[Soviet]

Are there towns that are particularly bad in regards to speed trapping? i.e. Overly aggressive enforcement, rapidly decreasing speed limit signs, dishonest traffic police officers, etc.?

Huge List of Speed Traps | The National Speed Trap Exchange lists Kiowa as being pretty bad, with lying police officers. What do you guys believe to be the danger on US-69/US-75 with regards to speed traps?

Thanks in advance. I'm going on a road trip sometime soon and I have to use this road. Would like to know what to watch out for. Have to be extra careful in certain places.

[#1soonerfan]

Yes that stretch of road between McAlester and the Red River is pretty bad as far as speed traps are concerned. All towns on the highway (Atoka, Kiowa, Savanna, Tushka, Caney, Caddo) are notorious, with the last three towns respectively being the worst. OHP is also particularly bad in this area. Its the only place I've ever heard where someone got pulled over by plane.

Make sure you are paying attention to the speed limit and city limit signs. The road has a 70 mph limit, but once you cross into a town that can go as low as 35 mph. The cops will sit at the absolute legal edge of town and nail people who aren't paying attention to the signs.

Are you driving to/from Tulsa from/to Texas? If so look into taking 44 to 35. Yes its a turnpike but its faster and you wont have to worry about speed traps.

Enjoy your trip!

[Soviet]

Thanks very much for the info! No, I can't take I-44 to I-35, that would be too far out of the way. I'm cutting through Oklahoma to Arkansas to Branson, Missouri. I thought it would also be a nice way to see some of small-town Oklahoma. Problem is, speed traps! It's really sad and kind of pathetic that small towns like to harass visitors with speed traps and stuff. People simply won't want to visit them anymore.

I'll be extra, extra careful on my drive, that's for sure. As long as I don't encounter any mendacious law enforcement, I think I should be fine. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Ecovlke]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Thanks very much for the info! No, I can't take I-44 to I-35, that would be too far out of the way. I'm cutting through Oklahoma to Arkansas to Branson, Missouri. I thought it would also be a nice way to see some of small-town Oklahoma. Problem is, speed traps! It's really sad and kind of pathetic that small towns like to harass visitors with speed traps and stuff. People simply won't want to visit them anymore.

I'll be extra, extra careful on my drive, that's for sure. As long as I don't encounter any mendacious law enforcement, I think I should be fine. Thanks for the heads-up!

Watch out through Stringtown, too. I've driven US 75 between Tulsa and Dallas multiple times and have never gotten a ticket, or even even seen many cops or OHP. They are there, though. Slow down through Okmulgee, too. It's further north, but the city cops use to consistently set and wait at an area near the Creek Nation Casino on US75.

[Wanderer0101]

Driven that route many, many times and never got a ticket but you have to be careful to observce the speed limit signs. I've seen a lot of people pulled over. Pretty sorry radio reception through that area as well if that matters to you.

[okcpulse]

If I go to Tulsa from Houston, I go up I-35 through OKC then NE on I-44. Adds about 40 mins to the trip but you get better gas mileage, less wear and tear and you are 99% less likely to run across a speed trap.

My inlaws in Tulsa bust on me for going "out of the way" but one inlaw in particular has had several tickets over the years going the "usual" way.

[stillkit]

69/75 isn't as bad as people make it out to be or even as bad as it used to be. Speed limits have changed and the state has a law which allows the OHP to take over police duties in any town which receives more than half its income from speeding tickets. That alone put a lot of the old speed traps out of business.

Yes, every little town from Colbert to Krebs will probably have their cops out, but how hard is it to slow down when the speed limit drops? It ain't rocket science.

Of course, if you insist on trying to "sneak" through at 10 or 15 mph over, you're probably going to get busted, but you'll have no excuse.

Out on the open road between towns, all you'll have to worry about are OHP troopers and they're not so bad most of the time. In fact, on US-69 from Texas to Kansas, the OHP typically writes fewer tickets in a year than does just the Durant and Atoka locals alone.

So, here's what you're up against:

When you cross the state line into Oklahoma north of Denison, TX, the speed limit is 70 mph all the way to Calera. Colbert may have a cop sitting on the shoulder just as you top the overpass at OK-91 or hiding behind the scale house if it's closed. Just maintain 70 from the rest area until you get to the Love's Truck Stop and you'll be fine.

At Calera, the limit drops to first 65, then 55 with plenty of warning. You won't want to go any faster than that anyhow because you've got 3 red lights, two in town and one in front of the Choctaw Casino and the traffic is pretty heavy. Just be aware that the city limits sign is at the top of the hill before you start down into Calera, about a mile and half out, and he's got a hidey-hole over on the right side. When you can see the casino hotel over on the horizon, check your speed.

Durant shouldn't cause you any problems.

At Caddo, he's likely to be underneath the overpass at the only Caddo exit (OK-22), especially at night.

After Caddo, you run through an area of trees where the southbound lane is way over there, past the trees. It looks like you're on a two lane road. When you see a little restaurant on your side called "The Bean Pot," or something related to beans, you're about to drop off into a river bottom and that's where the Caney cop will be, probably in the median.

