Rhode Island’s Worst Speed Traps
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
What towns and cities are the toughest in enforcing state traffic laws? Where are the worst speed traps?
A breakdown of communities by the total number of traffic tickets issued last year and the total number of miles turns up some surprise winners, based on data provided to GoLocalProv in response to records requests. In terms of the number of tickets issued per mile, the state’s smallest community, Central Falls, comes out on top, with an average of 84 tickets issued for each of the 27.5 miles in the square-mile city.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThose communities next in line vary from urban to suburban. Those ranking in the top five were: Johnston, Woonsocket, East Providence, Smithfield, and Cranston. (See below chart for the complete ranking.)
The rankings run somewhat contrary to what towns are most commonly cited as being the toughest on drivers. No one city or town stands heads and shoulders above others, but Portsmouth, Middletown, and Charlestown have reputations as being among the toughest, according to Thomas Frank, the state coordinator for the National Motorists Association and a resident of Middletown.
“It becomes a question where your opportunities lie,” Frank told GoLocalProv.
For example, Charlestown has an advantage in Route 1, which Frank said has speed limits that are posted lower than the normal flow of traffic.
College towns, suburbs known for most tickets
The towns known for snagging the most speeders—and other traffic violators—are ones like Warwick and Cranston, that sit at the crossroads of the state’s largest highways, said Richard Humphrey, a prominent DUI defense attorney. Both communities make the top tier in the GoLocalProv ranking, with Cranston taking sixth place and Warwick at 15th.
Providence edges into the bottom of the top ten—even though the Capital City issued 8,792 moving violations in 2010, the most of anyone, it also happens to have more miles of road than every other community except Warwick.
Traffic statistics point to another trend: those communities that also are college towns tend to issue more tickets than others. “There’s a certain amount of legal profiling that goes on,” Humphrey said. “The most dangerous drivers are boys between 17 and 21. Where are you going to find people between 17 and 21? Well, you’re going to find them on college campuses.”
That explains why towns like Bristol and South Kingstown rank higher than they otherwise might, according to Humphrey.
Pressure to generate revenue?
Traffic records show that tickets can be a big money-maker for communities. For example, now-bankrupt Central Falls issued $189,950 worth of speeding tickets in 2010—and that’s just counting the ones that went to the local municipal court. Not everyone has paid up so far, but Central Falls still collected $142,400 of what it was owed—a collection rate that Humphrey described as better than average.
Other communities also are cashing in on traffic tickets. Johnston, one of the most ticket-prone communities, generated a total of $446,560 in revenue. But that money is often split with the state. Take another example: Warwick, which produced in $238,609 in revenues from tickets, but was able to keep only $75,053 of that for itself, while the rest went to state coffers.
Tickets as a revenue-generator is a factor in speeding enforcement, said William P. Devereaux, an attorney with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West. “I think it’s a factor. They’re conscious it can be a source of revenue,” he said. But, he added, he doesn’t think money is the primary motivation behind speed traps and other local traffic enforcement.
Law enforcement sources deny there is any pressure for them to issue more tickets to help their communities raise revenues. “I’m going to say no,” said East Greenwich Lt. Jeremy Fague. “It’s the officer’s duty to enforce the law.”
Col. Joseph Moran, the Central Falls Police Chief, agreed. “Honestly, I don’t see it as a revenue generator,” he said. “Nobody’s pressuring us to do it. We go by the enforcement we need. I never want to take away discretion from the officers.”
Although tickets do raise money, there also is a significant hidden cost to towns, according to Humphrey. In cases where an off-duty officer has to show up to a trial, even at the municipal court, most towns automatically grant that officer four hours of overtime pay, even if time spent in the courtroom is far less than those four hours, according to Humphrey.
As a result, Frank says towns have kept their enforcement of traffic laws relatively even through the recession. “It looks like it’s been a wash at the moment,” he said.
What puts Central Falls over the top?
Asked what pushed Central Falls to the top of the list, Moran said there are several reasons. He said the city has especially tough local ordinances against playing loud music while driving or stopping in the middle of the road to talk to friends—something local ordinance treats as a nuisance. The fines for both offenses can be steep—$100 for the first offense and rising to as much as $500 on the third offense.
He said his department has also utilized several state and federal grants to bolster its traffic enforcement operations. “We do the best we can with what we’ve got to work with,” he said.
Rhode Island has ‘not gone insane’ on traffic enforcement
When it comes to traffic enforcement Rhode Island compares favorably with other states, according to Frank. “From what I’ve seen [we’re] almost middle of the road to almost reasonable,” he said. “They have not gone insane in this state.”
States that have gone “insane,” according to Frank, include New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. All three states impose a special fee on top of the regular fine for a traffic ticket. In New York, for example, a traffic fine might run from $60 to $80 per violation. But, on top of that, the state DMV imposes a “driver responsibility assessment fee” that runs into the hundreds of dollars. The fee is charged annually for three years—and it is renewed if a driver gets another ticket during that time.
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