Last spring the city of Wichita didn’t get far in Topeka with a legislative proposal to allow higher fines for speeders along Kellogg and other statistically deadly roadways in the state, despite Kellogg’s 2008 death toll of seven. But last week city officials got some more ammunition, as part of a radar blitz that resulted in 22 citations on 60 mph Kellogg — one driver going 107 mph and another (with a revoked license) going 85 mph. Such recklessness defies belief and justifies officers’ special attention to Kellogg. But the question remains: Would a driver willing to go 107 mph and risk a $291 minimum fine be fazed by the threat of a $592 fine?
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32 Comments
First of all, Police traffic officers need to do more patrolling west Kellogg from downtown to Ridge Road to slow down the traffic to the posted speed limits … which are probably too fast considering the heavy volume during rush hour.
Number two, I believe the lane striping could be tweaked to improve traffic flow. For example, it would be relatively easy to put in another lane on east bound Kellogg, between Meridian and Seneca.
The fines imposed by this state for speeding are nothing compared to other states. Do you feel lucky?
“Virginia is for lovers, or so the state slogan has declared since 1969. Starting Sunday, Virginia also will be the home of the $3,000 traffic ticket.
In an effort to raise money for road projects, the state will start hitting residents who commit serious traffic offenses with huge civil penalties.
The new civil charges will range from $750 to $3,000 and be added to existing fines and court costs. The civil penalty for going 20 mph over the speed limit will be $1,050, plus $61 in court costs and a fine that is typically about $200.”
Sounds like they are after young unsuspecting military personnel stationed at the many military bases, such as Ft. Belvoir, up and down the freeways from Washington south into Virginia. No wonder the Governor of South Carolina headed to South America for relaxation.
No wonder the Governor of South Carolina headed to South America for relaxation. :-)
Crack down on Kellogg, I guess, ’cause that’s where the cars are.
But Wichita’s auto culture is batsiht-crazy all over town.
It’s a town where everyone seems to come to a full stop at the yield sign and slide through stop signs.
It’s a town where signaling a lane change is considered an automatic insult to the masculinity of anyone driving behind you, and a territorial challenge.
It’s a town that accepts ass hats who park across two spaces if the car is deemed “worthy.”
It’s a town that forgets every winter the “ice on bridges” warning might apply also to the Canal Route.
It’s a town where the entire family sitting in the back of the pick-up truck is permitted if the trip is to the Dollar General store and/or the driver’s drinking only 3.2% beer. *
* “I just brought it from the trailer park, ossifer. I use it as a spit can.” **
** “We wuz jest goin’ to the Dollar Gen’ral for some of that dollar-a-tub lard. And as y’can see, the wife’s pregnant” ***
*** (”The Wife’s” not pregnant. She’s just fat.) ****
**** She might be somebody’s wife, but not his.
A number of states have superfines for
superspeeders including megafines, loss
of license and jail time. A speed on 107 mph
on Kellogg is pure insanity and a $291 fine
is hardly going to stop it.
Monkeyhawk
Posted June 29, 2009 at 8:29 am | Permalink
Crack down on Kellogg, I guess, ’cause that’s where the cars are.
But Wichita’s auto culture is batsiht-crazy all over town.
It’s a town where signaling a lane change is considered an automatic insult to the masculinity of anyone driving behind you, and a territorial challenge.
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Turn signals are a pet peeve of mine. What is it in this town that people refuse to use their turn signals? Even more aggrivating is when they switch lanes 3 feet ahead of you and then slam on the brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of them.
I think there should be an open season on people who don’t use turn signals.
Even worse, “XXX” –
Is how Wichita drivers don’t acknowledge turn signals. I’ve cruised into town in the inner lanes of Kellogg and known my exit was a half-mile away and signaled my intent to merge toward the off-ramp to a fool in a pick-up who decides THAT’S the moment he’s gonna speed up and pass me on the right.
Besides the stop-at-a-Yield and cruise-through-a-Stop-sign peeve, I get a lot of Wichita drivers who want to turn right on a red but don’t seem to understand I’m planning to drive forward when the light turns green.
THEY jump on the horn because THEY want to turn right on red! (It’s in the Constitution somewhere, I guess.)
And let’s get rid of anyone thinking Wichita has a “rush hour.”
Atlanta? Now there’s a rush hour. Dallas? A NASCAR-sanctioned event. Houston? The longest, hottest, humid-est, narrowest patio party in the world. (You can make the same time getting out of the car and grilling some hot links.)
“Rush Hour” in Wichita? About 20 minutes of people who think they’re on the road by themselves.
I’ve lived in two pretty major metro areas and two mid size cities like Wichita.
Every place I’ve lived thinks it has the worse drivers.
However, the complete stop at a merge/yield is a mystery to me and something uniquely Wichita in my expierence!
Wichita is pretty tame compared to the Italian AutoStrada and downtown Rome or Paris, France.
People who drive that fast over the speed limit, need a huge fine, their licenses revoked and sent to traffic and driving school.
Where is there anyplace in Wichita, let alone Kansas, that people are in such a hurry to get to?
“But the question remains: Would a driver willing to go 107 mph and risk a $291 minimum fine be fazed by the threat of a $592 fine?”
Probably not.
SO, unless such a person can give good cause for being half again over the speed limit (wife in labor, dying relative, something interesting about to happen in Kansas!) is take their car away.
The 107 mph guy was racing with another knucklehead who was ticketed for going 98 or so mph. Ya cain’t fix stupid.
Dennis
#
YellowdogLiberal
Posted June 29, 2009 at 10:50 am | Permalink
The 107 mph guy was racing with another knucklehead who was ticketed for going 98 or so mph. Ya cain’t fix stupid.
