MANSFIELD: Police: Obey the signs or pay the fines

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   Local police are warning drivers who drive with a lead foot.
   Mansfield Township Police are stepping up efforts to address speeding problems in residential areas of the township.
   Speed limits are established in consideration of numerous factors with the goal of improving safety for the community. Motorists are urged to slow down and maintain the speed limit, according to a post on the Mansfield Police Department Facebook page.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), many Americans believe they won’t be ticketed if they drive within a “buffer zone” above the posted speed limit. But now law enforcement will be targeting and ticketing speeding drivers. When it comes to speeding: “Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine.” The posted speed limit is the law.
   ”We conducted a survey to get a measure prior to the enforcement blitz,” said Chief Ron Mulhall. “We are using that information to direct enforcement at the times with the highest number of offenders. We will conduct additional surveys to gauge the impact our efforts in the coming weeks.”
   According to the NHTSA, during 2005, more than 13,000 lives were lost across America in speeding-related traffic crashes. NHTSA considers a crash to be speeding-related if the driver was charged with a speeding-related offense, or if the responding officer indicates the driver was driving too fast for the road conditions at the time or was exceeding the posted speed limit. In 2005, speeding was a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes nationally.
   Chief Mulhall said, “Fortunately there haven’t been any pedestrians struck.”
   ”Speeding translates to death on our roadways,” he said. “It greatly reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a hazardous object, or an unexpected curve. Speeding drivers put themselves, their passengers, other drivers, and the community at tremendous risk.”
   He noted that the department will respond to every complaint but “significant attention will be given to East and West Main Street.”
   ”Main Street (County Route 543) in Columbus is a main thoroughfare for motorists, but it is a densely populated residential area that is home to many families,” he said. “People need to travel the roadway in the same manner they would want others to pass by their homes.”
   Residents have taken to Facebook to inform the police where they felt the traffic issues and concerns need to be addressed in the township. The police responded by adding those areas to their list.
   The police are using technology to determine when the greatest number of violations are occurring on specific roadways and conducting increased enforcement details to address the issue, according to its post on its Facebook page.
   ”We recently used forfeiture funds to purchase a device that measures and records vehicle speeds,” he said. “Each vehicle’s speed is time and date stamped. The software that accompanies the device helps us to identify specific windows of time that the greatest number of violations are occurring on each day of the week. We use this information to deploy our officers to specific roadways.”
   According to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, points for speeding are as follows exceeding maximum speed 1-14 mph over limit is two points; exceeding maximum speed 15-29 mph over limit is four points; and exceeding maximum speed 30 mph or more over limit is five points.