Speed crackdown shifts into high gear

Nov. 30--A car that's stopped its share of speeding drivers pulled to the Interstate 95 shoulder when Trooper M.D. Comstock approached with blue lights flashing.

The Ford Crown Victoria police interceptor was civilian-owned, and its driver, a Chesterfield, Va. man, had just been clocked at 80 mph near the U.S. 264 Alternate overpass.

Comstock tapped some keys on his console-mounted computer and a citation appeared in the mobile printer. On the busiest travel weekend of the year, troopers say slowing traffic is the surest way to prevent chain-reaction crashes.

"In most of the wrecks we have, speed's a contributing factor," Comstock said. "It doesn't matter how fast your vehicle goes. You've got to be able to handle it at that speed. A lot of people don't outdrive the limits of the car; they outdrive their own limits."

Few could hope to outdrive Comstock in his Highway Patrol car, a 2013 Dodge Charger. The sleek sedan roared to life and streaked down the interstate in pursuit of one speed-limit scofflaw after another Wednesday afternoon.

"Everyone makes mistakes," said Comstock, a former Wilson police officer. "People want to speed; it's just human nature. You're going to not pay attention and go a little above, and sometimes the bad thing is one of us is there."

State troopers are lining I-95 and I-40 throughout North Carolina in a Thanksgiving week speed crackdown dubbed Operation Wild Turkey. Wednesday through Monday is the busiest traveling time of the year, with AAA Carolinas projecting 1.2 million drivers on Tar Heel State highways.

The goal is to reduce serious crashes and slow drivers through visible patrols and aggressive speed enforcement.

"When one of them wrecks out here, it shuts this whole road down for a while," Comstock said. "You'll have to sit on the interstate for four hours in one spot."

Wilson County troopers are using both radar and lidar -- which uses lasers rather than radio waves to measure speed -- in the Thanksgiving campaign. A trooper clocked speeding cars with his lidar gun from the I-95 overpass just west of Wilson on U.S. 264 Alternate on Wednesday afternoon.

Three Highway Patrol cars waited in line on the I-95 on-ramp shoulder. The lidar operators radioed vehicle descriptions and speeds to his fellow troopers, who rocketed onto the highway and caught up to the speeding motorists. Comstock was careful to pinpoint the right car in heavy traffic that required several lane changes in the brief pursuits.

"If they get a ticket, they pretty much deserve it," he said. "If there's any doubt, I'm not going to bother with it. I'm going to be 100 percent sure that they're the one."

Drivers from all over the country passed through Wilson County on the way to their holiday destinations Wednesday. Comstock stopped three consecutive cars with Virginia license plates -- the Ford police interceptor, a silver Cadillac sedan clocked at 83 mph and a white Mercedes-Benz C300 with temporary Virginia tags clocked at 81.

"He was under the impression that you can ride a few miles an hour above the speed limit," Comstock said after speaking with the Cadillac driver. The citation Comstock gave him corrected that misconception.

Most motorists stopped for speeding are in passenger cars. Comstock said drivers of tractor-trailers and commercial vehicles know that citations can drive motor carrier insurance rates through the roof.

"The liability for these truckers got so much that over the years, it's calmed down a bit," he said. "Every once in a while you'll get somebody, but for the most part, you don't get a lot of trucks."

Comstock said he hasn't personally witnessed many drivers texting behind the wheel, but distracted driving remains an issue as frazzled commuters try to fit more activities into their drive.

"I saw a guy one time reading a book," Comstock said, placing his hands palm-up in the center of his steering wheel. "He had it right here and he was just driving along reading it."

The motorists Comstock pulled over on Wednesday were largely polite and cordial, he said. Hotheads who berate the trooper or police officer who stopped them may find it more difficult to have a charge reduced when they have their day in court.

"If you have a good attitude, I have no problem going to court and bending over backward for you," Comstock said. "But if you have a bad attitude, if you cuss me up and down, why would I want to help you out?"

After running lidar for about an hour and a half, troopers fanned out across the interstate. Comstock drove south on I-95 to the Johnston County line and followed the northbound lanes back through Wilson until the highway crossed into Nash County.

When he spotted a car on the highway's shoulder with hazard lights flashing, Comstock pulled in behind and approached the drivers to make sure they were safe. One disabled motorist had already phoned roadside assistance, and two cars with Maine license plates stopped in the shoulder when one of the passengers fell ill.

The extended holiday weekend and Operation Wild Turkey continue through Monday, with drivers taking to the roads to return home from their Thanksgiving destinations. AAA projects that 33 percent of those 1.2 million North Carolina travelers will be driving home Sunday.

Motorists who witness a crash or wish to report careless and reckless driving can call 911 or dial *18 or *47 in North Carolina to reach the Highway Patrol.

corey@wilsontimes.com -- 265-7821

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