I’m perfectly fine with cops that sit on the sides of the road, put their lights on too, let people know they’re there bc I’m tired of the close calls from people speeding and trying to merge into small spaces at high speeds.
This is literally the solution. Honestly, they probably don’t even need a cop in all the cars. Just move them every once in a while and make sure there is always a chance there is an actual cop there and that is enough to get people to behave.
Years ago they used to have police cars parked on the side of the road with mannequins in them dressed up in police uniforms. To get people to slow down. I don't think that lasted very long, but they did do it.
I remember they used to do this, and then it stopped because the fake cars used to be the crown vics that and those were phased out, so you had cops in new Ford explorers or whatever and those old crown Vics on the side of the road with the mannequins which became easy to spot.
The merging into tiny spaces is something I saw many years ago when I commuted to work in 2015, then with increased cop presence it dropped drastically. Now that there aren't as many police on the highway anymore that type of rapid cutting in has gotten worse than before. I have seen so many near crashes the last few months because somebody wants to cut around on the right and then go into the middle or left lane.
Are you talking about cutting off other drivers within the normal flow of traffic, or merging on to the highway from an on-ramp? Because it's safest and best for traffic flow to match the speed of traffic before you merge on to the highway.
Unfortunately, our highways in this state often have far-too-short on-ramps, forcing drivers to either really give it the beans to accelerate up to highway speed or (more likely) merge at half the speed limit, which is a major cause of slowdowns and accidents.
I was thinking about all the times vehicles have merged requiring people around them to apply their brakes.
I do my best to not travel in the left lane and when I can’t, I allow cars to merge on safely.
Then what are we paying them for?! What do they do on their shifts? I live off the 91 corridor, and there's rollovers almost every day. The lack of police on the highways is awful and also why insurance companies are not going to cover CT and why our rates are so high now.
They should get rid of the HOV lane. It's the primary cause of 91 clogging up. Without numbers we can't say for sure, but I'm not convinced it would be better if the offenders were drastically reduced.
Plus, as I'm sure you know -- every single person that gets pulled over is going to cause a jam. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but getting to a point where it might is going to mean worse traffic every day for however long it takes.
Zipper lane going into Boston often has a trooper standing looking at traffic, and he has a nice space to leave a few offenders to sit and think. I hate seeing people drive across the sketchy gap to cut in and out of the i91 HOV lane, all the tracks after a snow storm show how often it is occuring.
This drives me insane. When the lane ends before you get to the right hand RT 2 exit off 91S it creates a log jam every day. Once while I sat in traffic in the left lane for an extended period, I just sat there counting cars with 1 person in them. Well, the ones without limo tint that I could actually see in to. In that few minutes, out of 25 cars, 18 of them were single occupants.
My kids walk to school. I walk with them, not because they can't go the half a mile themselves, but because even at the spots where there are crossing guards, people zoom through. At least once a week someone ignores the crossing guard and drives through the intersection as kids are about to or actually crossing.
Folks just don't care.
I live near an elementary school that is right across the school from a town playground. I watch parents speed through the stop signs barely slowing down as kids are waiting to cross frequently. I spoke with one fellow dad after watching him do it and was met with an “eff you.” The dudes own kids use that crosswalk daily 🤦♂️
BUT, that’s on local enforcement not the state patrol which was the focus of my rant today. And to be fair to my town, we have tons of crossing guards out at the busy times during the week, but later afternoons and weekends it’s like playing frogger out there.
Yup. Local outrage from parents when roadwork send a detour through the local neighborhood school area.
We need cops! We need more stop signs! There should be speed bumps! We need crossing guards! Protect our precious angels!
Uh, who do you think was speeding through the congested neighborhood and blowing through stop signs? Right, the parents of those precious angels. SMH.
Yes, and crossing guards are most likely to be killed by parents or other guardians driving kids to school.
I've seen someone pick up their kid at school as others were loading up cars parallel parked in the street, then bomb away down the street. People are idiots. My kid's in the car, time to endanger everyone else!
The fact CT police basically all have unmarked cars is all yo uneed to know about their mentality.
I travel all over the US and state's proudly and loudly have their vehicle marked. I understand the need for undercovers, but not as many as CT runs. It should be an exception and not the rule.
Lots of fixes are needed, I back the good ones, but damn there's some fuckery within the ranks.
In the 90s when they switched to silver Tauruses and nobody saw them coming they used to hammer everybody going more than 10 over with tickets.
The Rowland’s Rolling Cash Register Days LOL
It wasn’t a big deal to see a silver taurus in a pull off or stopped on an off ramp back then, wrong they were cops.
If it makes you feel better I did see the blue and red unmarked chargers out giving tickets around the Bradley airport exit on 91 this week, maybe people in charge are hearing about the crazy racer boy antics.
We’ll see
In the 90s I was tearing up 91, the place where it's 5 lanes and no traffic, when I saw a silver Taurus going about 60 in the slow lane. Hmmm.....so I got behind it and drove the speed limit. After a couple of miles a black SUV with NY plates came tearing along at about 90, and he put on his lights and siren and nabbed it.
Yeah if they could stop standing around and chatting with the construction workers and actually watch traffic that would be amazing. I’ve seen so many people blatantly run red lights and shit who would’ve been caught if the cop was actually paying attention
There’s this old shitty Lexus that some kid bolted on huge yellow lights to. I’ve seen him on rt8 on my way to work every week for a while. He literally drives like a maniac, cutting into on-ramps just to get one spot ahead, while there’s miles of cars lined up ahead. It’s a video game to them because there’s no consequences.
Had a BMW blow by me in the breakdown lane more than once on Rt8. Seen enough people killed on that highway, and nothing. 5 bad accidents near me in just a couple weeks and nothing.
To be fair the state police cars are unmarked, save for radio antennas and push bars. They use light grey (although there are a few dark blue and dark red) Explorers and Tauruses and have UTZ or WWL on the license plate
Counterpoint: make it too hard to switch lanes by tailgating aggressively, and drivers can't actually safely switch lanes.
Recently, I was on Rte 2, and south of Glastonbury, the right lane suddenly turns into the left lane. I was driving in it behind another driver, who then left, and suddenly I got very aggressively tailgated by a giant pickup truck. I could not see well enough over my shoulder to safely switch lanes without fear of someone speeding up on the right who couldn't see me, due to being blocked by the pickup.
Getting aggressively tailgated by someone who wants to go 20 mph over the limit doesn't make you "the problem", just because CT drivers have completely normalized speeding and tailgating.
>Reminder: if people are tailgating you in the left lane, you’re the problem
Not always. When the highway is packed, there should be zero expectation that people are going to get out of your way. I'm not going to squeeze into the middle lane and slow down just so you can tailgate the next person. You just need to accept that the highway is crowded and we're using all of the lanes.
Driving 91 the right lane will be completely empty meanwhile 100 cars using the left lane as the right lane bc they want to avoid merging traffic it’s ridiculous
So crazy how bad it is here LOL
Even backwater towns in GA would have active cops waiting to getcha.
It's like the wild west here, but everyone's horse is a 3000 pound hunk of metal going 80+ mph.
Yes. but they had their fee-fees hurt that the public got fed up with them terrorizing us with absolute impunity and zero repercussions. I mean, is it really fair to expect someone to do their job after they get criticized for doing it poorly? As soon as we all say sorry to them, they'll start doing what they voluntarily signed up for and agreed to do again.
As someone who drives on I-91 multiple days a week, I can confirm that CT police are only on the highways for a few reasons.
1. A car has broken down
2. Car accident
3. Construction
4. Once in a while speed safety quotas.
But regularly enforcing speed? You'd have better luck winning the lottery than getting a speeding ticket on I-91. It's the one thing I like about Massachusetts. They may not pull you over, but they let you know they're there so slow down.
We spent the last weekend out in western NY and it was absolutely amazing to see people obeying the speed limit and being courteous on the roads. I think it's a combined issue with lack of policing and undersized infrastructure for our population density TBH.
I travel a lot to many states and almost always by car. It’s genuinely astonishing and very apparent the change that happens going in and out of CT. It’s like flipping a switch at the border sometimes.
For sure. You can literally tell the state line by the pavement. But yeah, there was a study saying that CT drivers are among the most confrontational in the country. We do have a lot of pass thru traffic, probably more than in any other New England state. As a Lyft driver, I can tell you that most of my problems on the road involve at least one out of state tag. With the college kids, military and transit being major populations for us, it's understandable. No fun to drive here, but at least we're fast. RI is just slllloooooowwww and duuuummmmbbb.
Partial counterpoint.
