Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/17/1775.asp

5/28/2007

Tennessee: Police Stand in Traffic to Issue Seatbelt Tickets
Click it or Ticket speed trap endangers police and motorists in Memphis, Tennessee.

Police in Memphis, Tennessee are using federal gas tax money to endanger themselves and other motorists in order to issue traffic tickets. Under the "Click it or Ticket" program orchestrated by the National Highway Transportation Agency, federal funds are paying Memphis officers to stand in the middle of multi-lane highways wielding laser speed detection guns. When the officer spots a car he can ticket, the driver is motioned to pull over across several lanes of moving traffic. WHBQ-TV interviewed several motorists who found the practice exceptionally dangerous.

"He was out in the middle of the road," concerned motorist Doug Wilson told the Memphis TV station. "If he gets hit, he gets hit. I hate to say it, but you don't teach kids to play in the road, why should he be standing in the road?"

On Plough Road last Friday, a six-lane, 50 MPH route near the airport, dozens of officers stood in traffic for six hours in order to write 175 tickets to those who neglected or chose not to wear a seatbelt as well as those accused of speeding. The effort generated thousands in revenue for the city.

Source: Cops Brave Traffic to Write Tickets (WHBQ-TV (TN), 5/25/2007)

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