Arlington, Virginia Speed Traps

Motorcycle officers always stand and clock cars heading towards the 395 interstate turn-off.

For the second time recently I saw a motorcycle officer with a radar or laser gun pointed at southbound traffic on S. George Mason Dr. between 8th Street South and Columbia Pike (VA 244). Both times were in the middle of the day, around lunchtime. The officers were in the first driveway into the shopping center, on the right-hand side as you drive south. George Mason Drive slopes downhill in this area and it is easy to get moving well above the posted limit of 30. The police were wearing black and yellow clothing that blended in with the fall foliage on the trees next to the mall entrance. Beware.

Southbound on S. George Mason Dr., between 8th St. South and Columbia Pike, on the right-hand side in the entrance to the small shopping center, a motorcycle officer was monitoring traffic with a radar gun, around 1pm. George Mason Dr. slopes downhill in this area so it’s easy to get up speed, beware! These guys have no mercy and as you probably know, radar detectors are illegal in Virginia. All of Arlington for some reason is like a tourist town with speed traps everywhere. (God only knows why, the state already has a high income tax.)

Cops usually hide on Powhatan street (the one after– if you’re heading West– Ottawa Street and John Marshall). Since that part of Lee Highway (Rt 29) is on a hill, people have a tendency to speed.

The nearest speed-limit sign is half a mile before this trap. The road seems much like Arlington Blvd (VA Hwy 50)- it has two lanes each direction and a wide median as well. Unlike Arlington however, whose limit is 45, the limit here is 35. Many people make the mistake I did- in my rear-view mirror I saw the officer pulling over another car within seconds as I pulled away. But beware- I checked today, a few weeks later, and an officer was at the same trap right around noon, so the danger is not limited to rush hour. By the way, someone else posted a note in 2005 about a trap at N. Glebe and 21st. That is only 2.3 miles from this one. My guess would be that this mobile tax collection unit has just relocated, and will probably do so again when the party here is over. They could respond reasonably by posting a few more speed limit signs in the stretch I traveled but no, that would spoil the fun, wouldn’t it?