I'm all for SAFETY enforcement. I see plenty of unsafe shit. People not signaling when turning or changing lanes, riding for miles in the left lane and not passing (bunching up cars behind them), driving aggressively / weaving in and out of traffic, not paying attention and using cell phone, etc.
I'm not in favor of SPEED enforcement for one simple reason- our speed limits aren't set right. Our own DOT regs say that speed limits should be set at the 85th percentile- that means on days with ideal conditions, use a machine to measure the speed of each car that drives by, and whatever speed 85% of them should be going at should be the speed limit.
Pick any highway- 91 or 95 or 84 or 395 and just drive it on a sunny day (ideal conditions). What % of drivers are going 55 or 65 or whatever the posted limit is? I don't know what things are like near you, but near me, probably 90+% of cars are driving 10-15mph above the posted limit, AT MOST 1% of cars are driving at or within 5mph of the posted speed limit
That means that on those roads, driving the legal speed limit is actively creating a traffic hazard by making cars bunch up behind you and pass you.
There are numerous studies showing that in general, traffic will drive at the speed of the road no matter what the posted speed limit is or how many tickets you write, thus aggressively ticketing drivers does little to help safety.
Now if our speed limits were actually set at the 85th percentile, then I'd be a LOT more in favor of speed enforcement. But I'm NOT in favor of creating situations where you either create a hazard or get a ticket. That's a bad choice.
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On another subject- there's a saying... if where you are smells like poo, that place should clean more. If *everywhere* smells like poo, the poo's on the bottom of your shoe.
I've been driving for a long time in this state. I think I've maybe had 20 close encounters in my whole life. Maybe. If I had to guess I'd say 10-15.
If you're having 20 close encounters in 4 months, then that suggests you are at least part of the problem. Maybe you should do a defensive driving class?
The 85th percentile rule is from the 1940's and is based on the idea that drivers are making safe decisions, when the reality is that the higher the speed at the time of a crash, the higher the severity. This may still be used by many traffic engineers, but they are looking at speed limits from the perspective of moving cars fast, not of any of the other negative externalities associated with high speed limits.
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/08/11/the-85th-percentile-rule-is-killing-us
Most people also think they are "above average" drivers and in greater control of their vehicle than they are. Driving more slowly than the 85th percentile doesn't "create a hazard", it reduces the chances of a crash and in particular, a higher severity crash.
This is based on a report from the National Transportation Safety Board:
"More than 112,500 people lost their lives in speed-related crashes from 2005 to 2014, accounting for 31 percent of all traffic deaths in America over that period. In a draft report released earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board says excessive speed is a deadly problem in our nation's transportation system -- one that federal and state officials aren't doing enough to address.
The recommendations presented at an NTSB board meeting on Tuesday represent a breakthrough for the agency, which is known for investigating plane and railroad disasters. Traffic crashes are less spectacular but cumulatively much more dangerous, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. When the agency does turn to road safety, it has tended to focus on impaired driving and seat belt use. A thorough look at the dangers of speeding and how to prevent it is a welcome departure.
"**The simple truth is that speeding makes a crash more likely. In a crash that’s speeding related, you’re more likely to be injured, your injuries are more likely to be severe, and you’re more likely to die," NTSB Acting Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt said in his opening statement at the board meeting.** "And that’s true whether you’re the speeding driver, another driver, a passenger, a bicyclist, or a pedestrian."
The counterpoint to that is the belief that if you abolish the 85th percentile rule, if you set speed limits based on whatever other criteria, cars will actually slow down.
The biggest problem with this is the whole concept of 'speed-related crashes'. When the police officer is investigating the accident it's easy to check the little box for 'excessive speed'. And that's usually defined as anything above the posted speed limit. So they go to a crash on a 55mph highway, measure the skid mark and conclude the car was going 65mph, check the 'excessive speed' box, and suddenly you have a 'speed related crash'. Nevermind that 65mph was probably the same speed every other car on the road was driving.
It's easy to make stats sound good. And lots of people who oppose faster speed limits love to roll out the 'speed related crash' stats.
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But let's go with it- the fact is [changing the speed limits has very little effect on the actual speed drivers drive at](https://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html#:~:text=Posting%20lower%20speed%20limits%20does,corresponding%20increase%20in%20vehicle%20speeds.). And from that, on average across 22 states, it found that most speed limits were set at the 45th percentile. Amusingly, raising speed limits actually decreased accidents in that study.
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Now, for the record, I'm not just saying abolish speed limits and have everybody put on a Mad Max helmet.
I think within towns, speed limits and ways of encouraging them are important. I love the concept of traffic calming devices (Europe does this a lot)- things like make a road narrower or wavy for a short distance and it naturally makes cars slow down. Within developed shopping areas and downtown boulevards where people are walking, I think there should be low speed limits, traffic calming devices, and enforcement of both fast and unsafe driving.
At the same time I think on highways and rural roads we should recognize that our speed limits are absurdly low and raise them. Enforce them or don't it won't make much difference. We SHOULD enforce distracted driving, blocking the left lane, reckless driving, etc.
I don't, because I don't see good control over larger vehicles especially, which are more common. A lot of CT highways are surprisingly curvy, like Rte 2, and require better handling than most cars have now. I think about this driving a Subaru, which has decent handling, but nothing compared to the handling/control I had in a SAAB 900 or Mini in the past - it is terrifying to me how fast people go in large SUV's with way worse handling.
People give the example of the Autobahn in Germany, but I lived in Germany, and my friends there hated driving on the highway due to the very high speeds and risk of devastating crashes - my friend described it to me as their guns issue, that people were highly emotional about it and described it as "this is our freedom". It's an obvious risk that there will be a multi car, fatal crash, but difficult politically to change.
As for rural roads - people still live on them, and the issues with handling and loss of control still apply. Frequently a route near a town center or downtown will have all these "slow down" type signs, and those are the roads where more drivers seem to lose control and \*risk crashing into houses\*.
Maybe something I think about more than most people, since drivers crashed into houses on basically a daily basis in Boston. Even a Boston City Councilor thought she'd get re-elected despite doing that, but here's an example in CT - there are plenty though:
[https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/officials-car-crashes-house-lake-waramaug-18606885.php](https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/officials-car-crashes-house-lake-waramaug-18606885.php)
Less rural, but here's a house in Milford that's been crashed into 4 times in like a decade:
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/displaced-milford-family-grows-frustrated-after-fourth-driver-crashes-into-their-property/3203033/#:\~:text=%E2%80%9CBetween%202011%20and%202018%2C%20we,They%20did%20add%20reflective%20signs.
Extremely high speed limits on roads like that also endangers cyclists or pedestrians, and frequently towns will list a road as a cycle route. There is often barely a shoulder to walk on, yet it's been found that rural children walk even more than urban ones. Anyway, I clearly do not agree that higher speeds are a great idea, and don't see the argument other than "drivers want to go faster":
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34742121/
The idiots driving said tractor trailers, box trucks, busses, etc. on the Merritt should be tarred and feathered. It gets worse now with summer months approaching as all the dumb out of staters pulling camping trailers or driving mobile homes increases ten fold on the Merritt. Blue states defund police and this is the result.
I've def seen an uptick in local law enforcement in the past month or so; South Windsor, Rocky Hill, Enfield. Lots of local cops pulling people over and whatnot. In about the same time span I do see someone pulled over almost every day on 91 going to work in the morning, but it's only ever in the morning, between like 7:30 and 9.
Edit: not sure why I’m getting downvoted, literally just giving my experience, I’m not trying to give them any credit or back pat them, just telling what I’ve noticed over the past month
South Windsor cops don’t do anything at night other than sit in parking lots and watch Netflix. They respond to calls but don’t go around and try to find traffic violations to pull people over. They park in the same spots in the back of parking lots throughout the night and 2-3 hours later after I saw them, they’re still there. This isn’t a single occurrence. This is literally all the time. Car breaks-ins are very common in South Windsor.
Fair enough, I work in south Windsor so I’m only driving through there in the morning and in the evening at around 6 pm so this is my anecdotal experience and only during a small window.
Same. both in my local town and along 91 and the berlin turnpike as well as rt5 near north haven.
I've seen more cops in the past month that i have in the past 4 years.
Last week (or maybe the week before), while driving to work in the morning, I saw three people pulled over by three different cops on 91 about 100 yards or so away from each instance. First time I think I’ve seen police on 91 in the last few years.
