Dear Editor,

A recent story shows an incorrect understanding of traffic engineering. The way speed limits are supposed to be set is called the 85th percentile. Tickets are then supposed to be given only to egregious violators.

In Pennsylvania, speed limits are almost always underposted and many areas ticket people barely over the speed limit. The impact is that we ticket our safest drivers and create situations that may be unsafe.

Pennsylvania allows municipal police to enforce speed limits, so radar is unnecessary. Radar cannot be used in areas with more than one car, since it cannot tell cars apart. It has it’s own set of errors that may occur. It also fails the Daubert Test.

Radar is desired in order to raise revenue, keep people from using public roads, and by anti-car activists. These people do not understanding traffic engineering or may be inside the revenue stream.

The state actually needs to repeal many blatantly anti-driver laws that were enacted over the past few years. The legality of these could be an issue too.

What people should do is ask the state legislature to pass a law requiring 85th percentile speed limits. No radar bill ever contains this, as that would remove all the profits. I testified at a past hearing on radar, and found no legislators who were willing to mandate proper speed limit setting. That really says a lot. All about the money. The legislators and the governor should try to actually serve constituents.

Tell your state representative, state senator, and Gov. Tom Wolf to vote no on HB 606.

James Sikorski Jr.,

Pennsylvania Advocate National Motorists Association,

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