Speed Traps

[roywhite]

From another thread, and brevity's comment:
"On a somewhat related note, I wonder if it's a good idea to create a separate thread about well-established speed traps for the benefit of our drivers stateside. Our collective experiences may be valuable in this regard."

I nominate Summersville, WV, a town of approx. 3250 on Rte. 19, a frequently used link between I-79 and I-77, where over 10,000 speeding tickets are issued in a given year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05324/608879.stm

There are even billboards on either side of town to warn motorists, and debate from some of the town's merchants about whether the speed trap has cost the area some business.

Summersville Lake, by the way, is a gorgeous, clear lake and there are plenty of places on the nearby New and Gauley Rivers for white-water rafting. Nice area, but it is a speed trap.

[captmojo]

From another thread, and brevity's comment:
"On a somewhat related note, I wonder if it's a good idea to create a separate thread about well-established speed traps for the benefit of our drivers stateside. Our collective experiences may be valuable in this regard."

I nominate Summersville, WV, a town of approx. 3250 where over 10,000 speeding tickets are issued in a given year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05324/608879.stm

There are even billboards on either side of town to warn motorists, and debate from some of the town's merchants about whether the speed trap has cost the area some business.

Summersville Lake, by the way, is a gorgeous, clear lake and there are plenty of places on the nearby New and Gauley Rivers for white-water rafting. Nice area, but it is a speed trap.

It's bad going all the way back to Oak Hill, right outside Beckley.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

As posted in the other thread:
I-95 in NC in Johnston County - between mile markers 78 (south of Benson) to 107 (Kenly). For you southbound travelers, the speed limit changes from 70 to 65 when you enter the county at mm 107. Due to the high number of FATAL accidents over the years, this is the most heavily patrolled section of interstate in NC. They also catch beaucoodles (that's lots and lots ) of drug trafficers during their speed traps.

[Bluedog]

Mecklenburg County, Virginia. My girlfriend got a ticket for going THREE mph over the speed limit. No joke. I didn't know that was even legal. She said she even saw the cop and made sure she was going about the speed limit. The ticket was only $4 for every mph over = $12, BUT had a $60 "processing fee." BS....Out of state plates (IL) in a Prius probably made her a target, I'd guess. I said to fight it, but she thought it wasn't worth it and that the local sheriff is well known with the judge etc and she'd have no chance. But three over!?? Anybody else know somebody who got a ticket for going less than 5 over? I hear of cases like that when it's on top of another charge (e.g. going through a red light also ticketed for speeding), but not on its own. It was 73 in a 70, btw...I nominate the entire state of VA really. I-95 has too many trees in the middle where cops can hide easily. When I was in a rush a couple of times, I'd speed up in between the turnarounds and then slow down where they could potentially hide a la the principal Ferris Bueller's Day off. Not very fuel efficient, but I was running late...

[allenmurray]

As posted in the other thread:
I-95 in NC in Johnston County - between mile markers 78 (south of Benson) to 107 (Kenly). For you southbound travelers, the speed limit changes from 70 to 65 when you enter the county at mm 107. Due to the high number of FATAL accidents over the years, this is the most heavily patrolled section of interstate in NC. They also catch beaucoodles (that's lots and lots ) of drug trafficers during their speed traps.

Very true. This is one of the deadliest stretches of highway in the entire country. Sitting at the mid-point between Miami and NYC it if often cited as the place where people should stop and take a break, but don't. Those of us who live near this stretch of highway shouldn't be telling others how to avoid tickets on I-95. Instead we should be telling others to slow down and be very alert. Your life may depend on it.

Save your speeding for other places. If you get a ticket on I-95 in NC you can complain all you want about speed traps. More than likely the reason you were stopped is because the highway patrol are really tired of pulling dead bodies out of cars on I-95.

[fuse]

There is a Blackberry and iPhone (possibly other smartphones) application called Trapster designed to do just this- be a social network for speed traps, red light cameras, etc.

