Texas’s worst speed traps

EDIT: I was interviewed on Dallas’s WFAA channel 8 for this. See the video and article at Small North Texas town tops list in speeding-ticket revenue. Also see my response to the video.

Texas Municipal Wall of Shame: the 40 most prolific speed traps, ordered by total ticket revenue per citizen.

I am not certain, but I think this covers all tickets written from 2000-2008.

Rank City 2008 population Traffic tickets % of all tickets that are traffic tickets Total ticket revenue Total ticket revenue per citizen Total tickets per citizen
1 Westlake 211 71664 81% $8,919,460 $42,272 340
2 Estelline 155 24269 88% $2,873,199 $18,537 157
3 Domino 50 2656 99% $262,660 $5,253 53
4 Montgomery 596 25523 66% $3,116,988 $5,230 43
5 Martindale 1148 44422 98% $5,496,670 $4,788 39
6 Cuney 147 4598 100% $678,847 $4,618 31
7 Palmer 2258 81653 93% $10,144,689 $4,493 36
8 Rio Vista 818 31508 95% $3,239,383 $3,960 39
9 Riesel 1013 25021 92% $3,911,628 $3,861 25
10 Patton Village 1483 52752 98% $5,570,563 $3,756 36
11 Mount Enterprise 543 16379 99% $2,023,814 $3,727 30
12 Pantego 2381 41830 53% $8,763,955 $3,681 18
13 Wilmer 3576 88731 90% $12,610,497 $3,526 25
14 Dalworthington 2412 60167 66% $8,320,636 $3,450 25
15 Lott 675 11454 85% $2,139,228 $3,169 17
16 Lavon 423 8255 85% $1,319,644 $3,120 20
17 Chillicothe 687 14420 94% $2,127,266 $3,096 21
18 Waskom 2137 48647 98% $6,604,962 $3,091 23
19 Shenandoah 2002 67581 97% $6,004,139 $2,999 34
20 Mustang Ridge 933 25329 90% $2,786,746 $2,987 27
21 Ferris 2566 46764 89% $7,591,029 $2,958 18
22 Covington 302 4192 62% $886,511 $2,935 14
23 Arcola 1230 32449 97% $3,589,616 $2,918 26
24 Northlake 2036 40651 93% $5,763,918 $2,831 20
25 Rice 980 18346 64% $2,708,749 $2,764 19
26 Zavalla 665 15499 96% $1,816,084 $2,731 23
27 Magnolia 1249 35035 86% $3,391,091 $2,715 28
28 Alvarado 4188 83348 79% $11,134,344 $2,659 20
29 Brownsboro 837 17763 91% $2,203,938 $2,633 21
30 Driscoll 802 10353 71% $2,092,793 $2,609 13
31 Rhome 1051 21390 82% $2,731,994 $2,599 20
32 Kemah 2498 45532 83% $6,421,907 $2,571 18
33 Corrigan 1872 28235 83% $4,548,346 $2,430 15
34 Coffee City 207 4566 80% $499,477 $2,413 22
35 Itasca 1696 31532 85% $4,040,627 $2,382 19
36 Eustace 925 14406 77% $2,172,573 $2,349 16
37 Rogers 1138 18659 91% $2,653,569 $2,332 16
38 Southside Place 1667 34778 80% $3,782,674 $2,269 21
39 Calvert 1358 27655 97% $3,070,273 $2,261 20
40 Selma 4632 86332 87% $10,352,606 $2,235 19

This was calculated from data from the Texas Office of Court Administration’s Trial Court Judicial Data Management System.

174 thoughts on “Texas’s worst speed traps”

  1. I love your site. Just went through Lott and it has not changed. Got a huge ticket in 1988 there. Now rockdale Texas is even worse. Check it out. Horrible there I live 15 miles from it. Have a great day.

    1. this just happen to me but I have to ask the officers we have all over the US getting killed why would any of these guys do this to add to the aggravation of the situation. I Love the blue we need them we do not need this. Just sayin’

      1. Money. Police chief in our city bragged that one officer can bring in salary for 5 officers issuing citations. Policing is a dirty, shameful abuse when mixed with city politics. Small cities like Itasca need to be disincorporated.

      2. I wasn’t speeding. That’s my point. The DAs office told me to call a Texas Ranger. Now why would they do that.

  2. If you get a ticket in these places, set up a jury trial so the towns people have to report for traffic court. After a while, these towns folks get tired of going to court and get rid of the politicians who allow these speed traps to exist.

    No one likes jury duty for traffic court and half the time these guys don’t enforce serious law violations occurring in their towns. They stalk motorist traveling through the town and inflat speeds so you can’t take defensive driving.

    1. The problem is almost nobody is going to the time and expense to return to a hole-in-the-wall, out-of-the-way speed trap just to get a jury trial.

