Cameras now off, Loop 101 drivers floor it 1 car clocked at 139 mph on Day 1 without monitors
Michael Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
The day after Scottsdale's Loop 101 cameras went dark, the number of speeders going 11 mph or more over the limit nearly doubled.
Sensors embedded along the 8-mile stretch detected 1,592 speeders going 76 mph or faster Tuesday, compared with the 800-a-day average snapped during the nine-month test ending Monday night.
During January's ticket-free grace period, the daily average was 1,006. Tuesday's number, including one car going at a top speed of 139 mph, is the highest recorded since this spring, Scottsdale spokesman Mike Phillips said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety says it will not add patrols to Scottsdale's strip of the Loop 101.
"The way we patrol is not based on an 8-mile stretch," DPS spokesman Harold Sanders said. "It's just part of an area we have to maintain."
The agency considers adding patrols where statistics show an increase in DUI-related incidents, collisions or complaints about aggressive driving, he said.
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:13 am Post subject:
Hey, if the majority or people are doing 80, the only problems are caused by those slow bastards who are only doing 60. There should be a minimum speed limit of 70 on all freeways. If you can't keep up, get off the road.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:48 am Post subject:
I've no doubt the cameras slowed traffic over the stretch they operated. I will, however, be more interested in seeing if there was a significant decrease in accidents as a result...
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Jim McLennan
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I will, however, be more interested in seeing if there was a significant decrease in accidents as a result...
There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a decrease in not only the number of accidents, but the severity of them as well... But granted, most of the traffic during the week never approaches the speed limit (rush hour)
I am hoping they start putting those on the 60 as well...
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:56 am Post subject:
When I first moved here in 2000, the 101 had just opened not too long before, and the posted speed limit was 55. Of course most people drove about 65-75.
Shortly after, the speed limit was raised to 65, and of course everyone drives 75-85
What a [sarcasm]shock[/sarcasm] it was to learn a year or two after the limit was raised to 65 that the accident rate went up sharply.
They should just put the damn limit at 55, and people will tend to drive under 75, which would accomplish the same thing they are trying to do now.
Shoe - My opinion is that the real difference is the expectation of getting caught... its much greater with the cameras.. thats the real deterent...
The problem i have about lowering the speed limit, is that I am the guy who is going to obey it, and go 60, and get run ovber buy the guy whos going 100... The guy who is going 100 is playing the odds he wont get caught, he doesnt care if the limit is 55 or 65... The cameras ensure (at least more so) that he is going to get caught...
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:31 am Post subject:
qudjy1 wrote:
I am hoping they start putting those on the 60 as well...
Just as or more dangerous are the retirees driving 60 MPH in the fast lane with a posted speed limit of 65, causing frustrated commuters to weave around them.
Just as or more dangerous are the retirees driving 60 MPH in the fast lane with a posted speed limit of 65, causing frustrated commuters to weave around them.
I agree... Im not against a minimum at all
Enforcing the speed limits lessens the difference between the fastest and slowest drivers... making it safer for those in the middle...
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject:
the problem with arizona is that nobody here is a native arizona driver. we all learned to drive somewhere else. so the freeways here are a mix of a thousand different styles.
i learned to drive fast. i like to drive fast. i have never caused an accident, and i have never gotten a ticket. but when i'm on the 101, i usually drive around 80 or so. (though it should be noted that i'm not on the 101 in rush hour times; i have a weird work schedule, so it's usually pretty empty.)
i HATED the cameras, just because everyone drove around 75-85, and at the first camera, everyone seemed to slam on the brakes. then they sped up again. then slammed on the brakes at the next camera.
that kind of jerky pattern in traffic is more dangerous than driving consistently fast, IMO.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:20 pm Post subject:
I don't understand how someone can drive for 10+ years and never get a ticket. I've had about 8-10 (including one in OR and CA) (most are speeding). Currently I have no points on my record and haven't used traffic school in a long time
I've probably recieved about as many verbal or written warnings for speeding, rolling stops, etc. I must have bad luck.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:47 pm Post subject:
McCray, nobody is driving much more than 30 at rush hour times on the 101, in either direction......oh, and rush "hour" starts about 2:30-3:00 PM in the afternoons.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:53 pm Post subject:
Been driving for almost 20 years, and have never had a ticket. One verbal warning for speeding, and that was it.
As McCray pointed out, we rapidly learned where the cameras were, and this led to a lot of speeding up/slowing down, which is exactly what causes a good number of accidents. Also, if you're a bad driver, then I don't thinking driving at 75mph rather than 80mph is going to make all that much difference: "unsafe at any speed", as I believe the phrase is.
But as I've said before, the concept of a fixed speed limit makes little real sense: what's safe at 3am on a Tuesday with no other vehicles on the road, is radically different from what's safe at 8am Monday morning. What's dangerous should be the deciding factor, not some arbitrary figure - 55mph was fixed more than 30 years ago, before many improvements in auto safety - even then, it was intended to save gas, not lives, and was apparently of questionable worth at both.
However, enforcing a sensible law against dangerous speed could not be done automatically, providing a nice little earner for both operators and cities. I remain largely unconvinced that safety is really the main purpose of these cameras, rather than taxation.
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Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:29 pm Post subject:
shoewizard wrote:
McCray, nobody is driving much more than 30 at rush hour times on the 101, in either direction......oh, and rush "hour" starts about 2:30-3:00 PM in the afternoons.
wow, sucks to work a normal job, then. i don't take the 101 to work in the am because i drop the gf off at work. i just take it home, and i work late so i avoid normal rush hours. i'm usually out on the 101 around midnight, tonight it'll be about 3am or so.
but yeah, never had a ticket in my life. when i was growing up, my dad always talked about his "spider sense" that told him when cops were waiting up ahead in a speedtrap. he could just tell, and slowed down. now whenever i get that weird feeling, i slow down, and sometimes there's a cop, sometimes there isn't.
but i've never been busted.
