"It is primarily a tool in many communities to raise revenue," Louisiana state Rep. Hollis Downs, who represents two parishes in north-central Louisiana, says of the town's aggressive traffic enforcement -- what others might call speed traps.
Some of my time growing up was in a small town on US 322. Most of the speeding tickets were handed out near my house by State Police - we only had one constable. Travelers would come in at highway speed, having ignored the warning signs of "reduce speed ahead" and "dangerous curve."
Every tree in our front yard bore the scars of vehicle impacts. The guardrail that protected a house on the other end of the curve was taken out a couple times a year. We were finally tagged as a "speed trap" by AAA and it seemed to be somewhat effective in cutting down the number of accidents in the Summer.
I think I know exactly where you are talking about, having been assigned to ROTC duty at Penn State in the early 1990's. Somewhere around Milroy, PA??