LITTLE ROCK — Dear Mahatma: How about all those drivers with expired tags on their vehicles? It's amazing to me, and you have to wonder why they are not ever noticed by the local police.
- Legal Tags.
Dear Legal: "Not ever" is a long time.
We asked the Little Rock Police Department for data on the number of such tickets written and were routed to the city's traffic court. So we asked Lisa Tatum for data. She's the court administrator for Traffic Judge Vic Fleming.
We got five pages of traffic violations that ranged from the obvious - speeding - to the obscure, such as passing a trolley. The time frame is from Jan. 1 to Aug. 18 of this year.
Here are the top violations written up by the LRPD.
Speeding, 6,711.
Not using a seat belt, 3,839.
(Note: Failure to buckle up became a primary offense in Arkansas on June 30 of this year.)
Careless and prohibited driving, 2,704.
No proof of insurance, 2,337.
Driving with a suspended license, 1,605.
No driver's license, 1,139.
Operating a vehicle without a license plate, 1,319. (That would include expired tags.)
Failure to stop or yield at a sign, 752.
Running a red light, 520.
Child not in a safety seat, 334.
Making a prohibited left turn, 305.
Failure to present a driver's license, 304.
DWI, 234.
Ten citations were issued for failure to yield to a pedestrian, 12 for having windows tinted too darkly, 10 for passing a stopped school bus and one lone citation for passing a trolley.
In all, Little Rock police through Aug. 18 of this year wrote up about 26,000 traffic violations. Is that too few, or too many? Depends. Did you get one?
Dear All-Knowing Mahatma: Hazen has a traffic signal that has the distinction of being the only signal in Prairie County. It's not needed in the downtown area on U.S. 70. It holds up traffic for no other reason except to let two cars cross the highway every other day.Are there any restrictions for placing traffic signals on major U.S. highways?
- Frequent Traveler.
Dear Frequent: David Nilles of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department notes that the traffic light in Hazen has been there for many years.
Why is a traffic light put up?
A city or county asks for one. The Highway Department does a traffic study, which looks at the volume of traffic, the number of accidents at the location, the sight distance on each street and the configuration of the intersection. From that comes a decision on whether the light is warranted.
Consider yourself lucky to live in such a pastoral place as Prairie County, Mr. Frequent.
The Mahatma takes one route home from work that over a bit more than five miles includes 22 traffic lights.
Dear Mahatma: Just wondering if the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is out of gas, or reduced its manpower this summer. I see high grass on Interstate 30. - Hiding in the Grass.
Dear Hiding: Nilles says the first mowing contractor defaulted as its crews began the first cycle. Highway Department crews picked up the slack, but the first cycle was late. A new contractor in Pulaski County started on Monday. Expect about two weeks for all the mowing to be done.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 08/22/2009