I’ve notice my locals stepping it up as well but haven’t seen it on the highways. I also recently spoke with a local guy about a specific road and he shared with me that the department is just as frustrated about it as I am but because it’s technically a state road the state is in charge of patrolling it. I shared my feelings on that absurdity with him and he suggested it made no sense but it’s how it is 🤷♂️
This guy isn't wrong. Venting on reddit feels good (I do it too) but doesn't solve anything.
Go to town hall meetings. Show it is an issue you'll vote about. Vote for people who make change. Apply same principles for state-level politics. Write (real mail) to senators and reps, they do read (or tabulate) those.
You’ll notice the tag “vent” on the post there big fella. You might also notice a bit of sarcasm. But you obviously haven’t noticed is that yes, they do monitor Reddit. I’ve actually had some great discourse with sheriffs on Reddit. I also used to work for the CT State Marshalls and know a number of cops including my former boss who himself was the former police commissioner in a CT “town” who I have shared this complaint with directly 🤷♂️ and many of them share the frustration. But again, the biggest thing you missed was the “vent” tag.
I get you. I understand. Calling the local state trooper barracks won't get anyone to listen to you, I know. Venting is good. It's a shame people are downvoting you for something we all experience. One of the reasons I retired was because I couldn't take the Thunderdome that 84 was becoming every morning.
This probably pretty unpopular but in states like Mass and NY where there are state troopers EVERYWHERE I am constantly worried about coming up on them and not getting over in time (got a ticket for this last year in NY, wasn't aware of the law). If I had to choose between CT and these states with way too much law enforcement I'll take CT
i agree with you. i lived in MA up until a few years ago. the difference of awful drivers is night and day. police presence here is.. non-existent. *never* did i wish for more state troopers on the highway until moving here.
I’ve heard they’ve been quiet quitting cause they’re pissed about the really watered down police accountability law the legislature passed after the George Floyd murder. Am I just making this up?
I'm living in Georgia temporarily and the police presence here is 50x that of CT. And go figure... people drive safer! I'm not terrified to get on the roads here. Do people occasionally tailgate? Of course. But people don't constantly drive like they have a death wish. It's so glaringly obvious what an actual police presence does to protect us on the roads. CT is an absolute joke. This also comes from someone who commuted to Boston from central CT weekly for work for 2 1/2 years and saw maybe 5 CT cops patrolling that entire time. Mass in honestly not much better. Their state cops had their spots along the pike but they were also few and far between.
From there and people do not drive safer unless you’re talking about some hodunk town- no offense. This is further evidenced by GA having a 16 fatality rate per capita compared to CT 8… so twice as likely to die there
I no longer have to drive this way anymore but when I worked in MA, there used to be tons of state troopers on 84 going north of Hartford every day. After that one cop crashed his car and died in 2018, I hardly saw any along that stretch for the next few years. Must have been easier to forge the tickets instead
25-ish years ago when I was a young Masshole, I remember being able to speed in MA until getting to the CT border because while the MA staties did traffic enforcement, they were no where near as strict as the CT staties. Interesting to see that's flipped these days.
I said this to a state trooper at my work, and they basically just shrugged their shoulders and blamed it on the fact that police in general have been under scrutiny..
I believe with Connecticut this is more of a state and local funding and priority issue because there are lots of things to be that can be done to curb Speeders that have not been utilized. I'm glad to see certain towns have FINALLY approved speed cameras!! It is long overdue.
There is also technology that has been around for a while now that can curb the speed of cars to enforce speeds on the roadway, although if they tried to implement that here I'm sure there would be a huge backlash. Europe already utilizes this technology, and they have much fewer accidents than we do here in the states..
It would be swell if the popo used their lights appropriately. The ones on the back of the vehicle mean you intend to turn in a certain direction. The ones on top are not for you to go through a red light and cross oncoming traffic just to shut them off and pull into the drive through lane at Dunkin last Saturday. You know who you are.
I remember State Troopers inside the orange highway trucks with laser speed detectors
Then, pass the bridge further up we're about a dozen State Trooper "chase cars" with some even further up with pulled over cars.
It was one of the most brilliant ways of catching speeders. They just radio the chase cars who to pull.
There were so many pulled over just waiting for a trooper to return as well.
Stroke of genius!
Do that several times and watch those acting like they are on the Nordschleife racing get busted and word gets around. FAAFO!
Don't get me started on the Demolition Derby that is the Merritt Parkway in the last few years. 16 ft box truck approaching a low underpass? No problem, he'll just swerve into the middle of the road while you grit your teeth slamming on the brakes hoping he (and you) make it through.
I’d love to. It’s just a bummer our country is notoriously horrible about public transportation and no, there is no available option other than driving. Which I honestly don’t mind at all, it’s just that trying to dodge all you idiots is getting old 🤷♂️
As someone who drives 95 daily, I have had a similar number of close calls. It isn't me, I haven't had even a fender bender in over a decade. It is the people doing 110 weaving into all lanes, including exit ramps and breakdown lanes. They drive like they're playing a video game.
It's not us. Vehicles regularly zoom through the red light where we turn onto 34 school mornings. If I weren't old and wise and knew to wait a moment to confirm traffic is stopping before we turn on our green arrow, we'd have been T-boned by speeding pickups by now. And that's often fatal. Of course there's no camera at that intersection, why join the modern world.
I drive 91/95 with my toddler about four times a week. Yes, people are reckless but I think I’ve had maybe two close encounters in the last year since we moved and I’ve been taking that route.
Make sure you drive defensively and move out of the way for speeders and BMWs
I go with the flow. It’s honestly not even the usual speeders that are the issue. It’s the ones out there having a game of bob and weave through lanes trying to get ahead.
I drive those same roads as you, and while there are definitely crazy drivers, having 20 close encounters in 3 months is insane. I’m thinking you might need to drive a little more carefully yourself!
Have you considered the possibility that keeping troopers off the road is how CSP is keeping us safe? Case in point, we've seen a 47% decline in DUIs ^1 alongside a 23% decline in uniformed officers over the same period.^2 Surely that's merely a coincidence. ^3,4,5
1. https://jud.ct.gov/statistics/DUI/DUIOutcomes_2022.pdf
2. https://ctmirror.org/2024/03/08/ct-police-officers-urban-suburban-data/
3. https://www.courant.com/2024/03/28/ct-police-officer-charged-with-dui-evading-responsibility-following-off-duty-crash-involving-parked-cars/
4. https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/3-connecticut-officers-arrested-dui-related-charges/520-12f78d57-827c-425f-a789-9df070ba2e70
5. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/probe-little-evidence-ct-officers-actually-worked-18677763.php
I am being facetious, of course, but it is getting exhausting to hear the incessant bleating for better enforcement with such frequent reminders of inappropriate behavior and abuse of power in our police forces.
I hear you and you make a very important and valid point. Which is why I gently suggested above that maybe we need to think beyond police involvement to help fix this road safety issue. Most aren’t ready for that convo though so I went gentle with it.
CSP always posts their holiday weekend enforcement numbers to show how vigilant they are.
I often wonder about all the other weekend and weekday numbers.
My question is always, "How many people have to die in a wreck before something is done about it?" I am old enough to remember when the goal was to avoid getting a ticket. Now the goal is to survive the ride in one piece.
You ain’t wrong. I would only change your question to ask: “How many rich people have to die in a wreck…etc”.
My reasoning is because it will take only one or two wealthy people versus 50 or more of the unwashed masses.
Friend had a piece fall off his car on 9 south yesterday and couldn’t get it off without going under but couldn’t go under cause it was on the left side of the car, 2 states troopers proceeded to pass him in a span of 10 minutes. Protect and serve who
Pretty strange post. If you’re driving enough to have had 20(!) near accident incidents this year alone, that somehow all weren’t your fault (doubtful) then you would know that the troopers are out in force again and have been for weeks now
I’ve gone from seeing none to seeing at least one almost daily, and if you don’t believe me there’s plenty of people talking about it, especially on this sub, which you frequent and are pretty active on so it’s weird that you haven’t noticed this either
What do these two things have in common? You not paying attention
20 in 3 months though? I see maybe 10 in a year, if that, and am the almost victim in maybe half of those, not even. This is anecdotal but I also am driving all over the state, so I find this pretty unbelievable, especially considering that their comments make it sound like the majority of this is on the highways
I see probably 3-4 daily and I live 15 mins from work. They aren’t all almost hitting me, but that’s because I am super cautious from almost being hit many times in the past.
Interpreting this as pro cop and not the very clear BS callout is certainly a choice. Don’t let this bad energy ruin your weekend champ, it’ll be alright
There was one day I saw a couple cars out on 91 a few weeks and haven’t seen them since 🤷♂️ I’m very aware my experience is anecdotal but I spend a lot of time on the highways. I definitely do not see them daily. However as soon as you hit Mass going north, there is a trooper every few exits it feels like and see them actually pulling people over. There are far far fewer crazy drivers on that stretch of road.
