SpeedTrap.org

Cuba, NM

1

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Latitude: 36.0357

Longitude: -107.601

Description: Southbound on US 550 (NM 44) through the Village of Cuba. Posted speed limit within the town was 35 MPH which I obeyed scrupulously. At the south end of town, US 550 crosses NM 197 and immediately becomes a four lane divided freeway. As you pass through the intersection, you can see a sign about one-tenth of a mile away announcing that the speed limit for the freeway was now 50 MPH. I immediately accelerated after I went though the intersection entering the freeway and quickly reached 45 MPH at a point between the start of the freeway and the sign, continuing to accelerate to a final speed of 50 MPH at some point north of the sign (but south of the NM 197 intersection).
Perhaps a mile or so down the road, I was pulled over by a unit of what I assume is the Cuba Police Department. The officer indicated that I had exceeded the town’s 35 MPH limit by 10 miles per hour just north of the 50 MPH sign. He told me that despite the placement of the 50 MPH sign on that portion of the divided four lane highway south of the NM 197 intersection, the reduced speed limit does not officially change until the bridge over Nacimiento Creek.
I was cited for going faster than 35 MPH on the southbound portion of US 550 between the intersection of NM 197 and the Nacimiento bridge, despite the fact that I was looking right at a 50 MPH speed limit sign. The placement of the sign is deceptive and designed to get folks to exceed the limit even if they are thinking they're law abiding citizens. If that doesn't count as a speed trap, I don't know what would.

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Comments

• Mjolnir1

  7/16/09 @ 8:55 am

  
  

  Avoid Cuba, NM whenever and wherever possible. This area has been notorious as a speed trap for 30+ YEARS! As a native New Mexican, I have always noted how energetic the PD is about enforcing the smallest infractions above limits. Posted speeds actually begin at the point of sign placement, (Federal requirement), and the Cuba enforcement group, (Cuba PD, County Sheriff) are always willing to "fudge" the placement to generate revenue. State enforcement, (NM Department of Transportation, State Police) are not prone to such silliness. Cuba is a very dense residential area, and the limits within the village are appropriate, (frequent pedestrian/vehicle encounters, almost all because of pedestrian error), but blaming vehicles for inebriate pedestrian encounters is counterproductive.

• Anonymous

  6/28/08 @ 2:07 pm

  
  

  Cuba is a a great place the police presence there is not moderate it is extremley high between SP, Sandoval County and Cuba Pd. Up date this page, although there is an great deal of police presence
  it is needed. If any of you know the historty at this small town these negative comments would not be made. thanks to all the Law enforcement in our country we are able to live the way we do.

• Anonymous

  6/28/08 @ 1:45 pm

  
  

  
  Bottom line is obey the law and you won't get a ticket.Come on who are you trying to kid, how can you get a ticket for no license plate light during the day.The officers are doing their job don't you do that at your job? The speed limit is clearly posted on both sides of the village, don't speed (anywhere) and you won't get a ticket!

• Anonymous

  6/23/08 @ 8:57 am

  
  

  Cuba is a notorious speedtrap.
  
  I don't remember the geography but I remember quite clearly that I was staring right at the speed limit which matched my speedometer when the cop pulled me over. They lie and there is nothing you can do about it.
  
  I got a ticket there where the speed abruptly drops (obviously designed to catch you) and ended up spending the night so that I could go into the courthouse the very next day to clear things up.
  
  Despite this, I only found out more than a year later that I still had a ding on my record, and I'm still paying for it through insurance. Seems that despite the assurances that I received that I was clear, they still recorded that I owed them money. On top of being jerks, they are incompetent to boot.
  
  The real safety problem when it comes to driving around there is drunk driving. If the town actually cared an iota about public safety, they would be putting up drunk driving checkpoints instead of trying to nail people for not slamming on their brakes when the speed limit plummets like a rock.

• Anonymous

  2/4/08 @ 9:03 am

  
  

  Been there/seen that. It's true. They wait for you on either side of Cuba

• Anonymous

  1/13/08 @ 9:17 pm

  
  

  I work in Cuba and the officers are busy. If they can't catch you speeding they will find a reason. I've even received a ticket for no liscense plate light during the day. The judge however is a respectable man and treats people fairly.
  

• Anonymous

  11/11/07 @ 5:06 pm

  
  

  The one person that disagrees is obviously one of the people writing all those tickets, it is common knowledge that Cuba is a speed trap if you live in the area.
  

• Anonymous

  10/25/07 @ 10:07 pm

  
  

  I am a resident of Cuba and the speed limit is in fact 30MPH. I got 12 over for $88.00 the other day. First one in 13 years here.
  
  U.S. 550 does in fact go from 70, 55, 45, 30 but over a period of about 2 miles when it is first slowed from 70. 30 is CRAWLING after an hour of cruising at 70. There are more police here than you can shake a stick at between the SP, Sandoval County and Cuba PD plus Game and Fish and DOT because we are on a US highway. The Police can have a heck of an attitude too. They will lie about your seatbelt too. They tried to tell me I wasn't wearing mine when I was. I was speeding but I was wearing my seatbelt too. So slow down in Cuba, NM 87013
  
  

• Anonymous

  9/16/07 @ 3:24 am

  
  

  Earlier this year I got a speeding ticket in the exact same spot. My experience was exactly the same. I can't believe it's allowed to continue happening.
  

• Anonymous

  6/21/07 @ 10:19 pm

  
  

  The situation in Cuba has been as described for a long time. My guess is they rely on the speed trap money as a large part of their operating budget.
  

• Anonymous

  6/7/07 @ 11:48 am

  
  

  The person who placed this notification is correct. When old New Mexico Route 44 was rebuilt into US 550, for political reasons, the route still goes end-to-end (about two and a half miles) through Cuba. Going either northwest or southeast on 550, that means a motorist who has been driving at or near the 70mph limit on the 4-lane 550 is -- within a very short distance -- dropped from 70 to 50 to 45 to 30 -- and in the very center of Cuba, 59 25mph! My work has taken me this way many dozens of times, and I cannot get through the village without seeing two and three cars pulled over by the Cuba police. The enforcement is ruthless! I was "paced" on one trip (southbound)for nearly two miles, all the way to the point where the speed limit again rises to 70mph.