'Speeding Ticket Frenzy' in Tennessee
Netlore Archive: July 2006 version of a familiar email hoax claims a 'speeding ticket frenzy' will take place in Tennessee, with highway patrol officers handing out tickets every 10 minutes to collect more fines and increase the state's revenues.
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: July 2006 (this version)
Status: False
Email example contributed by Lisa M., July 19, 2006:
|
Subject: Speeding ticket alert! Tennessee will launch a 30-day speeding ticket frenzy beginning July 31, 2006. The state of Tennessee estimates t hat 9 million dollars will be generated in speeding tickets. 1 million will go to pay state troopers overtime. There will be 57 state troopers on duty at all times patrolling. They will be patrolling the following: I-24 east and west Now 5 mph above the limit can justify a ticket and every state trooper is supposed to pull a car over and write a ticket every 10 minutes. They have issued 30 brand new unmarked Crown Victoria cruisers and they are bringing all their part timers on full time. I was told 101.5 FM confirmed all of this. So be safe and don't forget speeding tickets are on you. |
Analysis: False. This message first surfaced as an unfounded rumor in the state of New Jersey in May 2005 and has reappeared with such frequency that I am now labeling it a hoax. The current version claims a "speeding ticket frenzy" is about to take place in Tennessee, but check the wording -- it's all but identical to previous versions naming Michigan, Texas, California, and New Jersey as the locale.
The Tennessean took note of the hoax on July 28, 2006, reporting that the Tennessee Highway Patrol had sent around an email notifying all employees and officers of the false information. "THP spokeswoman Julie Oaks said similar rumor e-mails have been circulated in the past in Tennessee and other states, and that it's become a common urban legend," the paper stated. "She said the state Safety Department, the THP's parent agency, does not know how the e-mail got started."
Share This Article
Sources and further reading:
THP: Email Warning of Ticket Blitz Is a Hoax
The Tennessean, 28 July 2006
Last updated: 07/29/06
