As if the $125 ticket wasn’t bad enough, Lauren Kamm’s illegal left turn onto Ashland Avenue in Chicago earned her an extra surprise: Her driver’s license was confiscated.

Kamm was told it would be returned after her case was completed, a process potentially lasting weeks. While she could still drive legally with a copy of the ticket, the thought of having no photo identification sent her into a panic, especially since she planned to attend a college reunion at a North Side bar the next night.

The 23-year-old public relations consultant awoke early the next morning last fall and drove to a driver’s license facility to get a state ID.

“I had to do it,” said Kamm, who lives in Wicker Park. “I wasn’t going to miss [the reunion] just because they took my license.”

Illinois is one of the few states where officers can — and often do — take a driver’s license during routine traffic stops. But a group of state officials is trying to change that. In an era when a government-issued photo ID is often needed to board an airplane or make a credit-card purchase, the practice is antiquated, they said.

“Your driver’s license is probably your only government-issued form of ID,” said DuPage County Circuit Clerk Chris Kachiroubas. “To lose it for a bad left turn, I’ve always thought that was a bad idea.”

Kachiroubas’ office is among those most aggressively pursuing the end of taking licenses and could be the closest to eliminating the process. The county is rolling out a new electronic ticketing program to reduce paper and save money, but the system also could allow drivers to pay for tickets or bail with a credit card during a traffic stop.

Now, state law requires that drivers ticketed for a moving violation post bail. They do that by paying $75 at the police station, surrendering a bond card (usually available from insurance companies) or giving up their driver’s license. Police officers also can just ask for a signature, but such leniency is rare.

Because few people have bond cards or the time to travel to a police station, they usually give
up their licenses, experts say. In some cases, drivers are not given a choice. Kamm was not, she said. Her license was returned a month later in the mail after she paid her fine.

Wholesale changes to the law cannot be made without the approval of the state Supreme Court. A subcommittee re-examining the state’s traffic bonding laws for the first time since the early 1990s is expected to make recommendations by the end of the year.

The practice of taking driver’s licenses was established in Chicago in the 1950s and later expanded statewide under the presumption that holding a license hostage makes accused lawbreakers more likely to pay their fines or come to court.

Protocols in other states vary widely. In Michigan, officers take licenses of out-of-state drivers only. In Mississippi, police can take driver’s licenses of in-state residents but rarely do. Like many states, Texas and Oregon take licenses only during drunken-driving arrests. Few take it as a common first option, like Illinois.

“The process is outdated,” said Logan County Circuit Clerk Carla Bender. “The law and the Supreme Court rule need to catch up to technology.”

Champaign County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Ford, chairman of the subcommittee, said the driver’s license issue “has been discussed” but declined to predict whether there will be changes. He said he was surprised to learn that Illinois was one of the few states that regularly take licenses as a form of bail.

“The question is, if we can get away from it, how far do we go?” Ford said.

Some less-affluent counties still might need to take licenses from people who can’t afford to pay $75, he said.

“What about in counties that aren’t as rich?” he said. “What do you take if they can’t pay a bond?”

In DuPage County, two police departments are experimenting with “e-ticketing,” which, as its name suggests, removes most paper from the ticketing equation. Officers create tickets on a laptop, hand a printed copy to drivers, then transmit the information to the police department and circuit clerk’s office.Officials hope that the system, if approved by the Supreme Court, eventually will allow some drivers to post bail or pay their tickets with credit or debit cards on the side of the road.

Police departments in West Chicago and Wheaton are testing the equipment, and a handful of other police agencies will be online soon. Most in the county are expected to be on board by the end of the year, Kachiroubas said.

The technology was bought for $2.4 million from Florida-based Advanced Public Safety.

Several police officials said they would be happy to stop taking licenses.

“From a law-enforcement standpoint, it doesn’t bother me at all,” said Laimutis Nargelenas, deputy director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. “You don’t have to deal with calls from people saying they need their license back because they have to take a trip.”

