The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "speed limit" ...
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Speed Trap Controversy
Some Detroit speed limits may be set too low, according to a Detroit News investigation. Municipalities in Michigan were not complying with Public Act 85 which requires them to conduct studies to set proper speed limits.
Tags: speed limits; traffic; roads; speed trap; Public Act 85
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Speed Unlimited
In fiscal year 2005-06, only 2.4 percent of people with serious speeding tickets (going more than 55 mph and more than 15 miles over the limit) were convicted as charged. This series reveals loopholes in state law that encourage prosecutors and judges to let speeders get away with their crimes. This sort of leniency is dangerous, as many people each year die from speed-related collisions.
Tags: speeding; traffic accidents; highway; transportation; state government; police
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Lights and Sirens
The emergency vehicles in Baltimore are involved in a large number of violent crashes each year. The most common link among all of the accidents is that rookie officers are not obeying the rules. Over half of the police cars drove more than 10 mph over the speed limit on emergency calls, which is against the rules. In other situations, 8 out of 10 vehicles would speed without deploying lights and sirens.
Tags: Mary Jones; police; sirens; speeding; speed limit; car crash; accident; emergency; reckless driving
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Speeders Outgun New Limits
USA Today analyzed over one million speeding tickets issued in 2002 on interstate highways and found that, when compared to tickets from earlier years, Americans are speeding much faster than they used to. The article discusses how police handle speeders, the rise in "extreme speeding," why people speed and how car dealers have reacted to this phenomenon.
Tags: cars; speed limits; speeding; driving; automobiles; traffic; police; sports cars
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Tops in Tickets
Reporter's from the News Tribune discovered that police officers in the small town of Fife, WA, averaged 1,013 tickets per 1,000 residents in 2000. Traffic tickets outnumbered people in Fife, population 4,784, in 2000 with 4,846. The News Tribune's investigation found that the combination of location, lower speed limits and aggressive policing led to the situation in Fife, where a large number of traffic tickets are given to motorists passing through town. Citizens and public officials in Fife are divided over the ticketing practices.
Tags: Law Enforcement; local government
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Leadfoot Lawmakers
A WMAQ-TV investigation reveals that state legislators routinely speed on Interstate 55 -- and the state police routinely ignore it. Of the 185,000 speeding tickets issued last year, not one went to state legislators, despite the fact that WMAQ-TV reporters clocked some of them driving well over 20 miles over the 65 mile per hour speed limit on I-55.
Tags: TAPE; Chicago; state legislators; Illinois; speed limits; speeding tickets; Interstate 55
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Arresting Developments
The American Prospect looks at the use of police powers to enforce law on private property. The story reveals that police officers - often in uniform - are hired by private developments to enforce their private parking, speeding, trespassing, loitering, etc. rules. Cops cannot give a speeding ticket to someone who is violating a private speeding limit on a private speed, but they could consider arresting the violator for 'operating to endanger,' the magazine reveals. The reporter finds that "taken together, these moves represent a qualitative, though little noted, expansion of public law enforcement into the realm of private space." A major finding is that the approximately 25,000 private communities that already pay for their own private security patrols could argue successfully that they should not have to pay to support the public police system because they are policing themselves.
Tags: Jacksonville sheriff's department; moonlighting; gated communities; business; corporations; arrests; security; courts; property taxes; municipal services
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RUN, Don't Walk
The New Times reports on pedestrian safety -- the lack of it -- in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is second only to New York in pedestrian fatalities, and has far fewer pedestrians. Portland has six city employees that deal with pedestrian safety and planning, Los Angeles has none. Other problems include confusion over right-of-way at unmarked crosswalks, a shrinking number of traffic enforcement officers, clogged freeways that push extra traffic into arterial roads and road rage. Due to legal quirks, Los Angeles even had to raise the speed limit on one of the streets it wanted to slow down in order to be legally able to use radar detectors to catch speeders.
Tags: pedestrian deaths; Surface Transportation Policy Project; crosswalks
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Death marks the spot
A Phoenix Magazine investigation reveals that Arizona streets are among the deadliest in the country. "The chances of being killed in a car accident in Arizona are 40 percent higher that anywhere else in America," the magazine reports. The reporter finds that red-light runners, as well as illegal and drunken drivers are more common in Phoenix than in other cities. Another finding is that the Valley's many rural roads and high speed limits contribute to the fatality rate in car accidents.
Tags: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety; roads; car accidents; speed; DUI; drunken drivers; driving licenses; speeding; automobiles; CAR
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Pedal to the Metal
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of Atlantans' driving patterns revealed that while drivers race to work or school at up to 20 miles over the speed limit, local law enforcement does little to slow down traffic. In its five-part investigative series, the publication looked at the consequences of speeding in Georgia.
Tags: driving; speeding; automobiles; Atlanta; Georgia; death; cars; traffic laws; motorists