Jurisdiction

Austin to San Marcos, Texas

Speed Trap Location

South of Austin 8 miles from San Marcos on I35

Nearest Reference Point

n/a

GPS Coordinates

n/a

Time of Day

Any time of day

Level of Enforcement

High

Type of Enforcement

Radar

Date

5/2002

Frontage roads along I35 are posted 55 MPH. I35 zoomes along at 70 (and over) but watch these frontage roads, there are more sheriff cars here than at the Krispie Kream Shop. (Donut place)

Comment (6/2002): I've read all your complaints about all the tickets you get if you just slow down &do the speed limits you wouldn'thave too worryabout gettingtickets. Going thru a school zone over the posted speedlimits should get you ticket 10 times the normal fine. The little kids might be one of your own family members& might get killed or really injured. People are just in too big of a hurry.You get there in just about the same amount of time save a little gas &maybe even save a life.I've traveled all of the U. S. &can always tell when we are within 50 miles of Austin. The so called drivers play roundup & cry when they have an accident saying it was the other driver's fault.You also see a lot of drivers that not only speeding but also drinking their beer. So befor you have the nerve to complain about the Police doing their jobs stop & think befor you get behind the wheel.Because the life you save may be your own or that of a family member. DRIVE LIKE YOU OWN YOUR CAR & NOT LIKE YOU OWN THE ROAD. That way you have no room to complain if you get a ticket. Leave your Cracker Jack driver's licence at home drive a little more friendly & leave the Police do their jobs too keep our city streets & highways a lot safer for the rest of us.Less accedents less time you sit in traffic. SLOW DOWN &LIVE ENJOY LIFE & ENJOY LESS TICKETS IT ALSO SAVES TOU MONEY ON YOUR AUTO INSURANCE. Thank you &have a real safe day & LIFE.

Comment (6/2002): Dear Safedriver,If the posted speed limits were realistic, people wouldn't be speeding since the limit would correspond better with what is actually a safe speed. Unfortunately other sinister factors enter into the equation such as noise control, citizen pressure, sensational accidents, and the worst of all, revenue generation. I own a radar detector, not because I want to tear up the highway at 90, but because I want, as much as possible, to deny this "revenue" from the dump of a town that chooses to run a speed trap. Otherwise, what reason is there for a 30MPH limit on a road which qualifies for 40 or 45MPH? I'm sorry, I don't take what my government says is "safe" as gospel because safety is not the main concern when it comes to speed laws. Speed by itself does not kill. Inattentive driving kills. We as a society just cannot protect every person from every possible event. It would be silly to ban cars because a few people can't use them correctly; likewise it would be just as silly to put a 20MPH speed limit on the Interstate system. In fact, lower speed limits can be unsafe as well due to drivers that perceive the posted limit as unusually low making unsafe maneuvers to get around slow drivers. These same slow drivers, who often don the mantel of righteousness, often refuse to get out of the way, creating unneeded stress for the other drivers behind them. The solution is to post reasonable speed limits based on sound engineering studies, not to punish the "speeders". Let's face it, if too many people are exceeding the speed limit, that says the posted limit is probably too low for that road. Issuing tickets won't make the road any safer; it just takes money from honest citizens. Spare me the talk about rude drivers, finger pointing, and beer cans as if that only happens in Texas! That stuff happens all over the US. Once you realize that speed laws are about politics and revenue you will come to the same realization.

Comment (7/2002): If you live in Austin you know that it has one of the highest auto fatality rates in the state (if not THE highest). You might also notice that it has more entries on this site than Houston, and 10 times as many as San Antonio, a much larger city. Dallas has 10, Austin has over 50 -- yet Austin's still an extraordinarily dangerous place to drive. Clearly, the high level of speed limit enforcement is not making Austin a safer place to drive.

Comment (7/2002): Interesting comments on the Austin site. I agree with those about the need to observe speed limits. I feel this way in austin and any where else. And, I travel the entire state quite frequently. Austin speed limits are like anywhere else. Some are reasonable --some are not. People who set limits are human and so all speedlimits may not exactly satisfy everyone, but I have never seen any that are overly onerous. About the comments. It seems easy to see which are submitted by either law enforcement officers or zealous supporters and which are not.

Comment (7/2002): Writer of "Austin to San Marcos"... you are absolutely RIGHT - it's the wide difference in speeds (slow, law-abiding, "lane-hogs" vs. faster, "I'm a special case", speed-demons) that results in non-alcohol related accidents! So I guess you would agree with me then when I suggest we petition the state to segregate drivers by the speeds they WISH to drive at, right? Good, now get off MY road!

