Sheriff's office increases speeding enforcement
By Matt Pelkey
Speeders beware.
The Rappahannock County Sheriff's Office has stepped up traffic enforcement with the help of a recently awarded state grant, Rappahannock County Sheriff Connie Compton Smith said.
"...complaints have come in about speeders and we're working to control the speed some," Smith said.
Smith said the sheriff's office has received complaints about speeding in county towns -- primarily Washington, Sperryville and Chester Gap -- and also on roads with 45- and 35-mile-per-hour speed limits, such as routes 729 and 642.
Smith said she has increased enforcement throughout the county.
"We're actually enforcing it everywhere," she said.
Speeders face a fine of $5 for every mile per hour over the speed limit they are caught driving.
The sheriff's office first upped enforcement during the statewide "Click It or Ticket" blitz that ran from March 16 to March 23, Smith said. Deputies wrote 87 tickets over the course of the week, Smith said, targeting drivers not wearing seat belts as well as those traveling over the speed limit.
Smith said that the state grant came through the "Click It or Ticket" campaign and covers overtime pay for deputies enforcing speed limits. She said that the extra hours are voluntary.
Though the sheriff's office has manned speed traps on Main Street in Washington in recent weeks, Smith said the increased enforcement is not a result of calls by town residents to crack down on speeding.
But Smith said that she thinks it has nonetheless helped "somewhat."
The Washington Town Council last month voted to place a stop sign on Main Street in an attempt to slow traffic on the busy street. This summer the council will likely consider raising speeding fines in town to further clamp down on speeding.
To aid enforcement, members of the Washington Town Council requested a speeding study to gain an understanding of when speeders most often drive through town and how fast they are going.
Smith said the sheriff's office has the results of the study and will probably discuss them with town officials this week.
E-mail the reporter at mpelkey@timespapers.com.