THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 15, 1994 TAG: 9408150270
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN MOOAR, WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Preoccupied with violent crime, police departments across the nation are writing far fewer traffic tickets than they did five years ago - with no discernible effect on safety, according to national figures.
Even with more vehicles crowding the roads, accidents and fatalities fell sharply between 1989 and 1993, casting doubt on the age-old belief that police protect the motoring public by issuing more traffic tickets.
As police departments re-examine how they fight crime and deploy officers, many jurisdictions have opted to eliminate quota systems that encourage patrol officers to write more tickets, specialists say.
``The reality of it is (that traffic enforcement) is not a priority,'' said Dennis Martin, president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police in Washington. ``We have so many police chiefs and sheriffs come to us and say, `We're under the gun to be dealing with more violent crimes.' Traffic enforcement can be a public relations tool - but often a negative one.''
Critics of traffic enforcement efforts say the public will benefit from the shift.
``I have not seen, nor do I think you will ever see, a study that shows that intensive speed enforcement makes the roads any safer,'' said James J. Baxter, of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based group opposed to speed traps. ``For the most part, we believe traffic tickets are a self-perpetuating exercise to generate revenue and justify the existence of the agencies writing them.''
Nationally, accidents dropped from 6.9 million in 1988 to 6 million in 1992. Fatalities declined from 47,087 in 1988 to 40,115 in 1993, and injuries dropped 10 percent in the five years ending in 1992.
During that period, a steady 44 percent of motorists exceeded the national 55 mph speed limit. by CNB