Speed traps on the interstate bring a cash bonus to Washington County, Virginia cops.

After the Washington County, Virginia Board of Supervisors voted in 2004 to allow the county sheriff’s office to keep 80 percent of revenue generated from traffic tickets, the number of speeding citations written has skyrocketed. The revenue splitting arrangement allows the sheriff to direct revenue windfall toward overtime pay for deputies as well as a “salary supplement” of $2400 for those who perform well.In 2004, just prior to the new policy, the sheriff’s office wrote 1602 traffic tickets. The following year, the sheriff’s office wrote 10,018 tickets. Most of the tickets were issued to motorists traveling on Interstate 81 with the average charge being 79 MPH — just under the threshold for reckless driving under state law, a charge requiring significant court time and effort to prosecute.

The total amount taken from motorists totaled $516,072 in the first year-and-a-half under the revenue sharing deal. This has nearly doubled the county’s cut from from around $60,000 to $135,214 while allowing the sheriff to divvy up $166,000 of the bounty among his deputies.About half of Virginia counties have adopted a similar revenue sharing arrangement encouraging local police to run speed traps on interstate highways.

Source: (Bristol Herald Courier (VA), 3/5/2007)

Yep! It happens to just about everyone at some point or another. Just when you THINK you’re paying attention, an unexpected speed limit reduction hits you! This area of Martin Luther King Blvd. in Austin, TX has a very short stretch of school zone (20 mph). Yes, a lady I work with came back from lunch and told us about getting the ticket. According to my co-worker, the sign markings are NOT obvious, like they should be. She’s gonna go back later and check to see if the flashing lights are (were) operating at 2:30 p.m.

I’m gonna go by there soon and check things out, myself. Sounds like the perfect place to set up an STA (Speed Trap Ahead) station.

View Larger Map with MORE Austin Speed Traps!

COLUMBUS, OHIO - A judge has dismissed pending traffic tickets issued by a defunct village known for being a speed trap. “Anyone whose driving privileges were suspended by the village are off the hook,” said Judge David Cain of Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The decision affects about 2,000 motorists. Cain ordered the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to remove liens New Rome police put on any driver’s licenses. Those who paid traffic tickets will not be reimbursed.

“I can only act on the present and future,” Cain said. “It’s for the people who’ve had to live with this uncertainty for a while.”

Last month, Cain ordered the dissolution of the village west of Columbus based on a recently passed law allowing the state to seek dissolution of villages of fewer than 150 people if the state auditor finds a pattern of wrongdoing or incompetence in the village’s operation. New Rome’s police department disbanded last summer. Attorney General Jim Petro, who brought the case against the village, said the traffic cases ought to be dismissed because the government was not functioning properly. Cain agreed and said he could not be certain the citations were justified.Source: (Ocala Star-Banner (FL), 8/31/2006)

The comment below was written by the accused (not living in the U.S.):

“On 28 April 2006, I was charged with obstruction (Section 444 PPRA2000) for holding a sign that reads “Police speed trap ahead”. I entered a plea of not guilty and the prosecution withdrew the date before the trial – presumably for fear of setting precedent. Just before withdrawing, the prosecution also offered a “guilty with no conviction” bargain, which I declined.

This activity is *not* illegal if you know how to execute it properly and within the law. I intend to provide this education after seeking further collaboration with law experts.”

Drivers are allowed to flash their headlights to warn approaching drivers about a speed trap ahead, a state appeals court has ruled. A two-judge panel of the Appellate Division of State Superior Court ruled Thursday that Susan R. Luptak of Jackson, NJ violated no state laws when she flashed her high beams twice to warn an oncoming car on Perrineville Road in Monroe Township, NJ in October 1997.

The driver Ms. Luptak was trying to help turned out to be a police officer in an unmarked car. He pulled her over and issued her summonses for misuse of headlights and driving with a suspended license.

Ms. Luptak, found guilty in Monroe Municipal Court, appealed in State Superior Court in New Brunswick. That court threw out the headlight conviction but allowed the other charge to stand.

The appellate court said, however, that Ms. Luptak did not violate the law on misuse of headlights, which deals only with factors like how far high beams must project. The court also dismissed the charge of driving with a suspended license, saying the officer had no grounds to pull over Ms. Luptak.