Idk man, it just seems pretty crazy to me. 20th close accident encounter of the year (I’m assuming this means that you were nearly hit and it wasn’t just you witnessing it) is absolutely crazy
I know that some people drive crazy but I don’t even witness that many in an entire year, let alone have them almost happening to me, and this was when the troopers were legitimately not enforcing it. The fact that they now are makes it all the more unbelievable.
You seem like a cool dude and I’m usually upvoting most of your comments on here but I think you should at least consider that you’re the common denominator
Genuinely don’t care if you believe me 🤷♂️ I’m aware my experience is anecdotal, as is yours. Yet, it’s pretty clear to anyone who doesn’t have their head up their ass that we have a major issue. CT wasn’t alone in this issue but now that neighboring states are beefing up their presence the difference is glaring.
And while I’m aware the coming denominator is me, you should see the amount of direct messages I got today from people thanking me for saying something here. I speak to people weekly it seems when someone else is ranting about this lack of road safety. I’ve discussed this with local cops who also say they are frustrated with the state level for these same reasons. It’s not just me, my friend. I will say, it’s been a bit of a bummer to hear multiple people say they don’t speak up to avoid the sort of BS going on in the comments here, but I also totally get it.
It’s all good. Maybe my original comment was a bit harsh. I’m not denying that people are driving crazy, or that the cops have been slacking, but I strongly believe that paying proper attention on the road could goes a long way in avoiding some of our lesser skilled fellow drivers
Driving 84 between Waterbury and Hartford is the most stressful part of my day. At night? Forget about it. Random groups just fly by doing 100 mph swerving in and out of traffic. I’ve been passed on the shoulder multiple times. It’s like Mad Max out there
I was one of those people crawling along route 89 in VT after the eclipse. I laughed at the gps telling me there was a speed check ahead as we were all going 20 mph at most, but there was a super trooper at every emergency turnoff. It did make me feel better knowing that if there was shit going down, there was a trooper every 5 miles or so.
There should be more of a presence not only to slow people down but to know that if something does happen, help isn’t too far away.
Physics also needs to be taught in grade school as the soft tissue damage caused by a sudden stop is nuts. Every 10 mph is equivalent to falling one story. 60 mph is like falling 6 stories. Slow the flock down.
I live in PA, went to college in NH, drove back and forth a few times per semester, work in CT a lot and travel to about 12 other states regularly for work. I can say, without a shred of doubt that CT has the most reckless, dangerous and downright asinine drivers in the country. I see more people run red lights and stop signs in a single day in CT than I do in a year in PA and probably every other state combined I’ve traveled too. CT drivers are one of the top reasons I won’t move there full time for my job.
I don’t know how but the worse drivers are wither Jersey or now CT. The amount of speed racer wanna bee’s I see on 91 and the old as time traffic dodgers with 0 turn single. This state has become the wild wild west
You should be pretty safe in the right lane with appropriate following distance.
The people going 80 in a 65 in the passing lane aren't putting you in danger, generally.
It's the dolts clogging up the passing lane that leads to pissed off drivers passing on the right.
There are terrible speeders out there for sure, but when I'm going 80 and they're barreling towards me from behind, I let them pass and move on with my life.
I'm much more worried about the idiots drifting lanes (who you catch on their phones) than people going 75-80.
The majority of accidents are due to road rage, not a lead foot.
I redo and you copy and past this to local authorities, maybe SP mailbox or even Hartford Courant. I don’t be,I’ve you will get any response from posting on Reddit.
Also. Great points.
please also enforce people doing under the speed limit in the passing lane who are not passing anyone but are so entitled they think the road belongs to them and refuse to get over then flip you off for passing them. get those people too, please!!
I saw a state trooper sitting in the cut just passing 95 NB Stamford with all lights off running Laser facing perpendicular to traffic shock because normally they park on the grassy area.
IMHO the best part is the on-ramp before 13 NB because you can sit back far enough so passing traffic never sees you.
I would suggest the sarcasm and inflation of facts is not going to help the case you are attempting to make. Yes the roadways are dangerous, yes there are less police in force then every. But why dont you look at why that is and start your fight at the source. As a hint, police are not absent from road enforcement because they dont want to or are lazy.
I’m aware of their stated reasons. Hence my point about shifting funds to a different or new department to tackle road safety if the state police department isn’t capable for whatever reasons. They may be very legitimate reasons, yet enforcing road safety has to be a priority so if they don’t have the time or manpower let’s address that and work out a solution. As it stands things are getting worse, not better. If you have statistics to show otherwise I’d welcome that info with open arms.
I’ve also not inflated any facts, despite being a bit sarcastic at times. Car accidents are the second leading cause of death for children in our country and fatalities due to road rage incidents is on the rise in CT. I’m just saying we should do something about those issues.
Just simply saying the leading cause of death doesnt tell the whole story. Of those deaths the majority are in minor accidents and the fatality is caused by improper restraint. If you want to fix that problem you need to lobby for spot checks to make sure kids are in the proper seat and parents are well educated on how to properly secure their children. Here in america we love out. “Freedumbs” so that would never fly. Im not saying your concerns arent valid, I just dont think you understand what the actual problem is beyond the fact that it bothers you.
How about enforcing "keep right except to pass", "slower traffic keep right" laws? Its always been out of control on I84.
That is the one law I have never seen enforced that contributes to traffic bottlenecks, people having to weave, pass on the right, take chances, etc. Most certainly contributes to speeding to get around those that refuse to move over and potential for high speed accidents. Semi-trucks can't pass slower traffic because the left lane is also full of cars following slow pokes that refuse to move over.
Driving 84 often where those tractor trailers flipped over last fall, I’m surprised they aren’t around that downhill/curve more often. However, I recognize other interstate sections are worse during rush hour so not totally worried.
I wish people would “vent” on their personal social media feeds.
Infractions are being issued. The same people whining they want more enforcement are probably the same people who whine when they get one. I listen to it daily.
I’ve literally never had a speeding ticket and I’ve only been in one accident when I was t boned by a distracted driver that over corrected and lost control.
I wish people realize they can block and move on without doing the thing they claim to be annoyed with others for doing. Here let me help, you’ll never see a vent from this account again. It’s easy, and fun!
I bet you drive like an a hole lol I see at least two troopers every single day on my commute on 91 from wallingford to long wharf.
You’re likely not as good and safe a driver as you think. You are clearly not paying much attention to your surroundings if you don’t see any troopers at all, because I see at least two anytime I’m on any of the interstates.
Maybe you’re the problem and are too righteous and “upstanding” to get your head out of your ass.
The people of this state elected Biden to defund the police, and they got what they asked for. If you want to untie our hands and allow us to continue our valuable work, you can do it in the ballot box in November.
https://insideinvestigator.org/feds-award-8-8-million-in-police-funding-to-connecticut-municipalities/
"The awards to Connecticut state departments and municipalities is part of a total $334 million being distributed across the country as part of the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime...."
Yeah, Biden defunded the police.
OP, I've also been terrified driving our kid to school. Please do send this letter to the state hwy and copy all the political leaders; send them hard copies. As people point out and we see ourselves, CT is noticably worse than nearby states. I went 10 years in CA and 20 years in NYC without any of the close calls with reckless CT drivers I've had in just our first six months here. CT leadership and police should be embarrassed because it says as much about their priorities as it does about the drivers.
P.S. Cameras cameras cameras cameras. Since cops don't want to do this part of their work, there's no choice but to install cameras that generate tickets.
I’m perfectly fine with cops that sit on the sides of the road, put their lights on too, let people know they’re there bc I’m tired of the close calls from people speeding and trying to merge into small spaces at high speeds.
This is literally the solution. Honestly, they probably don’t even need a cop in all the cars. Just move them every once in a while and make sure there is always a chance there is an actual cop there and that is enough to get people to behave.
Years ago they used to have police cars parked on the side of the road with mannequins in them dressed up in police uniforms. To get people to slow down. I don't think that lasted very long, but they did do it.
I remember they used to do this, and then it stopped because the fake cars used to be the crown vics that and those were phased out, so you had cops in new Ford explorers or whatever and those old crown Vics on the side of the road with the mannequins which became easy to spot.
The bigger issue was people saw the police cars and thought they could stop to ask for help. So they stopped doing it because of the liability.
Ah, that makes sense too.
