Car Accidents and Speeding: A Tail on the Fast Lanes

Now a days, theres always a rush to get somewhere or an excuse to get somewhere quickly. With more accidents pertained to speeding, police officers in Fayetteville, North Carolina are cracking down harder. Here's an interview with Police Chief Tom Bergamine on what he thinks about the problem and what people can do to help fix it.

Q: What kind of things can be done to help slow people down and make them obey the limits?

A: "Through our experience in investigating and responding to speed complaints in the city, we have determined that educating the public safety and enhanced enforcement of the traffic laws have had a significant impact in decreasing speed rates within the city. For instance, when comparing December 2006 to January 2007, we had 28 percent increase in traffic enforcement, which correlated to a 7 percent decrease in traffic collisions."

Q: There are plenty of times where a speeder slows down when they see a cop pulling someone over, but as soon as they are out of sight, they're just going to speed up again. What else could help to prevent this?

A: "Even if we stop one driver, that's a life we may have saved. As I stated, enforcement is only one tool. Our traffic unit has been extremely proactive in providing education to the public. They teach a class on aggressive driving to various high school students, military personnel and students in college. They also teach classes on driving under the influence to local groups. We will continue our enforcement and education efforts to create a safe driving environment in our streets and invite citizens to contact us if they would like to have one of our officers come and teach their group."

Q: If someone sees an accident, they call the police and report it. Can the same thing be done with speeders?

A: "While we welcome and encourage citizens to advise us of speeding complaints, we can only enforce those violations that we observe."

Q: There have also been a number of speed-related fatality wrecks recently in the area. What percentages of fatal wrecks in the city are speed-related?

A: "In our last fatality study, which focused on 2002 to 2006, there were 117 total fatalities, and in 35 percent of the involved collisions, speed was a contributing factor."

Q: How much does the number of officers available to enforce traffic laws play into the speeding problem?

A: "In January 2007, the Fayetteville Police Department issued over 3,700 citations. Our recruitment efforts continue to be successful and we have also hired five civilian traffic investigators who should free up additional officers to conduct enforcement and educational efforts."

Q: Are there any numbers that say school zones are a bigger problem than other places? What types of things are being done specifically to help address that problem?

A: "There are no specific trends regarding an inordinate amount of accidents in school zones as compared to other areas of the city. However, we have investigated citizen complaints regarding individuals speeding in or around school zones and we have taken the following steps:

1. Placed Sentry Signs in each school zone which display vehicle speeds as they drive through the zone.

2. Officers have conducted radar enforcement, as well as high visibility patrols on a daily basis.

This is a daily routine and what we plan to do for our ongoing enforcement efforts."

Q: Is there really a solution that can help fix the problem of speeding?

A: "This is really a problem. It can only be solved by the citizens partnering with us to bring about change in our community. We will continue to enhance our education efforts and will seek to purchase and use the best technology available to assist in our enforcement efforts. But we need the citizens to continue to advise us of any speeding complaints they observe in the city and to obey the traffic laws."