Traffic enforcement?
To the editor:
Recently I was helping a friend in Bokeelia feed her animals. It is the first time I have crossed over the four-way stop heading north early in the morning. All week I have watched the Sheriff’s Office cars ticketing drivers at the side of the road. On Wednesday, I was one of them.
I was following the flow of traffic and next thing I knew I saw the flashing red and blue lights in my rearview mirror. I promptly pulled over and saw an angry man stomping up to my car (gave me horrid flashbacks of my time in NY/NJ and knew a ticket was on its way, for what I wasn’t exactly sure yet.
He told me I was doing 41 mph in a school zone when oddly the sign I was staring at said 45 mph. I understand now that for a short time in the a.m. and p.m., there is a tiny stretch of pavement nestled between a 45 mph sign and a 55 mph sign whereby the driver must go 20 mph (when the yellow lights are flashing).
It’s an odd configuration that makes no sense to me. As soon as you pull away from the four-way, you can go 45, then must brake hard to get to 20 mph, then you can speed off at 55 mph. Why isn’t it 20 mph right after the stop? Confusing to say the least.
As an island resident and island business owner, I have an idea I’d like to share.
Instead of “trapping” residents and tourists (that we try desperately to lure onto our island to support our businesses!) why not show a more friendly, island approach?
I propose that during these school hours an officer actually get out of his vehicle and stand at the school road intersection and provide traffic guidance, as well as perhaps help cross students if any are on foot. As ambassadors of our island they could pleasantly direct the traffic as they do on successful Sanibel Island.
It would be a way for the residents, young and old, to get to know our law enforcement and for them to get to know us. Less tickets would be written and the traffic would flow at the pace the police could control and direct.
Since Wednesday, many residents have explained to me that is the way the Pine Island officers make the majority of their revenue.
If that is indeed the case, during the season, the officers could stand in the road and fund-raise like the firemen do, and proudly show their presence instead of trapping drivers in an unusually tiny stretch sandwiched between a 45 and 55 mph zone.
I’m certain the island community would appreciate and benefit from a friendlier police approach to its residents.
But let’s say that fundraising won’t supply the necessary revenue. If you are going to continue to trap drivers in a 100-foot stretch of asphalt, then why not trap the hundreds of drivers that drive the island drunk every weekend? Or ticket the vehicles that pass me almost daily on Stringfellow Road crossing over the double yellow lines whilst going 80 mph?
Equal time for equal crime, that’s all I’m saying
Elisa Fasulo