MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s safe to say nobody likes the feeling of being pulled over and ticketed for speeding.
Through open records, WREG discovered police issued more than 30,000 speeding tickets in roughly the past six months.
The News Channel 3 Investigators decided to dig a little deeper to find out exactly where drivers are more likely to get one of those tickets.
WREG asked Memphis drivers where they thought people were more likely to get tickets.
“All over, wherever they’re hot at,” said Torey Echols.
Shacorea Williams said, “East Memphis.”
According to data obtained from the City of Memphis Traffic Violations Bureau, three areas stood out as speeding ticket hot spots.
Speeding Ticket Hot Spots
- I-240
- I-55
- I-40
Interstate 240 topped the speeding ticket hot spots.
Police issued more than 6,000 citations for speeding on the loop since November.
However, the bulk of them didn’t show up out East.
Please note, some data had to be eliminated because no cross street was listed.
For example, under I-240, WREG found nearly 900 entries where either 240 or I-240 were the only locations included.
WREG found the prime areas for ticketing on 240 were at Airways and Lamar which accounted for more than 1,200 citations combined.
Recent college graduate, Rachel Johnson is one of the drivers who got a ticket at 240 and Lamar.
The News Channel 3 Investigators located Johnson, using the citation data.
“I was really shocked, I had been driving for seven hours back from school.”
It was Thanksgiving break, and Rachel was traveling from Knoxville to Memphis.
It`s a night Rachel probably won`t forget as it was her first speeding ticket.
“He told me that he was giving me a ticket for five miles over and that my headlight was out.”
On I-55, the hot spot was at Shelby Drive.
On I-40, it was the intersection of I-40 at Danny Thomas.
Police didn`t issue nearly as many speeding tickets on 385, but the hot spot there was 385 and Riverdale.
As far as city streets, Winchester stood out with more than 2,400 tickets written along the road.
That`s more than all of Nonconnah.
The bulk of those came from the airport area, close to the entrance.
Rachel ended up getting her ticket dismissed without court costs, but she knows it might not happen like that again.
She exclaimed, “I definitely will look out a little bit more!”
Check out the interactive map below to find speeding ticket hot spots in your neighborhood, or along roads you frequently travel.
Why you’re more likely to be pulled over in certain areas
WREG spoke with Memphis Police Department Major Eddie Bass of the Traffic Division.
He said there are three factors that drive the placement of officers for traffic enforcement.
They are:
- Citizen complaints (directly to MPD or Mayor’s Action Hotline)
- High volume areas
- Areas with high numbers of critical crashes
WREG cross referenced the speeding citation data and crash data and found a number of the same streets and locations.
For example, I-240 and Lamar was a speeding citation hot spot.
It was also in the top 10 for intersections with critical crashes.
MPD data shows 258 crashes at the intersection over the past year.
I-55/Shelby and 385/Riverdale topped the speeding ticket hot spot list, and both had a high number of critical crashes.
There were also several critical crashes along Winchester.
However, the highest numbers of critical crashes were at 240 and Walnut Grove, and I-40/Sycamore View.
Those two locations account for more than 1,000 critical crashes, but didn’t have an extremely high amount of citations.
Interactive Map: Traffic Ticket Hotspots