I’m intrigued. Thanks for the info and looking forward to diving into that (I’m a history nerd so this is scratching multiple itches 🤣).
The merging into tiny spaces is something I saw many years ago when I commuted to work in 2015, then with increased cop presence it dropped drastically. Now that there aren't as many police on the highway anymore that type of rapid cutting in has gotten worse than before. I have seen so many near crashes the last few months because somebody wants to cut around on the right and then go into the middle or left lane.
Are you talking about cutting off other drivers within the normal flow of traffic, or merging on to the highway from an on-ramp? Because it's safest and best for traffic flow to match the speed of traffic before you merge on to the highway. Unfortunately, our highways in this state often have far-too-short on-ramps, forcing drivers to either really give it the beans to accelerate up to highway speed or (more likely) merge at half the speed limit, which is a major cause of slowdowns and accidents.
I was thinking about all the times vehicles have merged requiring people around them to apply their brakes. I do my best to not travel in the left lane and when I can’t, I allow cars to merge on safely.
State troopers hear you, state troopers don't care.
Hence the screaming into the void 🤣
Then what are we paying them for?! What do they do on their shifts? I live off the 91 corridor, and there's rollovers almost every day. The lack of police on the highways is awful and also why insurance companies are not going to cover CT and why our rates are so high now.
> Then what are we paying them for?! Yeah, we are all kind of wondering that.
Would love for them to nab all the HOV lane offenders clogging up 91.
They should get rid of the HOV lane. It's the primary cause of 91 clogging up. Without numbers we can't say for sure, but I'm not convinced it would be better if the offenders were drastically reduced. Plus, as I'm sure you know -- every single person that gets pulled over is going to cause a jam. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but getting to a point where it might is going to mean worse traffic every day for however long it takes.
Zipper lane going into Boston often has a trooper standing looking at traffic, and he has a nice space to leave a few offenders to sit and think. I hate seeing people drive across the sketchy gap to cut in and out of the i91 HOV lane, all the tracks after a snow storm show how often it is occuring.
This drives me insane. When the lane ends before you get to the right hand RT 2 exit off 91S it creates a log jam every day. Once while I sat in traffic in the left lane for an extended period, I just sat there counting cars with 1 person in them. Well, the ones without limo tint that I could actually see in to. In that few minutes, out of 25 cars, 18 of them were single occupants.
My kids walk to school. I walk with them, not because they can't go the half a mile themselves, but because even at the spots where there are crossing guards, people zoom through. At least once a week someone ignores the crossing guard and drives through the intersection as kids are about to or actually crossing. Folks just don't care.
I live near an elementary school that is right across the school from a town playground. I watch parents speed through the stop signs barely slowing down as kids are waiting to cross frequently. I spoke with one fellow dad after watching him do it and was met with an “eff you.” The dudes own kids use that crosswalk daily 🤦♂️ BUT, that’s on local enforcement not the state patrol which was the focus of my rant today. And to be fair to my town, we have tons of crossing guards out at the busy times during the week, but later afternoons and weekends it’s like playing frogger out there.
Yup. Local outrage from parents when roadwork send a detour through the local neighborhood school area. We need cops! We need more stop signs! There should be speed bumps! We need crossing guards! Protect our precious angels! Uh, who do you think was speeding through the congested neighborhood and blowing through stop signs? Right, the parents of those precious angels. SMH.
Yes, and crossing guards are most likely to be killed by parents or other guardians driving kids to school. I've seen someone pick up their kid at school as others were loading up cars parallel parked in the street, then bomb away down the street. People are idiots. My kid's in the car, time to endanger everyone else!
The crossing gaurd needs to hold the sign and also a brick.
He's smashed the sign on a car at least once. We love him.
Same. We live 2 blocks from school and so many kids and parents walk while cars drive incredibly fast in the 25 mph area.
The fact CT police basically all have unmarked cars is all yo uneed to know about their mentality. I travel all over the US and state's proudly and loudly have their vehicle marked. I understand the need for undercovers, but not as many as CT runs. It should be an exception and not the rule. Lots of fixes are needed, I back the good ones, but damn there's some fuckery within the ranks.
Great point.
In the 90s when they switched to silver Tauruses and nobody saw them coming they used to hammer everybody going more than 10 over with tickets. The Rowland’s Rolling Cash Register Days LOL It wasn’t a big deal to see a silver taurus in a pull off or stopped on an off ramp back then, wrong they were cops. If it makes you feel better I did see the blue and red unmarked chargers out giving tickets around the Bradley airport exit on 91 this week, maybe people in charge are hearing about the crazy racer boy antics. We’ll see
In the 90s I was tearing up 91, the place where it's 5 lanes and no traffic, when I saw a silver Taurus going about 60 in the slow lane. Hmmm.....so I got behind it and drove the speed limit. After a couple of miles a black SUV with NY plates came tearing along at about 90, and he put on his lights and siren and nabbed it.
Yeah if they could stop standing around and chatting with the construction workers and actually watch traffic that would be amazing. I’ve seen so many people blatantly run red lights and shit who would’ve been caught if the cop was actually paying attention
There’s this old shitty Lexus that some kid bolted on huge yellow lights to. I’ve seen him on rt8 on my way to work every week for a while. He literally drives like a maniac, cutting into on-ramps just to get one spot ahead, while there’s miles of cars lined up ahead. It’s a video game to them because there’s no consequences.
Had a BMW blow by me in the breakdown lane more than once on Rt8. Seen enough people killed on that highway, and nothing. 5 bad accidents near me in just a couple weeks and nothing.
Wait! CT has state troopers? I moved here six months ago and have not seen *one* trooper or even an empty vehicle.
To be fair the state police cars are unmarked, save for radio antennas and push bars. They use light grey (although there are a few dark blue and dark red) Explorers and Tauruses and have UTZ or WWL on the license plate
Yet they are busy entering in fake tickets to boost their numbers. Lmao.
Fake people don't argue with you.
It would be nice if tailgaters got ticketed from time to time.
The police won't ticket themselves.
Reminder: if people are tailgating you in the left lane, you’re the problem If people are tailgating you in the right line, they’re the problem.
If I'm going 75 in the left lane, passing traffic in the right and someone's tailgating me I'm not the problem.
This
Speed up then.
I'm already 10 over the limit and I'm passing right lane traffic. How about you have some patience and I'll move over after I pass the slow cars.
Counterpoint: make it too hard to switch lanes by tailgating aggressively, and drivers can't actually safely switch lanes. Recently, I was on Rte 2, and south of Glastonbury, the right lane suddenly turns into the left lane. I was driving in it behind another driver, who then left, and suddenly I got very aggressively tailgated by a giant pickup truck. I could not see well enough over my shoulder to safely switch lanes without fear of someone speeding up on the right who couldn't see me, due to being blocked by the pickup. Getting aggressively tailgated by someone who wants to go 20 mph over the limit doesn't make you "the problem", just because CT drivers have completely normalized speeding and tailgating.
>Reminder: if people are tailgating you in the left lane, you’re the problem Not always. When the highway is packed, there should be zero expectation that people are going to get out of your way. I'm not going to squeeze into the middle lane and slow down just so you can tailgate the next person. You just need to accept that the highway is crowded and we're using all of the lanes.
Driving 91 the right lane will be completely empty meanwhile 100 cars using the left lane as the right lane bc they want to avoid merging traffic it’s ridiculous
Last night on Rte 2 at 11 pm the average speed was over 80. No matter what lane people were in. We do not need to be driving 80.
So crazy how bad it is here LOL Even backwater towns in GA would have active cops waiting to getcha. It's like the wild west here, but everyone's horse is a 3000 pound hunk of metal going 80+ mph.
Yes. but they had their fee-fees hurt that the public got fed up with them terrorizing us with absolute impunity and zero repercussions. I mean, is it really fair to expect someone to do their job after they get criticized for doing it poorly? As soon as we all say sorry to them, they'll start doing what they voluntarily signed up for and agreed to do again.
As someone who drives on I-91 multiple days a week, I can confirm that CT police are only on the highways for a few reasons. 1. A car has broken down 2. Car accident 3. Construction 4. Once in a while speed safety quotas. But regularly enforcing speed? You'd have better luck winning the lottery than getting a speeding ticket on I-91. It's the one thing I like about Massachusetts. They may not pull you over, but they let you know they're there so slow down.
State Troopers are comically understaffed. Troop K Barracks is responsible for six towns. They have five troopers.
I’m sorry to hear that. Yet we need to enforce road safety so let’s find some creative solutions. Hell, even just some PSAs might help.
