Speed gun reveals lead-footed driving habits
You’ve all been good this holiday season, and the Road Warrior’s heart has grown three sizes as a result. So here’s an end-ofthe-year
Road Warrior Speed
Gun Seasonal Extravaganza.
Despite the fancy name, this version will be a bit shorter than the last one. . And as always, feel free to email me.
While I’ve found the speed gun to be highly accurate, I only count vehicles that are going 10 mph or more beyond the speed limit. This is to placate those who argue the devices aren’t accurate, and because it was the benchmark state lawmakers considered for a law that would have let municipal police use radar guns.
2) I monitored speeds for about 15 minutes at the designated locations. Because of family and professional obligations, I’m taking these readings during regular business hours. Some spots are problematic strictly during rush hour or specific windows of time, and I may be missing those as a result.
Because I was handling the speed gun, taking notes and shooting photos, I can’t clock every vehicle. I know some speeders slipped by before I could take a reading.
As I stated last time, the goal in these exercises is to raise awareness about speeding and to get people to slow down on their own.
The Hill to Hill Bridge, Bethlehem
Description: The Hill to Hill Bridge carries Route 378 over the Lehigh River, serving as the main connection between west Bethlehem and south Bethlehem. The bridge also carries traffic over a few city blocks on both sides of the river.
Speed limit: 30 mph. Signs are posted on the bridge and its approach.
Is there a more awkward stretch of state road in the Lehigh Valley than the Hill to Hill Bridge? Southbound motorists have less than a half mile to go from a 55 mph limit they were probably ignoring to a 30 mph limit over the bridge they need to immediately respect because a stoplight causes traffic to back up.
Northbound traffic has the opposite problem. Free of the confines of south Bethlehem, drivers floor the accelerator thinking they’re home free, but there’s a Main Street exit ramp off the right lane that requires turning motorists to go slow before making a hard turn. There are a lot of people suddenly slamming their brakes.
I’m stunned there aren’t more accidents here. I saw two near misses, one of which involved a black sedan going 63 mph in the right northbound lane. I looked down to note the reading when I heard his tires squeal. I looked back up to see him swerve into the left lane. He just missed the bumper of a speeding SUV and barely kept from crossing into oncoming traffic.
Officially, I tallied 80 vehicles speeding over the bridge, but this isn’t close to what I actually saw. I’m guessing I saw closer to 150 speeding vehicles, but the sheer volume made it tough to count.
If you don’t count the vehicles stopped at the light waiting to turn onto the Third Street exit, I counted about five cars going the speed limit. All but one of them made the right turn onto the Main Street exit.
Fish Hatchery Road and Caroline Road, Lower Macungie Township
Description: Fish Hatchery Road, aka State Route 2010, is a two-lane residential road at this point, but it’s a half mile from Cedar Crest Boulevard and right around the corner from Lehigh Valley Hospital.
Speed limit: 25 mph
As some maladjusted editors will tell you, some reporters have a tenuous relationship with deadlines. Normally, I’m not a horrific offender in this department, but after being out sick on Tuesday, I was running behind on my column this week. That’s why I was standing at this street corner in the dark in the rain at 5 p.m. Thursday.
From a testing perspective, those conditions should change drivers’ habits. People are supposed to slow down in slippery conditions and when visibility isn’t great.
Not shockingly, most people were driving within my 10 mph margin. But should the margin have been reduced given the conditions? I opted not to, but I think there’s a strong counterargument to be made.
Overall, I tallied 21 people going over the speed limit, with a max speed of 39 mph. A special shoutout goes to the maniac who was driving with his lights off in the dark and rain. I actually screamed, “Turn on your lights!” as he sped by.
One thing that stood out was how one person can alter traffic patterns. I saw quite a few motorists driving the speed limit with the car behind them perched over their bumper. These two lane roads don’t have passing lanes, causing speed demons to lose their minds and tailgate aggressively.
I bring this up because tailgating is probably more dangerous than speeding, especially in the rain when vehicles can’t brake as well. If you find yourself figuratively in the back seat of the car in front of you, please take a deep breath, calm down and open up the distance.
Chestnut Street, Emmaus
Description: One of the main roads in the borough, Chestnut Street is a mix of residential and commercial.
Speed limit: 25 mph
This was a weird case.
I broke out my lidar gun at noon at Sixth and Chestnut streets. I’ve written about the steps Emmaus has taken to make Chestnut Street safer for pedestrians, but I didn’t realize until afterward I’d chosen the intersection where an 11-year-old girl was fatally struck by a car in 2015.
I was there for about 10 minutes shortly after noon, when I decided to try a different intersection. I hadn’t seen a single speeder. I moved, but I still couldn’t find any. Not a single speedster between Sixth and 10th streets. And that’s with me cheating; I spent half an hour on Chestnut Street instead of the allowed 15 minutes.
I know speeding has been a problem on Chestnut Street, and the borough has listened to the requests of its residents by dropping the posted speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph. I just didn’t see any of it. I’m encouraged that people can drive through here safely, but I’m not naive enough to think it doesn’t happen.
After talking with some borough residents, I’m convinced this is because I went during the middle of the day instead of during rush hour. A co-worker told me people drive so recklessly through here at rush hour that she doesn’t let her child get out of the car through the driver-side door.
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