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Consistent enforcement better than one-day display

Bluffton's show of writing tickets only a short-term solution

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Don't get us wrong. We're all for enforcing the speed limits on our far too busy highways.

But stepping out into a lane of traffic on U.S. 278 to pull over people clocked going too fast is not the way to do it.

Enforcement displays like the one put on by Bluffton police Tuesday might do some good for a while -- a very short while. But the way to reduce speeding and other traffic infractions in an area is consistent, visible enforcement, night and day, 365 days a year.

On U.S. 278, Tuesday's enforcement effort stopped traffic at times. On a highway with as many problems as this one, that is not a good thing. We all know it takes the least little disturbance to tie up traffic and make a difficult journey all the more difficult. Fortunately, there were no reports of accidents from the slowdown caused by the out-of-ordinary enforcement or rubbernecking motorists trying to figure out what was going on.

Standing in the road pulling over speeders one day is mostly show. Officers consistently patrolling areas every day will get more results. Who doesn't hit the brakes when they see an officer sitting beside the road? Who doesn't know the stretches of road where you're likely to see officers patrolling and drive accordingly? (Think the Cross Island Parkway on Hilton Head Island and the old town section of Bluffton.)

In fact, Bluffton's reputation as a speed trap was publicized far and wide. Local residents knew what to expect, and it didn't take visitors long to figure it out, too. Hilton Head's chamber of commerce for years directed visitors coming from the Savannah airport to take S.C. 170 over to U.S. 278, even leasing a billboard to point them in that direction, all to avoid the hard feelings and expense caused by a Bluffton speeding ticket.

Almost a dozen Bluffton police officers spent all day Tuesday ticketing speeders on two stretches of road -- U.S. 278 near Simmonsville Road and S.C. 46 just past the New River. That's a concentration of manpower for one task that likely cannot be maintained, nor should it be. Bluffton's nearly 50 square miles of territory precludes that.

Police Chief David McAllister is right to focus on enforcement on stretches of road with high crash rates and places where residents and construction workers request extra speed enforcement.

On Tuesday, Bluffton police officers wrote 57 citations, including 47 for speeding, during the enforcement push in construction zones on U.S. 278 and S.C. 46.

McAllister says the department was not out there Tuesday to make money, and we believe him. He's right that more people, more construction and more congestion means an increase in traffic accidents. People need to slow down, and enforcement needs to be stepped up.

But enforcement doesn't mean just writing tickets, and creating a potential traffic hazard on U.S. 278 is not the way to do it.