Speed trap city?

What do you think of when you think of Houston? I can name many things, but being a top ten speed trap would not have crossed my mind.

Houston is one of the top speed-trap cities in America, according to the National Motorists Association.

In its Top 10, Houston is fifth. Detroit's suburbs lead the list, followed by Washington D.C.; Orlando, Fla.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Houston, Virginia Beach, Va.; Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Fresno Calif.

The grassroots group that says it represents the rights and interests of of U.S. drivers is warning people ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, one of the heaviest travel times of the year, to be aware of heavy traffic-law enforcement.

The Waunakee, Wisc.-based group blames speed traps on bureaucracies trying to boost their budgets with fines from traffic tickets given in situations that are not fair to drivers, such as roads with no posted speed limit, the targeting of out-of-town drivers, and the like.

This list was created from the NMA's SpeedTrap Exchange, a site devoted to identifying the location of speed traps.

Um, okay. You sure you're not thinking of West University Place, or maybe Bellaire?

The page lists a bunch of locations, apparently entered by residents who have encountered them. Many have 2004 and 2005 dates on the entries, so make of that what you will. I'll stipulate to this one, as I got nailed there once a couple of years ago. I've since realized that you can see the cops pretty clearly as soon as you hit the off-ramp, and as such I've not had any problems getting down to the posted speed in time. For what it's worth, they're not there very often - offhand, I can't recall the last time.

Beyond that, I don't know how to respond to this. Yes, there are speed traps in Houston. If anyone wants to claim we're by and large a city that respects speed limits, you go right ahead and make that case. Everyone knows that traffic enforcement is basically a crapshoot, and that being just a little bit over the speed limit is no excuse and no guarantee. You pay your money and you take your chances. What else is there to say?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 30, 2006 to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | TrackBack