seig f'n heil, ya fascist douchebag
Posted on 04/01/2013 4:28:02 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
LAUREL, Md. - Since the Intercounty Connector opened, nearly 7,000 speeding tickets have been issued, according to documents obtained by WTOP.
While most tickets are clearly violations, some raise questions for drivers.
Police issued nearly 200 tickets to drivers going less than 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. On Oct. 6, 2011, a driver was ticketed for going 59 mph.
"That's crazy. I've never heard of that before and I don't understand it," says Sergio Gutierrez of Laurel.
He says it's confusing, especially with the recent story of Maryland State Police ticketing a woman for driving 62 mph in the left lane of Interstate 95 in Laurel.
The speed limit on that stretch is 65 mph.
"It's not fair," he says. "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't."
With thousands of speeding tickets being issued, Alan Bonney of Laurel wonders whether something else is going on.
"Sounds like somebody needs money. Perhaps the police are just trying to meet a quota," Bonney says.
Eric Henning of Laurel says drivers may be breaking the speed limit, but says police really need to be looking for another ICC problem.
"If you're really interested in safety, you should be going after drivers weaving in and out of traffic," says Eric Henning of Laurel.
Maryland Transportation Authority Police say that officers have discretion as to when it's appropriate to enforce traffic laws.
"A driver who exceeds the posted speed limit by even 1 mph is violating the law and is at risk of being charged for excessive speed," says Sgt. Jonathan Green with the agency.
"It is important to note that the risk of injury during a motor vehicle collision increases as vehicle speed increases, making speed enforcement critical in terms of maintaining highway safety," he says.
Police also note that the 200 tickets represent less than 3 percent of the 7,000 tickets.
On Saturday, March 30, the speed limit on the ICC will go up from 55 mph to 60 mph. A Maryland Transportation Authority study found the highway can support the higher speed limit without any safety risk.
Only a half-dozen drivers have received speeding tickets going 60 mph or less on the ICC. The latest case happened last October.
On the other end are tickets that are less debatable. Sixteen drivers were caught driving over 100 mph on the ICC.
In fact, on Sept. 17, 2011, a driver was pulled over for going 140 mph.
"Wow, OK. That driver is definitely in need of a ticket. That's completely unsafe," Gutierrez says.
"I can't understand how anyone would go that fast on a public road. If you want to go that fast, rent out a race track," Henning says.
"This is not the Autobahn in Germany. That driver should be locked up. It's people like those who put the safety of everyone at risk," says Raymond Kuhns of Laurel.
Green tells WTOP the driver challenged the ticket in court, but a judge found him guilty.
While most of the people with whom WTOP spoke aren't convinced a higher speed limit will do much, they hope it won't encourage more drivers to become speedsters.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
It’s their revised business model. Same with the sparsely used Lexus Lanes in NoVA.
O’Mally is hungry.
Crazy thing is no one is using the ICC anyway so he is trying to drive away those who do.
What on earth is a Lexus Lane?
A “Lexus Lane” is also known as an express lane or High Occupancy or Toll (HOT) lane. These lanes utilize congestion pricing (variable tolls) to keep them free-flowing, and they are typically built next to free lanes on a freeway. The more congested the freeway, the higher the price, except for car pools, which are allowed to use them for free. Some express lanes, however, are not HOT lanes, and everybody to uses them pays.
An example of a HOT lanes project is the six HOT lanes being added to the LBJ Freeway between I-35E and US 75 in Dallas.
seig f'n heil, ya fascist douchebag
The “Lexus Lane” terminology is based on the misconception that the lanes will be mainly utilized by wealthy drivers.
If you were an important person, like a government employee, wouldn’t you like a road, such as the ICC al to yourself?
Something like this could fit within Agenda 21, drive people into controlled roads.
Thanks for the explanation.
I can’t think when the last time I was on a toll road was...........We don’t have many around here, but I never use them.
When you’re retired, you never have to be in a hurry-—LOL!
On 495 (Northern VA) in the afternoon, the lexus lanes have at least 3 different cops on the 14 mile stretch...none in the commoner lanes.
Just one more reason to stay the hell away from the hell-hole that DC has become.
Time for some civil disobedience. Drive the minimum speed. They can’t ticket you for that and the resulting traffic jam will bring more publicity to the issue.
Another example of our police being turned into revenue agents with guns. A form of taxation without representation ...legal extortion.
Of course like everything else engineered by democratic party trash, if you criticize the obvious extortion, the built it come back label is...”you’re unsafe”.
No one’s speedometer is that accurate.
In my neighborhood, if you want to find an example of a vehicle ignoring stop signs, failing to signal, speeding and with the driver distracted communicating with someone, just look for a police cruiser.
Of course, they’re highly trained drivers, unlike us peons. Same way they’re highly trained marksmen.
He told me that as a matter of policy "we'll give you 10 due to the limitations of the gear, but over 10 you'll likely get a ticket"
Here in NE Florida we had a good ole boy for sheriff for many years. He did some traffic patroling but was not excessive in ticket writing. The new locals, mostly transplanted yankees decided they needed a new sheriff and elected a guy’s whose resume was a highway patrolman. So, now we have radar, speed patrols, DUI checkpoints and people complaining about the excessive traffic enforcement. Note to transplanting Yankees, you will like it better in Miami or staying where you are.
It’s a TOLL road - so perhaps drivers believe they have paid for the privilege of getting to their destinations as quickly as possible.
Read the Maryland TA rationale (revenue) for tolls and peak hours.
http://www.mdta.maryland.gov/ICC/Toll_Rates.html
The MDTA will continuously monitor traffic volumes and may adjust the toll rates periodically to manage traffic volumes or help meet revenue needs.
Pay to play!!!
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