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Speeding tickets go up; accidents downThe number of speeding-related traffic accidents has plummeted during the past four years as the number of citations written by Tennessee Highway Patrol officers has skyrocketed, according to a national highway report released yesterday. The finding was among a number of driving-safety criteria gathered by the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit group representing highway safety agencies from across the country. Also among the findings of the national report, 42 states, including Tennessee, allow drivers a cushion of more than 10 mph above the speed limit before an officer pulls them over. In Tennessee, the percentage of motorists cited for traveling 15 mph or more over the speed limit rose sharply, from about 44% in 2001 to more than 86% last year. That came as no surprise to at least one local police officer, who said that his tolerance for speeders depends on the danger the motorists pose. "In a residential neighborhood and in areas of high traffic volume, you're not going to get much leeway from me if you are speeding," said Sgt. Robert Sheffield, an accident investigator for the Metro Police Department. "If you're traveling 40 in a 30 posted, you're traveling entirely too fast." Some officers might choose to be more lax in a highway setting. "On the interstate, you might get a little more leeway, depending on what the conditions are," Sheffield said. "The bottom line is, you shouldn't expect anything. The posted speed limit is the posted speed limit. A lot is left up to the officer's discretion." The highway report compiled data collected by highway patrol agencies from every state. The information collected varied from state to state, making comparisons impossible. In Tennessee, the number of accidents fell from 3,985 in 2001 to 619 last year. During that same period, citations by the Tennessee Highway Patrol soared from 175,639 to 232,553 in 2004. The report was released about 10 years after Congress repealed the National Maximum Speed Limit, which had required states to keep speed limits at a maximum of 65 mph in rural areas and 55 mph in urban areas. The study concludes that looking the other way when drivers speed "creates an unsafe comfort level at high speeds and could be a safety hazard." In an effort to help reduce speeding-related fatalities and injuries, the Governor's Highway Safety Association is coordinating a National Forum on Speeding later this week in Washington. Tennessee safety officials insisted that despite the report's finding of a 10 mph cushion, motorists should be aware that officers have complete discretion to stop people traveling at any rate above the speed limit. "What's posted is what is allowed, period," said Melissa McDonald, spokeswoman for the state Safety Department. "You can be stopped for anything over the speed limit because you are breaking the law." Copyright 2005, The Tennessean.com . All rights reserved. |
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