    2. Your full of bs. If a individual is traveling 90mph, wrecks out and kills/injures you or a someone you know then you may feel different. Speed limits are put into place for a reason. They are a serious offence which lead to thousands of preventable deaths. Moron’s
      ….

      1. The trooper who does nothing but sit at the corner store, giving out speeding citations, as he clocks folks coming off the ramp from the hwy, has a piece of cake job. Evedently nothing else prosperous to do with his paid time. The speed limit signs are not spaced out logically for motorists. And as you enter into town, its gets even worse. Its a bit odd that a state flourishing with oil resources, has to rely on BS speed trap revenue from its citizens and those travaling. No laws against unjust laws. The story the officer gave me, was about a young boy who got hit by car while he was waliking cross the hwy. Its not every motorist fault of the incident. You can get killed by a vehicle moving at 35 mph. That little ole town is putting money in some ones pocket. Yep! Its called hwy robbery.

        1. There’s a small town here called Tool and it’s near Gunbarrel City and I’ve been driving since I was 12 years of age and never received a speeding ticket until I moved out by Gunbarrel City and as I was bringing my stuff to Trinidad where I’m moving to I was unaware of the speed limit and I use my cruise control all the time but when i was telling someone about my speed ticket the first word that acme out of his mouth is the name of the city which is Tool Texas as everyone knows just how easy it is to get a speeding ticket there on HWY 274. As it seems to me after a while now driving on HYY 274 it seems more dangerous to me as most of the drivers are driving much slower than what’s posted which I’ve seen lots of cars coming to a quick slow down. If the posted speed is 55 than the driver will be doing 40-45 or in some cases even slower. There’s hardly a passing zone and I’ve noticed that Tool is not listed on the most speed traps location in Texas. In some area there’s a long space between the posted speed signs

        2. Itasca is a dying city and can easily be disincorporated according to state laws and turned into a utility and save the 600 home owners from these nasty thugs. A class action suit claim is also helpful to get our fine money back. We need the city Redidents.

      2. Speed of 100mph is safe for the segment between Hillsboro and 10 mikes North of Grandview. This is from a practicing professional directly in charge of TxDOT interface and 85th percentile tolerance technology. Police has nothing to do with it and must stay away from practicing engineering. Disincorporate Itasca and free the city. It has been dead for a century.

    3. The ticket traps are usually the city manage’s or administrator’s idea to pay their higher salaries. Itasca is not a real home rule city and can be easily did incorporated. Also the speed limits are not properly set according to the correct state procedure.

    4. Itasca’s judge and prosecutor , neither are educated professionals are challenging Jury system by demanding money ahead of court process and Harassing their victims. Disincorporate dying city Itasca. Has less population than 100 years ago.

  3. I want to inject a thought into your minds. “Politicians allow speed trap” is totally wrong in my case. That infers that the Police want to write tickets. I fought with the politicians and City Council almost 5 days a week for 4 years because they ordered me to have officers write more tickets and wanted to give me a quoto also. They even wanted my officers working graveyard to quit checking buildings and write tickets all night. They kinda set up their own little Kingdom and they are exempt they think, I also want to say no honest policeman will tell you “I would not give you this ticket, but they are making me do it”. I forbid my officers to write a ticket less than 10 miles over the limit and not to hide. DPS was writing them 5 over and sometimes 4 over. Let me tell you a joke. A man was speeding at midnight and just slowed down for a stop sign. He was stopped and he said but officer I slowed down for the stop sign. The officer pulled him out of the car and started beating him all over the head with his flashlight and said “Do you want me to slow down or stop”. In a wreck death is forever. Departments that leave “POLICE” off of their cars and put the lights in the grill are just out for the money. I marked all my cars and put overheads on them. After all someone may be looking for you to help them.

    1. You shouldn’t be speeding end of story. If you are then you deserve the ticket whether you are an LEO or not.

  4. The whole system is crooked–cops, politicians & judges. BTW, there are many places that you (the ordinary citizen) can’t know what the speed limit really is?? Take for example the OSR road between Brazos and Booger county–only 1 inconspicious speed limit sign at each end of the road–nothing else. The area is prime territory for 2 sherriff’s departments, the DPS, and many constable orgs. And then there is all the snooping and spying going on! We are now staying home more and more–can’t go to dine out or visit–to dangerous on the roads.

  5. I no longer winter in Texas due to the screw job I received. Don’t mess with Texas led to no more money for Texas

  6. On 07-26-2014 at 09:27pm, while driving on I-35 West going towards Ft Worth, Tx., passing by Itasca, Tx, Driving the posted speed limit 75, I was stopped by officer Porter for speeding. She said that I was speeding, 84 mph. I did explain that there was no way for me to have been going that speed do to my cruise control was at 75mph. Plus I have been on the same speed and on cruise control and passed a radar in Hillsboro, Tx., and did NOT get pulled over. She still gave me a ticket. That is just wrong and something should be done on this kind of situation. I was NOT speeding.!!!! What can I do in this type of situation??

