This survey from the National Motorists Association (NMA) finds Jacksonville is ranked the worst Florida city for speed traps. The NMA used data from its own National Speed Trap Exchange which lists the cities with the most speed traps, set up by law enforcement to catch excess speeders. In all, the top two cities in each state were reported. The group says speed traps are set up by financially strapped local governments.
Boca Raton was named the worst Florida city with a population under 100,000.
Elsewhere around the state, Waldo and Starke have a national reputation as being notorious speed traps. But Lawtey, Starke, and Waldo were not even on the group’s list. Motorists did add their complaints which show 15 for Lawtey, 13 for Waldo, and eight for Starke.
In Georgia, Atlanta won top honors with Marietta being the worst speed trap for a city under 100,000 residents. In all, the survey includes 60,000 speed trap reports by city and state as well as Canadian province, complete with comments by readers.
The NMA believes motorists have a stronger voice if they join together. Part of its mission statement says that speed traps are often an excuse given when a police department or city wants to raise more money for equipment and salaries. The group urges citizens to ask a state senator or representative to have a reduced speed limit be subjected to a legitimate traffic engineering study to find the 85th percentile speed of unimpeded traffic. Other suggestions are on the group’s web site along with the entire survey at www.speedtrap.org.
