Friday, January 26, 2007
Troopers do work sitting in median
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
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Q: If police visibility is the best deterrent to speeders, why do state troopers hide in the median? Wouldn't visibility to drivers be maximized when the trooper is embedded in traffic? Similarly, why do troopers employ unmarked cars?
-- Ed Trottier, Moneta
A: These are really intriguing questions, so I was very pleased when Corinne Geller, Virginia State Police public relations manager, provided detailed answers that explain how and why troopers do what they do.
"Stationary radar and patrol have proven to be equally effective," she wrote in an e-mail that compared the merits of both methods.
One thing I learned is that troopers may have other reasons for their actions than handing out speeding tickets. An unmarked police car, for instance, is useful in surveillance and drug operations, she noted.
Likewise, troopers "hiding in the median" may be there for a reason other than a speed trap.
"Please keep in mind that the trooper staged in the median crossover may be checking for a particular vehicle (e.g., a reckless, drunken, or hit-and-run driver called in to state police dispatch by another motorist). The trooper may also be finishing up an accident report."
But whatever he or she is doing, the car itself is telling people to slow down.
"A stationary trooper in the median can impact the speeds of those traveling in both directions," Geller explained. "A trooper on patrol will typically only affect the speeds of those vehicles traveling within the immediate vicinity of the state police vehicle."
Clearly, some troopers do park in places where there's very little visibility to motorists. This is effective, too, according to Geller.
Because we all know that troopers do this, we all know that we can be caught for speeding even though we don't see a trooper.
This will either "deter the violator's hazardous behavior or allow the trooper to witness the violation and stop the offending vehicle."
This goes for unmarked police cars, too. They create an unknown factor that drivers need to consider before stepping on the gas.
And they do something else, too. They save money.
"The money that would have been spent on additional light bars, antennas and decals can instead be put towards putting more vehicles and more troopers on the road," Geller explained.
Q: Going back and forth on Interstate 81, I have wondered what the "Safety Corridor" is, between here and Roanoke. Seems to be exactly the same as anywhere else, except fines for violations are higher. I don't get it.
-- B.R. Culbertson, Blacksburg
A: Actually, it sounds like you got it. The higher fines are meant to make things safer.
"A segment of I-81 from Ironto to Salem and segments of I-95 in Richmond and I-95 in Prince William County have been identified as Highway Safety Corridors because of their higher-than-expected crash rates and crash severity, including injuries and fatalities," the Virginia Department of Transportation reported in a 2006 press release.
Our local safety corridor was started in 2004, according to VDOT spokesman Jason Bond.
At that time, state police Capt. Charles Compton announced, "With increased enforcement and higher fines, we can enhance safety on this section of I-81, which seems to be a high crash location."
A ticket for speeding in the safety corridor can be for as much as $500; reckless driving and DUI fines can be as much as $2,500.
Does it work? Well, according to VDOT data from the first two years of the corridor, the results have been mixed. Several more years of data should give us a better picture of the corridor's effect.
During the first year, incidents on the Ironto-Salem stretch increased. During the second year, 2005, the number of incidents dropped dramatically. However, there was a fatality in 2005, something that had not occurred in the previous five years. (To see the data, visit www.vdot.virginia.gov/travel/ct-highway-safety-corridor-data.asp.)
This shouldn't be the last you hear about the corridors. VDOT has $200,000 of federal funds to spend on spreading the word. Their ad features a speedometer with 55 mph replaced by the word "life" and 65 mph replaced by "death."
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to tomangleberger@yahoo.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.
Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Fridays.
