107 tickets issued on Rt. 29 within seven hours

By Media General News Service
Published: July 30, 2008

Temporary displays stationed on U.S. 29 have been warning drivers to slow down to the recently changed 45 mph speed limit, which the signs claim will be strictly enforced.

The signs do not lie. On Monday, 10 Albemarle police officers and two supervisors stationed themselves along U.S. 29 northbound and southbound between the city line and Greene County. In the span of seven hours, officers issued 107 tickets to 86 drivers, according to a news release.

Albemarle Sgt. Peter J. Mainzer Jr. said 88 of those tickets were issued between Polo Grounds and Airport roads, where the speed limit was lowered by 10 mph last month in that stretch after a fatal accident in May.

On Monday, officers issued 40 tickets for speeding, two for reckless driving by speed, nine for failing to obey a traffic signal, three for driving without a license, three for driving with a suspended license, three for seat belt violations, 25 for inspection violations, 11 for registration violations, two for equipment violations, three for county decal violations and one for a driver who didn’t have a license with him. Officers also inspected three commercial vehicles and issued five tickets to those drivers for commercial violations. 

Both of the reckless driving tickets were issued between Polo Grounds and Airport roads. The fastest car to speed by officer’s radar guns was going 78 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to the release.

So far this year, five people have been killed in auto accidents in the county. Mainzer said the county’s fatal crash rate is 50 percent lower than it was at the same time last year. However, there still is room for improvement.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that someone [doesn’t call] because of reckless driving,” Mainzer said.