80 percent of drivers found exceeding speed limit in Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park

More than 80 percent of drivers exceeded the speed limit past tracking devices in Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park recently, some as fast as 77 mph in zones with posted limits of 25 mph and 35 mph, data show.

Police produced the speeding study with data obtained from electronic speed trailers that tracked and stored information on 300,000 vehicles in the municipalities in April and May. The results surprised police, who said they'll boost enforcement efforts.

“I never would have anticipated the percentage we had,” Bethel Park Detective Joelle Dixon said.

The study is part of a traffic safety partnership between the departments and Allstate, which donated a high-tech speed trailer to each municipality, she said. The trailers, which can be controlled remotely by computer, record passing motorists' speeds and can be programmed to display messages, she said.

The devices showed that 77 percent of drivers exceeded the speed limit past them in Mt. Lebanon, and 95 percent of drivers sped past them in Bethel Park. When combined and averaged, 82 percent of drivers were speeding.

Stationed for a week at a time along eight stretches of roads, the speed trailers confirmed some officers' suspicions about speeding. The highest speed in a 25 mph zone was 64 mph; the highest in a 35 mph zone, 77 mph.

Richard Parks, owner of Salon Beleza on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon, said he has seen distracted drivers strike pedestrians. He thinks the speed trailers encourage drivers to slow down.

“It makes sense for anybody who's driving that fast to be reminded that people are walking up here,” Parks said. “I don't want my customers to get hit.”

Allstate's partnership with the department began in August, Allstate communications manager Julia Reusch said. The company teamed with police on safety outreach initiatives, including a distracted-driving campaign at high schools and a pedestrian safety public service announcement, she said.

Allstate chose the South Hills communities because it wants to grow in the Pittsburgh area and is seeking exposure, Reusch said.

Police selected high-traffic roads where drivers seemed to ignore the speed limit, Mt. Lebanon Lt. Duane Fisher said.

“We chose roads with historically a lot of speeding issues or main cut-throughs we see people utilizing to get around backup from the Parkway (West),” he said.

They monitored Clifton, Logan, Library and Brightwood roads in Bethel Park and Cedar Boulevard, Washington, McNeilly, and Gilkeson Roads in Mt. Lebanon.

Bethel Park's four roads each have a 25 mph speed limit. The department will increase enforcement on the roads, Dixon said.

“A lot of people, even if they're going 35 in a 25, they don't always recognize that they're speeding,” she said.

In addition to collecting data, the trailers have signs that come in handy for rerouting traffic, Dixon said. This weekend, Bethel Park's trailer will guide South Hills Village drivers around Fourth of July fireworks detours.

Fisher said data from the trailers enabled Mt. Lebanon police to identify speeding patterns throughout the day, helping them to deploy officers more efficiently. The trailer is in front of Mt. Lebanon's municipal building on Washington Road, he said.

The departments can turn the trailers' signs off and use them solely to collect data, Fisher said. Mt. Lebanon uses its trailer in conjunction with enforcement, he said.

“Just because you see the sign doesn't mean there's not an officer hiding behind it,” Fisher said.

Greg Wiles, manager at the BnD'z Burgerz and Dogz Mt. Lebanon location, sees some people speeding on Washington Road and doesn't think speed trailers are the most effective way to change drivers' habits.

“People are going to drive the speed they're going to drive,” he said.

Katherine Schaeffer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-320-7832 or kschaeffer@tribweb.com.