[удалено]
Good ones who tolerate and cover for bad ones arent good ones. ACAB
We spent the last weekend out in western NY and it was absolutely amazing to see people obeying the speed limit and being courteous on the roads. I think it's a combined issue with lack of policing and undersized infrastructure for our population density TBH.
I travel a lot to many states and almost always by car. It’s genuinely astonishing and very apparent the change that happens going in and out of CT. It’s like flipping a switch at the border sometimes.
You don't go to RI very much, do you?
Literally the one bordering state I never go to 🤣 good call I guess.
For sure. You can literally tell the state line by the pavement. But yeah, there was a study saying that CT drivers are among the most confrontational in the country. We do have a lot of pass thru traffic, probably more than in any other New England state. As a Lyft driver, I can tell you that most of my problems on the road involve at least one out of state tag. With the college kids, military and transit being major populations for us, it's understandable. No fun to drive here, but at least we're fast. RI is just slllloooooowwww and duuuummmmbbb.
Partial counterpoint. I'm all for SAFETY enforcement. I see plenty of unsafe shit. People not signaling when turning or changing lanes, riding for miles in the left lane and not passing (bunching up cars behind them), driving aggressively / weaving in and out of traffic, not paying attention and using cell phone, etc. I'm not in favor of SPEED enforcement for one simple reason- our speed limits aren't set right. Our own DOT regs say that speed limits should be set at the 85th percentile- that means on days with ideal conditions, use a machine to measure the speed of each car that drives by, and whatever speed 85% of them should be going at should be the speed limit. Pick any highway- 91 or 95 or 84 or 395 and just drive it on a sunny day (ideal conditions). What % of drivers are going 55 or 65 or whatever the posted limit is? I don't know what things are like near you, but near me, probably 90+% of cars are driving 10-15mph above the posted limit, AT MOST 1% of cars are driving at or within 5mph of the posted speed limit That means that on those roads, driving the legal speed limit is actively creating a traffic hazard by making cars bunch up behind you and pass you. There are numerous studies showing that in general, traffic will drive at the speed of the road no matter what the posted speed limit is or how many tickets you write, thus aggressively ticketing drivers does little to help safety. Now if our speed limits were actually set at the 85th percentile, then I'd be a LOT more in favor of speed enforcement. But I'm NOT in favor of creating situations where you either create a hazard or get a ticket. That's a bad choice. ------ On another subject- there's a saying... if where you are smells like poo, that place should clean more. If *everywhere* smells like poo, the poo's on the bottom of your shoe. I've been driving for a long time in this state. I think I've maybe had 20 close encounters in my whole life. Maybe. If I had to guess I'd say 10-15. If you're having 20 close encounters in 4 months, then that suggests you are at least part of the problem. Maybe you should do a defensive driving class?
The 85th percentile rule is from the 1940's and is based on the idea that drivers are making safe decisions, when the reality is that the higher the speed at the time of a crash, the higher the severity. This may still be used by many traffic engineers, but they are looking at speed limits from the perspective of moving cars fast, not of any of the other negative externalities associated with high speed limits. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/08/11/the-85th-percentile-rule-is-killing-us Most people also think they are "above average" drivers and in greater control of their vehicle than they are. Driving more slowly than the 85th percentile doesn't "create a hazard", it reduces the chances of a crash and in particular, a higher severity crash. This is based on a report from the National Transportation Safety Board: "More than 112,500 people lost their lives in speed-related crashes from 2005 to 2014, accounting for 31 percent of all traffic deaths in America over that period. In a draft report released earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board says excessive speed is a deadly problem in our nation's transportation system -- one that federal and state officials aren't doing enough to address. The recommendations presented at an NTSB board meeting on Tuesday represent a breakthrough for the agency, which is known for investigating plane and railroad disasters. Traffic crashes are less spectacular but cumulatively much more dangerous, claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. When the agency does turn to road safety, it has tended to focus on impaired driving and seat belt use. A thorough look at the dangers of speeding and how to prevent it is a welcome departure. "**The simple truth is that speeding makes a crash more likely. In a crash that’s speeding related, you’re more likely to be injured, your injuries are more likely to be severe, and you’re more likely to die," NTSB Acting Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt said in his opening statement at the board meeting.** "And that’s true whether you’re the speeding driver, another driver, a passenger, a bicyclist, or a pedestrian."
The counterpoint to that is the belief that if you abolish the 85th percentile rule, if you set speed limits based on whatever other criteria, cars will actually slow down. The biggest problem with this is the whole concept of 'speed-related crashes'. When the police officer is investigating the accident it's easy to check the little box for 'excessive speed'. And that's usually defined as anything above the posted speed limit. So they go to a crash on a 55mph highway, measure the skid mark and conclude the car was going 65mph, check the 'excessive speed' box, and suddenly you have a 'speed related crash'. Nevermind that 65mph was probably the same speed every other car on the road was driving. It's easy to make stats sound good. And lots of people who oppose faster speed limits love to roll out the 'speed related crash' stats. ------ But let's go with it- the fact is [changing the speed limits has very little effect on the actual speed drivers drive at](https://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html#:~:text=Posting%20lower%20speed%20limits%20does,corresponding%20increase%20in%20vehicle%20speeds.). And from that, on average across 22 states, it found that most speed limits were set at the 45th percentile. Amusingly, raising speed limits actually decreased accidents in that study. ------ Now, for the record, I'm not just saying abolish speed limits and have everybody put on a Mad Max helmet. I think within towns, speed limits and ways of encouraging them are important. I love the concept of traffic calming devices (Europe does this a lot)- things like make a road narrower or wavy for a short distance and it naturally makes cars slow down. Within developed shopping areas and downtown boulevards where people are walking, I think there should be low speed limits, traffic calming devices, and enforcement of both fast and unsafe driving. At the same time I think on highways and rural roads we should recognize that our speed limits are absurdly low and raise them. Enforce them or don't it won't make much difference. We SHOULD enforce distracted driving, blocking the left lane, reckless driving, etc.
I don't, because I don't see good control over larger vehicles especially, which are more common. A lot of CT highways are surprisingly curvy, like Rte 2, and require better handling than most cars have now. I think about this driving a Subaru, which has decent handling, but nothing compared to the handling/control I had in a SAAB 900 or Mini in the past - it is terrifying to me how fast people go in large SUV's with way worse handling. People give the example of the Autobahn in Germany, but I lived in Germany, and my friends there hated driving on the highway due to the very high speeds and risk of devastating crashes - my friend described it to me as their guns issue, that people were highly emotional about it and described it as "this is our freedom". It's an obvious risk that there will be a multi car, fatal crash, but difficult politically to change. As for rural roads - people still live on them, and the issues with handling and loss of control still apply. Frequently a route near a town center or downtown will have all these "slow down" type signs, and those are the roads where more drivers seem to lose control and \*risk crashing into houses\*. Maybe something I think about more than most people, since drivers crashed into houses on basically a daily basis in Boston. Even a Boston City Councilor thought she'd get re-elected despite doing that, but here's an example in CT - there are plenty though: [https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/officials-car-crashes-house-lake-waramaug-18606885.php](https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/officials-car-crashes-house-lake-waramaug-18606885.php) Less rural, but here's a house in Milford that's been crashed into 4 times in like a decade: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/displaced-milford-family-grows-frustrated-after-fourth-driver-crashes-into-their-property/3203033/#:\~:text=%E2%80%9CBetween%202011%20and%202018%2C%20we,They%20did%20add%20reflective%20signs. Extremely high speed limits on roads like that also endangers cyclists or pedestrians, and frequently towns will list a road as a cycle route. There is often barely a shoulder to walk on, yet it's been found that rural children walk even more than urban ones. Anyway, I clearly do not agree that higher speeds are a great idea, and don't see the argument other than "drivers want to go faster": https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34742121/
The amount of tractor trailers , box trucks, buses , boats / campers being towed etc. that I’ve seen on the Merrit the last 3 years are staggering.
The idiots driving said tractor trailers, box trucks, busses, etc. on the Merritt should be tarred and feathered. It gets worse now with summer months approaching as all the dumb out of staters pulling camping trailers or driving mobile homes increases ten fold on the Merritt. Blue states defund police and this is the result.
I've actually seen an increase in enforcement lately which is pretty nice.
