Speed trap

A police officer checking speed with a hand-held radar device.

The term speed trap can refer to a point where a speed limit is strictly enforced by police. It may also refer to locations where a speed camera is posted. Alternately, the term may also refer to a speed limit that is enforced by timing how long a vehicle takes to transverse a measured distance. Cities or road sections become known as speed traps where police have a reputation for writing an unusually high number of traffic tickets, especially speeding tickets. Sometimes the posted speed limits are not easily seen; in other places, the limits might be set excessively low. In many of these uses, the term speed trap connotes speed limit enforcement for purposes of ticket revenue or traffic deterrence instead of safety.

Speed traps have been used since the beginning of the 20th century as a means to enforce speed limits, and Britain's Automobile Association was set up specifically to notify members of such speed traps. More modern examples of speed traps include their usage in the town of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, which raised three-fourths of its revenue from traffic citations, and a significant percentage of that was related to a section of highway where the speed limit dropped from 55 mph to 45 mph. The state of Oklahoma enacted a law in 2004 that penalizes towns where the citation revenue exceeds 50% of the annual budget.

In California traffic law, evidence obtained from speed traps (as specifically defined, see "Speed trap" in California traffic law) is not admissible. Photo enforcement systems for traffic signals may measure vehicle speeds to set the beginning of the yellow signal indication phase. Some courts have ruled that this is not a speed trap.

France

Speed limit enforcement in France is widespread by the use of static manned police speed traps. In the case of offenders who do not have an address in France, French police and Gendarmes have the power to demand a deposit from the driver against the payment of the fine, which in practice is 100% of the amount of the fine for the offence. French police and Gendarmes target static locations where it is easy for them to trap large numbers of drivers exceeding the speed limit. These locations often include motorway sliproads, where speed limits that descend every 100 metres are common. Although accident rates are high in France, the French police and Gendarmes concentrate their resources mostly on speed. In some cases, the gendarmes locate themselves at toll booths on motorways, and fine drivers who have arrived at the exit toll booth too soon since taking a ticket at the entry toll booth. A common tactic by long-distance drivers is therefore to take any breaks (for meals etc) on tolled sections of road rather than untolled sections, thereby reducing their average speed between the toll booths.

Radar detectors are illegal in France. The mere existence of a radar detector in a vehicle, even if switched off or packed in luggage, attracts a fine of up to €3000, confiscation of the device, potentially also of the vehicle, and in some cases a prison sentence.

Automatic speed cameras exist in France, but are rare compared to other European countries, and usually face the front of oncoming vehicles, thereby capturing a photo of the driver.

United Kingdom

Most speed limit enforcement in the United Kingdom is carried out by automatic cameras (mostly Gatso, but some Truvelo- see Category:Speed camera types used in the United Kingdom). Cameras operated by Safety Camera Partnerships are required to be painted bright yellow to give lie to the camera's use as a deterrent rather than as a revenue-generating device, and new installations are mainly at defined accident black spots. Gatso cameras face the rear of vehicles, meaning that no photo of the driver is captured. Cameras are not allowed to be hidden, for example behind road signs, trees or bushes, but this requirement applies at the time of installation only.

Manned static speed traps are becoming more and more frequent, usually in the form of automatic cameras carried in mobile vehicles. Some speed limit enforcement is carried out by police officers in cars (both marked and unmarked) who follow offenders (often filming them) for some distance before stopping them. This allows officers to gather evidence of other traffic offences and to gauge the overall standard of the offender's driving. Drivers of vehicles with no address in the UK currently evade paying British speeding fines very easily, given that the British police do not have the power to enforce payment on the spot, but plans have been announced to change enforcement procedures [1] [2].

Camera and radar detectors are currently legal to possess and install in the UK, though the actual operation of such a device is considered to be obstruction of the police in the execution of their duty. There are plans to ban them though such a ban would not be extended to GPS-based devices that merely warn drivers of fixed camera sites.

United States

Limiting speed traps

In response to speed trap towns such as Iowa Colony, Texas, the Texas Legislature limited the revenue that smaller cities may collect from traffic tickets. All funds in excess of this amount are remitted to the state. Oregon and other states have similar laws.

Another tactic to limit speed traps is to reserve traffic law enforcement on numbered highways to state police or a similar entity.

Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers are not allowed to enforce speed limits with RADAR speed detection devices. Instead devices such as VASCAR, and ESP are used. In these techniques, a distance is defined between two white lines, or another method of marking, and the time it takes the vehicle to traverse the distance is recorded.

"Speed trap" in California traffic law

The notion of "speed traps" is entirely different in California. Before the advent of radars, lasers and other hi-tech speed detectors, the speed of a vehicle was often determined with the help of aircraft observations by timing the moments when the vehicle passes two specific marks on a highway with known distance between them. This way was declared illegal, and for the purposes of the law the following definition was given in the California vehicle code:

A "speed trap" is ... a particular section of a highway measured as to distance and with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

The prohibition of this kind of "speed traps" followed after a series of successful defences that argued inadmissible error margin in human timing.

Subsequently, the second clause was added to the "speed trap" definition to cover inadmissible usage of "radar or other electronic devices". It considers multiple factors, such as the operation standards of devices, training of police officers, and whether the enforced speed limits were properly justified.

See also

• Entrapment, the equivalent concept in criminal law
• Point of Interest
• Radar detector
• Radar gun
• Road-traffic safety
• Speed camera
• SPECS Speed Camera

External links

• Speedtrap Registry Sponsored by the National Motorists Association.

• Speed Traps In Your Area

• Speed Traps in France

• Speed Traps in Israel

• Speed Traps on your mobile phone

• PocketGpsWorld (GPS locations of speed traps)

• GPS-Support, Speed Camera Alerts/Speed Traps records FOR FREE.