At Tushka, the limit drops in increments to 45 and the locals will probably be sitting in the entrance to a trailer park on your left or past the gas station as you leave town. However, since Tushka just got creamed by a tornado a few weeks ago, he may not be out there at all. In any case, 45 is a fair speed through there because of cars coming in an out of the stores and because you have no median strip. They've recently put up a red light at the south end of town, so you'll know when you're there.

The limit is 55 from Tushka to Atoka, mainly because of the amount of traffic and because there's nothing between you and the southbound traffic but a yellow line. When you see a big mansion on your right, which is usually lit up at night, you're entering Atoka and the limit is about to drop to 45 before you get to the first of 3 red lights. It stays 45 all the way through town, which I personally think is too fast because there's a lot of traffic going in and out of parking lots. It goes up again to 55 just after you cross over the Muddy Boggy River leaving town and does not go back up to 70 until the city limits, which is about where the Confederate Museum is.

From there on to Stringtown, it's 70 and the road is so rough that much over that and you're liable to bottom out. The city limits is just where you cross over a little bridge north of a mostly abandoned industrial park. The limit drops to 60 all the way through town and goes back up to 70 before you get to the northern limits, which is just past the casino and truck stop. They patrol that pretty heavily.

For the next several miles, it's free sailing and not much to worry about. But, when you see a big power plant coming up on the left (it gives off a LOT of steam and you'll have to be asleep to miss it), get ready for Tushka. The city limits is right across from that power plant, long before you can see the town, just where you cross over the railroad. ODOT generally has a pile of gravel sitting in the median right there and that's the local cops favorite hiding place. It's still a couple of miles from there into town and they patrol it aggressively, so keep it on 70 or less. It drops to 45 through town, so do that and nothing more.

It's wide open country from there to Savanna where the limit drops to 45 again. I've never seen a Savanna cop, so I don't think they have any, but don't go much over that anyhow because there's a truck stop on the north end of town and you're probably going to be caught behind a slow truck anyhow.

It stays at 55 from there to McAlester and I'd do that, if I were you. OHP patrols it regularly and they mean to keep people's speed down. Plus, you have ramp traffic at the Indian Nation Turnpike which requires left turns to get on it. That means cross-traffic and that's always a danger.

The limit goes down to 50 and then 45, I think, on the McAlester bypass, beginning just about at the casino. They're serious about it, especially going down the hill past the drive-in theater (yes, they still have one!) where people generally creep up about 10 miles over. It's a prime hunting spot for them, so watch yourself. Additionally, you're coming into a heavy traffic area with red lights, so slow down and be careful.

After you've passed by the exit to US-270, you'll go up a little hill and think you're home free. You're not. The space between that little hill and a bigger one a mile or two north is both McAlester and Krebs and they DO patrol the heck out of it! So does OHP. I don't think the limit goes back to 70 until you're at the top of that big hill, so maintain all the way. They're mostly watching for folks going the other way who come down that big hill too fast, but they're not averse to watching the northbound side either.

After the top of the hill, you're done worrying about anything until at least Muskogee. It's a good road with a concrete divider in the middle and most people travel it at about 80 or so. You'll HAVE to slow down at Eufaula though or you'll beat your car to death.

That's pretty much it. It's really nothing to worry about. Have a good trip.

ps: If you think the traffic and cops are bad on 69, just wait 'til you get to Branson!

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Farther north the Big cabin area is notorious.

It's a shame that one of the most beautiful parts of the state is plagued with mercenaries committing highway robbery. Central Oklahoma is totally different. If you get a speeding ticket there it's because you were being reckless along with exceeding the speed limit. I lived there for 34 years and never got a speeding ticket until I moved to Missouri.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by Crosstimbers Okie

Farther north the Big cabin area is notorious.

It's a shame that one of the most beautiful parts of the state is plagued with mercenaries committing highway robbery. Central Oklahoma is totally different. If you get a speeding ticket there it's because you were being reckless along with exceeding the speed limit. I lived there for 34 years and never got a speeding ticket until I moved to Missouri.

Yep. The Big Cabin local, and the OHP, watch that 45 mph zone in front of Franks Truck Stop like hawks. The local cop will be in the median, in a pullout on the right side or sitting on the shoulder with no lights on (a VERY bad idea) just as you go over the turnpike. In their defense, though, it really is a congested area with trucks coming and going from the truck stop and traffic entering and exiting the toll booth.

Really, though, other than Big Cabin, the towns from Eufaula on up aren't all that aggressive in their speed limit enforcement, with the sole exception of Pryor, which will sometimes patrol the southern part of town from the industrial park on in. That's not to say they won't be out there doing something, but it just doesn't seem to be as high a priority as it is south of McAlester.

[Soviet]

Thank you SO much, you guys! Especially stillkit; that information is invaluable! I will be very, very careful.

I drove from California to Massachussetts last week: my dad's car had a TomTom navigation system: it had all the speed limits memorized in it, so you can technically NEVER be speeding if you watch what you're doing. I really should get one for this trip, although I already have an in-car navigation system. Problem is, it doesn't have the live update of speed limits. That would be invaluable to avoid revenue generators.