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Results are out on the cameras... just heard on KTAR.
Average speed reduced 9mph and accidents down "between 26% and 73%" (whatever that means), when comparing when cameras were being used, and when they were not.
Edit - found this on azrep...
Quote:
Cameras slowed Loop 101 drivers
Michael Ferraresi
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 4, 2007 12:00 AM
Scottsdale's Loop 101 speed-enforcement cameras met city officials' expectations in slowing drivers and reducing the severity of freeway collisions during the technology's 2006 debut, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday.
The early data, part of an ongoing analysis by a team of ASU traffic researchers, also suggest photo enforcement could save Arizona drivers as much as $45 million per year in medical and insurance bills by decreasing the chance for serious wrecks.
Scottsdale officials will continue to work this winter with the Arizona departments of Public Safety and Transportation, in addition to other agencies, to determine if the positive early feedback could make the cameras a permanent fixture on the state's freeways. advertisement
A final report by ASU traffic expert Simon Washington will not be complete until this spring, though the Scottsdale City Council will review Washington's early findings Jan. 16.
The early numbers also estimate that as many as 1,260 drivers are speeding daily through Scottsdale's seven-mile test stretch between Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard. That's an increase of more than 850 percent from the 130 drivers caught daily, on average, before the cameras were switched off in October after a $1.4 million, nine-month test.
"Detections are still increasing at those locations on the Loop 101," Washington said. "More and more drivers are exceeding 76 mph."
The freeway cameras at six locations along Scottsdale's stretch of Loop 101 are still collecting freeway data as Washington and his team complete their findings. Oct. 23 was the last day citations were issued to drivers clocked at 76 mph or faster.
Washington conducted three different analyses of Loop 101, looking at freeway driver behavior before, during and after the program, taking various factors into account, such as population growth, slow rush-hour traffic and other changes since 2001.
"These are our best estimates as to how the program benefits Arizona," he said. "We've made a 6.5-mile stretch of the Loop 101 a lot safer, but what about the rest of the freeway?"
According to Washington's preliminary report:
• The mean speed of drivers on Scottsdale's camera-controlled stretch of the freeway dropped by 10 mph, from 74 mph to 64 mph under photo enforcement.
• Depending on the type of wreck, the total number of collisions was reduced by as much as 70 percent, based on a comparison with a stretch of Loop 101 in the West Valley.
• Injuries from rear-end collisions and sideswipe incidents were down, which could translate to more than $45 million saved on accident damage per year.
Washington said that his team is still collecting speed and crash data from other parts of Loop 101 and will update the numbers this spring.
In fact, much of Scottsdale's program is still in flux months after the last speeding citations was captured on digital video.
As many as 11,000 freeway photo-enforcement tickets are still pending, according to Scottsdale City Court Administrator Janet Cornell, and Scottsdale has collected nearly $1 million from the program, after expenses.
State officials have collected more than $2.3 million in surcharges from freeway photo-enforcement tickets through November. DPS Cmdr. Tom Woodward, who oversees East Valley highway patrols, said he hopes, if the technology is proven effective, that the state will take control of the program from Scottsdale.
However, he added there needs to be an efficient way DPS patrols can avoid being flashed by the cameras while speeding to emergency calls.
"It has become a big deterrent for our officers working in that area," Woodward said.
"We haven't put out (or commented) a lot because we didn't want to rush to judgment until we could see some statistics."
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:47 am Post subject:
Quote:
DPS Cmdr. Tom Woodward, who oversees East Valley highway patrols, said he hopes, if the technology is proven effective, that the state will take control of the program from Scottsdale.
However, he added there needs to be an efficient way DPS patrols can avoid being flashed by the cameras while speeding to emergency calls.
"It has become a big deterrent for our officers working in that area," Woodward said.
How in the world can this be a "deterrent" for police officers? After all, who is going to give a cop a speeding ticket?
Of course, the truth is that cops speed, just as does everyone else. I've always thought that, when they are responding to an emergency, they should be required to have lights on, or sirens sounding, or both; and if the lights and/or siren aren't on, they should NOT BE SPEEDING. I'd even go so far as to allow us as citizens to take a note of the patrol car number and report such incidents, with the expectation of disciplinary measures to follow, if we happen to be passed by a speeding patrol car that is not using lights and/or siren (or both).
As for those (rare) incidents where the police need to make a "silent" approach (i.e., no lights or sirens) -- don't do it while driving above the legal limit. How often is that sort of thing going to occur on a highway such as Loop 101?
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject:
i'm with you on that one, EJ. yesterday the gf was driving me to an ER, and we were on the 60 in an exit lane. a highway patrol car comes just racing up behind us, and i quite seriously braced for impact before he swerved at the last second and shot past us on the shoulder before cutting in front of us. we both went left.
now, i'm going to the fucking ER. and the cop? arby's.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject:
My take is, the fast lane, go up to 90, if its open. Middle lanes keep up with traffic. Slow lane, go 55, and let people merge. don't weave from 1 lane to another. Most of the time, the guys/gals weaving are stupid anyway, so avoid them at all costs. Accidents are going up because of the cell phones, and out here, tires. People don't rotate them, and the heat destroys them. Also, battery maintenance is a must. Make sure you put distilled water in the cells, even the ones that say maintenance free ones, not tap, as the minerals in tap, screws up the electrolytes.
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i don't take the 101 to work in the am because i drop the gf off at work. i just take it home, and i work late so i avoid normal rush hours. i'm usually out on the 101 around midnight, tonight it'll be about 3am or so.
