To the Editor:
I graduated from the Connecticut State Police Academy in 1965 and was assigned to the Canaan State Police Barracks covering the towns of Canaan, Falls Village, Kent, Sharon, Cornwall, Goshen, Norfolk, New Hartford, Barkhamsted and Hartland. I also served as the Resident State Trooper in Kent from 1968 to 1975.
If someone received a summons and was convicted for speeding, they would lose their driver’s license for 30 days. There has to be a joint effort from the police and the courts to educate motorists. Suspending the operator’s license on conviction is one. Motorists do not own their driver’s license. It is a privilege that can be taken away.
Kent Board of Selectmen has decided that speed enforcement cameras are the answer and have requested support from the state. I DO NOT AGREE.
1. Who would do the investigation to identify the operator of the vehicles or the motorcycles that frequently go by my residence on Segar Mountain Road daily and on weekends at speeds from 60 to 70 mph in a 40-mph-speed zone?
2. Would it be our Resident State Trooper, who has many other duties?
Many years ago in Connecticut, MADD—Mothers against Drunken Driving—stressed strict enforcement and penalties for drunken driving. The legislature increased the penalties for DUI because of these efforts. There should also be the same type of campaign against speeding and reckless driving. There is no doubt that what I have proposed here will be costly, however, innocent lives are at stake.
Andrew C. Ocif
Kent
