Indiana State Police blitz westside interstate
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana State Police troopers made 120 traffic stops and cited a majority of those drivers for speeding during a two-hour ticket-writing blitz on the west side of Indianapolis Wednesday.
More than a dozen troopers, warned by lawmen with handheld laser speed detectors, pulled over drivers exceeding the 55-mile-per-hour limits on I-465 between 56th and 38th streets for two hours in the afternoon.
Sgt. John Perrine said troopers were stopping only drivers topping out at 75 MPH and above.
”We’re certainly not out here looking for the people who are minor speeding. We’re looking for the most egregious, most aggressive drivers who are really causing problems,” he said. ”We would like to lower that threshold but it’s really hard to go out and stop the people doing 10 over when we know a few seconds later there is somebody coming who is doing thirty over.”
Perrine said excessive speed is often to blame for road rage incidents.
”We have a group of drivers who want to drive slow in the left lane and say, ‘Hey, you’re not passing me. If I’m gonna drive the speed limit, you’re gonna drive the speed limit.’ And the other side of the selfish driver is, ‘I don’t care about anybody else. I’m gonna drive the way I want as fast as I want.’ We really need to get a handle on both of those.”
Perrine said troopers from across the state will be patrolling Indianapolis area interstates through the rest of this year engaging in occasional blitzes. …
Why can’t we go faster?
Why cant the speed limit of Indiana’s 465 beltway be increased over 55 mph?
Copilot
The speed limit on I-465, despite most drivers exceeding it, remains at 55 mph due to Indiana state law. Specifically, because I-465 is considered to be within an urban area, its speed limit cannot exceed 55 mph. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has the authority to lower the speed limit if an engineering study demonstrates that a lower speed is necessary for safety or traffic reasons1. So, even though many drivers find the current limit too low, it remains in place due to legal constraints.
Interestingly, the real-world data supports the notion that drivers consistently exceed the speed limit on I-465. For instance:
96.3% of vehicles recorded at one spot on the northwest side of I-465 were going over the speed limit. More than half of the vehicles were recorded at speeds exceeding 65 mph, which is more than 10 mph over the limit1. While there have been discussions about implementing variable speed limits on parts of I-465, the existing legal framework keeps the maximum speed at 55 mph2. So, despite the bustling traffic and the urge to go faster, the beltway remains a place where the Racing Capital of the World meets the 55 mph speed limit1! 🏎️🚗
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