To the Editor:

On Sept. 21, at 7:15 in the morning, I witnessed the Guilderland Police Department pulling over commuters in a speed trap on the Crossgates Mall ring road. This seems to be an increasingly common sight on this road and leaves me wondering what exactly is the point of this aggressive effort?

Is there some significant safety hazard that the department is addressing? Meanwhile, at the same time of day, drivers are operating their vehicles in a manner that can only be described as deliberately aggressive, and dangerous, on Western Avenue.

At 7:15 in the morning, the mall road does not have the stop lights “functioning.” They are set in a “blinking” pattern, recognizing that the conditions that they are designed to address are not relevant at that time. The mall will not be open for hours and there is limited cross traffic occurring.

At that same time, Western Avenue is carrying busloads of school children. There are pedestrians, albeit admittedly few, as well as retailers that are open and servicing customers.

The risk to the public is far greater on Western Avenue. The driving conditions and behaviors on these two roads could not be more different and the need for where to place an appropriate police presence more apparent.

Placing more officers in high-visibility cars and ticketing more drivers on Western, would have a calming effect on traffic behavior and provide a significantly greater, and relevant, safety outcome than stopping “speeders” on a largely empty road.

The obvious response to my critique is the department is issuing tickets to drivers exceeding the posted speed limit on the mall road. However, do these speed traps address a real public safety issue or is the department enforcing a speed limit that was set to address driving conditions that simply do not exist during the morning commute?

Could it be that the department’s goal is to issue tickets and generate revenue in an area where setting up and “patrolling” the road is easier than it would be on Western? I do not know if that is the case, but it is certainly my takeaway.

John McCarthy

Guilderland