Let's Play Find the Speed Trap

Most of us try to drive safely and obey the traffic laws, but there are sometimes unplesant surprises planned for the unwary. Thanks to a national website called Speed Trap Exchange, local motorists can now be more aware of the speed traps in Cave Springs, Farmington, Fayetteville, Gentry, Lincoln, and Prairie Grove. It is a start, but I'm sure you can help identify a few more in Northwest Arkansas.

Speed traps are often used by municipalities as one method of generating revenue to run the government. "Safety" is given as the excuse for running a speed trap, but the real reason boils down to money, says the National Motorists Association. “The worst kind of speed trap is the one that is set up to deliberately entrap motorists and extort money for the benefit of police agencies or local governments. These speed traps employ absurdly low speed limits, intense enforcement, deliberately confusing signage (or no signage), and dishonest and or abusive local courts. Non-residents of the community are singled out for tickets to avoid invoking the wrath of local voters and influential citizens who might demand an end to such an unethical system of law enforcement.”

Our elected officials give lip service to the proposition that underhanded and exploitative speed enforcement should not be used as a means to extort money from honest responsible citizens. It’s fair game to ask them to walk the walk. Demand that city and county governments require that any posted speed limit that differs from the standard speed limit for a given type of road or highway be supported by a legitimate traffic engineering study that determines the 85th percentile speed of free flowing unimpeded traffic. The posted speed limit should not be adjusted downward more than five miles per hour below the 85th percentile speed, as determined by the traffic engineering study.

Feel free to use the comments section here to identify your favorite speed trap in Northwest Arkansas.