'Speed trap' check stirs controversy

Associated Press
Mar. 9, 2006 07:15 AM


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After Nashville motorist T. Allen Morgan got a speeding ticket in Coopertown, he tried to pay his ticket like a good citizen.

But he added a little note on his check which angered Mayor Danny Crosby. The mayor refused to accept the check, sparking the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to launch an investigation Monday.

Crosby told Morgan that he had to either write another check that didn't have the words "for speed trap" written in bold letters or face the charges in traffic court. advertisement  




At the request of District Attorney General John Carney, the TBI is investigating whether Crosby acted illegally by denying Morgan's payment, TBI spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said.

"As mayor of this city, if I accept that check from that gentleman, I'm admitting we run a speed trap, and that's a bald-faced lie," Crosby said Tuesday.

Coopertown lies about 20 miles northwest of Nashville on a state highway used by motorists to travel between interstates 24 and 65. The town generates nearly 30 percent of its revenue from traffic tickets.

Last month AAA officials said the automobile association was considering adding Coopertown to its list of national "strict enforcement areas," an honor shared by only seven other cities.

He should have written "For revenue generation; not public safety" on the check.

Don't write anything.  Stink palm the check and laugh in secret.

i wish i would have thought of that when i got a 90 in a 55 zone years back. that was an expensize check to write... imagine if they didnt accept that? i could have bought another lower.

bald faced lie.

what an odd way to characterize something that is true

Saw this on the news last night.  The guy wrote it in the memo section.  The Mayor is being a dick-smack on this  

The town generates nearly 30 percent of its revenue from traffic tickets.

Warning Do not speed in Coopertown...ever!

Good for him!  Who cares if it hurts the mayors feelings.  30% if the towns revenue would definatly imply it's a speed trap, but the laws the law and as long as the cops aren't making it up (lieing about how fast they are going) I don't see any way around it.  Stop speeding.


-K

What seems to irk the semi-locals is these cops going out onto the interstate & chasing speeders!  

FWIW, I've written shit on my checks too when I was pissed at what I was paying. Never heard anything back about it though.....................

I get really pissed when auto insurance companies buy radar and laser guns and DONATE them to police departments while raising peoples rates when caught speeding. Talk about living off of people's misery and a conflict of interest.

Quoted: What seems to irk the semi-locals is these cops going out onto the interstate & chasing speeders!   FWIW, I've written shit on my checks too when I was pissed at what I was paying. Never heard anything back about it though.....................

You mean something like this?

Coburg, Oregon Speed Trap Returns
The city of Coburg, Oregon, population 969, will take in $630,000 in speeding ticket revenue.

Despite efforts by the Oregon legislature to shut down speed trap operations, the city of Coburg is on track to collect 37 percent of its annual revenue from speeding tickets this year. In 2003, state legislators adopted the "Coburg law," a measure aimed at protecting motorists who pass near the tiny city of 969 residents along the Interstate 5 freeway.

The law, which took effect January 2004, prevented a city from retaining fines issued on property -- such as the freeway -- beyond its city limits. As a result, Coburg's budget plunged $600,000 into the red.

The city responded by annexing a portion of Interstate 5, its main source of revenue, allowing the city to keep ticket profits once again. The maneuver has brought ticket revenue back to a level of $53,000 a month, and Coburg expects to take in even more when statewide traffic fine increases take effect in January.

Source: I-5 citations still big part of Coburg funds (Eugene Register-Guard (OR), 11/30/2005)

I fly my Cessna anywhere I can. I wonder how many of these things I have avoided? I once discarded bodily fluid over John Day Oregon. Though I was still over the desert.

"But come to find out, they wuz pulling over everyone driving on that side walk that night...and that's profiling...and that's just wrong..."

Ron "Tater Salad" White

My wife got a ticket a few years ago while she was pregnant. There were three motorcycle officers on the side of the road. They were right behind a sign that indicated it was a construction zone and the speed limit went from 40 to 25 immediately. My wife was behind about 5-6 cars and infront of about 3-4 all them going 40. She, and she only, got pulled over after one of the officers motioned for one of the other two to go after her.

Sorry, but I drove that street before and the way the sign was positioned it would take a while to not only see it but slow down as well.

I should have wiped the check in my ass and then sent it in. Oh well!

Quoted: Saw this on the news last night.  The guy wrote it in the memo section.  The Mayor is being a dick-smack on this   The town generates nearly 30 percent of its revenue from traffic tickets. Warning Do not speed in Coopertown...ever!

They are almost as bad in White House, TN., almost even in the same county, well part of the city is anyway. My wife got pulled over a month back for doing 32 in a 30.

I like sending checks for 1¢ more I owe, and then calling them to request a check for the difference after mine clears the bank.

"Quoted:
What seems to irk the semi-locals is these cops going out onto the interstate & chasing speeders!   "

Millersville Tn does it all the time, if you ever come down I65, after you pass mile marker 104, dont get over 70, its a 5% grade but Millersville pd waits at the bottom of the hill, every morning between 4 and 6 and the same in the after noon. I will admit this is a very dangerous piece of interstate in TN, you will see all the scrape marks in the road from the wrecks that have happened there, but they are about a half mile from where the wrecks happen. The thing is when they pull out to pull someone over they almost cause a wreck because of all the traffic having to slow down while trying not to run the popo over, because they just dart out, and a semi cant stop on a dime. Cant count the number of times I ve had to get in the grass so a semi can slide right by. People have complained at the town meetings and such, and they swear they wont do it anymore, but they are always there. At least the states HIT cars ( unmarked cars for drug confiscation) they work in teams of two, one at one spot and the other way down the road, they understand you cant out run a radio and they use the utmost caution when they are pulling out to pull some one over, its a shame all of them cant be as cautious, thumbs up to those guys, thumbs down to Millersville PD.

Check out your hometown here:

www.speedtrap.org

My county used to be on AAA's list years ago under the old Sheriff. They had guys that never did anything else but work the interstate day and night. Here are a couple of reviews for the town mentioned in the article above:

www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/ste.asp?state=TN&city=Coopertown