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Watching your speed Photo by Bob Pennell By Melissa Martin Drivers may be hitting the brakes more often when they cruise through small towns in Southern Oregon this summer. The Oregon Department of Transportation gave $11,985 worth of reader boards and hand-held radars to police departments in Talent, Rogue River, Shady Cove and Eagle Point. They were among 40 Oregon towns with populations under 10,000 that received $100,000 in equipment this month to help slow speeding drivers. "Sometimes people get lax in their driving habits," said Talent Police Chief Elmer Kammel. "They are in a hurry or they don�t watch their speedometers. But as soon as they see the reader board, they can look down, see that they are speeding and slow down." In Talent, volunteers use the portable reader boards on Highway 99 to show drivers their speeds in 16-inch-high numbers. Community service officers mount the reader boards on the trunk lid of their cars and plug them into the cigarette lighter. The signs light up when an approaching car is 500 feet away. "It�s making drivers self-conscious about their speeds,�� said volunteer Frank Falsarella, director of the community service officers. He�s certified to calibrate radar using a tuning fork. "Cars are so comfortable that a lot of people don�t realize how fast they are going," Falsarella said. The new reader boards are tools to slow traffic, not generate more tickets, said Police Chief Bob Long of Rogue River, where the boards are declaring drivers� speeds on Broadway, Pine, Classic, North River Road and Foothills streets. "People tend to get in their everyday routine and they don�t pay attention to their speedometer,�� Long said. "They get in the car, they don�t buckle their seat belt, they pull out of the driveway and they�re gone." In Shady Cove, police hope the reader boards will help slow drivers on Highway 62, especially near the elementary school, said Police Chief Jim Johnson. "We started using it a couple of days before school let out," Johnson said. "That�s our No. 1 spot to slow people down. People are supposed to slow to 20 miles per hour when children are present, but they travel 30 to 35 miles per hour." Police also will use the reader board at either end of Shady Cove, where the posted speed drops from 55 to 45 miles per hour on Highway 62, which bisects the town for three miles. The new $2,400 equipment will be a visual reminder to drivers that they can�t zoom through a small town and not get caught, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. "There�s a concern in small communities about speeding," said Monte Turner, ODOT spokesman. "A lot of drivers, both local residents and people passing through, know that enforcement is fairly limited. We saw this as a way to enhance the small police force tools to make the best use of the limited staff they do have. "It�s a safety issue as well, Turner said: "Speed is one of three main factors in traffic crashes, along with drinking and driving and the failure to use seat belts." Police officers won�t be the only ones using the new equipment. In Shady Cove, residents concerned about speeding on their streets can borrow the reader board and radar to track speeders, write down license plate numbers and turn them into the Shady Cove Police Department. The police chief will follow up with a letter asking the speeding driver to slow down. "This will make people aware of their speeds," Johnson said. "We�d much rather have them slow down than issue citations." Talent drivers are used to having their speed posted for all the world to see. Last year, volunteer officers borrowed a trailer-mounted reader board owned by the state and kept it for several hours on Highway 99, where the speed drops to 45 mph between Colver Road and Valley View Drive. Now, when Falsarella places the new portable unit in a school zone, a residential zone known for speeders or on the highway, he gets results. "I was out there on Highway 99 for one hour yesterday and only two people exceeded the speed limit and only by 1 or 2 miles per hour. It�s working." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA