The worst speed traps in North America: Number 1.... Flower Mound, TX

[Strychnine]

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/autosblogpost-ros.aspx?post=139752d9-a351-4cd1-abb7-043b44918782&icid=autos_3426

Study: Worst Speed Traps in North America

National Motorists Association ranks the top spots in the U.S. and Canada where low speed limits meet high traffic enforcement.




If the speed limit changes four times in two miles and police cars can barely be seen lurking behind bridges and oversize shrubs, the writing is on the wall: You're in a speed trap.

According to a new list compiled by the National Motorists Association, a drivers-rights advocacy organization, the worst speed traps in North America are in a suburb of Dallas, a small city in Michigan and a town in Ontario, Canada.

The NMA's official definition of a speed trap is a spot that "combine[s] arbitrarily low speed limits with heavy traffic enforcement designed to generate ticket revenue."

Flower Mound, Texas; Livonia, Mich.; and Windsor, Ontario, were the three worst offenders by the NMA's criteria. But special recognition also went to Detroit, where 187 speed traps are reported in towns surrounding Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Overall, Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada, scored highest in the speed-trap rankings, which were compiled by analyzing five years' worth of data on the NMA's National Speed Trap Exchange, a website where drivers post speed-trap information. The District of Columbia, South Carolina, Michigan, Iowa and Tennessee were the worst in the U.S. The states with the fewest speed traps were Rhode Island, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

The website Trapster.com came out with a list earlier this summer of the big cities in the U.S. with the worst speed-trap problems. New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., topped the charts. Copious red-light cameras and eager traffic cops in New York are the reason for its high ranking.

To help drivers avoid falling into any of these traps, Trapster.com has an interactive map on both its website and its mobile-phone application that shows the hot spots throughout the country.

Full report here: http://www.motorists.org/other/Augus...ase--FINAL.pdf


The Results

Worst Speed Trap Cities (population greater than 50,000):

Rank -------- City -------------- Affirmations/1,000 Residents
-- 1 --- Flower Mound, Texas -------------------8.7
-- 2 ----- Livonia, Michigan -------------------- 8.4
-- 3 ----- Windsor, Ontario -------------------- 3.6
-- 4 ---- Hamilton, Ontario -------------------- 1.3
-- 5 --- Mississauga, Ontario ------------------1.1

“All of Flower Mound is a speed trap,” commented one driver on The National Speed Trap Exchange.

[Tannerm]

Lmao. I grew up in flomo and never got a speeding ticket. Funny what happens when u pay attention when driving. Novel concept!

[Unicorn Jeff]

I've driven through flower mound a lot and never gotten fucked with.

[Lone Sailor]

Congrats on posting front page MSN garbage.

[SouthernSVT]

I've gotten LOTS of speeding tickets it my day, but I can't remember ever getting pulled over in Flower Mound before. I'm going to have this in the front of my mind next time i'm driving through there though.

[helosailor]

I've never been pulled over in Flower Mound either.

#3 on the cities with <50,000 population is no joke. Waldo, FL is notorious.

[90GT50]

Yeah right. Northlake is way worse.

[fastwhite99gt]

Down west of Weatherford sucks ass too, new interstate and nothing around but the speed limit is 65 till you get out of Parker county. I saw 6 troopers in the last 2 miles before the limit changed going out to El Paso.

[Osiris]

LMAO! I NEVER see FMPD on traffic.

[Armedtrigger01]

Been pulled over once in Flower mound was only givin a warning. I would say Arlington and DWG are worse.

[barronj]

There's a little town SE of Austin, just east of San Marcos, called Martindale. They patrol a stretch of 80 where the speed limit ranges from 50 to 65, at every 5mph increment up & down. I drive it about once a month, sometimes twice a month, but I've never been ticketed. They were notorious for their speed traps, and I suspect they ticketed the wrong someone.

2 years ago, someone got a burr in their saddle, and put Martindale under the microscope. Municipalities can only bring in 30% of their annual budget from traffic fines. State of Texas hit them with a $570,000 fine for taking in too much money from their speed traps.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/state-puts-brakes-on-martindale-speeding-tickets-575112.html

MARTINDALE — This is the kind of small town you drive past on your way to somewhere bigger without realizing you had been there at all.

Unless you get a ticket.

