At 9 mph over the limit, troopers issued only 3,864 speeding tickets during the three-year period, the analysis found. But at 10 mph over, they wrote more than 36,000. And don’t even think about 15 over. Almost 147,000 drivers were ticketed for speeding by 15 mph, accounting for 16 percent of all speeding tickets issued.
“You and I both know that everybody drives 5 to 10 over the speed limit out there on the interstate,” said Sgt. Stanley Jordan, a 20-year veteran who works out of the Lebanon post. “Everyone is running just a little over 5, maybe 8, 9 over the speed limit. That’s about average. What I’m looking for, and what most of the troopers I work with are looking for, is people who are doing even better than that.
“There is plenty enough of those people to keep us busy.”
Jordan was definitely busy during last year’s Fourth of July weekend. In three shifts he wrote 90 traffic tickets — the third most of any Ohio Highway Patrol officer on duty.
Jordan said people driving too fast and not wearing their seatbelts catch his attention. Last July 4th weekend, speeding accounted for 70 percent of tickets and unfastened seat belts accounted for another 20 percent.
Troopers get even more irritated when motorists blow by at 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Far more tickets were issued for 15 miles over the speed limit than any other number.
Almost three-quarters of the speeding tickets were written for those driving 15 mph or more over the limit.
Being young doesn’t help your ticket chances either.
The most common age to get a ticket is 20, the analysis found. Twenty-year-olds got almost 66,000 tickets during the three years, and were followed closely by 19-, 21-, 22-, and 23-year-olds. Together, drivers in that age group got almost one in five of all speeding tickets issued.
Contrary to popular opinion, there are no ticket quotas for the patrol, and it doesn’t matter what you’re driving, Jordan said. “I don’t care if you’re driving a semi or a Corvette.”
So, where will Jordan be staked out this weekend?
“You never know where I’m going to be,” he said.
Jordan and other patrol officers are looking for speeders, tailgaters and red-light runners.
And if you do get pulled over, prepare for some financial pain.
Jordan said it’s rare that he would let someone off with a warning on a holiday weekend.
“In our eyes, what we’re looking for is people likely to cause a crash,” Jordan said. “If you are going well over the speed limit, you’re not safe, especially with the traffic the way it is this weekend.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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