Speeding tickets can be annoying, costly and time-consuming for any driver who tempts fate by exceeding the limit.
But speeding tickets can also be safe.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department has issued approximately 50 speeding tickets since the first of the year, which, Asst. Chief Carl Oestmann said, have been issued as a way to protect and ensure the safety of everyone on campus.
“It’s all about safety,” Oestmann said. “There’s a reason why the speed limit is what it is. We do most of our enforcement in order to educate people and to keep them safe.”
UNLPD has just introduced new software which will allow them to more accurately pinpoint the locations of tickets issued. Currently, an officer would have to physically retrieve the tickets of interest to know where the incident occurred.
Oestmann said officers on duty know the districts in which they work, so it’s usually up to their discretion as to where and when they will track vehicle speed.
A popular time to radar is during an influx in foot traffic.
Oestmann said officers will enforce speed at times when crosswalks are heavily used, such as breaks between classes.
Because UNLPD works so closely with the campus community, they invite and receive numerous observations and comments about drivers who may not be adhering to certain rules of the road.
UNLPD will “dictate concerns from citizens about drivers maybe driving faster than they should,” Oestmann said. “Usually there will be several times mentioned,” and by comparing those over time, the data “let’s sergeants know when cars are going way too fast.”
When complaints of this nature begin to filter in, Oestmann said it’s usually because of a recent construction project or the addition of a new traffic control device.
Because of these changes in the designed flow of traffic, officers will enforce speed and provide violators with verbal warnings. One example of this is the median added a year ago at the East Campus entrance/exit at the intersection of 40th and Holdrege streets, preventing an eastbound left turn from 40th Street.
UNLPD “really pushed the educational aspect” of traffic enforcement in the months following this addition, Oestmann said. “We put officers in that area and let people know that there’s a reason why it was determined no left turn: accident reduction.”
When an officer does stop someone for violating a traffic control device or speeding, it’s up to their discretion whether to give a ticket or citation, he said.
Often, these small violations are a dead giveaway a driver is breaking more serious laws like driving drunk.
Chad Tonniges, a senior finance major, once found himself staring into the police lights in his rearview mirror.
After a night downtown at the bars, he and his cousin were heading home. Having most of his wits about him, he decided to drive his cousin’s car, which, unlike his own vehicle, didn’t have automatic headlights.
Shortly after taking off, a UNL police officer stopped him for driving without the headlights on and put him through a series of sobriety tests.
“I passed (the tests), but I guess he still thought I was drunk,” Tonniges said. “He put me in the back of his car and gave me a Breathalyzer. I blew .077.”
Despite the near-miss for a DWI, he said the officer, who didn’t issue him a no-headlights ticket, was rather friendly.
No matter which side of the fence one sits on, speed enforcement is just one small way police officers keep citizens safe and sound.
“The department receives feedback from student and faculty regarding (areas) that they feel is unsafe, we get officers in the area to educate and enforce,” Oestmann said. “It takes both parties.”
EVANCOTTEN@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
Be the first to comment on this article!