Posted on 03/22/2006 11:45:37 AM PST by JTN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — To some towns it’s an important stream of revenue. To some drivers it’s highway robbery.
Tim Gant, a guardrail inspector from Clarksburg, says his tiny West Tennessee town is a speed trap that artificially drives down speed limits so it can drive up collections from speeding tickets.
Gant has persuaded state Rep. Chris Crider, R-Milan, to introduce a bill that would require blue speed limit signs for any municipality that gets more than half its revenue from traffic tickets.
"Most folks around my speed-trap town refer to the problem as ‘legal highway robbery,“’ Gant said in an e-mail. "The purpose of speed limits is for the safety of the traveling public, not for the revenue of the town.“
The blue speed limit signs would contrast with conventional black lettering on white signs. "They would tell the world that this is one of those speed-trap towns,“ Crider said.
Traffic tickets last year made up about $100,000 of Clarksburg’s $197,550 general revenue fund last, said the town’s city recorder and clerk, Terry McCoy. But she said speed limits are determined by the state, not by the town of 375 people located about 30 miles northeast of Jackson.
House Transportation Chairman Phillip Pinion said he was not familiar with the blue sign proposal, but he agrees speed traps are a problem in Tennessee.
Pinion has proposed legislation that would prohibit towns from annexing stretches of land to gain jurisdiction over interstate highways. Another bill would ban sheriffs from enforcing traffic laws on interstates, he said.
"What we’ve got in the rural areas is sheriffs just setting up a speed trap and raising revenues,“ said Pinion, D-Union City.
Pinion said speed traps hurt Tennessee’s image among tourists and annoy commuting residents.
Yet another speed trap-related bill would require that safety be the only reason for lowering speed limits, Pinion said.
Gant said he has a hard time thinking of justifications for what he sees as artificially slow speed limits.
"What possible legitimate argument can any town have to collect a majority of its revenue by any means other than taxes?“ he asked.
Another Tennessee town known for its heavy handed traffic enforcement would not be affected by the proposed legislation. The auto club AAA has threatened to slap Coopertown its national „strict enforcement areas“ designation, an honor shared by only seven other cities. But the town 20 miles north of Nashville generates only about 30 percent of its revenue from traffic tickets.
Crider expects his bill to be met with resistance from the state’s towns and cities. A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Municipal League did not return a phone call from The Associated Press regarding the proposal.
"I can envision the mayors and aldermen calling around to legislators and pouring some cold water on it,“ he said. ——— The blue signs bill is HB3864. It can be viewed on the General Assembly’s Web site at: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/
It's-not-about-revenue-it's-about-safety ping.
Another deterrent woud be for any sign reducing the speed by 15 or more MPH, there must be a lighted flashing sign warning of the upcoming reduced speed. When the speed drops from 65 to 25 in an instant, you are dead and guilty.
Safety is not the ONLY reason.
A town where everyone drives 25 mph has a different character than that of a town where the limits are higher.
Some people want to live in a place with a slow pace.
Ahhh, brings back (expensive) memories of Linndale, OH, Just outside Cleveland. Not a single off ramp in their town, and a 1/4 mile stretch of the interstate, but they made some serious money on speeding tickets there.
Good for Gant and Crider. I hate speed traps. Watch your speed driving on 460 through Southampton County VA and on 58 through Emporia VA.
When I was a college kid driving hours through the sticks (FSU is two hours from anything resembling a big city) I got dinked plenty of times in the one horse towns that dropped limits from 55mph to 25mph and had a cop 10 feet from the sign behind a building.
Learned my lesson and am still suspicious to this day - small town on a highway & my speedtrap-Spidey-sense starts tingling.
Well then don't live on the highway!
These towns take advantage of that by making the limit lower than what safety would indicate.
I like it!
The GPS companies like Magellan should offer an enhancement in their GPS software identifying known speed traps along your route.
bump for a d*mned good idea!!
Ludowici got so crooked that Governor Lester Maddox told them he was going to have the city abolished if they didn't quit. He also put up a large billboard outside the city telling travelors to beware of the criminals in Ludowici.
I have heard that Ludowici is no longer a speed trap at all.
http://speedtrap.org <-- great site, visit it before travelling. There are also new programs coming out that can update an incar GPS navigation system with speed trap areas and photo enforcement locations so you can see them long before you get there.
Bronte, Texas is the biggest speed trap in the State of Texas.
See 14, they're available now.
Some people want to live in a place with a slow pace.
I don't think the government dictate of the 25mph speed limit will cause the town to have a slow pace of life. The cause and effect relationship goes the other direction, in which case everyone drives 25mph regardless of what the speed limit is set at.
This "speedtrap" debate is a bunch of Barbara Streisand. I live in a small town, on a rural road and the speed is reduced from 55 mph to 35 mph through town for good reason. If you speed through a town full of kids and old people you should get a danged ticket! Obey the STATE mandated speed limit. It is there for a reason: the SAFETY of the residents of the town. Our little town does receive most of its revenue from speeding tickets. We are a small bedroom town and almost everyone works in the bigger town to our east or in the city to our south. There is little tax revenue from businesses. Get over it or take another route, better yet stay in your smelly, crowded and crime-ridden cities.
Obey the obviously posted speed limit!
Coopertown, TN reduces the speed of the interstate from 70 mph to 50 mph. Tell me how slowing down the interstate contributes to the character of a town?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.