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Speed trap bill dies
Published Friday, May 16, 2008
FERRIDAY — It may have started in Ferriday, but the legislation to limit how much money a town can generate from ticket writing ended in Baton Rouge Wednesday.
The legislation, authored by Rep. Hollis Downs, of Ruston, found its origin when Downs was pulled over for speeding in Ferriday. The bill would have limited the amount income Ferriday could have derived from tickets to approximately 10 percent of the town’s total income.
The rest of the money collected from ticket writing would have gone to the state treasury.
The bill died after Downs withdrew it from consideration from the House Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee.
When Downs was pulled over in Ferriday, it was a routine traffic stop, Police Chief Richard Madison said.
“He was stopped by the officer, who did not know him from anyone else when the radar detected he was speeding,” Madison said. “When it was determined he was a representative of the legislature he was not cited.”
The legislative effort was an attempt to take the system and punish Ferriday, Madison said.
“The law is the law, and nobody is above the law, and that is including me and everybody else,” Madison said.
Limiting how much revenue a town could generate from tickets was just a bad idea, Mayor Gene Allen said.
“These rural cities are struggling enough without the legislature trying to find ways to take money away from them,” Allen said.
Mayor-elect Glen McGlothin said his biggest concern with the legislation was that it was directing the funds to the state.
“For a $109 ticket, the town only keeps $35,” McGlothin said. “The indigent defenders get some, the district attorney gets some, the state crime lab gets some, so the town doesn’t keep all of it. All that does is leave the town with no money.”
Tickets are written to keep things safe, Allen said.
“Nobody should be going through these communities at 60 miles per hour when the speed limit is just 35,” Allen said.
McGlothin agreed.
“We’re going to handle it differently than it has been in the past, but we’re going to keep writing tickets in Ferriday because people come speeding through Ferriday.”
Comments
Posted by Preacher (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It takes the luck of the Irish to get from Natchez to Rayville without getting a ticket. In MS a speed limit sign means take your foot off the pedal and slow down. In LA on Hwy 15 it means put your foot on the brake and your head in the windsheild. How about a little slack or at least more than a 50 foot notice?
Posted by guy2co (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As long as there is a speed limit of 35 in Ferriday, I will not spend money there. It is a speed trap and I refuse to stop to even get a coke. I boycott it and maybe others should too. If the business start to lose money, the business owners will complain and then maybe something will change. You would think that a highway would not have a 35 mph speed limit. I work in the tourism business and constantly hear people complaining about Ferriday and its speed trap. I know that Ferriday has the right to have the speed set at what they think is a safe speed, but I also have the right to not spend 1 dime there. Until it changes I will just drive through and get my gas and drinks somewhere else.
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the times I have driven EE Wallace Blvd., I can only imagine the speed limit being 35mph. Due to that main artery's poor design and the way the buildings are basically huddled toward the street, is dangerous in itself. The time I did go to one establishment there, seems like as soon as I stepped out the door, I was in the road. Also the loitering around the town does not call for the speed limit to be beyond 40mph, I will even say. I can't imagine anyone barreling down that main street going 50mph or more. Isn't there a portion that widens and goes to 45mph then the speed limit gets higher on to Clayton?
Posted by bear30 (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The businesses are hurting in Ferriday because of the great Ferriday police department. There really isn't any businesses besides the food markets & gas & beer places that would be able to complain. I avoid Ferriday because the cops are too worried about speeders instead of the guys on the corner selling crack & the losers robbing. As a person who has had "dealings" with Ferriday's finest, & not on a speeding ticket, they could care less about helping you. All they care about is the money that they can get from tickets. I can't wait for Glen to take over & maybe he can bring the change that we to need Ferriday so bad!
Posted by pensees (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 3 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if some of you people even bother to engage your brain in gear before you post these comments. As "guy2co" stated, "As long as there is a speed limit of 35 mph in Ferriday, I will not spend money there." Well, what would you suggest....that we convert the small, semi-rural town of Ferriday to an unlimited speed zone, of perhaps 45-50 mph through town - down the narrow lanes, through multiple pedestrians,school kids & loose pets transversing E.E. Wallace Blvd. I think your statement is patently absurd. I've lived in Ferriday for 7 years & have yet to get a ticket. Of course I always come to a complete stop at stop signs, always wear my seat belt, & never go more than 5 mph over the posted speed limit. Try that!
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Pensees, that is all I was trying to say. You can't go barrelling down that street, not to mention, there is NO center turning lane, that is also dangerous but there is hardly any room to place one.
Posted by vanluna (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I totally agree with Pensess. By the way "guy2co" the people of Ferriday including the business owners did complain about the speed limit and it was raised from 25 to 35 down the main strip of town. Now the speed limit even goes up to 45 once the road widens and a turning lane is present. I drive through Ferriday daily and have never got a ticket or been pulled over. I follow the law and so far it has worked for me. I would hate to be pulled over by a Ferriday cop, I don't trust them, the chief of police or mayor. The speed limit is the least of the concerns for Ferriday, it's all the other corrupt and crooked stuff going on that 's the problem.
Posted by guy2co (anonymous) on May 16, 2008 at 10:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pensess if the speed limit is okay, why would you have to go 5 miles over the speed limit. The reason the speed limit was raised in Ferriday was not just because of the business owners, it was because the state of Louisiana has a minimum speed for state highways. They had to make Ferriday post the 35 mph speed limits because it was in violation of the law. I'm not saying that Ferriday should have a drastic change in speed, I'm just saying 35 is too slow. If pedestrian travel is a problem, there should be crosswalks, and yes there should at least be turning lanes so that traffic does not have to come to a stop on a state highway.
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