Falmouth, Maine Speed Traps

There a few policemen that hide in the woods and on side streets and runs laser. This is not illegal in Maine. Please drive the speed limit.

Route 100/Gray Road, West Falmouth ME. Driving southbound (toward portland) after a long open stretch of 45mph past hay fields. Poeple commonly go 50 to 53. Just past the Red Barn (on right, southbound), you come around a slight right hand curve that is a downward slope and is completely blind. The 35mph speed limit change (down from 45) is in the middle of that curve, and fairly obscured by bush branches. As of the date of this writing, for the past 3 weeks Falmouth PD has had a solar powered LED speed advisory sign right at the bottom of the slope, that only comes into view after you have rounded the bend and passed the obscured 35mph sign. This in itself is not a problem. Upon closer in person inspection of the sign, interested in where the radar module was located, it appears it is mounted behind the plexiglass. That however is not disturbing. What is disturbing is that a little over half way up the LED panel and slightly to the right of center, there is a pinhole camera mounted on a clearly visible circuit board with a processor. There does not appear to be an infared light emitter that I can see, but the half-dollar sized area right around the lense of the camera is clear plexiglass instead of shaded plexiglass like the rest of the panel. While I have not heard or read of anyone being cited as a result of this particular device, do be aware that your picture is likely being taken as you pass it, day or night, and the camera sits plenty high enough in the sign panel to see not only the entire front of your vehicle, but clearly see in and down into your front seat even if you are in a full size SUV or truck, because of the downslope of the road at the time you are in the picture frame. A snapshot of who you are, what you look like, your front seat passenger, whether seatbelts are being worn, whether you are holding your phone in your hand, it is all visible day or night. Inspection of the sides and rear of the unit show there is no rear facing camera to see the rear of your vehicle after you pass. High resolution digital photos available upon request. Thank you.

Falmouth just received federal grant money to buy a police helicopter, I have routinely seen it on patrol above the town, usually accompanied by a cruiser on the ground stopping the cars the helicopter gets on radar. The new (35 million dollar) station has a pad on the roof for the helo to land on, and one of the officers already had his private helicopter license, so it was an easy transition for the department. Be careful anywhere near the bay/rivers as well, as Falmouth routinely uses their patrol boat they got from the Coast Guard to use LIDAR on cars traveling along the roads/bridges near the waterways. The accompanying cruiser then picks up the speeder after being radioed from the boat/helicopter.

Falmouth Police are strict about their speed & traffic enforcement. Three years ago I got a warning for driving 42mph on Blackstrap Road. Just tonight I passed a woman driving 35, I was doing 40. She called the police and a cop actually came to my house to ask if I passed her. The cop told me that it was illegal to pass on a double yellow line. I told him that I didn’t know this and he told me that they passed this law a few years ago…of course they never tell you when laws change. Falmouth Police are overstaffed and spend too much time on traffic enforcement. I could see if I was doing 15mph over, but sheesh.

I’ve lived in this area for 3+ years. This should be a 40-45mph road. Most people will pass you if you are doing 35mph including myself. I got a warning for passing in this area a few years ago, and now that Maine has a double yellow line law, they have another reason to ticket you. The Falmouth police have been cracking down on traffic the last few years and set up a speed trap (1 radar & 3 cars) a few weeks ago and were pulling people over continuously. Watch out on any sub-urban/rural road in Falmouth!