Top 10 Cities For Speed Traps

Motorists may feel out-powered, with police able to use GPS and radar and the latest new devices to catch speeders. However, a new application may give the motorist a chance to skirt law enforcement. Trapster alerts consumers to forthcoming dangers in the road, including speed traps. Trapster and CNBC have put together a list of locations that have the most speed traps.

A lot of cash comes in from tickets

About $6 billion is made every year from the 100,000 tickets that law enforcement officers hand out daily in the country.

Trapster is an online community of 15 million drivers who report driving dangers and the presence of law enforcement in their local communities in order to help other drivers.

Top of the list

Most likely nobody will be surprised that New York, N.Y., tops the list as the city with the most speed traps. The city is a veritable labyrinth of driving challenges, red-light cameras and law enforcement officials on foot and in just about any kind of conveyance imaginable. It is closely followed on the list by that other sprawling metropolis, famed for its motoring challenges: Los Angeles, Calif.

Texas cities

For speed traps in the country, Houston got the number 3 spot and Austin got the number 10 spot. It is the only state that got put on the list twice, which individuals expected depending on its strict law enforcement policies.

Vegas and the nation's capital

Sin City, Las Vegas, Nev., made the No. 4 spot by virtue of its 24-hour activity. Number five was the nation's capital, Washington, DC. According to AOL Auto, the crowded area earns much of its traffic enforcement income via its 349 red-light cameras:

"(It's) pretty hard to speed in one of the most congested cities in America, but rushing through yellow lights that turn red before you get across the intersection is a big source of city revenue."

Numbers 6 through 9

The rest of the list incorporated, in order, St. Louis, Orlando, Chicago and Colorado Springs.

The legality of it

Many people wonder how legal it is to notify others of speed traps and a law enforcement presence on sites such as Trapster. We may get some information from a news report in Iowa where a law enforcement officer was asked.

Ottumwa Police Sergeant Kevin Ward's answer left much room for legal interpretation:

"It could depend on what their intentions are, if they know that they're trying to do something that would interfere with what the officer is doing, they could. But once again, it's proving what their intent is."

You can go to speedtrap.org to find speed traps with your area until that issue is taken to court.