- Police issued 186 speeding tickets in February—up from 156 in January.
- High-risk roads include Madison Street, Pine Tree Boulevard, and Remington Avenue.
- Watch the video to see what residents think about this initiative.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
With a goal of pulling over 80 drivers each month, Thomasville's new traffic unit is working to turn risky roads into safer ones.
I'm explaining why this unit was created, what they're doing, and how neighbors are reacting.
With warmer weather and more folks on the road, Thomasville Police launched a new traffic unit this spring.
The decision came after a rise in crashes, to put more eyes on who's speeding and breaking the law in the neighborhood.
"So the state has funded us through the Governor's Office of Highway Safety. They've given us some goals to reach every month as it relates to speeding enforcement and seat belt enforcement. So we just have to meet those goals to receive the money," said Lieutenant David Fisher.
Officers will aim to catch at least 80 speeders—or more—by using radar and LIDAR to monitor traffic in busy areas.
And they've already been active.
In February alone, police issued 186 speeding tickets—up from 156 the month before.
"So I feel like it's been pretty productive. The officers have probably 60% tickets, 40% warnings, and they've made a lot of contacts with people. And there's some certain areas in town, specifically Pine Tree Boulevard, Madison Street, Remington Avenue, that we put our efforts on because that's where we have a lot of the issues with speeding," said Fisher.
That's right—Madison Street is one of those high-speed trouble spots.
It's also where Martha Coes had her accident years ago.
She says drivers still treat the road like a highway, even though the speed limit is just 35.
"A drunk driver ran me over. At that time, I had an LTD, a full LTD. And I was at the light, waiting on my light to change. I seen him in my rear view mirror, but nothing I could do because other cars come the opposite way. So when I realized he was going to hit me, mind you now, they said, from the police report and all the things they did after the fact, that he was going 75 miles per hour when he hit me," said Coes.
Martha tells me her car would've exploded if it hadn't been raining—and it took her 15 years to walk again.
Now, with permanent damage to her right hand, she's speaking up, hoping the new initiative will prevent others from going through what she did.
"It'll cut down speeding, especially for the young generation, because they drive kind of a little crazy. So that I kind of cut them down and teach them, you don't have to be in a hurry. Take your time, focus, put the phone down, and then drive. It's not so much of yourself, it's the other person you have to look out for," said Coes.
The unit currently has two officers working mostly Monday through Friday, but Lieutenant Fisher tells me there are plans to expand it if necessary.
In Thomasville, Layan Abu Tarboush, ABC27.
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