 "Photo: Melanie Hardy")
Drivers may need to start paying closer attention to the posted speed limit signs displayed around Newark, beginning this month. As of Sept. 1, fines for speeding violations have increased.
According to Ordinance No. 08-14, the amendment reads: "Whoever violates this section who exceeds the maximum speed limit by less than 15 miles per hour shall be fined an amount equal to the number of miles per hour over the maximum speed limit multiplied by itself."
It goes on to state, "Any person violating this section who exceeds the maximum speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour shall, in addition to the fine established for 15 miles per hour over the maximum speed limit, pay an additional fine by $15 per mile per hour for each additional mile per hour in excess of the maximum speed limit."
David Athey, council member and creator of the amendment said the new fines are much larger than they were previously.
"If you're going 10 miles over the speed limit, the fine is $10 per miles over. So 10 times 10 would be $100, plus court costs and other additional fees," he said. "If you're nine miles over, it's nine times nine. If you're eight miles over, it's eight times eight. So basically if you know math, it's the square of the number of miles you are driving over the limit."
Athey said the rule is in effect up to 15 miles per hour over he speed limit. Once over 15 mph, the amendment takes a turn.
"Fifteen squared is $225, so now you're getting into some pretty serious money," he said. "When you're over 15 miles per hour, it just adds $6 per mile, because after that it just starts to get ridiculous."
The amendment was a result of multiple studies, Athey said.
"We had some traffic studies done a few years ago with the police," he said. "They were able to measure the speed of many neighborhood roads and big surprise, and by and large, the average speeds were well above 25 miles per hour on all of these residential roads."
Another reason for implementing this change was pedestrian safety, Athey said.
"It's not exactly rocket science to figure out but studies have been done to show that if you're a pedestrian and someone in a car hits you going 25 miles per hour, you're going to be hurt, but you're probably going to live," he said. "If that happens and that person is going 35 miles per hour, you're probably not going to live."
Athey said he feels it is essential for drivers to follow the speed limit, especially in neighborhood environments.
"There is a reason why in almost every residential community in the country, the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour," he said.
Senior Jillian Guiglotto, a resident of Main Street, said she cannot believe how fast people sometimes drive.
"Traffic is always heavy and 25 miles per hour is a fair speed for a crowded street with lots of pedestrians,"she said. "Drivers seem to speed even more when there is a lot of traffic, like it's a race or something to see how quick they can get down the street. This is Newark, not New York City."
Mayor Vance A. Funk III said he feels the increased speeding fines are necessary for safety in Newark.
"There is a real concern about speeding in the neighborhoods," he said. "Especially because it seems like we're on a new wave of young children who are under 10 years old in neighborhoods now, so we're very concerned about speeding vehicles."
Both of these reasons tie into an ugly past for Newark's history, Athey said.
"For awhile, every year or two, we had a fatality," he said. "A pedestrian, a bicyclist, whatever. There's a history of people being either seriously hurt or killed, and a lot of them were students."
The amendment came into action back in May, Athey said.
"We had a meeting at council, just to let other council members know we're talking to the police department and looking at different data, and that we'd be coming back sometime with an ordinance to change the fines," he said.
The city council hopes the change in speeding fines will force drivers to slow down and thus cause fewer accidents, Athey said.
"One thing we talked about was that every state has a few places where people know you just don't speed," he said. "I want people to know that when you're going to Newark, Delaware, you don't speed, simple as that, you keep your speeds low."
Every extra dollar the fines bring into the city will be used to benefit the community and promote safety, Athey said.
"It could be additional enforcement, maybe some public education, some sort of additional signage," he said. "This has nothing to do with raising more money for the city - it has everything to do with pedestrian safety."
However, Guiglotto said she thinks the amendment could be somewhat stricter and more consistent.
"Speeding is speeding but those who speed at a faster pace are given harder punishments than those who only speed by a little bit," she said. "That is like giving a man a lesser sentence for shooting someone in the foot versus shooting him in the chest. He still shot him right?"
Guiglotto said she thinks the punishment should be the same for any speeding violation.
"It should be the same for someone speeding five miles over the limit or 15 miles over the limit, and clearly a $25 fine isn't the same as a $225 fine," she said. "The violation may not mean as much to the person spending $25, who will probably continue to speed."
Athey said the bottom line is the city hopes the new law changes people's habits.
"We can't guarantee it, but as soon as the word starts getting out that we're serious about this, I am absolutely hopeful it will," he said. "I don't want to read in the paper in coming months or coming years that a pedestrian was hit and killed."
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