  7. In my case, I was on I-35W and NOT in the town of Itasca, Tx. Plus was driving the speed limit and still got a ticket. What can I do?

  8. Corrigan Texas
    These are the lowest scum on the Planet. In the old days they wore bandanna ‘ s over their face so nobody knew who they were while robbing the stage coach. Now they pin a badge on these scum sucking bottom feeders and strap on a gun and call it legal.
    “Yes Sir, just sign right here (or go to jail) and by the way sir this is not an admission of guilt but we have conveniently put the amount you have to pay right on the ticket”.
    Meanwhile real crime is everywhere around us being overlooked because there isn’t any money in putting criminals in jail, it’s a NET LOSS.

  9. Just got ticketed on I-35W by an Itasca policeman who claimed I was doing 7 miles over the posted limit and he had the laser to prove it. He wrote on the ticket he lasered me from 980 yards away. He was hiding behind some concrete pilings under the over pass between the north and south lanes. There were 5 vehicles kinda packed together going about the same speed-four of us on the right lane and one in the passing lane; yet he picked me out of the pack for the ticket. I was the only dark vehicle. Does anyone know how these laser things work? Is there an image on their screen? How did he happen to pick me out of a group of 5 vehicles ? Does it do any good to appear and appeal this case to the county courts?

    1. Yep, they have found a gold mine on I-35W, although the map on Wikpedia shows the city limits do not include I35W. I lived there until 1961 and of course highway 81 was the main route between Waco and Ft. Worth and there was 1 red light and it started blinking yellow at night. We had 2 constables, 1 drove his own 1951 Plymouth and the other looked like the stereotypical potbellied sheriff and his patrol vehicle was a city owned dump truck. This could have been a scene right out Hollywood. He had a flashing red light to put on the dash and away he went, chasing some “speeder” who was probably half way to Ft. Worth before this guy got into 2nd gear. Sometimes we would follow him for a few miles just to see how far he would chase the guy, hey we didn’t have much entertainment in Itasca at the time.

  10. Back in 2005, some of my techs had warned me about Mustang Ridge, but not Martindale. I was heading back towards I-10 to go home and I always use cruise when possible. Saw Martindale coming up, so I tapped the brake and was doing 55 when I hit the city limits sign and a black Dodge p/u blew by me, BUT he turned into a Martindale neighborhood, so he was a local. A brand new tricked out Crown Vic whipped around behind me and hit his lights. I pulled over and he got on his loudspeaker and said pull over at the next intersection. I did so and the grass was completely worn away from all of the traffic stops made there. While this peckerwood 20 year old was writing me a ticket, 3 more NEW loaded Crown Vics came by. Now this is a town (questionable) with about 750+ people. I now know they bought their new police fleet on the backs of the motoring public. I go out of my way to avoid going anywhere near Martindale

  11. I would be interested in Pflugerville’s current stats. These guys are constantly working traffic. The courts are full while their burglary rate is high. Thieves managed to walk off with considerable loot while the waterpark was underconstruction. Their priorities are messed up.

  12. You may want to recheck your data. Chillicothe (#17) city council data shows 68 citations were wrote in Feb 2015 out of 107 stops (for the month). so I question how one officer can write 14,500 tickets a year. That means our finest would have to write 6 tickets every hour he worked.

    14,500 tickets /2080 hours a year = 6 tickets per hour

  13. There is a speed trap in the town of Gunter, not just along 289, but along the 121 Farm Road. Tickets are $160 to $280+, and there are few speed limit signs. The speed limit is 55 mph along FM121, but it isn’t posted often, and the Gunter city limits extend well into the countryside where the boundary isn’t obvious.

  14. The fuzz are out in Booger County–speed traps noted today on Hwy 79 in town of Franklin–and–on OSR road (running generally E-W) near interesection of Hwy 46. Note that speed limit on OSR is 60 MPH–and is inadequately marked. Be careful.

  15. I recommend ya’ll steer clear of Hazzard County. Small town with only three police officer’s but they’ll pull you over if you’re speeding or not. Especially one by the name of Roscoe P. Coltrane. Although I also have been pulled over by an officer named Cletus before but have always been able to get away with just a warning.

  16. The fuzz is active in Booger County, especially along US 79 near and in the town of Franklin, Tx. Avoid this county–and if you can’t, just tip-toe along.

  17. Speed traps are active in Booger County along US 79 going SW from the town of Franklin, Tx. Avoid this county.

  18. Why is that no matter how wide I make my browser window, or how small I make the font, the city names are all hyphenated? Your side seems to grow instead of the main content of the page.

