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.
Old adage - “Over 9, pay the fine”.
Seems like they want to make it a little tighter. Unfortunately, speedometers aren’t perfectly accurate on most cars so you can be going a few MPH slower or faster than indicated.
The only time we use the toll roads is when we go to ABIA during rush hour. Did you hear about the driver that hit a herd of wild hogs on the 85 MPH part of SH 130 last week? It was almost dark and about 35 hogs ran in front of their car.
There is a toll road, 130, that goes around Austin because of the heavy traffic on I-35 and has a feeder that drops down to 1-10 that is about 35mi long. Total about 80mi.
The speed limit on the Austin circle in 80mph and the feeder to I-10 is 85mph. In Texas, you can only drive about 5mph over without a ticket, but I don’t ever see many cops on it. More wild hogs than cops.
The road was supposed to get some of the heavy traffic off of the beltway, but the tolls are so high that the traffic is sparse, making that objective unlikely.
People have been clamoring for an ICC since the early 90’s. They wanted a better way to get to work. Maryland gave them in return was a 14 mile long speed trap masquerading as a toll road. And they wonder why nobody takes it.
Probably more wild hogs than cars, too.
“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.
Technically correct.
But soooo schtupid.
That's what they call "taxing the rich".
Good gosh! No, I didn’t hear about that.
What was the outcome?
From what I hear, I don’t think there’s been a total of 7,000 cars on that road since it opened.
I think the vehicle rolled several times, but all the passengers lived.
That’s a miracle in itself. Glad to hear it!
Better and more generally known as high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
In the People’s Police State of New Jersey, the state with the highest trough eater density outside of DC, cruise control is your friend. However setting it exactly at the speed limit causes dangerous levels of road rage, especially if the limit is 25 mph and the car behind you has law enforcement license plates.
This is bullshite.
When Montana got rid of interstate speed limits, average speed increased, but fatalities were reduced.
The key here is that people don't generally want to die. If you have a group of cars cruising along at 90 MPH, their biggest concern is a moron in the left lane running at 50, not the other cars travelling at speed.
Another unintended consequence - issuing so many suspect speeding tickets will only deter commuters from using this route. Drivers are speeding on the Beltway - but it’s too labor intensive and disruptive to pull them over in rush hour!!!
If these ‘brilliant’ MDTA minds had any clue - they would increase the speed limit on 200 and issue tickets on the Beltway. More tolls and more tickets = more money!!!!
Having escaped from the LIB hell-hole, MD, last year, I can say that they are mentally incapacitated there. An incredible hundreds of millions was spent of a road (the ICC) that for-the-most-part no one uses. The state purchased the right of way in the 1950’s but the various LIB asshat pinheads delayed it for 50+ years with various EPA-type concerns. Also, the LIB morons were using the vacant right-of-way as parks...and that was another problem to resolve. Here in Utah we don’t seem to have such problems. Free at last...Thank God...Free at last!!!!!
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