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TagsBergen County's Mahwah makes list from New Jersey
BY JOE TYRRELL
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
New York City is a speed trap?
As Americans pack up their cars for a long holiday weekend, the National Motorists Association has is offering a list of places to by-pass to "avoid a depressing and expensive holiday traffic ticket experience."
Using data from its own National Speed Trap Exchange, the Milwaukee-based association has compiled list of North American places with the most speed traps as reported by users. A second list covers those with populations under 100,000.
This Labor Day, the association notes that the normal holiday traffic occurs during a period of increased ticketing campaigns as well as state and municipal financial problems. In a statement, the NMA warned "motorists have good reasons to feel like they have dollar signs painted on their vehicles."
Moving violations and Gotham go together, just ask Batman. Still, most travelers probably do not consider the city the equivalent of small-town Georgia when it comes to overzealous revenue enhancement. (Parking is another story.)
In fact, the first list is almost a function of population. Along with New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Boston, Las Vegas, Montréal, Seattle, Baltimore, Honolulu, Vancouver and even Milwaukee turn up as the most egregious offenders in their respective states.
There are more reports of allegedly unfair tickets in those places because that's where the people are. And of course, that's where the money is. Wherever you are, one way to minimize trouble is to drive safely.
Interestingly, though, the schematic of bigger is badder does not hold true in every state. By the NMA's lights, Pittsburgh is more of a ticketing hot spot than Philadelphia, Tucson outdoes Phoenix and in South Carolina, Greenville is worse than anywhere.
And there's good news about Newark, a city not otherwise known for reticent policing. In New Jersey, the association's drivers finger Mahwah as the most dangerous to their wallets by any standard. Should that even count? Mahwah is practically New York, and border areas are traditional danger zones.
More information on the speed reports by city, state or province is available at www.speedtrap.org.
NMA's rankings of the worst offenders overall, and those under 100,000 population:
Alabama: Montgomery, Hoover
Alaska: Anchorage, Juneau
Arizona: Tucson, Flagstaff
Arkansas: Little Rock, Fayetteville
California: Los Angeles, Mission Viejo
Colorado: Colorado Springs, Littleton
Connecticut: Milford, Milford
Delaware: Newark, Newark
Florida: Jacksonville, Boca Raton
Georgia: Atlanta, Marietta
Hawaii: Honolulu, Aiea
Idaho: Boise, Idaho Falls
Illinois: Chicago, Elk Grove Village
Indiana: Indianapolis, Bloomington
Iowa: Des Moines, Iowa City
Kansas: Overland Park, Lawrence
Kentucky: Louisville, Bowling Green
Louisiana: Baton Rouge, Metairie
Maine: Portland, Biddeford
Maryland: Baltimore, Gaithersburg
Massachusetts: Boston, Lynn
Michigan: Livonia, Livonia
Minnesota: St. Paul, Edina
Mississippi: Jackson, Meridian
Missouri: Kansas City, O'Fallon
Montana: Missoula, Missoula
Nebraska: Omaha, Bellevue
Nevada: Las Vegas, Carson City
New Hampshire: Manchester, Nashua
New Jersey: Mahwah, Mahwah
New Mexico: Albuquerque, Las Cruces
New York: New York City, Troy
North Carolina: Raleigh, Asheville
North Dakota: Fargo, Grand Forks
Ohio: Cleveland, Millersburg
Oklahoma: Tulsa, Moore
Oregon: Portland, Beaverton
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh, Reading
Rhode Island: Pawtucket, Pawtucket
South Carolina: Greenville, Greenville
South Dakota: Sioux Falls, Rapid City
Tennessee: Nashville, Smyrna
Texas: Houston, Tyler
Utah: Salt Lake City, Sandy
Vermont: Wilmington, Wilmington
Virginia: Virginia Beach, Fairfax
Washington: Seattle, Bellingham
West Virginia: Summersville, Summersville
Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Kenosha
Wyoming: Cheyenne, Cheyenne
CANADA
Alberta: Calgary, Lethbridge
British Columbia: Vancouver, Victoria
Manitoba: Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie
New Brunswick: Moncton, Moncton
Newfoundland: St. John's, Corner Brook
Northwest Territories: no listings, no listings
Nova Scotia: Dartmouth, Dartmouth
Nunavut: no listings, no listings
Ontario: Toronto, Brantford
Prince Edward Island: no listings, no listings
Quebec: Montreal, Brossard
Saskatchewan: Saskatoon, Moose Jaw
Yukon: no listings, no listings
Joe Tyrrell may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