    1. It’s both because the WordPress theme I’m using has a fixed width main body area and because my table really has more data than what comfortably fits in its width.

  19. Wow! That is ridiculous, I had no idea it was this bad. This is highway robbery at its worst. I wonder how many of these speed traps have also become traps for civil asset forfeiture as well?

    1. Bypass this place as it is there to trap people and make $$$. There is no reason to reduce the speed limit to 55 from 75?? its just to generate money. Citizens there should be embarrassed.

  20. Cops in Texas are so crooked there nose can’t stop snitching Texas cops are all gransters no better than al conpone.American cops are no better there ass should not be allowed to have a family because they need to remember ruby ridge and the murder of innocence children and women these bastards killed

  21. Speed trap located in Booger County this morning ( 11 April 2018), about 1 mile SW of the red light on highway 79 in Franklin, Tx.

  22. Franklin, Tx (Robertson county) on highway 79 on BOTH ends of town! Been trough there maybe 5 times, 3 speeding tickets. The only tickets I’ve gotten in years and hundreds of thousands of miles!

  23. This morning (July 21) I saw a speed trap on Hwy 36, just SE of the town of Cameron, Texas–parked between the two parts of a divided highway–checking both ways. Be careful.

  24. Itasca is a general law city according to the State’s record and can easily be disincorporated. Meaning, it will loose ability to issue speeding tickets. Also the speed limits posted are all illegal since the legal process most likely has not been followed for this determination. Would you like to volunteer your time to do this? I’ ll Show you.

  25. Today (Sept 20th) I saw a speed trap on Hwy 6 north lane just south of the intersection of Hwy 6 and OSR road in Brazos County, Tx.

  26. This morning I saw a speed trap on OSR highway at the intersection of Hwy 6 in Booger County. Fuzz was parked under the overpass watching traffic both ways on OSR.

  27. I saw a “red light trap” set up at the red light on Hwy 79 in the city of Franklin Texas this morning. Be careful in Booger County.

  28. Jan 3 2019–this PM(2:30) saw a speed trap set up at OSR & Wheelock Hall Road. Be carefull, speed limit is 60 MPH on OSR, not very well marked!!

  29. Today, at approximately 11:00 AM, I saw a “speed trap” located on Hwy 79, just SW of the town of Franklin, Tx. Booger County at work!

  30. Today I saw an apparent speed trap on OSR road about 5 miles E. of Hwy 6. Bad road–speed limit is 60 MPH and is not well marked!

  31. 2 speed traps today.
    1. On OSR road at intersection of Wheelock Hall Road, this morning at 11:00 AM.
    2. On Hwy 79 in Franklin, Tx. near red light on 79, about 4:00 PM

  32. This morning about 10 AM, I saw a motorcycle speed trap set up on Hwy 2818 near College Station, Tx. Officer was checking traffic in both directions.

  33. Today at 4:00PM I saw a speed trap located in Booger County, some 2 miles SW of red light in Franklin, Tx on Hwy 79–stopping speeders going SW on 79.

  34. 08/08/19 Great birthday gift I got speed trap in Riesel Tx the speed is
    at 75-55-45 withing seconds they are such a rip off small town of 1,013 population thats how they make they’re money I hate that they can get away with this im going to go back through their on purpose and drive 45 on 75 in purpose just to piss the office off because I wont be speeding what can he do now I swear

  35. Saw fuzz activity on Highway US 79 to the SW of red light in the town of Franklin, Texas this morning. Be careful in Booger County!!!!

  36. Today about 2:30 PM, saw a lots of fuzz activity around the red light in the town of Franklin, Tx. in Booger County. Be careful.

  37. An hour or 2 ago, saw what looked like a speed trap in Booger County, some 2 miles east of the town of Franklin on Hwy 79–be careful.

  38. Saw a speed trap set up this morning (approx. 9:00 AM 24 April 2020) about a mile SW of the town of Franklin, Tx on Hwy 79. Be careful in Booger County

  39. about 1:30 PM today saw a speed trap on US 79 near the red light in Booger County! Be careful.

  40. About 12:35 PM today I saw a speed trap on FM 46 going south from Franklin, Tx. near intersection of Henry Prairie Church Road–this is in Booger (Robertson) County, Tx. Be Careful.

  41. This afternoon I saw a speed trap set up on US 79, just SW of the red light in the town of Franklin, Texas–be carefull!

  42. This morning about 10AM saw a speed trap set up some 2 miles SW of the red light in Franklin, Tx. on FM 79. Be careful.

  43. Today 04/29/2021, (about 10:00AM), I saw a speed trap set up in Booger County on Hwy 79 SW of the red light in town. Be careful in Booger !!!!!

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