PITTSBURGH,None — Target 11 has been tracking speed traps in our area for the past year, and Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle obtained brand new speeding ticket data.
Earle requested every speeding citation written in our area. He then broke down the information and discovered the roadways where police handed out the most citations.
One of those locations is a place where drivers won't see a police officer until it's too late.
We watched as drivers cruised down Route 28 near Harmar in Allegheny County without a care in the world. Not a cop in sight and then, all of the sudden, out of nowhere, flashing lights and a state trooper in the rear view mirror.
"People are like, 'Where did you clock us? I didn't see anybody there,'" said State Police Lt. Tom Dubovi.
That's because there was nobody there, but there was somebody several thousand feet above.
A state trooper in a plane, armed with a stopwatch and binoculars, times speeders between two white lines on Route 28 near the rock slide area.
On the ground, troopers are positioned on the ramps, hidden from traffic. They wait for instructions from the plane and then spring into action, tracking down the speeding motorists.
Drivers we talked to said they had no idea that state police used a plane to hunt speeders.
"You can't even see them. They are getting pretty slick these days," said Jason Buterbaugh who drivers Route 28 often, but hasn't gotten a ticket there.
The speed limit on Route 28 is 55 miles per hour, but on the day we watched, troopers didn't even bother with drivers unless they were doing more than 20 miles-per-hour over the limit.
The enforcement from the sky has translated into one of our area's top speed traps. Troopers along Route 28 near Harmar handed out 818 tickets last year alone.
Here are the top 10 speed traps in our area:
10) Saw Mill Run Blvd (Route 51), Pittsburgh. 291 tickets
9) Route 51, Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County. 308 tickets
8) Route 65, Leetsdale, Allegheny County. 313 tickets
7) Neville Road, Neville Township, Allegheny County. 318 tickets
6) McCoy Road, Stowe Township, Allegheny County. 347 tickets
5) Banksville Road, Pittsburgh 480 tickets
4) Gilkeson Road, Mount Lebanon, Allegheny County 505 tickets
3) Route 65, West End Bridge, Pittsburgh 524 tickets
2) Route 28, Harmar Township, Allegheny County. 818 tickets
1) Interstate 376, Moon Township, Allegheny County. 820 tickets
At Gilkeson Road in Mount Lebanon, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour. For police it's like shooting fish in a barrel. We watched as police timed drivers speeding by. Lt. Aaron Lauth tells Target 11, there's a reason for the aggressive enforcement on this stretch of roadway.
"Traffic complaints are our No. 1 complaints, so we try to hit it hard. Our main concern is safety on this road and the safety of residents who live here. Traffic enforcement corresponds to less accidents, less fatalities, less people getting hurt," Lauth said.
Still some drivers we spoke with say police are just picking on drivers. Some people accuse officers of doing it for the money. But police we spoke with say it's not about money, but safety.
"We're trying to slow people down so we don't get those rear-end crashes when traffic backs up. That's our ultimate goal to save lives and save injuries," said Dubovi.
Police tell us they don't mind if we are exposing their favorite hiding places because they said they just want drivers to slow down.
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