One of my biggest complaints about Waterbury has been the total lack of enforcement of driving regulations. When driving past Fulton Park, for example, I always keep to the speed limit because there are so many kids crossing the road. But whenever I keep to the speed limit in Waterbury, I end up with a driver behind me who becomes completely enraged and usually decides to pass me illegally and then go racing up the road at twice the speed limit. There also seems to be a tendency for Waterbury drivers to completely ignore stop signs and red lights.
The Waterbury police department has finally decided to crack down on speeders. According to today's paper, police have stopped 950 vehicles, issued 550 tickets and 250 verbal warnings. It also suggests that they are going to start going after the excessively loud cars (when I lived over on Willow Street, there was one car that drove by frequently that had speakers so loud they made everything rattle).
The downside to this police effort is that they will stop on Nov. 1st and then conduct a study to see if there were fewer crashes. Ugh. First off, I'd say most crashes in Waterbury are never reported. Second, in the past few years there have been a couple of rare fatal accidents that might never have happened if the drivers hadn't been speeding. Third, it's not just about crashes. There's a very serious quality of life issue involved. There are a lot of times when I don't feel safe walking in Waterbury, because I'm worried about getting run over by reckless drivers. Heck, I've had drivers yell at me for riding my bicycle on the side of the road, but that's the only legal place for me to ride.
I sincerely hope they decide to keep up the effort permanently.
Also, you can call the police superintendent's office at (203) 574-6906 to request traffic enforcement in your neighborhood.
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