On any given day, Martindale officials estimate that 16,000 to 19,000 motorists pass through the city on Texas 80 about six miles southeast of San Marcos. Martindale's population is far smaller than its traffic — signs outside the city count 953 residents, but 2008 census data puts it at about 1,150 people.

As with many towns its size near a highway, traffic tickets account for a significant portion of Martindale's annual revenue. However, state officials have determined that Martindale derives too much money from speeding fines, listing it with three other cities statewide in running afoul of speed trap rules.

A 1975 state law bans municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents from collecting more than 30 percent of annual revenue from traffic fines. If fines exceed that limit, the money goes to the Texas comptroller's office. Martindale gets more than half its annual revenue from such tickets and has since at least 2005.

The comptroller's office audited Martindale and sent it a bill for $573,000, said City Administrator Jeff Caldwell, who is also chief of the Martindale Police Department.

Martindale brings in $883,610 annually , according to the 2009 city budget. And Caldwell, who said city officials were unaware of the law before the state stepped in, claims owing the state such a large amount "threatens this city's future."

Under a payment agreement, the state keeps 75 percent of the city's sales tax revenue — about $25,000 a year — leaving Martindale with little money to spend on repairing roads, residential services and attracting new businesses to grow the tax base, he said.

"That's $25,000 a year we can't put into other measures to keep this town afloat," Caldwell said.

R.J. DeSilva , a spokesman for the Texas comptroller, said that the office received some complaints about Martindale's ticketing practices, which led to audits in 2005 and 2009. The city has $480,585.72 remaining on the $573,000 assessed.

DeSilva said three other cities are also making payments to the state under the law: Kendleton, on U.S. 59, about 49 miles southwest of Houston ; Patton Village, also on U.S. 59, about 41 miles northeast of Houston ; and Zavalla , off U.S. 69, 23 miles southeast of Lufkin near the Louisiana border. DeSilva said he had no information on economic similarities in the towns, only that their populations were less than 5,000 people.

Few sources of revenue

Martindale's problem with the comptroller reflects bigger economic challenges. In essence, it has few ways to collect revenue. The debt has hurt its ability to qualify for bonds and grants, too.

Driving through Martindale means passing a loose assemblage of small houses, gas stations, churches and farm plots. The Caldwell County town doesn't have much in the way of commercial and retail development. Most residents work and shop in San Marcos.

Main Street, where City Hall is located, is lined with empty, dilapidated red brick buildings, most of which have padlocks on their doors.

Around the time the town was incorporated in 1982, city officials decided not to purchase the local private water supply corporation, and they opted to remain a dry city. Alcohol still cannot be purchased in Martindale, unlike the rest of Caldwell County.

Although those seemed like good ideas at the time, they have since kept the city from collecting utility revenue and attracting restaurants and hotels that sell alcohol. Its proximity to San Marcos has probably kept some development away, as well.

"We have two drive-in (convenience stores), a very nice furniture store and a Dollar General," Mayor Loraine Harrison said . "A restaurant like Chili's is not going to come here."

The average property value in Martindale is about $57,400, city officials said, and it receives about $162,000 a year in ad valorem taxes. (By comparison, property taxes this budget year brought in $232.5 million for the City of Austin.) Martindale raised its property tax rate 53 percent, to 34.6 cents, in September, largely to cope with the bill from the state, officials said.

Still, Harrison calls Martindale a great community that is trying to revitalize itself. It recently created a garbage collection service and started single-stream recycling.

[Roscoe]

Nice, living in the area plus flying frequently into Wayne Airport for travel to Livonia, MI, this is AWESOME!!!! (and true)

<-- never been popped yet...

[tangstang]

Yeah right. Northlake is way worse.

Practically the devil, just about everyone I know has had an issue or two with them. They pulled me over last year just for no front plate, I was thinking are you serious???? This was on a 4 door Volkswagen btw, not a mustang or sports car of any kind. They use to have a speed trap up almost every night at about 1:15am right before the 114 exit headed South. Ridiculous.

[davbrucas]

I've never been pulled over in Flower Mound either.

#3 on the cities with <50,000 population is no joke. Waldo, FL is notorious.

I can attest to that...had to go thru that town to get to the MX track I rode a lot when I lived over there. Cops are pricks too...

[Vertnut]

As far back as I can remember, Selma, Texas has been a notorious speed trap. It's about 20 miles north of San Antonio (if I remember correctly). Even back in the '70's, the feds were called in about it.