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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution August 13, 2003

Speeding laws hard to respect

by The Lane Ranger: Joey Ledford

As the high-performance motorcycle roared into view, I aimed the laser speed gun's cross hairs at its license plate and got a digital response an instant before it abruptly scooted across two lanes to weave around slower traffic:

Ninety-two mph.

When Ga. 400 isn't a parking lot, it lives up to the nickname coined by the late Keith Kalland -- the Alpharetta Autobahn. But Ga. 400 isn't unique, of course. Anyone who drives in metro Atlanta knows most of us go very, very fast.

Thanks to the kind folks at Laser Atlanta, a Norcross company that manufactures and markets laser speed guns and other high-tech gear, I played traffic cop Monday, aiming the gun at random motorists on 400, I-75 and I-285.

An astounding 94 percent of the 1,352 cars we shot exceeded 65 mph. More than three-fourths surpassed 75 mph. Eleven percent were going at least 80. The speed limit was 55 mph at some locations, 65 at others.

The reckless motorcyclist I shot wasn't even the day's fastest driver. Laser Atlanta President and CEO Jim Kelly, who manned a second gun, shot a black two-door sports car on I-285 at New Northside Drive at 93 mph -- 38 mph over the speed limit.

"Imagine if you were a policeman," said Kelly, who bought the 15-year-old company earlier this year. "You're going to slow traffic" if you're out enforcing the speed limit.

But that's rarely done on Atlanta freeways and that's the reason we drive so fast. We know there's only a slim chance of getting a speeding ticket. The Georgia State Patrol is one of the smallest state police forces in the Southeast, and few local agencies make freeway traffic enforcement a priority.

On I-75 at Cumberland Boulevard, we realized people weren't going quite as fast. Only 27 percent of the 278 motorists we shot were exceeding 75 mph. The reason? Nine Department of Motor Vehicle Safety officers were pulling over trucks for safety violations.

And since motorists are unaware DMVS officers don't have radar or laser guns and don't generally write speeding tickets, their presence was having a calming influence on traffic.

Even our presence on the overpass at I-285 and New Smyrna Road had an impact. Two Cobb County police units converged on us to see what we were up to. Cpl. W.M. Duling said a motorist had reported suspicious characters shooting traffic with video cameras.

Both Duling and Sgt. C.A. Forrester were quickly satisfied that we weren't moviemakers or terrorists.

"One Saturday, we worked the Orchard Road bridge [over 285] and we wrote over 100 tickets," said Forrester. "We didn't start writing until they were over 80 mph. We were giving them 25 mph."

Our exercise once again illustrates the lunacy of Atlanta's 55 mph urban freeway speed limit. How can anyone respect any speed limit sign anywhere -- in school zones or neighborhoods -- when the law is so universally ignored on metro freeways?

Our freeway speed limit should be a universal 65 mph, but it should be much more vigorously enforced. It is possible to drive fast yet safely, but anybody weaving in and out of heavy freeway traffic at 92 mph deserves a big-money ticket.

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