Speed Traps in the News
Here’s an interesting story on the potential pitfalls of using speed traps as a primary source of revenue for small towns. Some small towns generate the majority of their revenue by ticketing motorists. The town of Eolia, Missouri, featured in the article, got a new police chief and, shortly thereafter, a listing on speedtrap.org, a site dedicated to documenting towns with bad reputations. As some people interviewed for the story point out, speed trapping for profit can kill a lot of small town businesses. People avoid towns with bad names about speed traps.
When I was growing up, the little town of Manchester, New York had a really bad name for speed trapping. Their police chief was very well known for stopping cars for almost any reason - it didn’t even have to be speeding. People would drive quite a long way to go around the town rather than through it. I wonder how many of the abandoned storefronts in later years was a direct result of the past trapping.
By Mike's America, Saturday, 25 March , 2006 @ 12:30 pm
We have a similar problem in one of those small towns near here. They just extended the town limit ten miles to the county line. A policeman sits out at the line handing out tickets as fast as the officer can write them.
Meanwhile, a short time back a double murder occurred in the center of town. There was no officer to respond.
I made such a stink in letter to the editor, but I doubt the practice has changed. Even small town politicians seem to care more about money than they do about people’s lives.
By Gauis Arbo, Saturday, 25 March , 2006 @ 5:19 pm
Wow, that really is pitiful. Keep up the pressure if you can. Meanwhile, some people keep trying to take away lawful citizen’s rights to bear arms. Sad.