Site Uncovers Speed Traps So Drivers Don't Have To

As you hum down the highway toward a holiday weekend at the beach, already feeling the warm sand between your toes and the ocean breeze against your cheek, the National Motorists Association would like to alert you to a few places you might be forced to stop along the way.

Not far from the McDonald's on Kent Island.

Near the cemetery entrance about three miles north of Easton.

Just before you slow down on entering Rehoboth Beach.

Those spots, along with thousands of others in the Washington region and across the country, are on the association's list of chronic speed traps.

There's an easy way to avoid them -- observe the speed limit -- but too few people do. Federal statistics show that 13,000 people died in speed-related crashes in 2005. An earlier study found that 75 percent of drivers slowed down when they feared getting a speeding ticket.

The forecast for the summer's second getaway weekend suggests there won't be much speeding during peak travel hours. The American Automobile Association says 766,000 people from the Washington area, about 14 percent of the local population, will drive to "holiday destinations." That's a drop of almost 3 percent from last year, despite gas prices that are more than a dollar per gallon lower, averaging $2.60 for regular this week.

Given the number of drivers expected on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (about 175,000 in each direction), the bridge approaches on Route 50 should take on the look of parking lots for much of the weekend.

Although there might be more cars crawling than speeding, police who target drivers in a rush usually do a brisk business in the off-peak hours -- often between midnight and dawn -- when the roads open up.

The National Motorists Association says it alerts drivers to speed traps to "level the playing field."

"The point isn't to antagonize police officers," said Aaron Quinn, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based organization. "Most of the feedback we get from them ranges from positive to indifferent. They will say, 'If it helps people slow down, it's okay.' "

The association, founded 27 years ago, maintains Speedtrap.org, on which members note places they have run afoul of the law for going too fast.

The site lists 291 alleged speed traps in Maryland, 530 in Virginia, 11 in the District and 81 in Delaware.

In the age of search engines, the notoriety of being known as a speed trap is more than a few places can bear, Quinn said.

"Most of these towns are extremely small, and they don't want their name to pop up on Google first thing as a speed trap," he said. "We don't have much sympathy if they really are a speed trap."