Fox Chapel police Chief Michael Stevens said his department plans to crack down on speeders this summer.
“We’ve received calls from borough residents that they have witnessed more speeding than normal,” Stevens said after the May 16 council meeting. “We’re going to run speed enforcement checks to try and slow down the speeding.”
Speed limits on borough-owned roads are 25 mph.
Allegheny County roads such as Fox Chapel Road and Dorseyville Road are 35 mph.
One way the department identifies areas of high-speed traffic is through an electronic traffic control device that flashes a driver’s speed if it is over the designated limit.
Police also paint white lines about 100 feet apart and measure the time it takes drivers to cross one line from the other to gauge speed. Stevens said it is a state-certified method of traffic enforcement.
Lines recently were painted along Field Club Road, Hemlock Hollow Road, Dorseyville Road and between the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Fox Chapel Road. They also are in borough parks.
Most travelers can expect to get a warning, at least if they are moving close to the speed limit.
“If it’s an egregious speeding violation, they will be issued a citation, but the officers have the discretion to issue warnings,” Stevens said. “Our main goal is to slow the speeding down and educate the public on the consequences of speeding. It’s not to generate revenue. We give out many more warnings than we do citations.”
Council Vice President Harrison Lauer said the borough fully supports its police department’s efforts to address aggressive driving.
“One of their missions is to keep our roads safe,” Lauer said. “The summer months it becomes a more heightened issue with faster driving and pedestrians out in the parks and near the roads. I think safety is important, and I laud the police in their efforts to keep our roads safe.
“It can be an inconvenience for those who want to go faster than the posted speed limit, but it all has a good end result of keeping our roads safe and avoiding accidents.”
The department wrote 133 traffic citations all of last year.
