Marlin, Texas Speed Traps

West of Marlin on Hwy 7 at night, at city limit sign. Sits facing west catching travelers where speed limit quickly drops from 70 to 45. Very young female officer fresh out of a 4 month program to be a police woman. The town is on the rocks financially and is going back to seed. She ticketed me for 4 over, she said the city needed the money. I see her there after dark every trip through, raising money for her dying town. Fund raising, not safety, Its crazy to give these little poodunk towns the ticket money. ticket money should go the school fund or something else, not to those who stand to financially benefit from giving tickets. It should be about safety not about harvesting money from out of town’ers.

Marlin is a well known speed trap designed to grab college students on their way to Texas A&M and Baylor. The Marlin police will ticket you for going as little as 2 miles an hour over the limit and contesting these tickets are a waste of time–this is a money-making enterprise.

Speed limit doesn’t drop in this town, but highway is broad and four-laned with median. Lots of drivers use this town to pass the slowpokes they’ve been stuck behind for miles. Watch for overpasses, the cops like to sit on one side to nail you as you come over the overpass.