I used to live near a town like this. Thornton, Illinois is the site of a giant limestone quarry and there's one major road you can drive on to get around the quarry if you don't want to get on the expressway (which is a bit out of the way depending on where you're coming from). These streets have 25 or 30mph signs, yet are wide and underutilized enough to easily be 35-45mph streets. Drivers unfamiliar with the area would be taken off-guard by these slow speed zones as they enter from neighboring towns. The police there pull people over for 2 or 3 mph over regularly.
According to IDOT, there were 2,334 traffic stops in Thornton in 2014. This town's population? About 2,300. That's one stop per man, woman, and child in this town! This is naked profiteering and pretty much all small towns in strategic areas turn into police-led profit centers. The real question is why isn't anyone stopping this?
It would be nice if gps apps (Google, Waze, Apple Maps, etc) would start showing this on their maps, and effectively treating them as a toll road. All the needed data is publicly available: town population, number of tickets, percentage of town revenue coming from fines, etc.
If the law isn't going to require signage for speed traps, the software can.
Waze would inform you, (assuming enough nearby users) but not in any special way. You'd just see a cop ahead.
By the way, if you aren't using Waze on trips of any significant length, I highly recommend it. It's good for more than just cop-spotting. You'll also know when a semi loses a tire in the road.
Hammonton, NJ is one of these, I believe. Along with some other towns along the White Horse Pike in the middle of South Jersey. You cruise along the pike at 55, because the limit is 50, and then you hit Hammonton, where the speed limit drops to 35 with no visible cues, just one speed limit sign that is often obscured by foliage. And there are always police patrolling this tiny stretch of road, or parked alongside with speed guns. And of course, they are happy to allow you to use the NJ statute that lets you plea to a no points charge of 'unsafe driving' instead of speeding, with a much higher fine.
I'd love to see a financial report on this town, and ones like it in NJ. Likewise, I expect Atlantic City and a couple of towns around it have a similar relationship with minor drug charges.
Hammonton native here (small world, Hi!); I've driven on those roads for a few years.
Even to those who have driven on these roads all our lives it gets confusing, though I do understand that if a road passes by all the major ordinary shopping centers in a small town, it does warrant a lower speed limit. If you thought Rt. 30 is bad, try Central Ave (Rt. 542); that speed limit changes every 500 feet or so, and the police love pulling people over there.
FL Route 301 is such a popular speed trap it is even mentioned on the wiki page.
Since US 301 is a popular short cut between Northeastern Florida and the Gulf Coast region, a number of towns along the road have been notorious speed traps. The speed limit drops from 65 mph to 30 mph in a matter of a few hundred feet. Many have accused the police in Waldo, Starke, Lawtey, and others of giving tickets simply to raise money.[3][4] The American Automobile Association has strongly advised motorists to avoid this stretch of the road.[5]
I thought of 301 when reading this article. I think there was a billboard stating "Speed Trap Ahead" outside... Starke? Can't remember now. There's no other remotely direct route to my grandmother's place though, so down 301 I go when I visit.
According to IDOT, there were 2,334 traffic stops in Thornton in 2014. This town's population? About 2,300. That's one stop per man, woman, and child in this town! This is naked profiteering and pretty much all small towns in strategic areas turn into police-led profit centers. The real question is why isn't anyone stopping this?