Your driver’s license, please

The state requires that drivers ticketed for a moving violation post bail in one of these ways:

*Pay $75 at the police station.

*Surrender a bond card (usually available from insurance companies).

*Give up their driver’s license.

*Signing tickets also can win release, but few officers do this.

Alternatives: DuPage County is experimenting with an electronic ticket, which could lead to drivers paying for tickets or bail with a credit card on the spot.

By Josh Noel -Tribune reporter
ChicagoTribune.com

Illinois Traffic Laws

DENVER — Breaking the law while driving could soon cost you a lot more. State lawmakers taking the first step to increase fines on traffic tickets.

On Tuesday, a house transportation committee passed a bill that would double most state fines for moving violations.

“Our fines in Colorado are three times lower than states like Massachusetts and Vermont. We haven’t actually raised traffic fines in about 3 decades in Colorado,” says the bill’s sponsor, Buffie McFayden of Pueblo.

The State Patrol says it wants fines to go up on moving violations that cause crashes, like DUI, unsafe lane changes and speeding.

“We believe this is a tactic, a strategy we’ll employ to reduce our injury fatal rate,” says Terry Campbell, State Patrol legislative liaison. They hope higher fines will lower danger on the roads.

Drivers paying traffic tickets at Denver’s city and county building say the increases are a good idea. “That’s the first one in 8 years [a speeding ticket]. Being a new father with another on the way. I don’t have a problem with that,” says Erik Anderson of Englewood.

“I think I’d be more scared now to be driving or speeding, think I’d be more aware. I’d be like, ‘Oh my God. I have to pay this much,’” says Franci Moldanado of Denver.

“It does hurt the pocketbook. But it would deter me from speeding,” says Ellen Landy-Steward/Denver.

While most tickets would double, some would triple. Here are examples.

-Speeding 10 to 19 miles over the limit, the fine will increase from $50 to $135.
-Running a red light goes from $35 to $100.
-A first DUI conviction would go from a minimum $500 fine to $1,000.
-An unsafe lane change goes from $35 to $100.
-And careless driving jumps from $50 to $150.

The bill also increases from 50% to 75% the money going to the highway users tax fund if the violation happened on a state or federal highway. That money helps fund the State Patrol as well as work on state highways.

The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.

Tammy Vigil, MyFoxColorado.com Reporter

Locate an Traffic Lawyer in Colorado.

WINTER HAVEN , FLA – Mike Greene says the $261 ticket he got for speeding 10 miles over the limit in a school zone was uncalled for.

But the police and the city say the ticket was fair and square.

The disagreement boils down to whether the slower-speed school zone was properly posted.

Greene said he pleaded not guilty this week to the ticket in Polk County Court.

Police Capt. Lisa Albury said she doesn’t see where Greene has a legitimate gripe.

On Dec. 11, he dropped his son off at Denison Middle School.

Because he had a doctor’s appointment, he took a short path he normally doesn’t take, down Fourth Street Southeast toward Avenue C Southeast.

At that point, he said, he knew without question he was in a school zone.

Then he turned right, heading west on Avenue C.

He passed Grace Lutheran Church and approached Grace Lutheran Early Childhood Center.

There’s only one school zone sign after making the turn.

It’s near the end of the Grace school property and announces: End School Zone.

He said that’s where he got pulled over.

Greene, 42, said that when an officer gave him a ticket for doing 25 in a 15 mph school zone, the officer told him, “Children are a precious commodity.”

Green, in an interview, said he agrees.

“It’s true,” he said, “so why can’t they just put up a school zone sign to warn people turning onto Avenue C to keep it slow?”

He said he believes the lack of a sign is a money-maker for the city at the expense of child safety.

He said the $261 he may have to pay for his ticket should be enough to cover the cost of a sign.

“They know there’s a problem there, but they won’t do anything about it,” he said.

This is simple, said Capt. Albury.

