WAUNAKEE, Wis. -- A recent public poll conducted by the National Motorists Association (NMA) has found that three Ontario cities are among the worst speed trap locations across the US and Canada. Windsor, Hamilton, and Mississauga rank third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the Worst Speed Trap Cities category for cities with populations greater than 50,000. Flower Mound, Texas and Livonia, Mich. Ranked number one and two in the same category.
Not surprisingly, Ontario took the top spot in the Worst Speed Trap States and Provinces category, with Nova Scotia coming in second. The province faring best with voters was Quebec, coming in 52nd place out of 53 states and provinces.
The NMA analyzed the most recent five years of data from its Web site, The National Speed Trap Exchange, which lists tens of thousands of chronic speed traps in the US and Canada and includes descriptive commentary about each listing.
To develop the rankings, the NMA calculated the total number of affirmative votes across speed traps in a given community and then indexed the total to the community’s population size.
For its part, the NMA condemned speed traps as typically combining “arbitrarily low speed limits with heavy traffic enforcement designed to generate ticket revenue. While the intent may be to modify driver behaviour long-term, that is rarely the result. Speed traps keep springing up in the same locations, the issuance of tickets flows unabated, and there is no material effect on traffic safety. That is why the NMA advocates for increased speed limits in chronic speed trap areas supported by traffic studies and proven engineering principles.”
To see the full list of rankings, visit here.
