Oakland, Tennessee Speed Traps

This wretched little "town" will not change its aggressive traffic enforcement until business owners start to wonder and care how much money they are losing — could it be 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%? Only then will the current regime get thrown out of office and some progressive citizens take their places. In the meantime, the answer is simple: (1) avoid the town if you can, (2) if you cannot, scrupulously drive the speed limit, (3) make no stops and do not spend a dime on anything.

Will catch you as you enter this very small town and speed limit drops from 65 to 45 in a very short distance and nowhere near the town.

When you can see the 65 mi. sign ,and when you stop, it,s two telphone poles behind you. i dont think that right .

Usually two patrol cars wait near city limits. The speed limit goes from 65mph to 45mph in a short distance. Even if slowing down when you see 45mph sign they still ticket. Two patrol cars converge and write ticket. This is a new town. I have talked to other people about unfairness and obvious money maker for the city. Definetly a speed trap. I suggest going extremely slow or avoiding the area. Also boycote businesses in this area.

This tiny town has extended its city limits to within a few feet of either side of both intersecting highways for miles to extend the reach of their speed traps. Notorious for Kangaroo Courts, zero tollerance, and making more money than the State of Tennessee allows from traffic citations, Oakland, TN is perhaps the most abusive and blatant speed trap in the nation. Speed limits drop from 65 to 45, then to 30 VERY quickly, not enough time to slow down. Speed limits are 30 MPH for long distances, FAR longer than necessary on roads that are easily safe at 45. K-band and X-band radar are in use. But it does not matter. The city court judge knows nothing about the law, and NOBODY gets off, no matter their case. I sat in on my own court session and three others, taking notes. They rake in massive amounts of money from poor people who can not afford the minimum $90 fine. The courtroom is filled to beyond capacity every time with their catch of the week. Eight to twelve uniformed cops line the walls in the courtroom, glaring at the poor unfortunates, attempting to intimidate them into pleading guilty. I had a shouting match with the Police Chief down at city hall when I went to ask for their radar records, training records, certifications, everything I would need for court (none of it was in order, but it did not matter.) He said, "It is just 90 dollars!" and I shouted back, "AND the points, Chief, will cost me $3600 over the next two years until this fake charge rolls off my insurance records." He did not deny that, rather he looked a little depressed and gave up. I think he is a little tired of screwing so many good people. You have wondered where the Twilight Zone is, Have you not? Oakland Tennesse is it. The city has, I have been told, only four full time officers, but more than a DOZEN volunteer Barny Fifes who work almost full time. I could not beat a case where I was stopped for doing 45 in a 30 MPH zone, when I happened to be doing performance testing on a new Jaguar fully equipped with RADAR and GPS speed and route-logging equipment, where my logs proved I was going 29.3 MPH when painted with X-band radar ( Who still uses X-band?) and accused of 45. I am a performance instrumentation engineer. I design this equipment and software, and know more about their RADAR than these Barneys. I know what I am talking about. My advise – avoid the area at all costs. There are two routes around the town that will cost you about 20 minutes. Take them, and boycott the businesses in Oakland, Tennesse, and let them know why you are not shopping with them. If you are driving a Jag or some other high performance automobile, take extra caution and be sure you avoid Oakland at all costs. It is a little harder to avoid these days since they extended the city limits like snakes along the converging higways. Use a GOOD RADAR detector. set for maximum sensitivity around Oakland. There are false readings of Ka band in the area. Only the State Police use Ka band. Oakland uses X and K. One county sheriff has just bought a Lidar. Watch out for that. Watch out for hills with speed limit signs are obscured. That is what caught me. The city installed a "CONSTRUCTION" sigh posted 2 feet in front of the traffic sign saying 30 MPH. I have pictures. You ca not see the traffic sign at all. This is at the top of a hill, and there is a cop at the bottom with radar. Regardless, my logs show I was at 29.3 when painted. Anyway, with $30,000 worth of speed logging equipment in the car, and certified records, using military satellites for reference, none of this stuff was useful in court. The judge had no idea that what I was showing him proved without a doubt that the cop who stopped me was wrong, completely wrong, and was purgering himself in court right before me. I gave up rather than to keep fighting until I was frustrated enough to get into REAL trouble by calling them as I saw them, and accusing them of the gross abuse they purpretrate on anyone unlucky enough to get caught in their village of play cops. I am Rob Cosgrove. I drive a green Jaguar bristling with performance measuring equipment FAR more exact than yours. I know when you paint me, and I know your margin of error, exactly. I know about your new Lidar. I probably desinged it is software, and I have far more training on it than you. I could easily jam it if I wanted to. Your out-of-tollerance K-band and especially your X-band are so wrong they will fail my fork standards, I am sure. It would be embarassing for that to happen in open court with all those people watching. Next time you stop me, you should be REALLY SURE I am speeding, and be able to prove it with a unit that is properly calibrated and certified. Remember, I am also recording my speed AND yours, much more reliably than you are. If you are not sure, just say "Hi, Rob. Have a nice day." otherwise I will embarass you badly in your own court and on appeal.