“When you drive into a school zone, you’re in it until you see an end school zone sign” even if you make a turn, she said.

“There are all kinds of kids and a crossing guard there,” she said.

“I don’t see where there’s a problem.”

Albury said the city, not the police, put up signs.

At City Hall, spokeswoman Joy Townsend said Albury is correct about the signs.

“When operating a motor vehicle in a school zone, all drivers should assume they are still in a school zone until they observe an ‘end school zone’ sign,” she said.

Greene said he has a good driving record and doesn’t want this blemish on it.

News Article Rick Rousos – The Ledger

Florida Traffic Laws

MONTEREY, Calif.—Monterey Vice-Mayor Jeff Haferman insists he didn’t run a stop sign and he demands to go to trial over the $159 ticket.

Haferman is also suing the city.

He was given a traffic citation on July 26 for failure to stop Camino Aguajito and Fremont Street at the exit from northbound Highway 1.

The Monterey council member says the intersection is a “speed trap,” that city police have a ticket quota and that the city knew the sign was illegally placed in front of a traffic signal. The city has denied the allegations.

Besides wanting the traffic ticket dismissed, Haferman has asked the court for $3,000 in damages from the city.

Read about California Traffic Ticket Law

From AP Story & Monteray County Herald

DOUBLE SPRINGS, ALABAMA – A Winston County judge threw out 220 traffic tickets this week after he and the defendants showed up for court but had nowhere to meet.

The only courtroom large enough to handle the crowd was in use by another judge, court officials said.

Winston County District Court Judge Michael Newell ordered that all pending traffic cases on his Tuesday docket, except DUI cases, be dismissed. They included tickets for speeding, driving without a license or with a suspended or revoked license, driving with switched and expired tags, driving without seat belts, and one for racing on a highway.

One man had eight tickets dismissed for various traffic infractions stretching back to 2006.

Newell said that, if a defendant had arrived late to court, he would have held the person accountable. Because of the courtroom mix-up, people with tickets who showed up on time Tuesday were being made to wait, which didn’t seem fair to Newell.

“I should hold myself to the same standard and that’s what I was trying to do,” Newell said. “I feel like I did what was appropriate in light of the situation we encountered on Tuesday.”

By the time the cases were dismissed, the defendants, some of whom were missing work, had been held up more than an hour, he said.

People who had pleaded guilty before Tuesday by paying their fines did not get their cases dismissed.

Winston County Circuit Court Judge John Bentley took the blame for the scheduling conflict. “If anyone is to blame for this stuff, it’s the presiding judge and that’s me. … The buck stops here.”

Newell had scheduled traffic court for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county courthouse in Double Springs. That’s the same time Winston County Circuit Court Judge Lee Carter was beginning scheduled probation revocation hearings.

Carter was handling both his and Bentley’s probation revocation dockets Tuesday because Bentley was out of town, Bentley said. The revocation hearing docket had been set since September, and Bentley didn’t realize Newell had scheduled traffic court that day, he said.

Bentley said he wasn’t going to criticize Newell’s decision to dismiss the cases rather than delay them until another day.

“He felt that was the proper thing to do and I support him 100 percent,” Bentley said. “He’s the judge of that court and I’m not.”
The Alabama Administrative Office of Courts was notified of the traffic case dismissals, an official with that agency said.

“The chief justice understands from talking with presiding judge John Bentley that this incident was a result of a scheduling error with the one courtroom in Winston County and that the chief justice has been assured by Judge Bentley that he is working on this issue and that it will not happen again,” said Keith Camp, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Courts.

One thing that will help keep scheduling conflicts down in the future is that Winston County officials are working to build a courthouse annex, Bentley said.

Winston County Administrator Joanie Wright said the county has borrowed about $6.5 million for construction. An area next to the courthouse has been cleared and prepared for construction, and county officials are reviewing plans for the annex that will include space for the additional courtroom, new jail, and district attorney and circuit court clerk offices.

“We want it as bad as they do,” she said.

