3/7/2007
Washington: Speed Complainers Spotted SpeedingAuburn, Washington residents who complained about a speed problem were themselves doing the speeding.
Auburn, Washington residents who had insisted that police do something about "outsiders" blazing through their neighborhoods at high speeds have themselves been nabbed exceeding the limit. Auburn has been using a device called the Stealth Stat Machine that covertly monitors speeds in the area surrounding Lakeland Hills Elementary School. The radar device found that 21 of the 24 drivers violating the speed limit lived in the neighborhood.
One area resident led the charge for increased speed enforcement by constantly calling the police and demanding action. She was pulled over by Auburn Police for speeding near the school.
"But I was the one who complained!" the woman told the police, as reported by the Tacoma News Tribune newspaper.
The statistics machine proved that the speed limit had been artificially lowered so that 85 percent of traffic on Evergreen Way had been traveling faster than 25 MPH limit and was subject to ticketing. The covert radar device is not used to issue speeding tickets, but Auburn does use red light cameras. In the past six months, the camera generated $565,398 in revenue.