Mantua, Ohio Speed Traps
Rte. 44, Mantua
Mantua has been known as a speed trap for years. They apparently have decided that the revenue that is generated outweighs the bad reputation that they have created, especially for out of towners.
The most obvious sign of the set up is the fact that the speed limit becomes 25 mph as soon as you cross into city limits rather than at the edge of the downtown area which would actually make sense.
The cops sit right at that city limit to prey on unsuspecting visitors. The speed limit drops from 55 to 45 and then to 25 within a couple of hundred yards at the most. It is down right low and protects noone.
State Route 44 near 1 mile North of Ohio Turnpike
The Mantua Village Police Department officers are very pro-active in traffic enforcement and the speed limit as you come into the village from the south goes from 55 to 45 and within just a few yards it is 25mph. You had better go the speed limit or else. I will say, I have never received a citation and I am glad they ensure our safe passage through their village. Thank you Mantua PD.
State Route 44
Cops circle the town all day with their radar guns blazing. If you can’t avoid this place altogether, then don’t dare come through here without a good radar detector at your disposal! The Mantua PD is even rumored to write up violations for 1 mph over the speed limit!
State Route 44 near State Route 82
Do we say more…Mantua, don’t do it.
State Route 44 near North of downtown – Crestwood Schools, Mantua Drug, church parking lot
This small town with its unrealistic 25 mph speed limit and overzealous police department should be avoided at all costs! Out of state residents are particularly savory targets here, as most are unfamiliar with the town’s reputation throughout NE Ohio as a notorious speed trap and are far less likely to travel back to Portage County to challenge their bogus citations they may get here.
A recent trick these cops have employed is to sit in the church parking lot around the time school lets out, as motorists are subject to the 20 mph school zone speed limit. One of the town’s "finest" will park at the exit of the school parking lot and wave traffic through (no doubt to speed up the flow), while another cop will sit in the church parking lot 1/3 mile down the hill with his radar gun cocked, loaded, and ready. Can we say "BAITING" and "ENTRAPMENT"???
If the Mantua police are supposedly so concerned about SAFETY, then why don’t they pull over the speeding school buses leaving Crestwood High School? I’ve seen these buses whip out of the parking lot and haul ace down Main St. going well in excess of the 25 mph normal speed limit, let alone the school zone 20 mph speed limit! Hmm…