Anonymous on September 2, 2010 7:11 PM
Anonymous on September 2, 2010 9:35 PM
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thank you, I agree. I know that if the cops are actively pursuing or witness something illegal they can do what is needed. I didn't word my question very well. do the Naperville / Aurora cops actively sit on route 59 with radar guns? My guess is no, because 59 is a state road. If they witness illegal driving, etc. can they and do they pull people over - yes.

Anon at 7:11: Can the Galena police department sit at the Fox Valley mall and write tickets for speeding by setting up a speed trap themselves, and then collect the revenue for Galena?

Whenever we discuss road construction, stoplights, etc. on route 59 the local municipalities always claim that they have their hands tied because it is a state road. I believe, for the most part, that the speed on route 59 falls predominantly on the State to handle.

If a road, regardless of whether it is a state one, federal one or county one, runs through the city limits or jurisdiction area of a specific police department, then yes they can write tickets for infractions on that road.

"Because Route 59 is a state highway is the Illinois State police the one's most responsible for it's enforcement?"

The state of Illinois is the one who grants an individual policeman police powers. Once an individual has police powers those powers are valid anywhere in the state. A policeman from Galena could write a ticket in Cairo.

Most people wrongly assume that because a cop is outside their home jurisdiction, i.e. where they are employed, that they can't or won't pull you over.

Mr.77 on September 2, 2010 10:54 AM

PS: We still need a dragstrip !!!
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What's wrong with the one in Joliet? You can speed on the way there!

Because Route 59 is a state highway is the Illinois State police the one's most responsible for it's enforcement? Can municipalities actively patrol and write tickets for traffic infractions?

Speed limits should be raised on 59. The real danger is not speeding but are people changing two lanes at time and cutting other drivers off. The road shoul be re-named the Naperville 500. But the cops want the easy way out, and issue speeding tickets, as there is more money in the speeding ticket revenue than improper lane usage. It's a no brainer. Lets build roads that are capable of much higher speeds tempting drivers to drive faster, but then lowering the speed limits so speeding tickets can be issued by the Naperville Gestaop hiding in the bushes !

It's all about the money

PS: We still need a dragstrip !!!

"Everyone just needs to slow down!!!!"

Not going to happen. Might sound good on paper to some people, but let's remember that as a society we push ourselves constantly to do more, be more productive, accomplish more, etc. Slowing down runs counter to our internal drive to produce more.

Besides that "speed limits" are old school traffic safety and serve only to enrich municipal coffers. It has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with revenue.

Everyone just needs to slow down!!!! It is a speed limit for a reason.

Those guys are really lucky they didn't have a blowout or have to swerve to avoid an animal or something.

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The "or something" could be anyone who now uses the new sidewalks recently installed on 59. Some sections are just 3' off the road where the sidewalk winds.

Another great use of our tax dollars and the American Recovery and reinvestment act.

Going that fast is just dangerous pure and simple. Those guys are really lucky they didn't have a blowout or have to swerve to avoid an animal or something.

Problem is that the area is too built up for drag racing these days. Back when I was a kid, we would race on Book Road, east of 111th. It was all cornfields back then, and the races would end when the County Sheriff would come and tell us to go home. Back then, they didn't care as much about getting every dollar they could out us, and figured if we went off road, it was only a farm field. You know, back in the good old days...

To a certain extent I think there is some merit to having a drag strip and or a some kind of road rally type of course. If the facilities built for the small slice of the population that makes up skateboarders is a justification along with all of the "property damage" they were causing to private and public facilities as a way of justifying the need and expense then the cost of accidents and fatalities and all of the other costs associated with speeding and street racing would more than justify the expense of such a facility.

We somehow were also able to justify the so-called "test track" which has almost no usage. Most times it is totally empty of any use and the most cars I've ever seen in the facility at the same time is three. I'd sure like to see how the city justifies the ongoing use and operation?

As a society we tolerate an auto industry and car designs that attempt to fill us with desire for things like horsepower, speed, acceleration, braking, handling, etc. For the most part we need none of those features in terms of how roads are designed and constructed and their resulting speed limits. The motorcycle industry is even worse.

We all play a cat and mouse game with speed limits and traffic enforcement. Whether it is a cop with a radar gun or a speed camera the government only cares about enforcing speed in terms of how much it can extract in fines. Most drivers drive at a rate they feel safe, some drive at a rate they feel they can safely get away with. A lot of drivers think nothing of adding 5 or 10 miles to the posted speed as a safe allowance where they won't get a ticket. Just about every posted speed limit in Naperville is at least 5 MPH below the speed the road should really have posted and the city council, the police, and the drivers all know it.

Fact is the technology is there and has been there for quite some time that could completely regulate speed in every vehicle so that no vehicle could ever exceed a posted speed limit on any road. If this was really all about traffic safety then why hasn't such a system been deployed? Simple answer. Few American drivers would want it and it would cost the government money to install such a system and there would be zero revenue from then on related to speeding. For government it just doesn't add up and they want motorists to speed and to keep playing the cat and mouse game. Speeding tickets help fund the government and are easy pickings. Sure cops could go back to citing people for illegal lane use, not using turn signals, safety violations in general but that would be like real work and we are talking about unionized, government workers with a college degree who think something as low as traffic enforcement is beneath them anyway.

Anonymous, I understand your point of view and chances are they were on open road but with so many distracted drivers and private residences along the West side of 59 in the area they were at still puts others at risk. I think they should be punished as such especially if they have a history of getting caught, they likely have done this before with or without getting caught. Although you consider them kids by comparison, I believe at that age they know better and a teen age dare does not apply to them but we will see if a judge gives them proper punishment or not. I would like to see them on 59 picking up trash for starters so they can see what 45 mph looks like while working along the curb line and maybe deter any more issues on the road.

