Speeding vehicles and "The Way Life Should Be"

HOME > NEWS



A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	July, 2008	Return to newsletter index

Years of taking complaints about speeders has shown that speeding isn't only about the concern of slowing traffic down to keep kids safe in their neighborhoods, it's also about the quality of life for people while at home. Everyone wants to live in a quiet neighborhood, where the pace is slow and no one is in a hurry. However, almost everyone at one time or another becomes a hurried driver in someone else's neighborhood and, quite often, even in their own.

Historically, this has been the case for the Saco Police Department, and its officers begin to S.T.E.P. (Strategic Traffic Enforcement Program) up their enforcement efforts in problem areas established by traffic studies. Generally, speeding vehicles involve commuter traffic. For the most part, residential neighborhoods serve those residing in the immediate area. However, some neighborhoods serve as through streets and those are the ones that generate the greatest amount of complaints because violations tend to be more frequent and with higher average speeds. Examples would include streets such as Franklin, King and Water.

The Saco Police Department's S.T.E.P. program is designed to evaluate complaints on particular streets to determine when the speeding vehicles are actually present, what the speeds are and at what time during the day or night that violations are taking place. Once armed with this information, officers are directed to focus their speed enforcement efforts during these periods to maximize the impact on slowing down violators to improve the overall level of safety and quality of life by encouraging operators to voluntarily comply with the law. For those drivers who refuse to slow down, the penalties can be enormous.

The cost of speeding in Maine has risen dramatically, with many of the fines running several hundred dollars. Additionally, insurance rates can climb for several years because insurance companies tend to target bad drivers. This can cost the vehicle owner thousands of dollars more over the long term. Given the already high cost of fuel, wouldn't it be simpler to simply slow down?