Is there no limit to interference in local rules?

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By HOWARD TROXLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

Quick, do you recognize this sequence of place names?

Citra, Lochloosa, Hawthorne, Orange Heights, Waldo, Starke, Lawtey and Baldwin.

You certainly do if you're among the millions each year who use U.S. 301 as a short cut between interstates 75 and 95.

The drive is a throwback to earlier, pre-Disney Florida. You can still buy roadside citrus and cheap towels and tacky souvenirs along the way.

You also would be wise to obey the local speed limits.

Two places in particular, Waldo and Lawtey, are recognized by AAA Auto Club as the only "traffic traps" in Florida.

The Florida Legislature has swung into action. Bills are pending in both the House and Senate that say no Florida city should get more than 25 percent of its budget from traffic fines. Any excess would go to state coffers.

Exactly two cities would be affected. Guess which two? In the last report, Lawtey got 59 percent of its revenue from traffic fines; Waldo, 35 percent.

"The purpose of traffic law enforcement is safety, not profit," AAA's Kevin Bakewell argues in support of the bills. The cities could still write all the speeding tickets necessary -- they just couldn't keep the loot.

AAA is often the good guy. But here I side with Waldo and Lawtey.

For starters, these are not "speed traps" in the true sense of the term.

A "speed trap" is a place deliberately set up to fool you. An example would be a speed limit sign hidden behind a sharp curve so you can't slow down in time.

Drivers approaching Waldo and Lawtey are well-warned, in part because of AAA's own efforts. There are visible signs warning of reduced speed limits ahead. There are warning stripes in the roads. The speed limits are posted and visible. There are even signs that say, "Speed Limit Strictly Enforced."

The police in both places will usually allow a cushion of 10 mph over the speed limit. Most drivers who get ticketed are speeding by 15 mph or more.

Waldo police in 1998 averaged about 22 tickets a day, out of 30,000 cars a day passing through town.

"If you're going 5, 6, 7 miles an hour over the limit, we're not going to look at you," Waldo's police chief, A.W. Smith, told me. He said the typical violator is 14.9 mph to 19.4 mph over the limit.

Along State Road 24, which runs into Waldo from Gainesville, there is a school zone, marked with flashing lights and signs. Admittedly, the speed limit drops rapidly here, but not without warning. Waldo also puts out traffic cones stamped with the word "SCHOOL." Some speeders just flatten them.

The other day, Waldo police cited a guy for doing 72 mph in the 15 mph school zone. In front of a church, a guy got nabbed at 109 mph. In front of the flea market north of town, 91 mph.

The police are usually sitting in plain view. "There's no billboard in Waldo to hide behind," Smith said.

The real complaint of drivers passing through Waldo and Lawtey, of course, is that they should not be expected to pay attention to local signs and warnings. It is sooo inconvenient.

I drive through those parts regularly. I slow down -- not even down to the speed limit, but to maybe 5 or 10 miles faster -- and the reaction of drivers behind me ranges from an annoyed flash of headlights to dangerous tailgating to an angry swerve into the left lane.

They think of U.S. 301 as their link between interstates, to be covered as fast as possible. But to the folks along the way, it is just Main Street.

The House bill (HB 859) is alive after breezing through two committees. The Senate version (SB 0152), sponsored by Tampa Bay's own Sen. Jim Sebesta, is on hold while senators consider a figure higher than 25 percent.

I tried to talk to Sebesta, but my phone calls to his office were returned by an AAA spokesman. I would have asked him: What happened to all that Republican rhetoric about local folks being smart enough to run their own lives?

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