Birmingham News – Kent Faulk

Traffic and speeding ticket laws in Alabama.

Need legal help for an Alabama Traffic Ticket?

LeBron James downplayed his latest traveling violation Monday, but experts said it could have been fatal.

James’ 101 mph drive down Interstate 71 on Dec. 30 was too fast for the highway and his 2008 Mercedes, even though the road was straight and conditions were clear, experts said.

The speed limit where he was driving is 65, and authorities said an interstate highway without visual obstructions is designed for drivers to reach about 75 mph safely, depending on grade and road surface.

“I was on my way home to go to sleep,” James said. “It’s not a big deal. You just have to abide by the rules. I made a mistake, and I have to live with it.”

He joked that his speedometer reaches 200 mph but said: “I was doing 101. I was speeding.”

While James didn’t think it was a big deal, safety experts were more than concerned.

Not just for James but for other people on the road in the early morning.

“When you travel at such high speeds, the crash would overwhelm the engineering and the safety features of any vehicle,” said Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Washington, D.C. “A crash at that speed would leave a person unlikely to survive.”

In 2006, the State Highway Patrol charged 300,000 drivers with speeding. Only 1,400 hit the 100 mph limit, the patrol said.

State troopers stopped the Cavs star at 2:43 a.m. on his 23rd birthday, heading south on I-71, just south of Ohio 303, an area known for crossing deer.
Trooper Harley Steppenbacker, responding to a call of a drunken pedestrian along I-71, noticed the white Mercedes with the vanity plate “KNG OF AK” speed by him, and so he used his radar, said Lt. Joshua Swindell. Steppenbacker pulled James over, and the Cavs star was polite.

Steppenbacker lacked a paper citation to hand James, so the trooper told him he would have to go to the Medina post to pick it up later, Swindell said. James’ attorney picked up the ticket Jan. 7, and James was charged with speeding. Steppenbacker could not be reached for comment.

James said Monday that he was on his way to his Wadsworth home after the Cavs had returned from a game at New Orleans. He is scheduled to appear in Medina Municipal Court next month. James could face a $150 fine if convicted.
Under Ohio law, he would also have four points on his license.

Safety experts said those are the least of James’ problems. Excessive speed, even by a world-class athlete, poses an increased danger.

“Operating a vehicle at that speed is ludicrous,” said Medina County Engineer Michael Salay. “Going 101 wouldn’t be safe anywhere, except the Indianapolis Speedway.”

Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, said the design of the road makes little difference when a person is going as fast as James was.

“Even if the highway is designed for 100 mph, a car is not,” he said. “At 100 mph, if you hit a fixed object, the chances of being around are pretty slim.”

On Jan. 12, 2000, former Cavs player Bobby Phills died when he drove his Porsche 100 mph after a practice with the Charlotte Hornets. Former Cav David Wesley was charged with reckless driving in another car, and he denied that he and Phills were drag racing.

That caused many in the basketball world to take notice. The collective-bargaining agreement between the league and the players union says a player cannot “engage in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury.”

The Cavs could fine James, but league insiders say that is doubtful. Cavs general manager Danny Ferry declined to comment.

It was James’ first speeding ticket in six years.

His last speeding ticket came when he was a sophomore at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer – John Caniglia & Branson Wright

Free attorney consultation for Ohio Speeding Ticket

The automatic cameras at busy intersections around metro Atlanta serve a simple function: Run a red light and you get a ticket.

What hasn’t been so simple is getting all the violators to pay up. Some local municipalities have been left holding a pile of uncollected tickets.

Roswell had nearly $200,000 in uncollected fines. The cites of Lilburn and Duluth were seeing more than one in four tickets go unpaid.

They all sought a similar solution: Forget the cops — call in the bill collectors. The three cities have each hired an Alabama company to recoup unpaid red-light fines.

The company keeps about a quarter of what it brings in. But for the communities, it’s worth the cost.