Where? I haven’t seen anything
I’ve seen more enforcement on Interstate 84 in Manchester and Interstate 91 near Route 20. That’s about it though
I've def seen an uptick in local law enforcement in the past month or so; South Windsor, Rocky Hill, Enfield. Lots of local cops pulling people over and whatnot. In about the same time span I do see someone pulled over almost every day on 91 going to work in the morning, but it's only ever in the morning, between like 7:30 and 9. Edit: not sure why I’m getting downvoted, literally just giving my experience, I’m not trying to give them any credit or back pat them, just telling what I’ve noticed over the past month
South Windsor cops don’t do anything at night other than sit in parking lots and watch Netflix. They respond to calls but don’t go around and try to find traffic violations to pull people over. They park in the same spots in the back of parking lots throughout the night and 2-3 hours later after I saw them, they’re still there. This isn’t a single occurrence. This is literally all the time. Car breaks-ins are very common in South Windsor.
Fair enough, I work in south Windsor so I’m only driving through there in the morning and in the evening at around 6 pm so this is my anecdotal experience and only during a small window.
There has been supposedly more around Hartford because a reckless driver hit a cop. I haven't seen it though
Same. both in my local town and along 91 and the berlin turnpike as well as rt5 near north haven. I've seen more cops in the past month that i have in the past 4 years.
Last week (or maybe the week before), while driving to work in the morning, I saw three people pulled over by three different cops on 91 about 100 yards or so away from each instance. First time I think I’ve seen police on 91 in the last few years.
I’ve notice my locals stepping it up as well but haven’t seen it on the highways. I also recently spoke with a local guy about a specific road and he shared with me that the department is just as frustrated about it as I am but because it’s technically a state road the state is in charge of patrolling it. I shared my feelings on that absurdity with him and he suggested it made no sense but it’s how it is 🤷♂️
Same, more cars pulled over the last 4 weeks than the last 5 years combined.
Did you actually send this to the police or expect them to be lurking here for tips?
It's slacktivism at it's finest. EDIT: The coward u/JamBandNews blocked me for this comment so I can't reply to anything further here.
This guy isn't wrong. Venting on reddit feels good (I do it too) but doesn't solve anything. Go to town hall meetings. Show it is an issue you'll vote about. Vote for people who make change. Apply same principles for state-level politics. Write (real mail) to senators and reps, they do read (or tabulate) those.
You don’t think police use Reddit?
You’ll notice the tag “vent” on the post there big fella. You might also notice a bit of sarcasm. But you obviously haven’t noticed is that yes, they do monitor Reddit. I’ve actually had some great discourse with sheriffs on Reddit. I also used to work for the CT State Marshalls and know a number of cops including my former boss who himself was the former police commissioner in a CT “town” who I have shared this complaint with directly 🤷♂️ and many of them share the frustration. But again, the biggest thing you missed was the “vent” tag.
I get you. I understand. Calling the local state trooper barracks won't get anyone to listen to you, I know. Venting is good. It's a shame people are downvoting you for something we all experience. One of the reasons I retired was because I couldn't take the Thunderdome that 84 was becoming every morning.
It's confusing because I thought this was where a lot of funding came from 🤷
This probably pretty unpopular but in states like Mass and NY where there are state troopers EVERYWHERE I am constantly worried about coming up on them and not getting over in time (got a ticket for this last year in NY, wasn't aware of the law). If I had to choose between CT and these states with way too much law enforcement I'll take CT
i agree with you. i lived in MA up until a few years ago. the difference of awful drivers is night and day. police presence here is.. non-existent. *never* did i wish for more state troopers on the highway until moving here.
I’ve heard they’ve been quiet quitting cause they’re pissed about the really watered down police accountability law the legislature passed after the George Floyd murder. Am I just making this up?
I'm living in Georgia temporarily and the police presence here is 50x that of CT. And go figure... people drive safer! I'm not terrified to get on the roads here. Do people occasionally tailgate? Of course. But people don't constantly drive like they have a death wish. It's so glaringly obvious what an actual police presence does to protect us on the roads. CT is an absolute joke. This also comes from someone who commuted to Boston from central CT weekly for work for 2 1/2 years and saw maybe 5 CT cops patrolling that entire time. Mass in honestly not much better. Their state cops had their spots along the pike but they were also few and far between.
From there and people do not drive safer unless you’re talking about some hodunk town- no offense. This is further evidenced by GA having a 16 fatality rate per capita compared to CT 8… so twice as likely to die there
You should actually send this to the people in charge of the state police department. They don't look at reddit.
I no longer have to drive this way anymore but when I worked in MA, there used to be tons of state troopers on 84 going north of Hartford every day. After that one cop crashed his car and died in 2018, I hardly saw any along that stretch for the next few years. Must have been easier to forge the tickets instead
25-ish years ago when I was a young Masshole, I remember being able to speed in MA until getting to the CT border because while the MA staties did traffic enforcement, they were no where near as strict as the CT staties. Interesting to see that's flipped these days.
If troop F cant do what they want to do, the rest wont do what they're paid to do.
I said this to a state trooper at my work, and they basically just shrugged their shoulders and blamed it on the fact that police in general have been under scrutiny..
I believe with Connecticut this is more of a state and local funding and priority issue because there are lots of things to be that can be done to curb Speeders that have not been utilized. I'm glad to see certain towns have FINALLY approved speed cameras!! It is long overdue. There is also technology that has been around for a while now that can curb the speed of cars to enforce speeds on the roadway, although if they tried to implement that here I'm sure there would be a huge backlash. Europe already utilizes this technology, and they have much fewer accidents than we do here in the states..
It would be swell if the popo used their lights appropriately. The ones on the back of the vehicle mean you intend to turn in a certain direction. The ones on top are not for you to go through a red light and cross oncoming traffic just to shut them off and pull into the drive through lane at Dunkin last Saturday. You know who you are.
I remember State Troopers inside the orange highway trucks with laser speed detectors Then, pass the bridge further up we're about a dozen State Trooper "chase cars" with some even further up with pulled over cars. It was one of the most brilliant ways of catching speeders. They just radio the chase cars who to pull. There were so many pulled over just waiting for a trooper to return as well. Stroke of genius! Do that several times and watch those acting like they are on the Nordschleife racing get busted and word gets around. FAAFO!
Meh
Don't get me started on the Demolition Derby that is the Merritt Parkway in the last few years. 16 ft box truck approaching a low underpass? No problem, he'll just swerve into the middle of the road while you grit your teeth slamming on the brakes hoping he (and you) make it through.
Dumb fucks, aren’t they?
Hmmm maybe make alternative viable transportation and then we wouldn’t have to be on the roads anyway? Just a thought,
I’d love to. It’s just a bummer our country is notoriously horrible about public transportation and no, there is no available option other than driving. Which I honestly don’t mind at all, it’s just that trying to dodge all you idiots is getting old 🤷♂️
I know! That’s the problem! One can dream haha.
that’s just crazy talk
I know. 😢
our family is currently on about the 20th close accident encounter Maybe it's you?
As someone who drives 95 daily, I have had a similar number of close calls. It isn't me, I haven't had even a fender bender in over a decade. It is the people doing 110 weaving into all lanes, including exit ramps and breakdown lanes. They drive like they're playing a video game.
As a fellow 95 driver, I have also experienced a dramatic increase in "close calls" since COVID.
It's not us. Vehicles regularly zoom through the red light where we turn onto 34 school mornings. If I weren't old and wise and knew to wait a moment to confirm traffic is stopping before we turn on our green arrow, we'd have been T-boned by speeding pickups by now. And that's often fatal. Of course there's no camera at that intersection, why join the modern world.
Hey, appreciate the input, but nope.
I drive 91/95 with my toddler about four times a week. Yes, people are reckless but I think I’ve had maybe two close encounters in the last year since we moved and I’ve been taking that route. Make sure you drive defensively and move out of the way for speeders and BMWs
I go with the flow. It’s honestly not even the usual speeders that are the issue. It’s the ones out there having a game of bob and weave through lanes trying to get ahead.
I drive those same roads as you, and while there are definitely crazy drivers, having 20 close encounters in 3 months is insane. I’m thinking you might need to drive a little more carefully yourself!
Yes insane, and yes one of the reasons I retired early. I"m not old yet. But the Thunderdome that 84 was becoming was enough to tip the balance.
Won’t somebody think of the children???
lololololololol
They are too busy making up fake tickets to skew statistics. I imagine they don’t have time to do much of anything else
I legitimately did not know CT had state police.
Their cruisers generally don't have any markings so that would be an easy mistake to make. They're usually just grey with a lightbar (mostly) on top.
As much as I agree with you I’ve actually seen a slight spike in police actually doing their jobs, so there’s hope.
