A RADAR SPEED TRAILER is again measuring the speeds of motorists driving toward Midway on Midway Road, which becomes South Winter Street. When motorist exceed the 35 mph speed limit, the sign flashes SLOW and then DOWN. The trailer provides Versailles Police with data on speeding and officers are addressing any observed violations, Chief Rob Young said. (Photo by Bob Vlach)
The Versailles Police Department has again placed its radar speed trailer on Midway Road/South Winter Street after receiving complaints of motorists speeding in Midway, VPD Chief Rob Young told the Sun.
The trailer will provide police with data on the speeds of motorists driving into Midway and police officers are addressing any observed violations, he said.
“So we try to be responsive to the community, and when we hear the concerns we try to address it,” Young said.
Further, he emphasized enforcement is just one component of motorists obeying the traffic laws.
“We are not going to enforce our way into 100 percent compliance. You really need the community to take some personal responsibility and obey the traffic laws,” he said.
With a limited number of officers handling calls to service ranging from barking dog complaints to more serious crimes, his department targets areas for traffic enforcement based on what officers observe and where there have been reports of bad driving behaviors and motorists not obeying traffic laws, Young said.
After receiving complaints about speeding in Midway, the VPD increased traffic enforcement there, he said. However, he also noted other areas of the county have a much higher volume of collisions than the city of Midway.
Young said it’s important to differentiate between perception and facts, which can be measured by data collected by speed trailers, radar and the number of calls to service for accidents in an area.
One example of perception not matching fact is a complaint that Young said he received about police never being in the area of Huntertown Road and U. S. 60 (Lexington Road). When Young pulled the data for calls of service in that area, he said the numbers “were shockingly high … indicating police presence in that area.”
In a county covering 192 square miles, “We have to make best use of our limited resources,” he said, before emphasizing, “Probably the biggest and most effective component is when the public decides to follow the rules of the road. And when they do, we’re all safer…”