“When a person violates the law, it doesn’t seem to make sense to let them say, ‘I’m just going to ignore the ticket,’ ” said Phil McLemore, city administrator for Duluth. “It’s the principle. You’ve violated the law. There is a penalty for that.”

That city recently added the red-light cameras to a second intersection. The first produced about $1 million in ticket proceeds in its first year.

In Roswell, in the past nine months alone, cameras installed at two intersections have netted $1.2 million in fines.
A relatively small portion — about 16 percent — hasn’t been paid for at least 60 days. These fines, considered delinquent, will be turned over to the collector, said a city spokeswoman, Julie Brechbill.

Cities say they need the outside help because tickets generated by the so-called “red-light cameras” carry civil penalties, limiting their authority to collect.

Unlike with unpaid taxes, cities can’t attach a lien to a property for unpaid tickets.

And they can’t revoke a driver’s license or arrest someone for not paying.

But they can — and will — hire companies that specialize in bill collection.

If ticket holders continue to skip the payment, the penalty is a tarnished credit report.

Lilburn, Duluth and Roswell, chose Birmingham-based Revenue Discovery Systems to catch up with delinquent red-light runners.

About six months ago, Lilburn determined about 30 percent of the tickets triggered by its red-light cameras were being ignored, city manager Tom Combiths said.

“We just wanted to make sure we had a mechanism in place to follow up with these folks,” he said.

To allow some people to skip the fines would be unfair, he said.

“If you have folks who comply with the law, and those who don’t, and there’s no penalty for them not complying, it’s not a fair system.”

The city was among the first in Georgia to install the red-light cameras, which first were authorized by the state Legislature in 2003. Although they bring in revenue, the cameras also carry expenses.

Cities typically pay companies to install and monitor the cameras and send out tickets.

Roswell pays its contractor about $300,000 a year for the service.

And state law requires someone to independently verify that each photo taken with the camera, in fact, depicts someone who has run the red light.

The tickets are limited by state law to $70.

For cities with the cameras, the dollars add up quickly.

In Marietta, cameras at one intersection produced $1.7 million in fines in 2005. That intersection, Windy Hill Road at Cobb Parkway, is among the busiest in Cobb County.

Duluth installed the cameras as a way to curb red-light running.

The number of violations, McLemore said, was disturbing.

Now, two years later, he estimates that the number of serious T-bone accidents at the intersections has declined by 30 percent.

The city decided to hire the collection company when it determined about a quarter of the tickets issued with the cameras were going unpaid.

“There are people out there who don’t believe they have to pay these, and aren’t,” he said.

Atlanta Journal Constitution – Mary McDonald

Read about Traffic Laws in Georgia
Georgia Traffic Lawyer

A Crown Point, New York resident received a speed camera ticket claiming his Korean War-era Blue Willy Jeep had been driving at a speed it is not capable of reaching. The city of Cleveland, Ohio insisted that Christopher Johnson’s 56-year-old military machine blasted past East 71st Street and Chester Avenue at 48 MPH on September 1, even though the vehicle’s top speed is well below 35 MPH.

“It’s not a candidate for a speeding ticket,” Johnson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

The Cleveland Parking Violations Bureau demanded $140 from Johnson who first learned about the infraction in October from a delinquency notice. Johnson was not interested in paying a ticket from a city he had not visited in more than a year-and-a-half. A copy of the speed camera photograph showed a red minivan and a silver SUV with unreadable license plates — not a Jeep. Despite the city’s claim that a human police officer personally reviews every photo after ticket vendor Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) issues the citation, it is clear no such review took place in Johnson’s case.

When Johnson tried to resolve the problem through letters and phone calls, he was ignored. There is no financial penalty for either the city or ACS for issuing a bogus ticket, but there is a significant likelihood that many motorists will simply pay the ticket to avoid the hassle of a fight. When the Plain Dealer called the Cleveland Municipal Court, Johnson’s ticket was quickly dismissed.

Legal help for a speeding ticket in Ohio.

