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City
of Bastrop Police Department
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City
of Bastrop Police Department
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Speed, as a primary collision factor in fatal and serious injury crashes, is a growing problem in every community and Bastrop is no exception. As the City continues to grow we are seeing more and more motorists traveling our highways and residential streets at speeds in excess of the posted speed limit. Although our records indicate a 16% decrease in overall traffic accidents, our community continues to express concern about excessive speed.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Nationwide about 30 percent of all drivers killed in crashes were speeding. Excessive speed, not only increases your chances of being seriously injured or killed if involved in a motor vehicle accident, but causes great concern for many of our residents who view “Speeding” in their neighborhood as an infringement on our quality of life. Nobody wants to see “Speeding Vehicles” zooming through their neighborhood where children are riding their bicycles, playing basketball in their driveway and walking to and from school.
In an effort to continue the decreasing trend of traffic accidents and take proactive steps to address excessive speeding in our neighborhoods, the Police Department has implemented a “Community Speed Control” program. This program is designed to target areas with high incidents of speed-related crashes and streets with consistent speeding complaints.
I believe the most effective and popular method of gaining compliance with speed limits is by using our SMART system. SMART, which stands for Speed Monitoring Awareness Radar Trailer, is the portable, self-contained speed display unit that you have seen in neighborhoods throughout our community. The SMART system works like this. As you approach the trailer it will display your speed. If you are travelling above the posted limit the display will flash your speed in “RED” as a simple reminder that you are travelling too fast.
The department’s primary objective is to reduce speeding through voluntary compliance. By working together, we can reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents, save lives, minimize injuries and improve the overall quality of life for our residents.
Beginning February 4th our uniformed patrol officers will be directed to increase their patrols and speed enforcement on specific streets in your neighborhood.
In an effort to gain voluntary compliance the targeted streets will be publicized weekly in The Bastrop Advertiser giving you plenty of notice that our officers will be aggressively enforcing the speed limit. If you have concerns about excessive speed in your neighborhood please give us a call at the Police Department so that we can put your street on the enforcement list.
On behalf of the Police Department, thank you for you cooperation and continued support.Thank You,
David L. Board
Chief of Police
