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Speeding tickets, speeding violations, speeding citations, speeding summonses; No matter the name, they are all more or less the same thing. They are all evidence that a police officer believes an individual was exceeding the speed limit.

What happens, however, when the conversation turns to how to prevent individuals from speeding in the first place? Cynics among us will argue that no one has an interest in reducing the number of people speeding. They will argue that the only focus is on issuing more tickets and generating more fine revenue. While that might be true in some instances, there are certainly a very large number of people from different segments of society who are genuinely interested in safety and reducing the number of speeders on the road.

Measuring the number of people who exceed speed limits on our roadways is not as simple as counting the number of speeding traffic tickets that are issued. Sometimes, the increase in speeding summonses is attributable to an increase in the number of officers enforcing the speed limit or an increased effort (crackdown?) by the existing enforcement officers. Consider a situation where 2 out of 10 people speeding are issued speeding tickets on one day and 4 out of 10 people speeding are issued speeding tickets the next day. The number of speeding tickets issued has doubled but the number of individuals exceeding the speed limit is exactly the same. Speeding tickets measure the number of people caught and not the number of people who were actually speeding.

The difficulties in measuring aside, debates on how to best reduce the number of individuals who exceed the speed limit continue in communities around the country. Focus is generally on:

Increased speed enforcement. An increase in enforcement works in two ways. More enforcement generally means more speeding summonses issued and more speeding tickets today should lead to more cautious drivers tomorrow. In addition, the simple visual of more enforcement officers on the road (and fear of receiving a speeding summons) is likely to cause more people to slow down and obey the speed limit. The arguments against increased speed enforcement include the costs involved, removal of enforcement officers from situations where they could be preventing more serious crimes and a public relations backlash (people will assume increased enforcement is about revenue generation even if it is truly in place for safety purposes).

Increased speeding ticket fines. Some argue that if people were more worried about the direct costs associated with receiving a traffic ticket that they would slow down. While very large increases may serve that purpose, it’s unlikely that such large increases would ever be approved. Instead, opponents say that if the existing fines, surcharges and potential insurance increases are not enough of an incentive to slow down another $50 or $100 or even $250 is unlikely to make a difference. Moreover, there is a public relations issue similar to what we see with increased enforcement as many are likely to view an increase in fines as more about revenue generation than about public safety.

Physical speed controls. While not really an option on highways, many local communities consider controls like speed bumps and more stop signs to be the answer. These serve to physically prevent individuals from speeding. While it is unlikely that anyone will argue that these controls are about revenue generation more than safety, opposition does exist. Certain controls like speed bumps can be controversial because of the damage they can cause to cars. The issue of who is liable comes into play and it’s a headache some communities look to avoid.

As long as there are speed limits there will be drivers who continue to exceed the speed limit. Enforcement officials are presented with the challenge of walking a fine line—control speeding while avoiding the appearance they are motivated by money, not safety. As automobile safety evolves and the technological war between speed enforcement and speed detection rages on, this same issue of how to get people to slow down is likely to exist throughout it all.

By Scott Feifer
Feifer & Greenberg, LLP
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