No Decrease In Driving Citations Along Local Highways, City Streets
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Before January 2007, the major highways such as the Schuylkill Expressway and I-95 were patrolled by the Philadelphia Police Department, who also had the double duty of monitoring city streets. What has happened to the number of citations written on our highways and city streets since this cooperative effort with Pennsylvania State Police went into effect?
Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Gerald McShea looked at the data and says the numbers speak for themselves.
"At least in the past three years," McShea says, "we've averaged over 15,000 in the city alone, which is 15,000 extra tickets that we weren't writing before."
And he says speeding only accounts for one-third of the tickets they write.
"We're also writing a lot more for seatbelt violation, expired registration, no insurance," says McShea.
McShea says this ensures the highways are safer for everyone. So does that mean the number of citations written by Philadelphia police is lower. Lieutenant John Stanford says absolutely not.
"Last year's numbers look like 128,606," he says. "This year's number thus far, we're looking at 131,567."
