Control the need for speed
Members of the Utah Highway Patrol want drivers to slow down – especially in areas like Sardine Canyon.
“People don’t understand that it’s a mountain pass,” said UHP Trooper Robert Sheffer. “There are some areas that never see the sun.”
Sheffer said people speeding in Sardine Canyon has always been a problem, at least for the 17 years he’s been with the highway patrol.
“I don’t know if people understand that speed equals accidents, which equals people die,” he said.
Sheffer said a lot of people think a speed limit is absolute and don’t slow down even when weather conditions worsen.
The focus of the highway patrol is safety, said Trooper Miguel Chino. That focus is the reason troopers in Cache Valley have been concentrating on speed through selective enforcement.
“Selective enforcement is putting a lot of people in the area to be able to deal with the problem,” said Trooper Stewart Hunsaker.
Troopers are each assigned to pinpoint a problem to work on once a month. While speed is one of the biggest problems, the UHP has also focused on things like bad passes or lane travel.
Almost two weeks ago, four troopers spent about two hours in Sardine Canyon focusing on speeding. Ten citations and six warnings were issued.
Sheffer said the number of speeders in the canyon varies and doesn’t follow any noticeable pattern.
“Some days we can go up there and there’s not a lot of speed,” he said. “Other days, there are 25 tickets a day above 80 [miles per hour].”
Hunsaker said some drivers get mad because law enforcement should be out “catching bad guys,” instead of pulling people over for speeding.
“The bad guys have to get from point A to point B somehow,” he said. “If you want to catch bad guys, learn the traffic code.”
Hunsaker said selective enforcement is a good program, but the only people it helps are those who get stopped.
“That’s a slow way to make people aware,” he said.
The UHP is trying to combine selective enforcement with an educational campaign to get people to slow down, he said.
“We prefer to be out and speaking to groups,” he said. “We want to be able to slip into people’s lives and present a program that’s logical, informative and fun.”
The educational campaign will serve as a driving refresher course, he said.
“People think once we get our licenses, we’re considered experts and don’t need any more education,” he said. “That’s just not true.”
The UHP has prepared several presentations, but Hunsaker said they don’t have any planned for the near future.
Anyone interested in arranging a presentation can contact Sgt. Mike Tueller at 750-7441 or Sgt. Dan Richards at 750-7440.