BUFFALO, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side has been looking through data from Buffalo Police, showing the amount of speeding tickets being written on the Scajaquada Expressway have jumped dramatically.
And, there is serious concern about how fast speeders are going.
Haven't been on the Scajaquada Expressway lately?
You should know that it could get quite uncomfortable on the 198 -- with perhaps another driver tailgating you, or blatantly cutting you off.
That's because here, there are two types of drivers.
"You have people that are going the speed limit and then suddenly, as they're attempting to get on or off the roadway you have somebody who's not obeying the limit still traveling at 50 to 60 miles per hour and it creates accidents and it creates dangerous situations," said Captain Jeff Rinaldo of the Buffalo Police Department.
2 On Your Side obtained data from Buffalo Police, through a Freedom of Information request, on how many speeding tickets have been written on the 198 since a fatal crash in Delaware Park in 2015.
If you were here when that crash happened, you won't forget it.
The driver was never charged -- prosecutors said at the time there was nothing criminal about the driver's conduct and that he likely fell asleep.
Governor Andrew Cuomo immediately dropped the speed limit from 50 miles per hour to 30.
Numbers show nearly 600 tickets (586) were written in the seven months after the crash.
"The department undertook more of an educational campaign to alert drivers of a roadway that they were constantly familiar was a 50 mph speed zone had dropped to 30 and after a time period then the enforcement period began," Rinaldo said.
Fewer speeding tickets were written from 2016 to last year.
Police explain why.
"We saw a large number of retirements over the last two years, so as our numbers drop we are able to make minimum manpower requirements, but we don't have a lot of personnel to do a lot of traffic enforcement," Rinaldo said.
That changed this year.
In the first six months of 2019, 407 drivers were caught speeding on the 198.
Police are on pace this year to far exceed the number of tickets issued in 2015 and have more officers now to crackdown on speeding.
"As those officers are assigned to the districts and there's additional manpower, we then have additional resources to conduct traffic enforcement so I think that's why you're seeing those numbers increasing," Rinaldo said.
REPORTER: OK, so, Buffalo Police they have not been given a directive to issue more tickets on the 198 or elsewhere to generate more revenue for the city?
"No, we've been given clear instructions to address the complaints that we receive," Rinaldo said.
And, it's clear, drivers on the Scajaquada Expressway are going way over the limit -- on average, drivers caught speeding here are going 18 miles per hour over the limit.
What's the fastest anyone's gotten caught going since the speed limit was reduced? 85 miles per hour -- one month after the new speed limit was implemented.
"Again if you're doing the speed limit and someone passes you going 47 or 48 miles an hour and you're doing 30 it's a pretty significant movement on those vehicles," Rinaldo said.
REPORTER: You had said that the current conditions there are dangerous so does BPD have an opinion on the speed limit there?
"We don't have an opinion on the speed limit, that's up to the state and the legislature to determine," Rinaldo said.
2 On Your Side has received a statement from State Senator Tim Kennedy, he is the chair of the senate's transportation committee. He writes:
Safety should be, above all, the primary focus in any discussions surrounding proposed changes to the 198. Any modifications will have a direct impact on the members of the community who live in the neighborhoods bordering the 198, and as such, they deserve to have a strong voice in this conversation. The New York State Department of Transportation has said it remains committed to moving forward on a project that enhances the experience of all users of the Scajaquada Expressway corridor, and as with any improvements, I expect them to incorporate feedback from residents and law enforcement, and prioritize safety in any changes implemented down the road.
We also made contact with an attorney for the family of Maksym Sugorovskiy, the young boy who was killed in that car crash in Delaware Park in 2015. Attorney Mark Cantor says that the family has no comment on whether the speed limit on the 198 should change.
The New York State Department of Transportation says in a statement: We are committed advancing a project forward on the Scajaquada that will enhance safety on the Corridor for all users. NYSDOT recently announced a new planning process for the Scajaquada Corridor led by the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council and we look forward to participating in that collaborative effort.