As I head to Bloomington tomorrow, I’m looking forward to seeing if the Illinois Highway Patrol will be making their fourth straight Saturday evening appearance on that treacherous stretch of I-74 between Morton and three miles east of Morton. You know the stretch I’m talking about, the completely flat, completely straight, pretty much excellent visibility in all directions stretch?
Yeah, that one. There must be one helluva lot of accidents on this three mile stretch of road for there to always be three or four patrol cars on the road…and another watching from an overpass above. I’m sure glad they’re keeping that piece of road safe, and not the tree-lined valley near the Mackinaw River, or the steep tree-lined incline heading out of East Peoria, or the tree-lined hilly section with some deep ditches just west of Peoria. I mean, obviously, those places are MUCH safer.
But wait…no…it couldn’t be, could it? A speed trap? A revenue booster for the state? A quota-meeting section of roadway? Nah, they’d never do that.
3 responses so far ↓
1
Anon E. Mouse
// Apr 9, 2007 at 7:41 pm
They are all equally dangerous when there are maniacs exceeding the speed limit by more that 5 MPH. I thjink they keep those streches safe by pulling over those speeders. Why don’t you just get off I-74 @ North Morton Avenue and take Route 150 to Goodfield, or better yet, Carlock.
That area is hardly a “speed trap.” You are at least 4 miles from a slower speed limit (E. Peo hill) and maybe another 20-25 from the next (I-74/I-55 merge).
Bottom line, if you weren’t breaking the law, they wouldn’t be catching you. I suggest your time would be better spent lobbying your area respresentatives to get the speed limit raised than whining about the State Troopers simply doing their job online.
2
BJStone
// Apr 10, 2007 at 3:47 am
Jeezus, SB, you call someone doing 71 a maniac? For pete’s sakes.
Here is a short list of drivers less safe than a guy going 71, 74 or even 79 MPH on a straight interstate:
1) Those who don’t use turn signals
2) Those who follow too close, no matter WHAT speed
3) Those who won’t dim their lights to oncoming cars
4) Those who roll through stop signs
5) Those who cruise through intersections long after the light has turned yellow and in some cases after it’s even turned red
6) Those who CLOG the interstate by going 66 to pass a guy going 65, thus taking about two minutes and two miles to make ONE pass, forcing traffic to snarl on congest behind them, which in turn leads to more accidents.
That’s a partial lift of unsafe drivers, drivers who are WORSE than someone doing 75 MPH on a straight open interstate.
BTW, two final things:
1. I haven’t had a speeding ticket in YEARS. YEARS.
2. The area in question, and putting six patrol cars in it, EXACTLY constitutes a speed trap and a revenue booster. There is NOTHING about it making the highway safer. Nothing. PERIOD.
3
Bad News For BJ | Peoria Pundits
// Apr 26, 2007 at 5:01 pm
[...] Police frequently run the stretch of I-74 near Morton. This is the same stretch BJ refers to in one of his posts: You know the stretch I’m talking about, the completely flat, completely straight, pretty much [...]
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