I'm not affiliated in any way (its free) but I have used it and found it to be pretty good.

http://www.trapster.com

[allenmurray]

Mecklenburg County, Virginia. My girlfriend got a ticket for going THREE mph over the speed limit. No joke. I didn't know that was even legal. She said she even saw the cop and made sure she was going about the speed limit. The ticket was only $4 for every mph over = $12, BUT had a $60 "processing fee." BS....Out of state plates (IL) in a Prius probably made her a target, I'd guess. I said to fight it, but she thought it wasn't worth it and that the local sheriff is well known with the judge etc and she'd have no chance. But three over!?? Anybody else know somebody who got a ticket for going less than 5 over? I hear of cases like that when it's on top of another charge (e.g. going through a red light also ticketed for speeding), but not on its own. It was 73 in a 70, btw...I nominate the entire state of VA really. I-95 has too many trees in the middle where cops can hide easily. When I was in a rush a couple of times, I'd speed up in between the turnarounds and then slow down where they could potentially hide a la the principal Ferris Bueller's Day off. Not very fuel efficient, but I was running late...

I agree fighting it would have been a waste of time given that it was $72 and no points on her license. it would have cost a lot more to fight it. I agree it is nuts - but not uncommon. However, recent changes in VA law make it more lucrative for VA cops to pull people with VA tags than folks from out of state.

When traveling on I-85 in Virginia from the NC line to Petersburg I simply do not exceed the speed limit. Not even by 1 mph. The reality is you will get a ticket. The same thing is true on Highway 58 between South Hill and Emporia.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Very true. This is one of the deadliest stretches of highway in the entire country. Sitting at the mid-point between Miami and NYC it if often cited as the place where people should stop and take a break, but don't. Those of us who live near this stretch of highway shouldn't be telling others how to avoid tickets on I-95. Instead we should be telling others to slow down and be very alert. Your life may depend on it.

Save your speeding for other places. If you get a ticket on I-95 in NC you can complain all you want about speed traps. More than likely the reason you were stopped is because the highway patrol are really tired of pulling dead bodies out of cars on I-95.

I agree, and by telling them that they are being watched clo$ely is the be$t way I know of to get other$ to $low down!

[Indoor66]

Back in the day, US 29 in Dinwiddie, VA was a big speed trap. They used to pull you over and have you follow the officer to the Magistrate where justice was dispensed on the spot. Pay the fine or to to jail! I was allowed to find a place to cash a check to pay the fine. They told me I couldn't outrun their radio waves!

[allenmurray]

Back in the day, US 29 in Dinwiddie, VA was a big speed trap. They used to pull you over and have you follow the officer to the Magistrate where justice was dispensed on the spot. Pay the fine or to to jail! I was allowed to find a place to cash a check to pay the fine. They told me I couldn't outrun their radio waves!

Well, if you have to go to Dinwiddie anyway, you might as well stop at the Nottoway Restaurant and have the best coconut custard pie you'll ever eat in your life. The place has been in the same family for over 50 years.

[Indoor66]

Well, if you have to go to Dinwiddie anyway, you might as well stop at the Nottoway Restaurant and have the best coconut custard pie you'll ever eat in your life. The place has been in the same family for over 50 years.

Maybe, but the best coconut custard pie I ever had was at the Mountain House in Boone. It was made fresh daily and if you got there after about 6:00 pm, it was gone for the day. That was about 15-20 years ago.

[allenmurray]

Maybe, but the best coconut custard pie I ever had was at the Mountain House in Boone. It was made fresh daily and if you got there after about 6:00 pm, it was gone for the day. That was about 15-20 years ago.

I was at the Mountain House just a few months ago (though for breakfast, so I didn't have the pie). After an incredibly below-average breakfast, during which the waitress spilled both coffee and maple syrup on me, I decided I would probably never go back. It would have to be damn good pie for me to darken the door of the Mountain House again. I understand how a waitress can spill coffee - you ahve to be really creative to spill maple syrup.