Cleveland Plain Dealer – Mark Puente 12/27/07

Taking a road trip home for the holidays this year? Be sure to go easy on the gas pedal, particularly if your travels take you up or down the East Coast.

According to stats from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the I-95 corridor between the southeast and New England includes five of the 10 U.S. states carrying the highest fines for speeding–Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and New Hampshire. All hit up speeders for a maximum of $500 or more for a first offense. Judges in Carolina and Georgia, not to mention 16 other states, have the discretion to add jail time.

Ten States With The Toughest Tickets

Tough for travelers? Sure. But nothing compared with what can happen to residents. Virginia, this year’s lone newcomer to the list, instituted a $1,050 surcharge to state residents on top of its traditional $300 speeding fine in July. The law is designed to raise money for infrastructure projects throughout the state without raising taxes. Thankfully, the penalty only applies to locals.

Spearheading the new law was Virginia state legislator David Albo, whose law firm, specializes in defending drivers against traffic violations. Critics have railed at Albo for what they see as an obvious conflict of interest, though he scoffs at the idea he’s made any money from the legislation.

“Who’s going to pay $1,500 to go to court with a lawyer for the non-guarantee of getting out of a $1,000 [or so] speeding fee?” he says. He points to stats from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission showing an 11% decrease in reckless driving arrests since the new law passed, while speeding tickets have dropped off slightly.

The national median for a first offender’s top-end fine is $200, according to the NHTSA. And even states with lower standard fines sometimes have exceptions. Connecticut, for example, generally caps fines for first-time speeders at $50, though exceeding 70 miles per hour on a “multiple lane, limited access highway” will usually bring double or triple that amount. In Massachusetts, anyone caught going more than 10 miles per hour above the limit is socked for $10 for every additional mile, over and above the state’s $50 minimum.

And be on the lookout in financially strapped rural areas and beach towns thick with tourists. Both are notorious for raising revenue by sticking lots of people with speeding tickets.

Getting stopped by a police officer for speeding doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get written up. Those with the skill and know-how to talk or act their way out of a ticket have saved themselves a lot of money over the years. Rule No. 1, of course, is being polite to the officer. No need to antagonize someone who’s in a position to set you back hundreds of dollars.

“The guy has a gun, badge, Billy club and a ticket book, so be nice to him,” advises Alex Carrol, author of the book Beat the Cops, which offers tips on getting out of tickets. Others include little things like removing sunglasses, turning off the stereo and pulling over far enough so that the officer isn’t practically standing in the passing traffic while he quizzes you at the driver’s side window. A little consideration can go a long way.

Also, Carrol points out, don’t ever volunteer information. Wait for the officer to tell you why he pulled you over. Launching into an immediate apology for speeding can bring an extra charge if the officer had initially stopped you for a faulty tail light.

How hard a speeding ticket hits you in the wallet can vary according to several factors, including how fast over the limit you were going, no matter where in the country you’re caught. Is it your first offense, or are you a multiple offender? Half the states in the U.S. use a “points” system to measure drivers’ moving violation history. Piling them up increases both fines and insurance rates. Also, were you caught zipping too fast through a school zone or construction area? If so, expect to pay as much as double the normal fine in some states, thanks in part to targeted efforts by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

“We’re recommending enforcement in certain areas, like school zones and work zones. The idea is to go after the worst offenders first,” says Jonathan Atkins, an Association spokesman.

Not surprisingly, young males are nabbed for speeding more than anyone else, NHTSA figures show, with 38% of men under 21 caught in the act last year. In fact, it’s not until you reach the men’s 35 to 44 age group that the number of speeding incidents comes in below that for 15- to 20-year-old women.

When it comes to trying to get out of a ticket, some people really know how to get creative. Carrol relays a story of a woman who carries a camera in her car, purely as a prop to show cops as she tells them she’s rushing to the hospital to meet her pregnant sister, for whom she promised to take pictures during delivery. Then there’s the guy who always drives around with a full water bottle. Anytime he’s pulled over, he pours a little out onto his lap, and then tells the approaching officer he’s been trying to rush home ahead of a bladder emergency.

