Clark is a traffic-ticket magnet
Six of state's busiest spots are in county
By Jason Thomas and Mark Nichols
The Indianapolis Star
Six of Indiana's top 20 hot spots for speeding tickets are on Interstate 65 in Clark County, including the state's No. 1 spot: an area near mile marker 8.
The other two hot spots in Southern Indiana are along I-65 at Seymour and along I-64 in the Perry County area near Ferdinand.
An Indianapolis Star analysis of tickets issued between July 1, 2006, and Jan. 17, 2007, showed that 1,805 tickets were written at the Clark County hot spots -- including 646 near mile marker 8. The Seymour area recorded 512 tickets with the Perry County area at 243.
The analysis also showed:
There is a cushion. Drivers staying within 5 mph of the limit can often fly below the radar. It depends on the officer, Senior Trooper Cedric Merritt said. "The speed limit is the speed limit," he said. "Myself, I understand that if I write tickets just for going (5 mph over), I'll be out here all day." Other officers seem to agree: In the six months examined, fewer than 1 percent of tickets went to drivers going 5 mph or less over the limit.
Troopers don't have quotas, but they do have expectations. Merritt said, "We do have to account for our day in some way." Those expectations are more clear for special patrols. For example, in a six-mile section of I-70 being overhauled near Indianapolis, troopers are expected to make two "contacts" per hour.
Troopers can monitor speeds of vehicles in front and behind them and can do so when parked or in motion.




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