It may have been the late 70's or early 80's. We were on our annual trek from Little Rock to Brownsville to visit family, with my wife taking a turn at the wheel, when we were stopped in either Corrigan or Diboll, TX for going slightly over the speed limit.
It was a thinly-built police officer who stopped us, a no nonsense female equivalent to Barney Fife, I remember thinking at the time.
It wasn't just the issuance of a ticket, but the officer demanded we follower her to make immediate payment.
We complied, following the cop to a metal building that housed the city jail, judge's chambers and police station, all in one.
"What if we don't have the money?" my wife asked, still annoyed with the traffic stop.
"Then, you'll stay in jail until you get the money," the officer responded.
We paid with a credit card.
Rightly or wrongly, we always viewed that town as a speed trap and cursed it every time we drove through in subsequent years.
My question is: Are there still towns in Texas with the reputation of being so-called speed traps?
Are there any in Cameron County?
Los Fresnos used to have such a reputation and perhaps Port Isabel.
Leaving Port Isabel once, at dusk in 2004, I was urgently pulled over on the shoulder of Highway 48. The officer said I was pulled over because one of my two license plate lights had burned out, but it seemed he was checking me out for the odor of alcohol and scanning my vehicle for what he might find.
He let me go with a reminder to "drive safely."
A few year earlier, in Arroyo City, I left a pachanga at Chili Willies and was quickly followed all the way home by a constable, who closely tailed me until I turned into my driveway near the edge of Adolph Thomae Park.
Are there any towns we need to be wary of in our area, particularly watching our speed?
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