Reno Police To Conduct Anti-Speeding Saturation Patrols
Source: City of Reno
Mar 6, 2008 - 3:27:33 PM
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Reno Police officers will conduct city-wide anti-speeding enforcement saturation patrols beginning Thursday as part of a region-wide law enforcement campaign funded through a statewide grant.
The saturation patrols are part of the Reno Police Department’s continuing efforts to improve traffic safety, reduce accidents and resulting injuries to motorists and pedestrians on city streets through the “the Nevada Department of Public Safety-Office of Traffic Safety’s Joining Forces grant program which targets speeding motorists, seatbelt use, pedestrian issues and through DUI enforcement. The grant funding is used to pay overtime to support increased enforcement through the saturation patrols, according to Reno Police Sergeant Pat Dreelan.
The campaign, which will include similar efforts by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Sparks Police Department, will continue through March 19.
Dreelan points out that “Speed, defined as exceeding the posted speed limit or traveling too fast for conditions, is cited as a contributing factor in approximately 30 percent of fatal accidents nationwide.”
“There are significant negative results from speeding on neighborhood streets,” Dreelan says,” including accidents, serious injury or pedestrian death, and fines or jail time depending on whether there was injury or death related to a driver’s speeding and accident.”
“Drivers caught exceeding the speed limit on streets in the City of Reno will be cited, which could result in a significant fine, depending on the speeding violation,” Dreelan says. He points out that the speed limit on neighborhood streets in the City of Reno, posted or not, is 25 miles per hour. “Speeding on neighborhood streets is dangerous to residents, especially children and seniors, and is both illegal and socially unacceptable.”
Other points to consider, according to Dreelan, include:
• Speeding extends the distance necessary to stop a vehicle (at 20 mph, the total stopping distance is 69 feet; at 30 mph, the distance needed is 123 feet; at 40 mph, the distance needed is 189 feet which may not be enough distance and time to avoid hitting an object or person on the road).
• At night, when you can only see as far as your headlights (160 feet in front of your vehicle), the situation worsens.
• The effectiveness of restraint devices such as air bags and seat belts, and built in vehicle safety features such as side member beams and crumple zones, decline as impact speeds increase.
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