While southern California is home to lots of speed traps, the area east and slightly north of Sacramento along U.S. Highway 50 encompasses the five locations with the most reported speed trap activity in the entire state. Weekend gamblers and ski buffs heading to Lake Tahoe are the likely targets of such aggressive enforcement operations.
This information comes from the NMA’s National Speed Trap Exchange (http://www.speedtrap.org/), a unique website that gives drivers an opportunity to report on and exchange comments about predatory speed traps they have encountered on their travels.
Five Highest Activity Speed Trap Locations
1. Placerville: U.S. 50 near El Dorado Road
1077 Reports 99% Acknowledgement Rate*
“A CHP officer will stand up on the El Dorado Road overcrossing bridge and use a radar gun on eastbound U.S. 50 traffic. Two to three patrol cars will sit in wait on the eastbound onramp, waiting for the go command and the speeding car description. Most often deployed during weekend mornings, especially during ski season.”
2. Shingle Springs: Between Eldorado Exit and Shingle Springs Exit
548 Reports 99% Acknowledgement Rate
“An officer stands on the overpass with Radar and Highway Patrol Cars enter en masse and pull cars just before Shingle Springs.”
3. Shingle Springs: Meder Road
505 Reports 99% Acknowledgement Rate
“Anywhere on this road. They did increase the Speed Limit to 45, but I have got two tickets just on this road.”
4. Cameron Park: Bass Lake Rd.
432 Reports 98% Acknowledgement Rate
“A police car parks in the parking lot of the Green Valley Elementary school. They park just behind a tree, where you can’t see them in time whether you’re coming from the Green Valley or 50 direction. They usually are there to get speeders and people that run the stop sign. I lived in those apartments across the street; if we were bored, we would just go on our patio and watch people get pulled over.”
5. Cameron Park: Stop sign at Country Club Dr and Rustic Rd intersection
415 Reports 99% Acknowledgement Rate
“Along Country Club Dr, between Cambridge Rd and Cameron Park Dr, there is a stop sign where Rustic Rd meets Country Club Dr. You cannot see the road, as it is hidden around the turn and behind the “walls” that are dug into the hill for the road. You will know you are there because it is the only stop sign on this section of Country Club Dr. This is not exactly a speed trap, but the cop is almost always there waiting for someone to run the stop, and he well definitely catch you by surprise.”
Ten California Cities with Most Reported Speed Traps (for the Last Five Years)
| Rank | City | Number of Speed Traps | Acknowledgement Rate |
| 1 | Los Angeles | 57 | 97% |
| 2 | San Diego | 48 | 95% |
| 3 | San Jose | 34 | 95% |
| 4 | Riverside | 28 | 91% |
| 5 | Fresno | 28 | 94% |
| 6 | Livermore | 25 | 88% |
| 7 | San Francisco | 22 | 93% |
| 8 | Long Beach | 20 | 86% |
| 9 | Pasadena | 20 | 90% |
| 10 | Roseville | 19 | 91% |
* Acknowledgement rate is the percentage of yes votes to total votes by motorists indicating whether the reported locations, in their opinions, are actually speed traps. Data are available at the links provided.
About The National Speed Trap Exchange
With the development of The National Speed Trap Exchange (http://www.speedtrap.org/) more than 10 years ago, the National Motorists Association pioneered the use of interactive media to alert motorists to potential speed trap activity in their communities. Since then the site has reported on nearly 80,000 speed traps throughout the United States and Canada.
