New Kensington police nab 27 drivers in speeding crackdown

A crackdown on speeding by New Kensington police resulted in more than two dozen traffic stops Tuesday morning, including one involving a motorist who police said was traveling more than twice the speed limit on a city road.

New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said the crackdown is in response to residents’ complaints about motorists speeding in the city.

“This will continue to happen at random days at random times for as long as we can continue to do it,” Deringer said. “We’re going to hit as many areas as possible to try to slow people down.”

The chief said he has received half a dozen complaints about speeders this year.

“I think it started when the weather started to get a little better,” he said.

Tuesday’s worst offender was clocked going 76 mph in a 35-mph zone on Industrial Boulevard, according to Deringer.

“That’s ridiculous,” Deringer said. “There’s no reason to be going that fast in a 35 zone.”

The man was pulled over during a four-hour traffic enforcement detail conducted at three locations across the city.

Officers made 27 traffic stops.

Officers issued two citations at the time of the stops and gave five verbal warnings. More than 20 citations are expected to be filed.

Speeding has always been an issue in the city because the police didn’t have a way to properly deter it, Deringer said.

In the past, the only way officers were able to catch speeders was to follow cars and clock how fast they were going with a speedometer.

“Most people will notice a police car behind them,” Deringer said.

The department also had the speed enforcement system AccuTrak, which uses painted lines on roadways and an officer-operated device similar to a stopwatch, but the city didn’t have the corresponding lines painted on city streets.

The city added such lines to its roads last year, but police weren’t able to use them until recently.

“Now that they’re in and marked, we’re ready to go,” Deringer said.

In addition to having officers conduct traffic enforcement details, the department is placing an empty, spare, marked patrol car in areas where people are known to speed in an effort to slow them down.

The empty car will be put in places where there are no AccuTrak painted lines or other ways to enforce speeding, Deringer said.