Wilmington, North Carolina Speed Traps

Same vehicle everytime, and I always see someone falling for it everyday on the way to school. Wilmington Police Department is getting clever with their speed traps lately… This one surprised me. Here’s how it’s done: Wilmington’s unmarked ’06 Light Blue Ford Mustang GT sits off to the side of MLK Parkway with his hazard lights on, as if broken down (Location varies, typically he sits directly past 23rd Street Exit, where the Speed Limit slows down to 50MPH), and waits for unsuspecting motorists to speed by. I literally see a new motorist pulled over every morning from this trap… Supposedly it’s working.

Time of day is very consistant, I’d imagine he gets to the location around 7:00am-7:30am or so, I’m typically driving by around 7:45am, and I either see him still sitting there, or down the road a-ways with someone pulled over.

Be on the look out for this, and keep your eyes open on MLK, there are plenty of places for traps to be set up.

In Wilmington, I’m sure everyone has seen the new Police cars in their fleet, the Chargers, the Magnums, and Mustangs, some are marked, most are unmarked. Anyway, on Market Street in the D&E Dodge parking lot, the Police have cleverly mixed right in the brand new Chargers, and Magnums that are for sale right out front. It’s actually a pretty good idea, because I didn’t spot it at first until drove by and saw the lights in the front grill. I did another lap around about 30 minutes later, looked closer and saw an officer behind the wheel sipping on some coffee. So be on the look out for this, I’ve been seeing this occur consistantly over the past few weeks, anywhere from 8:30 or so, up until 5:00am.

The entire length of MLK expressway is loaded with cops. The road is one of those that it is hard to drive slow, as it is much like an interstate. The limit is 50 MPH from downtown Wilmington and increases to 55 from 23rd St. to College Road. Enforcement is heavy espcially in the 55 zone, as there are more places for the officer to hide.

25 Mph speed limit on an "arterial" city street. Two four-way stops are in use, which the police ticket very agressively for failure to come to a total and complete stop. Radar is set up at bottom of small hill, around a curve on the northbound shoulder of Burnett Boulevard, just North of the intersection of Burnett and Northern Boulevards. Radar is also active at the southern entrance of Burnett Boulevard, just beyond the 35 Mph to 25 mph speed reduction point. There is only one speed limit sign posted at each end of the 25 mph zone, which is difficult to spot, and easily overlooked. Overall, this is entrapment. It is NOT good law enforcement.

Road is curvy with abrupt speed limit changes. Cops hide everywhere. Also they hide in marina parking lot to watch the only stop sign on Airlie Road which has been a yield sign for the last 50 years. Beware and slow down!