Peoria Speed-Enforcement Program to Begin on 91st Avenue

Image: Wikimedia Commons What's the difference between a "speed-enforcement campaign" and a "speed trap?" Well, maybe it's just the terminology, says Mike Tellef, spokesman for the Peoria Police Department. But speed traps are typically set up where the posted speed limit is artificially low, and where cops try to stay hidden, he adds...

By Ray Stern

June 22, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

Image: Wikimedia Commons

What's the difference between a "speed-enforcement campaign" and a "speed trap?"

Well, maybe it's just the terminology, says Mike Tellef, spokesman for the Peoria Police Department. But speed traps are typically set up where the posted speed limit is artificially low, and where cops try to stay hidden, he adds.

Neither of these things define Peoria's latest anti-speeding effort on 91st Avenue between Thunderbird and Bell roads.

Police aren't staying low -- they plan a high-profile, 24-hour-a-day effort with motorcycles and marked and unmarked patrol cars to stop as many speeders as they can in the area until at least June 30.

Tellef says the curvy road, which has posted speed limits ranging from 25 to 35 miles per hour, has seen tons of speeders lately, some flying by at 60 m.p.h.

Speed trap or not -- at least now you've been warned.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Phoenix New Times has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.

Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.