Gaithersburg, Maryland Speed Traps

Gaitherstowne Plaza — On 355-S, cop stands with handheld radar next to the bushes just as you approach the Plaza. The cop sometimes wears a traffic vest, and stands just out of view. At first glance, you may mistake him for a crossing guard. He will walk out onto the street to pull you over. If you�re not paying attention, it will be too late before you notice him.

The cops are on all sides of this intersection all the time, often in the afternoons against traffic (heading east) or mid-day. Also, they are often there on weekends, given the weather conditions. The speed limit is an absurdly low 40 MPH, where it could easily be 50+ on that stretch for a few miles in each direction. There is an extremely long sight distance, so the cops will likely see you way before you see them. People driving past slow down there out of habit now, including myself, simply out of fear of a speed trap.

Motorcyclist with hand held laser. Monitoring traffic on Shady Grove Rd headed from Mid-County towards I370 entrance. Standing in left-turn lane of Briardale Rd. I’ve only seen this trap occasionally during the afternoons. Speed limit is 45, but very easy to drive much faster on this straight 3-lane road.

If you are traveling south bound on Clopper Rd you will decend a hill and pass the light at the intersection of Clopper and LongdraFort You don’t notice that at the top o the hill infront of you a police officer has been tagging you all the way since the road opened up to a two lane road before LongdraFort It’s an unfair ticket usually because they catch you going down hill on a wide 4 lane road with a turning lane median. This trap has also been around for years and I got my first ticket here.

When heading Southbound on Rt. 355 you will cross the railroad tracks going over the bridge.(this is if you are going toward Old Town Gaithersburg) As you decend the hill police officers are always on the right hand side next too a large white sign. It’s cheap because you’re decending a hill and a 6 lane divided high way and yet the speedlimit is 30 mph. People have been getting tagged there for years, and I know of people being tagged multiple times in days. Also of note, the Gaithersburg Police station is across the street from this spot, hence why they are always watching it. End of the month seems to generally be the most busy.