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Relief may come to road some call speed trap

The speed limit may go up on a stretch where motorists got over 500 tickets in the past year.

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2007

A deputy patrols Main Street at 12th Avenue in Safety Harbor, where officials are considering raising the speed limit to 35 mph.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

SAFETY HARBOR - Diane Turscak can't drive 25.

Not on Main Street, anyway.

And she recently paid the price for it in the form of a $180 ticket.

She angrily compares the residential section of Main Street that heads west from the downtown core to McMullen-Booth Road to Waldo, the infamous Florida city known as a speed trap.

"They nailed two people in front of me and two behind me. The cop said, 'I'm giving away 100 tickets here today,' " said Turscak, 56, of Safety Harbor. "These are people on their way to work! Why don't they go out at midnight and find some drunk drivers?"

Now her complaint has reached City Hall, and officials are planning a traffic study to see if 25 mph is the best speed for Main Street from around 13th Avenue west to McMullen-Booth Road.

City Engineer Bill Baker said that over the course of two days, paper or plastic bags will be placed over the speed limit signs, and his team will test to see how fast drivers are traveling, on average.

Baker will present his findings to the City Commission, which has the power to increase the speed limit if commissioners wish.

He did not say when the signs will be covered.

Whenever it is, drivers should not take advantage of the opportunity and hit the gas, warned sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner. He added that the state speed limit in a residential area is 30 mph, whether it's posted or not.

It is unclear whether tickets will be issued during this time.

Pinellas sheriff's deputies wrote 551 speeding citations to drivers on the entire length of Main Street from September 2006 to September 2007.

Randy Bly, director of community relations for AAA Auto Club South, said although the speed limit on Main Street heading to McMullen-Booth Road "is unusually low," he doesn't believe Safety Harbor is a speed trap.

He said there are only two towns in the nation that are designated speed traps by AAA: Waldo and Lawtey, both in North Florida.

Police in those towns issue between 500 and 800 tickets per month.

He said AAA has gotten only one complaint about the speed limit on Main Street, and that was from Turscak, after she got her ticket.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or 727 445-4153.

[Last modified October 16, 2007, 21:33:16]