Sounds to me like Naperville needs a drag strip. Afterall we have parks, skateboard parks, tennis courts, ball fields, public golf courses dog parks and so on. Why can't people who want to race have a track to race at.After all we are all tax payers. Why not.

Naperville and the school boards are experts at spending money they don't have or for something they think they need. This would be a perfect fit in the land of milk and honey!

What about us racers ??? I'll bet that more people would use the race track than use the parks !!! A fee could be charged of $10-15 dollars plus concessions and could be sold. This extra income could to support of the track and park district. And,if there is not enought money, just raise taxes again. It will surely be nothing new to the residents of Naperville.

And the 45mph speed limit along 59 is way too slow and has way too many stop lights. Probable should just go back to tar and gravel and walk. The length of time to get to Plainfield would be about the same.

my2cents,

When you get to be some of our ages even 30 somethings are still considered kids!

I don't think we know enough about the specific situation to claim they are a danger to law abiding drivers out there. If they were weaving in and out of prevailing traffic at that speed I might agree with you. If the highway was empty of other cars while they pulled their stunt then I would disagree as the only persons they might have harmed would have been themselves.

Having driven in europe on the "autobahn" I can tell you that it is actually possible for cars traveling 140 plus miles per hour to safely share the road with cars traveling less than half that speed. Unfortunately, American drivers are not trained to be defensive drivers and too many drivers are rude and lack basic courtesy in how to politely and cooperatively share the road which is the reason why many people have a mindset that high rates of speed are unsafe. Add in all the distractions of eating, grooming, electronic devices that we tolerate and it is a wonder there aren't more accidents.

To me it is a weird dilemma we face. Traffic has gotten intolerable and as a result people use electronic devices while they are stuck in traffic so they can be more "productive" which result in more accidents and additional delays. Maybe if we put away all of the distractions and concentrated on driving and driving and being courteous to each other we could actually find that we could tolerate higher speeds because everyone is paying attention, we could get to where we want to go more quickly, and we could reduce the wasted time and expense of being stuck in traffic.

Just to clear up something here, these are not "kids", they are not teenagers, they are over 30 and are a danger to the law abiding drivers out there. They deserve to lose their license and vehicles.

Just a couple of idiots, who were caught by police officers doing their jobs, and who hopefully will grow up.

I still favor the use of cameras for red lights, this is a significant safety issue. Speeders run lights too. I would rather have the PD patrolling than trying to watch traffic lights.

I don't favor the use of speed trap cameras and would prefer human enforcement for this. Having just returned from an area that has camera speed traps all over the place, it is is thinly veiled money maker at best. I would almost prefer high school grad officers running speed traps with the Justice of the Piece on hand for your plea. You get more badges with guns for your money.

As to what is going on? Some people don't deserve licenses and hopefully the judges in these extreme cases will revoke the licenses.

Germany has the right idea, open the race tracks up to the public and let people kill themselves withing the confines of a race track.

Just a couple of kids doing something stupid which most kids are prone to do from time to time. They will pay dearly for their mistake through their insurance rates for the next few years in addition to whatever fine the court throws at them. Could happen anywhere for that matter. These guys knew each other and it sounds like it was a spur of the moment thing... not exactly like they planned to drive out there and have a race.

I've had the good fortune of being able to drive in every state in the union so I've seen the best and the worst of things. If people are going to speed they are going to speed. I've seen a lot of people on Rt59 get fed up with people who clog up all the lanes and impede traffic from even going the legal speed limit. Sometimes when they can finally get around the jerk(s) causing the bottleneck they take off and I can't hardly blame them for wanting to make up the lost time.

Whatever happened to courteous drivers? Whatever happened to driving in the FAR right lane except to pass? Whatever happened to slower traffic keep to the right? Many days the all of the truck traffic is absolutely insane. In many parts of europe truck are restricted to the far right lane only so that cars can get around them without the trucks forming a rolling blockage like they do on just about every road and city street in the US.

There are lots and lots of cities that control the speed on streets very effectively by timing or synchronizing traffic lights. If you travel at the posted speed limit you get all green lights. If you speed and race to the next light you are going to have to slow down, stop, and wait for a green. It only takes a few days for everyone to learn the system and beautiful thing is that people drive the posted limit without a need for enforcement.

As a side note on Rt59 I don't know if or when the last time a speed study was done out there, especially considering all of the recent improvements. It is a nice wide open limited access highway with planned turn lanes and everything needed. In many ways it looks as well constructed if not better constructed as many interstate highways. In other parts of the country where I have driven a road like Rt 59 would have a speed limit of anywhere from 50-65 miles per hours. Parts of Rt 59 have an artificially lower speed limit than what is really safe for this road.

I'm not sure why we taxpayers are supporting transportation infrastructure improvements like this only to see the speed limit reduced when the improved road gets opened. As someone who regularly drove Rt 59 when it was a two lane blacktop when there were no red lights or stop signs after Ogden avenue until you reached Rt 126 in Plainfield I also remember when this road had a speed limit of 55 mph and you had to take your life in your hands to try to pass someone. Now that a new and safer road has been constructed it is anyones guess why the speed limit has been lowered. Even considering the limitations of a two lane highway in terms of being able to pass the reality is that years ago the time it took me to drive to Plainfield was less than it takes today despite the grand new road we have. Without a doubt all of the extra time is a direct result of two factors. The first is the lower speed limit. The second is the number of traffic lights that have been installed, the lack of light coordination, and the overall time of each light cycle. So much for progress.