Comment (7/2002): Sorry buddy, Ft.Worth will probley beat Austin and Dallas far as traffic deaths this year. FW is already at 40 and still and on the rise

Comment (7/2002): Ah yes, but it is making it a lot of money. They now have a new heli and many new bikes with radar. Wonder if they sell stock. Yesterday the driver infront of me locked his brakes when he saw six bikes with radar here causing me to take the break down lane. Very unsafe practice. Austin's speed trap mentality is an embarrassment...and I love the spontaneous road blocks.

Comment (1/2003): Austin as a whole does rank as being a heavily enforced area for speed traps. Interestingly, like others mention, it's not helping the accident rate. Why? Simple. Sure excessive speed for conditions does cause accidents, but it's not just about going over the posted limit. On a clear bright day on an open freeway during non-traffic, it might be perfectly okay to go say 70 or 75 in a 60, but if it's raining you might need to go less. Some drivers don't get it. Austinites are terrible about running stop signs and red lights. AND even the ones that don't speed tailgate. When are the police going to get tailgaters... SLAM ON THE BRAKES FOR THE JERKS. They deserve it. SUE them, too. BACK OFF! Worst area around Austin has got to be Cedar Park just FYI.

Comment (1/2003): Regarding Austin having one of the highest auto fatality rates in the state: One of the primary reasons for that is that the Austin roads that do exist are in horrible condition and have too few lanes. Try driving across town on 35th or 45th or on Koenig Lane between MoPac and IH-35. The people in control of the condition of the streets in Austin (the city council) would have us all riding bicycles and using horses and buggies if they could choose our transportation methods. The roads in Austin are in horrible condition because the city council politicians devote our tax moeny to every "social" program they can conjer up, and spend a tiny percentage (compared to other cities) on road maintenance. Almost NO money is spent inside the MoPac/IH-35 corridor on widening early 1900's roads, expanding those two freeways or building several badly needed east/west cross-town freeways north of the river and south of 183. Nothing will change until the commuters in Austin get off their butts and go to the polls and vote for city council members who are environmentalist/ socialist sympathizers. Until then, Austin will be the laughingstock of Texas and much of the United States regarding its despicably inadequate roads.

Comment (3/2003): Speed limits are a racket. In the past, civil engineers monitored the speed of cars on a given section of road and used their mean speed to set the speed limit. Now it is purely revenue driven. If it was really about safety, then penalties would be expressed as a percentage of posted limits. i.e. 30 mph in 20 is 50% over the limit, while 50 in a 40 is only 25% over the limit, yet both carry the same penalty. It is even more apparent when you get into higher speeds. Can anyone actually claim with a straight face that 75 in a 65 is really as dangerous as 30 in a 20? I refuse to be bullied, and as a matter of principle I drive 7 mph over the posted limit, whatever it is!

Comment (9/2003): Traffic engineers do traffic surveys on ALL roads in Austin per ordinance. YOUR elected city officials are given the results of the surveys and 99% of the time they go with the traffic engineers speed, for liability issues no doubt. Occassionally I have seen residential speed limits lowered due to public concern, but that is very rare. In the US the roads are built for maximum traffic flow, not maximum speed. If we as a country want roads like the autobahn, we will have to change alot of things. In Germany, the government tests tires and vehicle equipment on all vehicles. They will only let you put "approved" tires and equipment on your vehicle. In addition drivers go through extensive driver training and it is very expensive and difficult. German drivers also pay VERY high taxes to pay for thier roads. I don't see the American public ever accepting those terms to have a "high speed" roadway system.

Comment (2/2004): I avoid Austin-San Marcos IH 35 like the plague. As a person who travels a great deal I've driven in most of the metropolitan areas in this good old USA. And with out a question, that stretch of highway is one of the worst in the nation. The traffic is always conjested, the drivers act like beginners and every one thinks he owns the left lane. People cut in and out of lanes, cut you off and cause near accidents. I would welcome a hundred more officers patroling that stretch. If some one gets ticketed, its most likely deserved.

Comment (2/2004): I got pulled over in south Austin by Austin highway enforcement who was pacing me, thus no alarms went off on the radar detector. He said I was doing well over eighty but he only wrote eighty on the ticket. He was absolutely correct. I was the third car in a line cruising at 90 mph, and usually the first car would get stopped by radar or laser. But in this case, the caboose got caught by being paced! Watch out for this kind of detection.