Before you motor off to your holiday destination, take a look at the National Motorists Association's list of places where you're likely to encounter overly aggressive traffic enforcement.

Most often that means places where cops lurk beyond curves in the road, waiting to give you tickets for speeding. Locals know where they're stationed, but tourists don't. Use NMA's list to plan an itinerary that avoids speed traps.

That's not to say that going faster than the posted speed limit is an acceptable practice. Make no mistake; you're not being advised to break the law — not even by the generally accepted 5 mph above the posted limit.

When you're driving on unfamiliar highways and byways, it's best to be conservative. But sometimes even that doesn't save you from a ticketing trap.

Last year, I was "trapped" in the town of Ogunquit, Maine, for failure to obey lane controls. What does that mean? I'm still not sure. But here's what happened:

I was driving within the speed limit in the right lane. When the lane ended, I merged left, following signs that instructed me to do so and pulling in front of a car that was behind me in the left lane. Normal, right? When I stopped at the next red light, the driver of that vehicle pulled up behind me. I noticed in my rearview mirror that he was shaking his fists at me. He scared me. When the light turned green, I drove forward and took the first chance I had to get away from that man by passing the car that was driving in front of me.

About 30 minutes later and a dozen or so miles down the road, a police car with flashing lights sped up behind me. I pulled to the side of the road. The police car stopped behind me. The officer demanded my license and registration and told me someone had called in to report I had changed lanes illegally. I finally figured out what he was referring to — and found out that the person who'd called was the man who'd shaken his fists at me. The cop wrote me a ticket — based on someone's called-in allegation. Not only that, he wouldn't reveal the man's identity. How bogus!

I was so incensed I drove to the police station in Ogunquit to make a complaint — against the officer who gave me a ticket and the unnamed driver who'd shaken his fists at me.

The police refused to take my complaint and were downright rude. I followed up with phone calls to the chief of police and to a local newspaper reporter, who wrote an article about what had happened to me.

Eventually, I drove back to Maine to go to court. It was just as bad an experience as the ticketing and police station encounters had been. The cop and fist shaker turned up together, all buddy-buddy, and the judge barely listened to what I had to say. Others — especially those from neighboring New Hampshire — who were in court to contest tickets they'd received, confided to me that they'd never drive in Maine unless they were in vehicles with Maine plates.

I know I'll follow their advice, and I advise all tourists to do the same. Or maybe it's just best not to drive in Maine at all.

What does NMA's speed trap list say about Maine? The state's worst speed trap is in Kittery, a town that's not too far south of Ogunquit and attracts hoards of tourists for discount shopping at dozens of designer outlet stores. The NMA list also mentions Augusta, Falmouth and Portland as problematic.

Maine, however, isn't the nation's only state with speed traps. According to the NMA list, every state — including Alaska and Hawaii — has egregious speed traps where an inordinate number of summons is issued. The organization doesn't designate the national champ but lists a top offender plus three dishonorable mentions for each state. You can study the entire list on MNA's Web site: www.motorists.org/blog/speed-traps/the-worst-speed-trap-cities-in-the-united-states).

The Web site also offers good pointers about how you can fight a traffic ticket should you fall prey to a trap. I wish I'd read their advice before returning to Maine to contest my undeserved ticket.

To find out more about Jennifer Merin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 JENNIFER MERIN

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