Tifton, Georgia Speed Traps

I received a ticket in tifton just before exit 61 overpass, the deputy from the Traffic Division stated i was going 88 on a 70 on I-75 I NEVER saw him until he crossed 3 lanes over to stop my vehicle..so after reading the other comments it looks like Tifton County Sheriff department has a bad PATTERN of doing such traps even on the holidays, and traffic was heavy on the 26 of December 2015. The cost of the ticket 245.00.

On afternoon of 9 Oct. 2015 traveling south on I75 I was pulled over by a Tift Count, Ga. deputy. I was told I was traveling 85 in a 70 mph zone. I was timed by a laser. A sheriff’s patrol car was sitting on the overpass running the laser. Another deputy was sitting on the on-ramp as chase car. This deputy is the one who wrote the ticket. He was alerted by the deputy running the laser as to my vehicles description. Georgia law requires city and county police vehicles to be visible at least 500 ft. at time of contact by laser and reading of speed. Because of the railing across bridge overpass and the slim line blue lights mounted on top of sheriffs vehicles the patrol cars are not visible for the required 500 ft. Therefore, this type activity must be considered illegal and designed to trap motorists, thus a “speed trap”.
Case law requires the deputy to swear to your speed. He can not do so legally because he did not see you or your vehicle “speeding”. Another deputy, not the writer, got the speed of the vehicle and relayed the speed to the chase car.
When questioned, the deputy said all the above had been tried in court and failed. He also said the Ga. Attorney General had come to Tifton, checked it all out and gave his approval. I checked the Attorney General’s web site and found no truth to this statement.
Oh, bye the way, I was speeding as charged. Just the first time ever!

Had just passed Exit 59 heading north on I-75 in the fast lane. Was going around the bend to the left and approached two slow moving vehicles and passed them on right. No doubt I was going approx. 78 around the curve while passing the vehicles and see flashing blue lights in the rear view. I pulled over and was greeted by a Tift County Sheriff and said he clocked me going 86 via laser. He took my license and came back with a ticket for going 86. I couldn’t believe he tacked on 8 MPH from what I was doing. Worst part is, now it’s a “Super Speeder” ticket with an extra $200 added on! It’s one thing to target motorists at a particular location, but to exaggerate the speed on the ticket to make it 85+ for the “Super Speeder” fine is ridiculous!

The small one-exit towns like Sparks and Adel have their own well-known, proud speed traps on I-75 but Tifton beat them all on Memorial Day. The trend is one officer on the overpass, well-hidden behind the guardrail or shrubs/signs while shooting laser with about 4-6 chase cars on the interstate on-ramp ready to catch speeders AND those who do not move over to the next lane. Speed limit is 70 and nobody was doing more than 76-77mph approaching the area and it was still so awash in blue lights you would have assumed there was a major accident. I actually felt relieved that I was not stopped and was only going 75.

Cop waiting with Laser at the bottom of the hill. The speed limit in Tifton is 55 whereas nearby towns the speed is 65. I was on cruse control at 67 thinking the speed was 65 and got pulled over for driving 70. 50-69 is a $140 ticket while 70-80 is $235. First traffic ticket ever. Speed trap just to make money and all are automatically fined $245.
Saw more cops are reported by others sitting on the overpass waiting for people come into their county. Tifton is another Waldo, FL in the making.