GeorgiaTrafficLawyer’s Weblog

In an interesting story from TV 11 in Atlanta, reporter Kevin Rowson notes that even the law enforcement agencies have been hit by the high price at the pump. In an effort to keep up the steady stream of revenue generated by speeding tickets and other traffic tickets in the state of Georgia, yet conserve on gas, the Georgia State Highway patrol has taken to getting off the roads and using radar and laser detection to catch offenders. According to this report, it seems to be working.

High gas prices hit some people harder than others. Not many get hit as hard as the law enforcement agency that patrols our state roads. Because of that, the Georgia State Patrol is trying to conserve fuel without cutting enforcement. So far, it seems to be working.

Senior Trooper Larry Schnall is on the road all day, like most of his fellow troopers. You can probably imagine how gas prices can add up. Because of the recent conservation efforts he says fuel consumption has been cut significantly.

“Basically what we’re trying to do is encourage our enforcement officers to simply take alternate areas of patrol, discretionary patrols,” Trooper Schnall said.

What that means is troopers won’t be simply driving around I-285 all day long. You will see more of them stopped on the side of the road running radar and laser.

“You could be visible, stop car after car for speeding and still save miles rather than riding around,” Trooper Schnall said.

He said troopers will be doing more checkpoints for sobriety and licenses. Those efforts will not only cut mileage but also cut wear and tear on patrol cars.

Trooper Schnall says the cutbacks in mileage will have no affect enforcement.

“Public safety’s not gonna be affected at all we’re still out here doing our job, we’re just taking a proactive approach to reduce miles, save fuel and money,” Schnall said.

The Georgia State Patrol is taking other measures too. They are car-pooling to training. They are also switching the grade of gasoline they put in their cars from mid-level to regular unleaded. That will save the agency at least ten cents a gallon.

“Our experts have shown that there’s no damage to the vehicle so using the regular unleaded, our vehicles are not going to suffer,” he said.

The conservation measures have been in place since the first of the year. Schnall said they have already noticed a low-end savings on fuel of 15 percent. Some have saved as much as 25 percent. Those were the goals Georgia State Patrol hoped to reach when they implemented the conservation measures.

Kevin Rowson – 11alive.com

Filed under: Georgia Speeding Ticket | Tagged: georgia laser gun, georgia speed radar, georgia speeding tickets |