Benton, Tennessee Speed Traps

Received a ticket on the 4th of July weekend in the wonderful town of Benton TN. Did a quick google search on speed traps and what do you know good ole Benton pops right up. We were on our way back to FL. From spending the week in Pigeon Forge and decided to take 411 home to not deal with the interstate traffic. Everything was going good 4 kids in the mini van cruising along my son says dad I have to stop and as I was looking back to tell him we are going to stop I guess I missed the speed limit sudden drop from 55 to 40 in the big four lane divided hwy. My wife says your getting pulled over, I pull over in a gas station parking lot, Barney Fife walks up and asks for my license and insurance. I say we are looking for a bathroom for my son, and he says well you just passed a gas station. My blood starts to rise because I immediately know what’s about to happen. I ask what do you need he says “well you were going 62 in a 40” I said oh so its not 55 anymore he says no, asks if I have a pretty good driving record I say yes and he goes back to his car. Within 3 minutes he was back at my window and starts acting like he is selling me a car. Well I am only going to put you were going 51 in a 62, I interrupt him and say you are seriously writing me a ticket, he looks dumbfounded as if I am supposed to be thankful I am not going to jail for endangering the lives of all the citizens in Benton. I said there isn’t a car on that road going 40 mph and show him my license and say this is the reason you are giving me a ticket, he just says not uh. So I sign the ticket tell him this is pathetic he continues to ramble on with his rehearsed little mantra, as I roll up the window and drive off. I am a safe driver haven’t had a ticket in over a decade, fully support our men in blue, but this is beyond ridiculous and I so don’t want to pay this ticket. I would rather give an attorney money then give Benton a dime. Speeding trap or not its shady they know its wrong and you are just messing with people not doing anything other than trying to get home. I will never travel 411 again.

Much like all the other descriptions – Out of state plates, speed drops from 55 to 40 – single sign to note the change so if you’re not really paying attention you’re done for. Super nice officer – of course he is, cause he’s a revenue maker for the town, probably gets bonuses off of these. Asks, do you know how fast you were going – I say 50, he says, well it’s a 40. Asks, have you been through here before – yes I would swear it was 55. He says, it was a couple of months ago but people were going too fast so we had to change it. I say, I’m surprised at the 40 as it’s a 4 lane divided highway, he says, there are sidewalks… Really??? Because all I see are weeds everywhere. He did not show me the radar but did tell me I was going 55 – I was not. He hands me my ticket, says he reduced it from 55 to 50 so the points won’t hit my license, says the ticket is $100 and needs to be a money order received by July 17. Sounds like he’s reading a script. Tells me to have a nice day and off I go. This whole thing is just interesting as this has been going on since at least 2001 (according to the posts). Speed zones are constantly changing. I took the back roads to enjoy the scenery vs going up 75. I’ve now contributed to the city of Benton’s fund for goodness only knows what. Just RIDICULOUS

At the foot of the hill heading north. They do not understand the concept of coasting down the hill and you happen to gain speed. You must ride brakes down the hill

After construction in recent years, almost the entirety of Hwy. 411 is a very wide 4-lane road, at least in the many miles between Maryville TN, south through Benton, and on toward GA. Any modern car on such a road would be perfectly comfortable doing 70 on such a wide and straight and lightly traveled road, so the 55MPH speed limit on most of the road will feel normal to the vast majority of drivers. This sets up the perfect speed trap traveling south on 411 in Benton (as well as north, but my incident was traveling south), where the speed limit goes from 55 to 40MPH just as you crest a hill outside of town.

I rounded the slight bend at the crest of the hill and saw the police car and the 40MPH speed limit sign at the same instant, and he put his squad car in drive faster than I could even move my foot from the gas to the brake pedal. This was not the "officer’s" first dance at the ball. He was shooting radar over his shoulder so his car could be lined up with southbound traffic, so he could just speed out onto the highway without turning. I pulled over and in seconds "officer friendly" was at my window saying, "I got you doing [x] in a 40; how come?" Yes, he’s just mystified and bewildered, and the world is so lucky that he just happened to be in a position to catch me speeding and be able to save the poor town from my reckless endangerment. He took my credentials and was back at my window in a flash, cutting me a big break, because he’s so nice, and all I have to do is send in my check, presumably for being such a bad boy for having driven at highway speed on a highway, and have a nice day, and drive safe. I held down my vomit and crept along on my last journey through Benton TN.

The cops in Benton are not interested in investigating crime or catching criminals. There are not enough people in town to have any crime that the county sheriff’s office couldn’t handle, so they can not justify having a police department at all. The department exists solely to rake in revenue from motorists passing through town who fail to promptly notice the ridiculous 40MPH speed limit sign soon enough.

I do not admit guilt in this matter other than knowingly choosing to travel though a town that I KNEW had a speed trap racket, against my better judgement. I live 3 towns north of Benton and we all know that Benton has a crooked police force whose only purpose in life is to fill the town’s coffers with the loot they "legally" extract from motorists.

AVOID BENTON TN!

There is a speed trap in Benton Tennessee where they keep changing speed limit from 55 down to 40 mph. I believe they target out of state vehicles. The set up is when they pull you over they ask you where you are headed, and if you are on vacation? Then they ask for license, & proof of insurance and tell you they are going to see if everything checks out. When the officer comes back he gives you a ticket and says that he did you a favor he reduced it down to just 5 miles over the limit. They tell you immediately it will only be eighty something dollars and since it is just 5 miles over you won’t get any points on your license. We went back the next day to talk to the local police department and they asked how fast were we clocked at? Now if this was not a set up deal why would the department know the practice of writing the ticket for a lesser speed. The officer writes in the remark section on the ticket the actual speed he says he clocked you at. This is a newly paved 4 lane section of highway that has very light traffic. It is like leading the lambs to slaughter. We will be reporting this to the State of Tennessee. My advice would be for everyone to take another route and avoid US 411 through Benton Tennessee. This would take revenue from all the local businesses along the main route through their town and the locals would then be the ones to stop this corruption. We have made our last trip on US 411. Once you sit down and think through the entire process you see that you were totally set up. Benton is a small town with no major industry or source of revenue so this is how they survive.