Speed traps are nothing but a way for law enforcement agencies to raise money! They do nothing to promote safety on our roadways, as they are mostly set up in areas designed to catch even the most conscientious of drivers. I’ll give you an example of a speed trap near where I live that I unfortunately got caught in.
On the way to the grocery store a few miles from my house, there is a road that has a few speed limit signs set up roughly a thousand yards apart. The first sign states the speed limit at 45 miles per hour, and then the second sign (which is partially hidden by trees and bushes), is set up at 35 miles per hour. The road is open and uncongested and there is absolutely no reason for that second sign to be there! Even if one could make a case for the second sign, which is a full ten miles below the first sign, it is partially concealed by the growth of trees and bushes! Every so often the motorcycle cops hang out there, having a party ticketing people going even two miles per hour over the limit! My ticket was for going five miles over, and boy was I pissed!
Speed traps create an awful lot of hatred and aggravation towards law enforcement! There is no good reason except for raising money for them to exist. Nobody can create a good argument for safety purposes because there is no change in the roadway between those two signs! It looks like it is going to take some sort of class action lawsuit or something to get rid of that second sign, and everyone knows what it’s like to try and fight city hall!
Other types of speed traps are signs that state there are aircraft monitoring the speed, although I’ve never met anyone that has got a speeding ticket from an aircraft, but that’s just me. Sometimes you see the cops sitting at the bottom of a hill or a long downward road grade that makes it almost impossible short of riding the brakes to keep at the posted speed. These traps are designed to take advantage of gravity and the innocent motorist! I mean, come on, that is just ridiculous to set up a speed trap at the bottom of a hill!
I guess people are just going to have to be more aware of the sneaky methods that law enforcement use to raise extra cash! It is just a shame that when the cop gave me that speeding ticket from that nearby speed trap, he knew with a smirk on his face exactly what he was doing short of admitting that it WAS a speed trap! He even sympathized with me! Some things never change, and these devious speed traps have been around for a long time and I suspect they will be around for a lot longer.