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I considered this as well before writing my comment and it's a very good point. Keep in mind that half the tickets cited in the article were over 65 mph, so the

I considered this as well before writing my comment and it's a very good point. Keep in mind that half the tickets cited in the article were over 65 mph, so they also would have been above the speed limit even without the change. The disappearance of the divider and merging of the traffic lanes, which drivers should be able to see well ahead of time, are also very clear indicators that they are entering a town and should slow down. Louisiana has many small highways like Route 165 where the speed limit changes in towns. Having grown up in the state, I know of many speed traps like Fenton. Most people would know to reduce their speed. However, Louisiana has little traffic enforcement in general and speeding on rural roads is very common. The state should definitely put up more signs outside the town warning them to slow down. More warnings should be issued rather than tickets as well. But Louisiana also needs to improve its driving.

WesolyKubeczek 3y ago
From your description, it sounds much like 90% of Poland except your roads are way too wide (and thus welcome drivers to go at a higher speed). Gosh, how we even survive here, every town is a speed trap town!
- dizhn 3y ago
  They are scary too with their HUGE man size binoculars waiting for you. By the way. Poland. The only place on earth I ever got ticketed for jaywalking.
Brybry 3y ago
The best fix would probably be to change the roads to prevent the speed limit drop in the first place. RS 32:61 [1] mandates a speed limit drop there (though only to 55) because it goes from multilane divided highway to multilane highway. A frontage road, and merge/exit lanes as needed, and keep it divided highway the whole way and then it's no longer an issue. We use highways and interstates as main streets way too much in Louisiana. [1] https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?p=y&d=88480 https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?p=y&d=88480
- Symbiote 3y ago
  65mph traffic through a village is noisy, and makes it more difficult to cross the road as a pedestrian. There's also a railroad, cemetery and several buildings in the way of expanding the road.
  - Luc 3y ago
    That's more than 100 km/h. Without traffic lights that's not safe to cross as a pedestrian.
    - alwayslikethis 3y ago
      It's also rather unsafe to have traffic lights at all at such speeds. It's really hard to stop at 100 km/h.
  - tremon 3y ago
    and makes it more difficult to cross the road as a pedestrian A five-lane road is already hard to cross, regardless of the traffic speed. I understand that this design is common in the US, but it boggles my mind that people would even consider crossing a road of that size as a pedestrian unless the traffic speed was 15 mph or less. Something like that would be solved by a bridge or tunnel in developed countries.
    - verve_rat 3y ago
      Not in a town of 200 people it wouldn't.
      - Symbiote 3y ago
        If there's money to build a 5-lane road, there would have been money to build the footbridge or tunnel. But more realistically, in other countries the 4-lane road would go around the village, and a 2-lane road with a low speed limit through it.
starkparker 3y ago
The other part with Louisiana cops, especially small-towners, is that they have little to no desire to be accurate. They'll radar-clock an 18-wheeler going 70 in a 55 and pull over the car with Texas plates and a LSU Alexandria student parking sticker that the truck was passing, because it's easier to catch and the kid or their parents won't dream of contesting the ticket. Likewise, locals who do speed through on the regular have a Fraternal Order sticker or a relative of the DA on speed-dial knowing the cop who issues that ticket will conveniently fail to show up to court and the fine will get dismissed.

WesolyKubeczek 3y ago

From your description, it sounds much like 90% of Poland except your roads are way too wide (and thus welcome drivers to go at a higher speed). Gosh, how we even survive here, every town is a speed trap town!

dizhn 3y ago
They are scary too with their HUGE man size binoculars waiting for you. By the way. Poland. The only place on earth I ever got ticketed for jaywalking.

Brybry 3y ago

The best fix would probably be to change the roads to prevent the speed limit drop in the first place. RS 32:61 [1] mandates a speed limit drop there (though only to 55) because it goes from multilane divided highway to multilane highway. A frontage road, and merge/exit lanes as needed, and keep it divided highway the whole way and then it's no longer an issue. We use highways and interstates as main streets way too much in Louisiana. [1] https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?p=y&d=88480 https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?p=y&d=88480

Symbiote 3y ago
65mph traffic through a village is noisy, and makes it more difficult to cross the road as a pedestrian. There's also a railroad, cemetery and several buildings in the way of expanding the road.
- Luc 3y ago
  That's more than 100 km/h. Without traffic lights that's not safe to cross as a pedestrian.
  - alwayslikethis 3y ago
    It's also rather unsafe to have traffic lights at all at such speeds. It's really hard to stop at 100 km/h.
- tremon 3y ago
  and makes it more difficult to cross the road as a pedestrian A five-lane road is already hard to cross, regardless of the traffic speed. I understand that this design is common in the US, but it boggles my mind that people would even consider crossing a road of that size as a pedestrian unless the traffic speed was 15 mph or less. Something like that would be solved by a bridge or tunnel in developed countries.
  - verve_rat 3y ago
    Not in a town of 200 people it wouldn't.
    - Symbiote 3y ago
      If there's money to build a 5-lane road, there would have been money to build the footbridge or tunnel. But more realistically, in other countries the 4-lane road would go around the village, and a 2-lane road with a low speed limit through it.

starkparker 3y ago

The other part with Louisiana cops, especially small-towners, is that they have little to no desire to be accurate. They'll radar-clock an 18-wheeler going 70 in a 55 and pull over the car with Texas plates and a LSU Alexandria student parking sticker that the truck was passing, because it's easier to catch and the kid or their parents won't dream of contesting the ticket. Likewise, locals who do speed through on the regular have a Fraternal Order sticker or a relative of the DA on speed-dial knowing the cop who issues that ticket will conveniently fail to show up to court and the fine will get dismissed.