traps, and to tip off locations where traffic patrols are heaviest. The folks over at Speed Trap compiled a list of the 10 worst places in the US in which not to speed based on the input of over 10,000 site users. Lucky for me, my hometown is in the Detroit suburbs, which took the No. 1 spot. Hit the jump to view all top 10 sites, and let us know if you know of an area where speed traps run ramped.
[Source: Forbes]
Top 10 US sites with speed traps (from speedtrap.org)
1. Detroit, Mich. suburbs
2. Colorado Springs, Colo.
3. Houston, Texas
4. Orlando, Fla.
5. Nashville, Tenn.
6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Albuquerque, N.M.
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Denver, Colo.
10. Virginia Beach, Va.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nellydesign @ May 30th 2007 12:43PM
I believe the term you're looking for is "run rampant"
Nellydesign @ May 30th 2007 12:44PM
And oh yeah, speed traps suck
Bryan @ May 30th 2007 12:45PM
I live in suburbia Houston and it's no lie..especially state troopers and county sheriffs. They have nothing better to do but hide and pull you over for going 1mph over the speed limit. Luckily, I grew up here so I know where they hide. A heads up...if you are coming into town watch out in the outter county/outer suburbs area. What is sad is the county I live in isnt very populated except on its northern end where I live. They will send county officers up to patrol because this is where the money is. They pull people over and make them go to county so other towns can have revenue. Aint that some sh@#!
robot rock @ May 30th 2007 12:48PM
When it says DC I assume it means VA and to a lesser extent MD as well. Northern VA cops have nothing better to do than cite people for ridiculous traffic infractions.
I once got a warning for going 7mph over in a 45.
guestt @ Jun 1st 2007 2:14PM
Its the speed "limit" for a reason. The speed limit, say if its 65 MPH, is 65 MPH. Its not 5 MPH over 65 or 1 MPH over 65, its 65 MPH max. Its just that Americans are such lousy drivers (I'll shamefully admit that I am an American driver, but proudly admit that I've yet to get a moving violation ticket) and they always try to bend the rules.
It's illegal to go over the speed limit. Just like its illegal to snort cocaine. Even if you just do a tiny bit, its still illegal. Of course if its impossible to not impede the flow of traffic then you must speed but that doesn't mean you can go 20 over the limit.
SN @ May 30th 2007 12:55PM
While Detroit Subs are notorious for their traps, the man is pretty tolerant of mild speeding. My experience has been that freeway speeding in the single digits doesn't evoke any reponse from cops who lay in waiting. I have blown past cops at 79mph countless times. I can live with that.
In contrast, I would love to compare this list with a list of cities with the lowest traffic congestions. I am sure there would be a correlation. Folks in LA would be hard pressed to speed during daylight hours.
G.PeterinCA @ May 30th 2007 1:15PM
This has become a real sore spot with me. Someone driving slightly over the speed limit is not a hazard to the public safety, but they are a great source of revenue for government agencies. I have been in law enforcement for many, many, many years and when I started it was not in the best interest to cite everyone for speeding. Too many tickets written meant a trip to the supervisor for a lecture. Now government can sell anything to the community as long as they can 1) induce fear and 2) make them believe it is a benefit to the public safety. Why raise taxes when you can get more revenue by writing traffic tickets?
Ty @ May 30th 2007 1:23PM
I'm surprised Seattle isn't on the list. Oh wait, everyone here drives 10 under the limit. :|
Paul @ May 30th 2007 2:19PM
Actually, even though Seattle drivers are the worst for "slow formation driving" on the freeways, the Washington State Patrol was by far the most aggresive of any state I've lived in. Fortunately, it's also home to some of the best traffic attorneys ever. $250 and your ticket virtually disappears.
Driving in San Diego ruled.
I highly suggest becoming a member of the NMA: http://www.motorists.org
MCS05 @ May 30th 2007 1:24PM
i kind of like knowing my area (northern Detroit suburbs) is strict on speeders. I don't do it so I don't worry.
fatty @ May 30th 2007 1:32PM
what?? i was in Denver and Colorado Springs last year and i don't know how its possible not to speed. whenever i got on the highway i had to go at least 80mph and cops still didn't care.
Car Designer @ May 30th 2007 4:14PM
I live in Detroit's burbs, and haven't had too much trouble. Ann Arbor though, d-bags. But in College I lived in Cleveland Heights (bordering Cleveland) and they supposadly make more revenue off speeding tickets than any other city per capita. I have seen on many occasions near the middle and end of the month when they will park 5-10 cruisers at the bottom of a steep, curved hill in which it is 3 lanes down hill, two up, pretty much a must to speed or get run over, and will hide two guys in the bushes at the top with radar guns, radioing down to the cruisers at the bottom...sometimes they will stand outside the car and just point at you with eye contact to pull over in the bus lane at the bottom...rough man. I have gotten tickets for 5 over there before. It is the hornet's next!
Todd S. @ May 30th 2007 1:53PM
If you ever wondered how Denver planned to pay for its new airport, check out Pena Boulevard, which is the access road to DIA (Denver International Airport). The road is wide open and the speed limit is much lower than you might expect for a freeway; to make matters worse, the speed limit changes to 35 about 5 miles before the terminals. It's very easy to miss the speed limit signs while you are trying to figure out where to go.
bmw122487 @ May 30th 2007 2:03PM
I live in bloomfield hills mi. which is a detroit suburb and take 96e to the southfield to almost daily, a year ago it was like a speed way and i got away with triple digit speeds daily but now state troppers with laser guns hide around shallow curves under the bridges or even on top of them, and lets just say my valentine one didn't fair so well against a laser attach, WATCH OUT
CLynch @ May 30th 2007 2:18PM
Nashville?, Nashville? There is no such thing as a speed limit in Nashville. Just drive the far left lane at any speed (all the time), drive the HOV lane at any speed (all the time[by yourself]), roll through red lignts at any speed, right on red after accerating and oh yeah, let's not forget full blown amensia when it comes to merging. What is merging...a race to see who brakes first!!!
.....you think we have time for speeding!!!!
Doogs @ May 30th 2007 5:18PM
"There is no such thing as a speed limit in Nashville."
Pfft. Try living there with out of state plates. Three tickets in a month, man. Two of them for doing no more than 5 MPH over. And one of THOSE had the fine doubled because Nashville's finest noticed a lone traffic barrel in the distance, up along the side of the road. Nevermind that it wasn't really a work area, or that it was 9:45 at night.
Spule 4 @ May 30th 2007 10:53PM
Agreed, especially during rush hour on the I-Fortybahn.
Todd @ May 30th 2007 2:43PM
Detroit may have a few speed traps, but what this doesn't show is that most drivers in detroit EXPECT to drive at least 80mph on the highway.
What this study shows is that more people in Detroit (and the other top 10 cities) report speed traps to a site designed to help speeders evade police. It makes sense then that the highway speeds are also above average.
Core @ May 31st 2007 2:27AM
Anyone brave enough to drive 80 mph on Detroit interstates should get a free pass on any speeding ticket so they can put put the money toward repairing their car after bottoming out in one of the many potholes on the interstate highways there. Their roads are flat out dangerous to drive at any speed above 55.
Miksa @ May 30th 2007 2:46PM
If you have high income, do NOT come to Finland. Your speeding tickets are nothing compared what we got here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/europe/1759791.stm
yes, this is old "news"... Still now person with 50k USD yearly income could get here easily 500-1000 USD ticket while driving 80 at 60 area (mph).