“He always gets out of tickets,” Carrol says.

Article from Forbes.com – Tom Riper

Pack up the kids. Load the car. Brace yourself (and your stomach) for Thanksgiving and all that comes with it: togetherness, turkey and … tickets?

To help holiday travelers avoid speeding tickets, the National Motorists Association (NMA) has prepared a list of the worst speed trap cities across the country. Speed traps have historically been those stretches of road known for lurking police officers with a reputation for handing out high numbers of speeding tickets.

The NMA, which describes itself as an advocacy group for the “interests and rights of North American motorists,” defines a speed trap as “any time the enforcement is focused on revenue instead of enforcing safety,” according to association spokesperson Aaron Quinn. Predictably, law enforcement takes exception to that: “The term speed trap simply isn’t accurate because what we’re doing is preventative as we work in areas with a high frequency of traffic,” said Lieutenant Everette Clendenin, a public affairs officer for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. “We’re not trapping anyone.”

Located in Raleigh – the city taking top nod on the NMA’s list for speed traps in North Carolina – the N.C. Highway Patrol warns that speed is the leading cause of traffic collisions and fatalities nationwide. “We always, but specifically around the holidays, advise drivers not to risk speeding because it’s simply not worth it,” Clendenin said. “Slow down and live.”

With AAA estimating that 38.7 million people will hit the road for at least 50 miles from home this Thanksgiving, drivers may find themselves in unknown territory — and unknown traffic rules. “People are traveling this time of year to parts of the country they are not so familiar with so this list highlights areas where these traps exist,” Quinn said. “We just want drivers to make it to Thanksgiving dinner without an undeserved ticket.”

Following is the list of the cities by state where the NMA says travelers are most likely to encounter law enforcement with radar:

ALABAMA
Worst speed trap: Montgomery
Dishonorable Mention: Birmingham, Huntsville, Uniontown

ALASKA
Worst speed trap: Anchorage
Dishonorable Mention: Fairbanks, Juneau, Seward

ARIZONA
Worst speed trap: Tucson
Dishonorable Mention: Gilbert, Phoenix, Scottsdale

ARKANSAS
Worst speed trap: Little Rock
Dishonorable Mention: Augusta, Fayetteville, Parkin

CALIFORNIA
Worst speed trap: Fresno
Dishonorable Mention: Fullerton, Los Angeles, San Jose

COLORADO
Worst speed trap: Colorado Springs
Dishonorable Mention: Aurora, Denver, Fort Collins

CONNECTICUT
Worst speed trap: Enfield
Dishonorable Mention: Danbury, Groton, New Canaan

DELAWARE
Worst speed trap: Newark
Dishonorable Mention: Dover, Felton, Fenwick Island

FLORIDA
Worst speed trap: Waldo
Dishonorable Mention: Lawtey, Ocala, Orlando

GEORGIA
Worst speed trap: Pendergrass
Dishonorable Mention: Atlanta, Duluth, Marietta,

HAWAII
Worst speed trap: Honolulu
Dishonorable Mention: Kailua, Kaimuki, Maui

IDAHO
Worst speed trap: Boise
Dishonorable Mention: Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Post Falls

ILLINOIS
Worst speed trap: Naperville
Dishonorable Mention: Carol Stream, New Lenox, Peoria

INDIANA
Worst speed trap: Indianapolis
Dishonorable Mention: Bloomington, Culver, Fort Wayne

IOWA
Worst speed trap: Des Moines
Dishonorable Mention: Ames, Cedar Rapids, Davenport

KANSAS
Worst speed trap: Shawnee
Dishonorable Mention: Leawood, Overland Park, Topeka

KENTUCKY
Worst speed trap: Louisville
Dishonorable Mention: Lexington, Middlesboro, Owensboro

