I saw a couple of tweets and retweets on Twitter today in which the authors were advising followers where the police were engaged in traffic enforcement. Okay, our use of the term "traffic enforcement" was called "speed traps" or "hidden speed patrol" by others, but you get the picture. Social media was being used to get the word out to drivers to slow down in these areas because police officers were doing their jobs.
We appreciate the help in getting drivers to slow down.
Our goal in conducting speed enforcement or catching drivers running red lights is not to write massive amounts of tickets (really, it's not). We consider it a successful day when everyone driving through the area obeys the speed limit or stops at traffic signals so we cannot write a single ticket. To think that social media might be another tool to reduce speeds, prevent crashes, and save lives is a novel way forTwitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media to help a police department (or other government agency) spread the word and improve the quality of life in our community.
Regretfully, there are still enough non-Twitter users out there that our officers stay fairly busy writing speeding tickets all day long. Maybe one day...
- Asst Chief Bill LePere
Apart from writing tickets to the rash drivers, they should also be sent to driving classes by experts, I suppose. That can change their attitude to some extent.
-Sami
Posted by: Traffic School | April 06, 2009 at 07:28 AM