Salida, Colorado Speed Traps
entire city of Entire city of Salida
Salida, Colorado is a small town with a large police force and several shiny new prowl cars to pay for. Parking and traffic tickets are major sources of municipal revenues. With little else do do, the police are very inventive with reasons for stopping drivers regardless of how they may be driving. I was pulled over for making a left turn after stopping and signalling at an intersection. People and vehicles are routinely targeted for repeated interrogation. Avoid this place if you can.
Poncha Pass
A Trooper travels back & forth on Poncha Pass with instant on radar. Recently I was traveling southwest when I came upon a construction zone. I was going the posted limit when I noticed a new sign ahead of me that reduced the speed to 40mph. At that very same moment also saw a State Trooper coming towards me going the opposite direction. He blasted me with radar before I ever had a chance to reduce down to 40mph. He later pulled me over & told me I was speeding. I explained to him that I was going the correct speed limit up to the moment I saw the first 40mph sign & that I saw him at that same moment also. I had not reached the new sign at that moment either. He decided to give me a warning but told me to take my license plate cover off of my plate. The plate is perfectly clear!
Hwy 285 between Poncha Springs & Buena Vista
The posted speed limit for this road is 60 with the intent of ticketing drivers who set their cruise at 70. Most of the time there are 2 State Patrolman patrolling the hwy, and with frequent turns and hills, they are hard to spot.
F St & E 5th St
The speed limit in residential Salida, posted on signs hidden by vegetation, is 15 mph!!! Driving the normal residential speed of 25 mph will earn you a $137 ticket. No mercy.
U.S. 285 between Nathrop and State Hwy 291
The normal speed limit for roads in Colorado’s valleys is 65 MPH for average roads with tar crack repairs and small or non-existent shoulders. This trap is in a mostly flat open mountain valley through rural ranch country with a newly paved very wide straight road with shoulders as wide as the traffic lanes and new striping. Posted speed limit in the trap area is 55 MPH. County sheriff’s deputies are the ticket writers. The deputy who ticketed me asked several needless personal questions before trying to get me to admit I was in a hurry. I wasn’t in a hurry, didn’t admit to it, and was travelling with the traffic at about 60 MPH. He cited me at 78 MPH, then refused to give me the SN of his radar machine, the calibration number, and the date last calibrated. I asked for this three times, and he refused all three times. I will drive (one way) 2-1/2 hours to fight this ticket.