The group describes a speed trap as "characterized by arbitrarily low speed limits and heavy traffic enforcement." Denver has quite a few such operations under way at any given time -- although the situation isn't quite as reported in this 9News account of the study, which managed to screw up the NMA data and rank Denver as the fourth-worst city.
Actually, Denver comes in fifth in the report, behind Livonia, Michigan, a burg that apparently derives most of its revenue from clipping hotrodders; Windsor, Ontario; Orlando, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada. (Wherever they're handing out speeding tickets in Sin City, it can't be that bumper-to-bumper procession of rubberneckers they call the Strip.) Colorado Springs clocks in at eighth.
And where are all these dreaded speed traps? For that information, you need to head to the Denver area listings at Speedtrap.org, a gathering of random reports from locals about places they presumably got nailed. Some of the spots are classic revenue producers because of a sudden drop in speed; others offer a convenient place for a prowler to hide and ambush a steady stream of commuters going well, well above the posted limit.
Law enforcement types insist such measures help to save lives and keep things from getting all Mad Max out there. But if speed enforcement operations are so darned effective, why do they keep showing up in the same places?
Here are the top five speed traps listed on Speedtrap.org at this writing:
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More from our News archive: "Speed trap near I-25/I-70 mousetrap tomorrow -- for your safety, says Denver Police Dept."