And you may recall from a lengthy thread a while back, I consider myself the DBR resident expert on cocunut custard pie.

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...79&postcount=7

[roywhite]

Back in the day, US 29 in Dinwiddie, VA was a big speed trap. They used to pull you over and have you follow the officer to the Magistrate where justice was dispensed on the spot. Pay the fine or to to jail! I was allowed to find a place to cash a check to pay the fine. They told me I couldn't outrun their radio waves!

Yep; I've made an unplanned donation to the Magistrate there myself.

[Indoor66]

I was at the Mountain House just a few months ago (though for breakfast, so I didn't have the pie). After an incredibly below-average breakfast, during which the waitress spilled both coffee and maple syrup on me, I decided I would probably never go back. It would have to be damn good pie for me to darken the door of the Mountain House again. I understand how a waitress can spill coffee - you ahve to be really creative to spill maple syrup.

And you may recall from a lengthy thread a while back, I consider myself the DBR resident expert on cocunut custard pie.

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...79&postcount=7

I know for a fact that it has changed management since I was going there. The owner when I was going had a son who was killed in the crash that took out the Reba McIntyre band. He played base for Reba, IRRC.

[roywhite]

Well, if you have to go to Dinwiddie anyway, you might as well stop at the Nottoway Restaurant and have the best coconut custard pie you'll ever eat in your life. The place has been in the same family for over 50 years.

Probably just a coincidence that a small town crawling with cops has a great little diner/restaurant with terrific desserts?

[fadero]

I have been going to the Nottaway Inn for 40 years, great pies. Fried oysters aren't bad either.

[captmojo]

Until they were busted by the FBI, South Carolina was the spot for the origins of real "highway robbery". Pay the fine and court costs right there on the road shoulder or proceed directly to the magistrate's office.
You were under arrest. When the officer (usually a state trooper) was paid, the money and the record of the ticket may, or just as likely may not, end up in the hands of the government without record.

[killerleft]

Hwy. 421 in Wilkes County, in western NC between Yadkinville and Boone, is a hot spot for speeding tickets. Maybe not a speed trap like some places, but I probably see more people pulled over there than anywhere else in my normal driving range.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Until they were busted by the FBI, South Carolina was the spot for the origins of real "highway robbery". Pay the fine and court costs right there on the road shoulder or proceed directly to the magistrate's office.
You were under arrest. When the officer (usually a state trooper) was paid, the money and the record of the ticket may, or just as likely may not, end up in the hands of the government without record.

My first ticket, in 1971, at 17, was driving with my dad from NY to FL near Bamberg, SC. I-95 was far from complete and I believe we were on US 301 heading into Bamberg. Got clocked at 72 in a 60. The fine my dad paid the cop was $17. I got to keep the ticket as a "souvenir". Many years ago someone told me that the State of NC didn't consider paying the cop on the side of the road "justice", so SC tickets weren't counted in NC for license points (I was a Florida resident at the time with a Florida driver's license).

Oh, the next time I was stopped for speeding was 2006 (also in a small SC town, but that's another story). The "souvenir" lesson was well learned. I always figure it is faster to go 5 mph slower than to spend 30 minutes on the side of the road talking with an officer of the law.

[allenmurray]

I have been going to the Nottaway Inn for 40 years, great pies. Fried oysters aren't bad either.

The place is timeless, isn't it? I've been going there literally all my life. I grew up in the DC area, but my father was from NC. We traveled that road a lot - long before the completion of I-85. It looks no different than I remember it looking when I was 5 or 6 years old.

There are a few things that are great - the fried fish (a special on Friday's), the fried chicken, the homemade rolls, the mashed potatos, the pies (and I'll take your word on the oysters, I'm not an oyster eater). The rest of the food is just average. But there is something incredibly comforting about a place that simply never changes.