Attention all you lead foot drivers (shoot, that’s me)! Speed racers, slow down and listen (okay, okay, I’m listening)! Gone are the days when the boys in blue allowed for a 5-10mph “cushion” for speeders. Ever since the recession started, it seems that police officers and state troopers everywhere are attempting to fill in the gaps of their budgets with speeding tickets.

"Most people, if they're stopped now, are getting a ticket even if it's only a minor violation of a few miles per hour," says James Baxter,president of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers' rights group.

"…not only are the (speeding) tolerances much lower, but the frequency of a warning instead of a ticket is way down," says Baxter.

Hit the jump for the full story.

We can’t help, but wonder if this situation has anything to do with the new Police Interceptor that was just unveiled in March or the police modified Porsche Panamera we just heard about yesterday. Of course, we know that police officers deserve the very best cars when defending us in the fight against evil, but do they have to take away our small, insignificant speeding “cushion”? Sgt. Michael Edes, chairman of the National Troopers Coalition, which represents 45,000 troopers, denies this allegation.

"I think you'll find (enforcement is) actually the opposite," he says. "A lot of states have cut (trooper) positions or frozen positions. Several states have grounded their aviation unit, so they're not doing as many speed details."

We can only hope that is true, but something tells me that we will need to lay off the gas pedal (damn that recession!) until we can receive some sort of confirmation that this is a hoax. Help us out by telling us your speeding ticket stories especially if you have been a victim of the evaporating speeding “cushion”.