Use caution: speed zones aid safety
Home is a special place for most. Many students are so eager to get there, they may even miss their last class to get an early start toward home. With music blaring, leaving classes in the rear view, one thing can easily ruin the drive. Red and blue lights.
As students head home for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, police are sure to be on the lookout for speeding college students.
In 2010, there were 24,567 speed-related crashes in Virginia, including 260 fatal crashes, 10,002 crashes resulting in injury and 14,305 crashes involving property damage, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. There were 1,888 crashes November of 2010, according to the DMV, and December had the year’s highest number of crashes with a total of 2,932.
Liberty senior Michael Johansen knows the consequences of speeding all too well, as he has received three speeding tickets. One speed trap he has found is traveling north on Interstate 81.
“When you drive up 29 North, you’ll switch to (Interstate) 64 going west,” he said. “Then you go from I-64 west to I-81 and your speed limit drops from 70 to 65. What’s interesting is, you drive a mile, and the (speed limit) goes back to 70.”
From his personal experience, he knows that this is a tricky spot for commuters.
“For this one mile window, it’s 65,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a speed trap.”
Johansen also advised that students watch out for construction zones, where lower speed limits are equally enforced. The Governors Highway Safety Association website states, “Nearly all states have laws that increase the penalties for speeding or committing other traffic violations while in a construction work zone.”
Virginia is one of these states, where the penalty for speeding is enhanced to $500 if that violation takes place in a construction zone, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
In addition to construction zones, senior Levi Washburn said that going downhill can also increase your speed without you realizing it and is a mishap that students need to be conscience of. In his experience, before the driver becomes aware of his or her mistake, a police car is closing in. Traveling to Maine for the holidays, he has been given the costly pink ticket.
“I was driving up (U.S. Highway) 29, and I got pulled over going downhill in Albemarle County,” he said. “I was being passed by a tractor trailer, but I got tagged.”
Washburn’s trips to Maine have allowed him to notice other speed traps that police can use to catch speeding vehicles.
“Construction bridges,” he said. “There are always cops.”
For those heading south for the holiday breaks, U.S. Highway 29 South and the Danville Expressway are usually necessary routes to North Carolina and other southern states. Senior Jennifer Palmer has received two tickets in nearly the same location of Pittsylvania County. The speed limit changes force a driver to be constantly aware of his or her speed, and any lapse can cause frustration and a hefty fine.
“As you travel down 29 South, about an hour from Liberty, the speed limit for a while is 65,” Palmer said. “Then the speed limit decreases as you near the town of Chatham and before you blink, you’re pulled over.”
“My argument is that the town comes up so fast,” she continued. “And when you’re going 70, and you’re all of the sudden expected to slow down to 45 for a town, they just sit there and wait for people.”
With Thanksgiving approaching fast, as well as the travel that comes with it, Johansen’s, Washburn’s and Palmer’s testimonies indicate that students need to be careful to watch out for speed traps or areas where special regulations are enforced. By obeying the law, they can avoid accidents and fines.