Memphis, Tennessee Speed Traps

Across (west) from airport, where housing has been eliminated.

TN Hwy 51S to I40E connector in North Memphis. This two mile long interstate connector is declared a speedtrap because of deceptive speed limit signs and the popularity of authorities to use it to ticket drivers. You turn onto the two lane connector from Hwy 51 and then begin a slight incline and curve to the left before going under an overpass. On the other side of the overpass the driver is presented with the following scene. The road straightens and goes downhill slightly for about a quarter mile where it merges with I40E on the right side of the connector lanes. Which means to most drivers that you will be merging into the fast lane of I40E. The left lane of the connector ends about 150 feet beyond a 65 mph speed limit sign. It is the only speed limit sign on the connector. The police sit in the grass to the left of the sign. Most people unfamiliar with the spot think that they can go 65 mph with no problem. Then they are ticketed for going 65 in a 55 zone. It is the first 65 mph speed limit sign on I40E. The previous signs on I40E are 55 mph, but the users of the connector have no way of knowing this. The police claim that you have to go 55 until you reach the 65 mph sign, but on the connector there is no previous 55 mph sign. As far as the users of the connector know this is the posted speed limit of both roads. At the very least the connector should have a 55 mph sign if that is what the highway designers intended. The 65 mph signs should have a "BEGIN" sign mounted on them as well or be moved further east of the connector if the authorities are really interested in drivers nderstanding what is going on here, but that would probably elliminate the revenue producing trap. The really disturbing part of this trap is that police in a lot of cites are told not to set up near merges because it just adds too much for the driver to deal with while trying to merge, but in Memphis they do it here even at rush hour.

Within a 1 mile stretch of Prescott Road (4 lane), I got stopped by one of 6 police cars. Cars were tucked behind homes along the side streets. I was sited for doing 45 mph in a 40 mph zone. I was going the flow of traffic, but passed on the right a car that slowed down in front of me. Perhaps he saw the squad car and I didn’t.

An old industrial area, local traffic uses Danny Thomas/HWY51 to bypass the construction on Interstate 40/240. Speed drops from 45 to 35 at Plum St. and is not very well marked. Enforcement is usally very early in the morning, as early as 5:30AM

They’re common everywhere between Shady Grove and Walnut Grove.