LOUISIANA
Worst speed trap: Woodworth
Dishonorable Mention: Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Metairie

MAINE
Worst speed trap: Kittery
Dishonorable Mention: Augusta, Falmouth, Portland

MARYLAND
Worst speed trap: Frederick
Dishonorable Mention: Columbia, Hagerstown, Waldorf

MASSACHUSETTS
Worst speed trap: Worcester
Dishonorable Mention: Lowell, Newton, Springfield

MICHIGAN
Worst speed trap: Livonia
Dishonorable Mention: Ann Arbor, Redford, Warren

MINNESOTA
Worst speed trap: Minneapolis
Dishonorable Mention: Bloomington, Elk River, Plymouth

MISSISSIPPI
Worst speed trap: Starkville
Dishonorable Mention: Jackson, McComb, Tupelo

MISSOURI
Worst speed trap: Foristell
Dishonorable Mention: Curryville, Independence, St. Charles

MONTANA
Worst speed trap: Missoula
Dishonorable Mention: Darby, Havre, Joliet

NEBRASKA
Worst speed trap: Omaha
Dishonorable Mention: Bellevue, Grand Island, Lincoln

NEVADA
Worst speed trap: Las Vegas
Dishonorable Mention: Henderson, Pahrump, Reno

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Worst speed trap: Manchester
Dishonorable Mention: Nashua, New London, Somersworth

NEW JERSEY
Worst speed trap: Paramus
Dishonorable Mention: Bridgewater, Monroe Township, North Brunswick

NEW MEXICO
Worst speed trap: Albuquerque
Dishonorable Mention: Cuba, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho

NEW YORK
Worst speed trap: Brooklyn
Dishonorable Mention: Batavia, Rochester, Staten Island

NORTH CAROLINA
Worst speed trap: Raleigh
Dishonorable Mention: Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington

NORTH DAKOTA
Worst speed trap: Grand Forks
Dishonorable Mention: Fargo, Thompson, Washburn

OHIO
Worst speed trap: Columbus
Dishonorable Mention: Akron, Canton, Lindale

OKLAHOMA
Worst speed trap: Caney
Dishonorable Mention: Moffet, Moore, Kiowa

OREGON
Worst speed trap: Portland
Dishonorable Mention: Beaverton, Eugene, Springfield

PENNSYLVANIA
Worst speed trap: Horsham
Dishonorable Mention: Feasterville, Harrisburg, Warrington

RHODE ISLAND
Worst speed trap: Providence
Dishonorable Mention: Johnston, Pawtucket, Warwick

SOUTH CAROLINA
Worst speed trap: Greenville
Dishonorable Mention: Columbia, Gaffney, Society Hill

SOUTH DAKOTA
Worst speed trap: Sioux Falls
Dishonorable Mention: Rapid City, Wagner, Yankton

TENNESSEE
Worst speed trap: Nashville
Dishonorable Mention: Memphis, Piperton, Smyrna

TEXAS
Worst speed trap: Houston
Dishonorable Mention: Arlington, Austin, Estelline

UTAH
Worst speed trap: Sandy
Dishonorable Mention: Roy, Salt Lake City, West Valley City

VERMONT
Worst speed trap: Wilmington
Dishonorable Mention: Barre Town, Island Pond, Norwich

VIRGINIA
Worst speed trap: Virginia Beach
Dishonorable Mention: Chesapeake, Emporia, Norfolk

WASHINGTON
Worst speed trap: Bellingham
Dishonorable Mention: Black Diamond, Ritzville, Seattle,

WEST VIRGINIA
Worst speed trap: Summersville
Dishonorable Mention: Charleston, Gauley Bridge, Hurricane

WISCONSIN
Worst speed trap: Rosendale
Dishonorable Mention: Appleton, Milwaukee, Waukesha

WYOMING
Worst speed trap: Thermopolis
Dishonorable Mention: Cheyenne, Jackson Hole, Rawlins

Article by Rebecca Heslin, USA Today