Originally Posted by snopes
Claim: State police are about to launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy in:
* New Jersey
* Tri-Cities area, Tennessee
* Dallas (or all of Texas)
* Orange County, California
* Detroit (or all of Michigan)
* Honolulu, Hawaii
* Pennsylvania
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]
New Jersey will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy. The state estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay state troopers overtime. There will be 50 state troopers on duty at all times patrolling the 9 main intersections and highways.
They are the following:
I-295 north and south
1-95 (Jersey Turnpike) north and south
1-80 east and west
I-287 north and south
I-78 east and west
I-195 east and west
1-280 east and west
Rt. 130 north and south
Garden State Parkway north and south
Now 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every state trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. If you work in New Jersey, New York, or CT, you must take one of there interstates, routes, or parkways. It's up to you how fast you are doing when they do. I was told 101.5 FM confirmed all of this.
So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you.
You've been warned.
Origins: We Policeman first encountered this warning in mid-May 2005 when it came to us as an e-mail purporting to detail information gleaned from "a State trooper in south Jersey." At that time the crackdown was said to be scheduled to begin on Monday, May 2, 2005.
Towards the end of June 2005, the e-mailed warning reappeared. (It had gone dormant for a few weeks — it had been at least that long since we'd seen it in the snopes.com inbox.) This second version was identical to the first except for one small yet important detail: the "as of Monday, May 2" was elided from the beginning of the advisory, rendering the updated version's opening line as "New Jersey will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy" and providing readers with no inkling of when the enhanced traffic enforcement would supposedly take place. (As noted below, subsequent versions of the e-mail have altered the locations of the alleged crackdown to areas in Tennessee,
California, and Texas.)
No news outlets reported a 30-day round-up of speeders in New Jersey in May 2005. Even if there had really been such a month-long rousting of Garden State leadfoots, given that May 2 kick-off date, it would already have come and gone by the time motorists started receiving the message quoted above. (Of course, that doesn't mean anyone should now assume the listed routes to be completely trooper-free.)
New Jersey state troopers were issuing considerably more speeding tickets immediately after March 2005 than they had been previously, but that increase was the result of the state's hiring additional officers, not the product of a short-term effort to raise revenue:
The number of summonses issued between March and May [2005] — a total of 45,930 on the two toll roads — is 52 percent higher than the previous three months. The jump in tickets is about 49 percent when compared with the same March-through-May stretch of 2004.
Officials say motorists should get accustomed to tougher enforcement on the two highways. The surge in summonses stems from the hiring of an extra 66 troopers for the Parkway and Turnpike over the past year, not from a short-term ticket blitz, police and highway officials said.
For the first time in several years, the police forces on the toll highways are near what officials consider optimal levels — 206 troopers on the Parkway and 225 on the Turnpike.
According to information published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June 2005, New Jersey had the lowest proportion of speeding-related crashes between 1983 and 2002. (South Carolina had the highest.) The report also stated about 1,000 people nationwide die each month in speed-related vehicle crashes, a class of auto accident that contributes approximately one-third of the body count to the total fatalities. "Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crashes," the report said.
Those tempted to interpret any of this intelligence as incitement to put the pedal to the metal in New Jersey might consider this summary published by that state's Motor Vehicle Commission of the cost in points off your driving record for various moving violations.
Barbara "points to ponder" Mikkelson
Updates: In July 2005, the suspect New Jersey warning was modified into one about a particular region in Tennessee:
We received this from a friend who got it from a man that he teaches Sunday school with that works at the Bristol police department. Just thought I would pass it on.
Tri-Cities will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy on July 31 2005. The state of Tennessee estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay state troopers overtime. There will be 57 state troopers on duty at all times patrolling.
They are the following:
I-81 north and south
1-26 north and south
1-40 east and west
Now 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every state trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. I was told 101.5 FM confirmed all of this.
So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you.
You've been warned.
At the end of 2005, the same warning was modified yet again to refer to Orange County in southern California:
Orange County traffic tickets
For those of us who like to drive fast.....
California Highway Patrol will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy in South Orange County starting January 25, 2006. The state estimates that 22 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 3 million will go to pay California Highway Patrol officer overtime. There will be 90 California Highway Patrol officers on duty at all times patrolling the 7 freeways. They are the following: 73, 55, 133, 241, 57, 5, 605 freeways
Now 7 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every California Highway Patrol officers is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 50 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. If you live or work in South Orange County you must take one of their freeways. It's up to you how fast you are doing when they do. This is a test by the CHP to raise the extra funds for the State of California. The wealthy folks of South Orange County can afford this new tax. The California State Legislators dreamed up this law to help close the budget gap or something like that. I was told KICU-FM confirmed all of this. So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you.
You've been warned.
In mid-January 2006 the warning was morphed once again, this time aiming it at those who live in or near Dallas:
Dallas and the state of Texas will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy. The state estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay state troopers and Dallas Police officers overtime. There will be 50 police officers and state troopers in the Metroplex on duty at all times patrolling the 10 main intersections and highways.
They are the following:
I-35E north and south
I-20 east and west
75 north and south
635 entire loop
114 east and west
183 east and west
175 north and south
North Dallas Tollway north and south
George Bush Turnpike east and west
360 north and south
Now 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every officer is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. If you work in Dallas or the surrounding areas you must take one of these interstates, routes, or parkways. It's up to you how fast you are doing when they do. WBAP-820 AM confirmed all of this yesterday morning.
So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you.
In the final week of January 2006 the warning was circulated once again, this time aiming it at those who live in Michigan:
Heads Up for what it's worth ~just saw this; Michigan will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy. The state estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay state troopers overtime. There will be 50 state troopers on duty at all times patrolling the 6 main intersections and highways.
I-75 north and south
I-94 (from Ann Arbor to Port Huron)
entire length of I-696
I-275 north and south
M-10 Lodge Fwy
I-96 from Detroit West to M-14
Now, 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every state trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. If you work anywhere in the Detroit Metropolitan area, you must take one of there interstates, routes, or parkways. It's up to you how fast you are doing when they do.
Wear your seat belt, nothing hanging from the rear view mirror, do the speed limit (not a mile over) use cruise control if you have it, no cracks in your windshield, use your turn signals.
Also in the final week of January 2006, the warning was issued about Honolulu, Hawaii:
On February 1, the city and county of Honolulu will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy. The city estimates that 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay police overtime. There will be 50 police on duty at all times patrolling the 9 main thoroughfares.
They are the following:
H-3 both directions
H-2 both directions
H-1 both directions
Pali Hwy
Likelike Hwy
Nimitz Hwy
Kalanianaole Hwy
Kam Hwy
Farrington Hwy
Now 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every officer is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time.
At the end of January 2006, the warning was issued about Pennsylvania:
Warning to Pennsylvania residents about speeding!
For those of us who like to drive fast.....
Pennsylvania State Police will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy throughout the state starting February 1, 2006. The State estimates that 22 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 3 million will go to pay Trooper overtime costs and benefits. There will be 150 State Troopers on duty during all shifts patrolling the highways. Significant radar enforcement will occur along the I-70, I-76, I-79, I-80, I-81, I-83, I-84, and I-90 corridors.
Motorists traveling 6 mph or more above the limit will receive a ticket and every State Trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes.
Pennsylvania has activated 50 new unmarked cruisers of various makes and models for this pilot program to raise extra funds and meet mandated quotas. The Pennsylvania State Legislators dreamed up this program to help offset the additional funding required to hire 60 new Troopers. I was told KDKA TV and Radio stations confirmed this. So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you.
You've been warned.
Last updated: 30 January 2006
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