Manderson, Wyoming Speed Traps

Speed limit moves suddenly from 65 to 30 as you enter the town.
I contributed $140 to the Manderson Speed Trap Fundraiser while traveling from out of state to Cody WY. We drew a short, young officer as our collection agent. He had trouble reading the car registration form he asked us to produce, stating that they are all so different (apparently suggesting that he sees a lot of them from other states). He also did not know the year of our Ford Edge and asked us for it. In addition, he told me that the speed limit through Manderson is 30 and the closest he had me was at 40, a physical impossibility since his tracking me included a full stop at a stop sign and a right turn, impossible at 40 mph. I am adding my voice to those who see Manderson as a speed trap. We definitely avoided going back that way on our return from Cody.

I moved back to Wyoming last fall and was looking forward to hiking in the Bighorns again. So for my first hike of the season I picked a lower elevation hike on the SW side of the Bighorns.

I went through Manderson early in the morning with no issues, winding up to the track leading to the trailhead. Unfortunately as soon as I got on the rough track I tore open the sidewall of a tire on a rock and had to change it. That made me nervous about continuing on the track so after “hiking” the route to the trailhead I turned around and headed for home on my spare tire.

They say you shouldn’t drive full speed on a spare, so although I had a full size one I took that to heart, never getting close to the 65 MPH rural road limit on the way back to Manderson. On the way in I was doing about 50 and saw the sign ahead for 30 MPH and slowed down well ahead of it. Passed a pair of local police (not sheriff) cars (this is a town of 88 people!) and promptly got pulled over and cited for speeding. They said I was over a 40 MPH limit outside of town, but I never saw any such sign. And googling the town shows it has quite the reputation. It really rubbed salt in the wound of a frustrating day given how easy I was taking it with the spare. First speeding ticket in well over 20 years.

U.S. Route 20 has a posted speed of 65 mph. If you make the turn left on to county road 31 (Marshall Street) into Manderson, if you don’t slow down right away, there a Manderson police car sitting, hidden, ready to pounce. The posted speed for Manderson was not evident. I was caught, the police said, going 13 miles over the speed limit (though I wasn’t sure what that limit was.) For the penalty, I was charged $181, which seems exorbitant. My wife and I are from MN and were returning home from vacation. This certainly spoiled it. There was a car behind me going the same speed. To make the turn we both had to slow down, and we both were caught. Be very careful going through Manderson, WY.

Turning off the main road on to S Sherman the speed reduces without warning to 30mph after slowing to around 40mph to make the turn. The sign is shaded under a large tree where a driver’s focus will be mainly on the left area to be mindful of cars/trucks that may enter the highway right after turning in. Avoid the turn into Manderson and take the 2 mile longer route on your way east. Yes, we were an out of state car (rental) and have no real cost effective way to challenge the situation. If the town were serious about safety and helping drivers avoid speeding they could simply move the sign towards the turnoff to make it more obvious. This small town seems to be more interested in getting the ticket revenue than safety.

My story is like so many others. I am a 62 year old woman that has not had a speeding ticket or a warning for speeding in her life. I stopped in Manderson, even though I do not believe I was speeding and especially not 9 miles an hour over the limit. There is a twist in my story that I will ad here. After talking to a police official back in my own hometown and describing what it happened, he indicated I should write a very nice letter and ask for leniency, so it is not reported on my record and felt that was the best I could do being out of state. I follow those instructions and wrote a very kind letter and two weeks later I was contacted by the town attorney. He said they were all pleased that I had written such a kind and respectful letter, and they don’t offer this to people often unless they have a CDL and drive for work, but they were willing to offer me their deferment program if I would send them another check for $250, pay at my own expense for safe, driving course, and maintain a clean record for the next 90 days. Obviously, I didn’t take them up on their “generous” offer. I recently consulted with an attorney friend of mine, who said that is considered extortion. Needless to say, I will never return to the state of Wyoming again.