KTHV has an eye opening report on the legendary speed trap of Damascus, a tiny town along busy Highway 65 on the Van Buren and Faulkner county line north of Conway. Damascus has a population of only 385, but their four officers wrote a whopping 2,032 speeding tickets in 2014.
By contrast, Greenbrier — a city of 5,111 souls on the same highway, with the same posted speed limit — wrote just 654 speeding tickets in 2014. Conway PD, serving a city of 63,816 with Interstate 40 running through the middle of it, reportedly wrote 767 speeding tickets last year.
Within the city limits of Damascus, the posted speed limit along the four-lane Highway 65 is 45 miles per hour.
Arkansas happens to have a speed trap law on the books, which forbids any municipality from taking in more than 30 percent of their yearly revenue from speeding tickets or ticket-related court costs. The Damascus police chief tells KTHV he doesn’t know the exact amount of revenue the city receives from speeding citations.
Best advice: If you’ve got a lead foot and need to motor from Conway to Clinton, Harrison or points north, seek alternate routes or set the cruise control at 40 while passing through Damascus. Your pocketbook will thank you. .