Dennis
————-
Who won?
The cops.
Dennis
The speeders on Kellogg are only part of the problem. The infrastructure (even after the much needed improvements) and people that think that they need to “teach others a lesson” are more often to blame for the Kellogg incidents and accidents.
I was the truck behind Monkeyhawk. You were in another truck with a trailer, right? Please let me elaborate on your statements with a little reality thrown in…
“Cruised into town in the inner lanes of Kellogg” meant driving well below the speed limit from west Wichita to Woodlawn in the passing lane with traffic stacked up behind. (Which is illegal now, thank goodness)
“My exit was a half-mile away and signaled my intent to merge toward the off-ramp” meant flipping on the signal as you’re making a mad dash for the exit a few hundred yards away. *I* was the one signalling well in advance which didn’t seem to make any difference to you.
“People who think they’re on the road by themselves”. Ummm, okay.
What should be a pleasant drive across town usually turns painfully frustrating. I’d *much* rather drive the Dallas freeways than with the many vengeful and oblivious drivers here in Wichita.
Speeders will *always* be there. Let the police take care of them. Please.
Monkeyhawk
Posted June 29, 2009 at 9:48 am | Permalink
Dallas? A NASCAR-sanctioned event.
______________________________
Truth Dat! On LBJ, there are places with concrete walls with tire marks at the top. Some of those walls have to be almost 30 feet tall. Why are there tire marks that high up?
When it comes to wrecks, folks in Dallas don’t mess around….
Monkeyhawk
Posted June 29, 2009 at 9:48 am | Permalink
Even worse, “XXX” –
Is how Wichita drivers don’t acknowledge turn signals. I’ve cruised into town in the inner lanes of Kellogg and known my exit was a half-mile away and signaled my intent to merge toward the off-ramp to a fool in a pick-up who decides THAT’S the moment he’s gonna speed up and pass me on the right.
______________________
Amazing how many people in Wichita consider a turn signal a personal challenge.
“Wichita drivers don’t acknowledge turn signals”
Amazing how many people in Wichita expect all of the traffic on Kellogg to clear just because they signalled. …and honk and get aggressive and give the “stink eye” when they don’t.
How about four way stops. It seems people in this city don’t know who goes first in them.
Unless real penalties are in place nothing is fundamentally going to change.
Even confiscating the cars wouldn’t work and it would be a nightmare to enforce.
I think short jail sentences, like the weekend or just a day, would change their ways.
I think sometimes on the highway in heavy traffic, some people don’t use turn signals for a lane change because they know the ahole in the other lane will speed up/slow down to prevent it.
C’mon, folks. Drivers are pretty much the same everywhere.
Most people are mostly inattentive when driving; we’re doing or thinking about other things. We don’t mean to not use our turn signals, we just forget, or realize at the last minute our turn was coming up because we were fiddling with the radio or thinking about the conversation at the water cooler at work or whatever. When we honk, or flip someone off, it simply reflects our irritation at any number of things that may be going on in our lives.
And anyone who says they don’t enjoy driving fast is either dead or a liar. We do. We like our cars; they are part of our culture to a degree many people don’t quite understand. They are often, perhaps more than anything else we have, reflections of us. They are symbols of our independence, as as Americans often do, we like to assert that independence.
BTW – K10 between Lawrence and Olathe, any morning or evening. I drove it regularly in law school with a classmate from Rhode Island (where apparantly 55 actually meant 55!). He was amazed people – and the cops – were passing him routinely as he drive the actual speed limit. It took a while for him to understand that out in the hinterland, speed limits are often interpreted as, well, speed suggestions, and as minimums, not maximums.
What’s amazing, nearly everwhere, is that there aren’t more accidents than there are. . . .
“They are symbols of our independence and, as as Americans often do, we like to assert that independence.”
Minor edit. Please forgive.
“And anyone who says they don’t enjoy driving fast is either dead or a liar. ”
Well I’m neither dead nor a liar. I’m routinely at or slightly below the speed limit. I drive in such a way that rather ….encourages others to drive more responsibly. I’m coasting down to my turn, avail yourself of another lane. Wanna beat me to the red light? Go around.
Whether they enjoy it or not.
.” We don’t mean to not use our turn signals, we just forget, or realize at the last minute our turn was coming up because we were fiddling with the radio or thinking about the conversation at the water cooler at work or whatever.”
WHAT a tax on neural activity!
“I’m going to turn or change lanes. I need to flip the little switch within inches of my hands to signal the intent.”
Overload?
“I’m coasting down to my turn, avail yourself of another lane. Wanna beat me to the red light? Go around.
Whether they enjoy it or not.”
And mostly, they don’t.
The irrational reactions can be quite entertaining!
People who disobey the law by driving over 100 miles per hour are going to obey the law to pay a fine?
Forget the fine – what about life endangerment? Lock these people up for 72 hours.
They won’t be in such a hurry next time.
Well I’m neither dead nor a liar. – BlueJay
Jr – dead you may not be. But a lair, we both know you are. You’ve demonstrated same repeatedly.
Oh! liar, not lair. Again, please excuse.
Yeah, I have something to gain by lying here about the fact that I’m a better driver than you.
Don’t flatter yourself.
And, “GMC70″ –
At half-past-two on a Tuesday afternoon you have plenty of spare time to goldbrick your taxpayer-financed job in favor of political blogging.
Isn’t there a high-profile murder case to be prosecuted by the Butler County Attorney’s office? Why aren’t you working on that?
(But I’m sure you’re the second-coming of Thomas Dewey when it comes to speeding tickets on the Turnpike.)
Most people have to take the LSAT to get into law school. The more I learn about you, the more I suspect you had to “Draw Winky.”