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Published on Saturday, July 27, 2002
in the Florida Times Union
After 19 years with the Florida Highway Patrol, Lt. Tim Spaulding traded his uniform yesterday for construction attire.
Spaulding was part of the Highway Patrol's "Operation Hard Hat," a new initiative with a goal of catching speeders in construction zones. If only temporarily, their plan was working as troopers handed out 88 speeding tickets in less than four hours along Interstate 95 in Nassau and St. Johns counties.
Speeding fines double in construction zones, ranging from $68 for motorists driving up to 9 miles over the posted limit to $518 for those going 30 mph over or more. Violators also can get up to 4 points on their driver's licenses.
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," FHP Lt. Bill Leeper said of how easy it was to catch drivers going as fast as 88 mph in a 60 zone lined with numerous signs and cones along the roadway.
Leeper said the Highway Patrol decided to try the operation because of the dangers construction workers face every day with all of the projects going on in Florida.
He sited the death of a 19-year-old worker killed Tuesday night on I-95 in St. Johns County when he stepped into the path of an oncoming semi as an example. Carl Lobenthal of Lake City became one of at least 22 people killed annually in the state since 1997 while in a construction zone. No charges were filed against the truck driver.
Most of the time drivers are not paying attention to how fast they are going, Leeper said.
"I was just running with everyone else," said motorist Fred Blank, who was nailed for doing 78 mph in his white pickup. "I don't have a problem with it."
When told how he got caught, he realized "I shouldn't have been speeding."
Blank admitted he was not aware of his speed and believes troopers should do anything it takes to make the highway safer. He even shook the trooper's hand after being given his $268 ticket.
Although not all motorists were as easygoing as Blank, those interviewed at least understood why troopers were there.
Spaulding was posing as a surveyor in Nassau County near the Florida welcome center from 9 to about 11 a.m. yesterday. Fifty tickets were given during that time frame. Troopers then moved the operation to a rest area in St. Johns County, just past the Duval County line. Another 38 citations were issued there. Spaulding said he did not think drivers had a clue they were being clocked as they went by him.
He and six other troopers took part in the operation. After Spaulding clocked the motorists, he radioed other troopers waiting ahead on motorcycles, who pulled the drivers off the roadway.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office used a similar operation in 1999 when officers posed as homeless, stranded motorists and construction workers to catch drivers speeding and running red lights. During their "Operation You Never Know," 111 tickets were issued in four hours.
Leeper offers a word of caution to others: slow down. He vowed that troopers will be back out because of all the roadwork which will take years to complete.
"It's just an area that is unsafe, particularly for the workers out here," Leeper said.