GREENSBORO, N.C. — It may not be a huge city like Charlotte or Atlanta, but traffic officers say Greensboro comes with its own share of traffic problems. Most commonly - speeders.
WFMY News 2 spoke with a concerned citizen tonight who wonders: What are police doing to crack down on speeders?
So, we verified. To do this, we gathered data from the police department and spoke to Traffic Officer J.B. Price.
Here's what we found out: It all comes down to the crash data to put the number of speeders and accidents into perspective. Speeding is a problem everywhere, but Greensboro Police work to put officers where the speeds are highest, and accidents are most severe.
"[Speeding] is the number one complaint, and obviously, if we focus our attention on this one area right here, there are going to be other areas that fall apart," said Officer Price, "I believe that Greensboro does the best possible resource allocation to these problem areas that we can with what we have. And we take this seriously because we know high speed increases, the chances of someone being injured in the crash increases."
Out of all the traffic tickets issued by Greensboro officers this year, speeding tickets make up between 34 and 38 percent of all tickets. The trend is the same for the past three years.
Officer Price says the traffic division has roughly 18 to 20 officers, solely dedicated to enforcing traffic laws. We learned highways, school zones, and major streets, like Wendover, Battleground, Gate City and Market Street are monitored the most.
"We focus on the areas where we are having our problems and where people have potential to have a greater amount of injury as a result of speeding or following too close," Officer Price said.
The best option if you notice speeders or bad drivers consistently going through your neighborhood or intersection? Call the city or the police department so they can follow up on the issue.
GREENSBORO POLICE DEPARTMENT'S TOP 10 CRASH LOCATIONS:
1) I-40/85 (Elm-Eugene Street to 29)
2) I-40/85 (Randleman Rd to 220)
3) US-29 Corridor (E Market to E Gate City)
4) W Wendover Avenue Corridor (Bridford to Tri-City)
5) Battleground Avenue Corridor (Westride to city limit)
6) I-40/Guilford College Road
7) Holden Rd/Vandalia Road
8) W Gate City Blvd/W Meadowview Road
9) Pisgah Church/N Elm Street
10) I-40/Sandy Ridge Road