Pinedale, Wyoming Speed Traps

The speed limit goes from 45 to 30 as you’re traveling south/west on 191. I have a house in that area and I watch people getting pulled over all day long. I got a ticket for going 36mph in a 30. He clocked me right at the 45 sign. I got a ticket and I’m from Wyoming. Guess what happens to people with out of state plates. Watch out folks.

Hwy 191 in Pinedale, Wyoming is a speed trap. The speed limit drops dramatically from 70 to 50 for no apparent reason for a short distance. There is no warning to reduce speed limit. I’ve never seen a house or business around. They just want your money. Do not eat at any restaurants in Pinedale, Wyoming. I was ticked for going 71 in a 50. What a crock!

The speed limit suddenly drops from 70 to 50 on the unoccupied, less traveled road in Pinedale. When you see the sign you won’t even get time to slow down when the blue lights start flashing. You get the warm and courteous hospitality of the Wyoming state patrol when he hands you a ticket equal to your mortgage payment. Better off taking 287.

I had been driving all day with my family from Conifer, Colorado on US 191 with Jackson, WY as our destination, about a 550 mile drive. About 80 miles from our destination, we came up to Pinedale. I know about out-of-staters getting caught in speed traps, and we have NY plates, so when I came up to town, I saw the 25 mph sign and slowed down to the speed limit. After .2 miles (I later calculated distances using Google Maps), the limit went up to 30 mph. I drove the speed limit. We were driving through the town’s small developed area with shopping centers and other drivers were going quite a bit faster and passing me. A cop stopped me and told me I was doing 44 in a 20 mph zone. I had both my GPS and speedometer telling me differently. However, I was so zoned out from driving all day, that I didn’t argue. The ticket was $156.00.

US Highway 191 has very little traffic and the Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers get bored. Unfortunately, their solution for the boredom is arresting unsuspecting and innocent drivers with out-of-state tags on all kinds of trumped up charges, the most common being speeding. Citations for 20 to 30 over the limit are the norm. Since the odds are good that a person on vacation is not going to drive thousands of miles to defend himself in court, it’s an air-tight system for the police and court system to increase local revenues. In my particular case, I was parked along the highway taking pictures of the beautiful scenery when a WHP officer pulled up and gave me a ticket for 83 in a 65. I thought it was some kind of joke. When I told him he had to kidding and the more I protested, the higher the fines were. It’s unbelievable that law enforcement can actually get by with this kind of thing in the 21st century. Watch out for "Wyoming justice."