#Rolling roadblock drivers
In Maryland last year, 55.9 percent of all highway drivers were speeders. This year, the states with excessive speeding rates are Maryland, Vermont, and Arizona.
In fact, so far no funds have been forfeited by any state. But state officials were able to reduce the speeding rate in subsequent months and no funds were forfeited. Two years ago Massachusetts was listed as a top state for speeders and faced a significant loss of highway funds. In Massachusetts, officials decided last week to use rolling roadblocks on four major highways in the state after preliminary speed surveys indicated that more than 50 percent of motorists using those roads were exceeding 55. He notes that each of the drivers was promptly charged with speeding and illegally driving on the shoulder of the highway (the only way to get around the rolling roadblock). To date, 21 drivers have actually tried to pass a police-led rolling roadblock in Maryland, Tower says. pace.īut even this tactic is apparently not enough to discourage the most determined speeders. Now, long lines of cars and trucks are frequently seen trailing two, three, or four police cars abreast, setting a 55 m.p.h. law, Congress decreed that up to 10 percent of federal highway construction funds may be withheld from any state in which speeders comprise more than 50 percent of drivers on major highways.Ī beefed-up police presence and wider use of radar are being initiated on Maryland highways, in addition to the occasional state police roadblocks. national speed limit saves both fuel and lives, concern among state officials about compliance with the law is also motivated by federal penalties against states with a high percentage of speeders on their Interstate highways. While numerous studies have shown that the lower 55 m.p.h. ``We have had reports that motorists were indiscriminately passing our marked and unmarked cars.'' ``We realize this was a fairly serious measure, but we had a serious problem on our hands,'' says Maryland State Police Sgt. The result was long lines of cars and trucks moving bumper to bumper down Interstate highways behind what amounted to ``rolling roadblocks.''Ĭoncerned over reports that almost 90 percent of all motorists traveling on Route 95 between Baltimore and Washington were speeding, the Maryland State Police two months ago began using rolling roadblocks on major highways thoughout the state. But these ``Sunday drivers'' were state police officers working to enforce the nation's 55 mile-an-hour speed limit. Motorists in Maryland and Massachusetts faced this kind of jam over the July 4 holiday. They are the kind of traffic tie-ups that usually accumulate on Interstate highways behind confused out-of-towners, ``Sunday drivers,'' or oblivious motorists who establish a permanent presence in the passing lane but don't pass.
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