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Published on Friday, July 18, 2003
in the Lakeland Ledger

I-4 Speed Trap Gets 44 Drivers
Trooper in hard hat stops those going too fast in construction zone.

LAKELAND -- Few motorists noticed the man in a white hard hat standing beside a blue pickup parked Thursday morning in the Interstate 4 median in Lakeland.

Even harder to see was the laser gun he pointed in their direction.

In reality, what appeared to be an innocuous construction worker was a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, whose presence became all too apparent to dozens of drivers speeding through a construction zone.

The FHP speed trap netted 44 motorists between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with the fastest clocked at 89 mph.

That was 34 mph over the 55-mph speed limit.

With fines nearly doubled for speeding through an area with active construction, getting caught was extra painful.

Troopers dubbed the two-hour surveillance mission Operation Hard Hat. It's the first of several planned in coming months to control speeding along a 21-mile corridor through most of Polk County where the speed limit has been lowered to 55 mph from 65 mph.

The work is part of a $224.5 million project widening I-4 from four to six lanes during the next three years.

Responding to complaints by construction crews, the state Department of Transportation on July 7 lowered the speed limit along much of the interstate in Polk.

"They just felt it would be safer if people slowed down -- for the motorist and also the construction workers," said Ken Nelson, a DOT spokesman. "They've noticed a pretty good reduction in the speed, but they have to keep monitoring it and enforcing it or people will get lax."

The number caught Thursday morning would have been much higher had there been more than four troopers on motorcycles to write tickets.

"Just about everybody's doing 10 miles over the speed limit," said Jesus Lopez, the undercover trooper shooting a laser speed detector at approaching westbound motorists. Lopez, who stood just west of the U.S. 98 overpass, spared a majority of speeders and ticketed only those exceeding 70 mph.

Among the unlucky ones was David Currier of Minnesota, who was clocked at 72 mph in a rented Chevrolet Malibu. Currier, his wife and three children were headed for Busch Gardens after having spent the last few days at Disney attractions.

Busted, the family's vacation budget took an unexpected hit of $372 -- including a $49 fine directed at Currier for failing to wear his seat belt.

Currier, wearing T-shirt, shorts and sandals, said he was speeding but was just keeping up with the flow of traffic. He said it wasn't fair to be singled out, even though "I was doing wrong."

Statewide in the past five years, speeding through interstate construction zones has contributed to 134 deaths and 12,376 injuries, according to the FHP.

Motorists are urged to slow down to avoid construction workers and navigate the often narrow lanes lined with concrete or other barriers.

Lt. Sterling King, the FHP's public information officer, said many motorists follow the pack rather than risk having other cars and trucks ride their bumpers.

But that doesn't excuse them from getting ticketed, he said. "It would be nice if you get all of them," King said. "I usually tell people you can't follow them just to be following them.

"Time is more valuable than money to some people," he said. "They take the risk. It's just ridiculous."