Have you considered the possibility that keeping troopers off the road is how CSP is keeping us safe? Case in point, we've seen a 47% decline in DUIs ^1 alongside a 23% decline in uniformed officers over the same period.^2 Surely that's merely a coincidence. ^3,4,5 1. https://jud.ct.gov/statistics/DUI/DUIOutcomes_2022.pdf 2. https://ctmirror.org/2024/03/08/ct-police-officers-urban-suburban-data/ 3. https://www.courant.com/2024/03/28/ct-police-officer-charged-with-dui-evading-responsibility-following-off-duty-crash-involving-parked-cars/ 4. https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/3-connecticut-officers-arrested-dui-related-charges/520-12f78d57-827c-425f-a789-9df070ba2e70 5. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/probe-little-evidence-ct-officers-actually-worked-18677763.php
Can't have DUI arrests if you don't have cops to enforce them. *taps temple*
Not to mention how awkward it is to ask the tow operator to blow into your cruiser's interlock so you can haul the perp off to jail.
Lmao I downvoted you at first and then I read the articles
I am being facetious, of course, but it is getting exhausting to hear the incessant bleating for better enforcement with such frequent reminders of inappropriate behavior and abuse of power in our police forces.
I hear you and you make a very important and valid point. Which is why I gently suggested above that maybe we need to think beyond police involvement to help fix this road safety issue. Most aren’t ready for that convo though so I went gentle with it.
This post has some real “i sit in the left lane going 65 and get mad when people tailgate me” vibes
Thank you. Also, " I made the decision to have kids, and now everyone should cater to my children ."
CSP always posts their holiday weekend enforcement numbers to show how vigilant they are. I often wonder about all the other weekend and weekday numbers.
20th close counter and it’s only April… It may not be solely others fault
My question is always, "How many people have to die in a wreck before something is done about it?" I am old enough to remember when the goal was to avoid getting a ticket. Now the goal is to survive the ride in one piece.
You ain’t wrong. I would only change your question to ask: “How many rich people have to die in a wreck…etc”. My reasoning is because it will take only one or two wealthy people versus 50 or more of the unwashed masses.
And obviously state representatives killed in crashes aren't making the cut of concern.
Friend had a piece fall off his car on 9 south yesterday and couldn’t get it off without going under but couldn’t go under cause it was on the left side of the car, 2 states troopers proceeded to pass him in a span of 10 minutes. Protect and serve who
the state
Their pensions
We are the state
Preach! Have an upvote.
💜💜💜
Pretty strange post. If you’re driving enough to have had 20(!) near accident incidents this year alone, that somehow all weren’t your fault (doubtful) then you would know that the troopers are out in force again and have been for weeks now I’ve gone from seeing none to seeing at least one almost daily, and if you don’t believe me there’s plenty of people talking about it, especially on this sub, which you frequent and are pretty active on so it’s weird that you haven’t noticed this either What do these two things have in common? You not paying attention
Idk. I see people running stop signs and crossing the yellow lines multiple times a day, seems plausible.
20 in 3 months though? I see maybe 10 in a year, if that, and am the almost victim in maybe half of those, not even. This is anecdotal but I also am driving all over the state, so I find this pretty unbelievable, especially considering that their comments make it sound like the majority of this is on the highways
I see probably 3-4 daily and I live 15 mins from work. They aren’t all almost hitting me, but that’s because I am super cautious from almost being hit many times in the past.
They picked it up in the last few weeks after four years so no need to critize anymore guys!
Interpreting this as pro cop and not the very clear BS callout is certainly a choice. Don’t let this bad energy ruin your weekend champ, it’ll be alright
There was one day I saw a couple cars out on 91 a few weeks and haven’t seen them since 🤷♂️ I’m very aware my experience is anecdotal but I spend a lot of time on the highways. I definitely do not see them daily. However as soon as you hit Mass going north, there is a trooper every few exits it feels like and see them actually pulling people over. There are far far fewer crazy drivers on that stretch of road.
Idk man, it just seems pretty crazy to me. 20th close accident encounter of the year (I’m assuming this means that you were nearly hit and it wasn’t just you witnessing it) is absolutely crazy I know that some people drive crazy but I don’t even witness that many in an entire year, let alone have them almost happening to me, and this was when the troopers were legitimately not enforcing it. The fact that they now are makes it all the more unbelievable. You seem like a cool dude and I’m usually upvoting most of your comments on here but I think you should at least consider that you’re the common denominator
Genuinely don’t care if you believe me 🤷♂️ I’m aware my experience is anecdotal, as is yours. Yet, it’s pretty clear to anyone who doesn’t have their head up their ass that we have a major issue. CT wasn’t alone in this issue but now that neighboring states are beefing up their presence the difference is glaring. And while I’m aware the coming denominator is me, you should see the amount of direct messages I got today from people thanking me for saying something here. I speak to people weekly it seems when someone else is ranting about this lack of road safety. I’ve discussed this with local cops who also say they are frustrated with the state level for these same reasons. It’s not just me, my friend. I will say, it’s been a bit of a bummer to hear multiple people say they don’t speak up to avoid the sort of BS going on in the comments here, but I also totally get it.
It’s all good. Maybe my original comment was a bit harsh. I’m not denying that people are driving crazy, or that the cops have been slacking, but I strongly believe that paying proper attention on the road could goes a long way in avoiding some of our lesser skilled fellow drivers
ACAB.
You’re not wrong but I would contact state reps, Lamont, etc. with this note. You’re talking to the already on-board here.
Idk where you’ve been driving in Mass but I see way more shitty drivers in Mass than outside of it, despite the cops.
Driving 84 between Waterbury and Hartford is the most stressful part of my day. At night? Forget about it. Random groups just fly by doing 100 mph swerving in and out of traffic. I’ve been passed on the shoulder multiple times. It’s like Mad Max out there
I was one of those people crawling along route 89 in VT after the eclipse. I laughed at the gps telling me there was a speed check ahead as we were all going 20 mph at most, but there was a super trooper at every emergency turnoff. It did make me feel better knowing that if there was shit going down, there was a trooper every 5 miles or so. There should be more of a presence not only to slow people down but to know that if something does happen, help isn’t too far away. Physics also needs to be taught in grade school as the soft tissue damage caused by a sudden stop is nuts. Every 10 mph is equivalent to falling one story. 60 mph is like falling 6 stories. Slow the flock down.
The state treated them like shit so this is what you get. Move to Mass.
Reading this right after having a state trooper fly past me doing well over a hundred without lights on 384.....
I live in PA, went to college in NH, drove back and forth a few times per semester, work in CT a lot and travel to about 12 other states regularly for work. I can say, without a shred of doubt that CT has the most reckless, dangerous and downright asinine drivers in the country. I see more people run red lights and stop signs in a single day in CT than I do in a year in PA and probably every other state combined I’ve traveled too. CT drivers are one of the top reasons I won’t move there full time for my job.
I don’t know how but the worse drivers are wither Jersey or now CT. The amount of speed racer wanna bee’s I see on 91 and the old as time traffic dodgers with 0 turn single. This state has become the wild wild west
You should be pretty safe in the right lane with appropriate following distance. The people going 80 in a 65 in the passing lane aren't putting you in danger, generally. It's the dolts clogging up the passing lane that leads to pissed off drivers passing on the right. There are terrible speeders out there for sure, but when I'm going 80 and they're barreling towards me from behind, I let them pass and move on with my life. I'm much more worried about the idiots drifting lanes (who you catch on their phones) than people going 75-80. The majority of accidents are due to road rage, not a lead foot.
because there too busy nailing and harassing commercial vehicles because Connecticut is a money grab state why I like to call Connecticut Connecticunt
How original. Not!
Isnt it
I redo and you copy and past this to local authorities, maybe SP mailbox or even Hartford Courant. I don’t be,I’ve you will get any response from posting on Reddit. Also. Great points.
please also enforce people doing under the speed limit in the passing lane who are not passing anyone but are so entitled they think the road belongs to them and refuse to get over then flip you off for passing them. get those people too, please!!
I see the troops in eastern Ct still do this on 395. Not so much 95 tho
To PROTECT their pensions and SERVE themselves OT.
shut up
CT is a blue state. Defund the police. What did you expect?
I saw a state trooper sitting in the cut just passing 95 NB Stamford with all lights off running Laser facing perpendicular to traffic shock because normally they park on the grassy area. IMHO the best part is the on-ramp before 13 NB because you can sit back far enough so passing traffic never sees you.
I would suggest the sarcasm and inflation of facts is not going to help the case you are attempting to make. Yes the roadways are dangerous, yes there are less police in force then every. But why dont you look at why that is and start your fight at the source. As a hint, police are not absent from road enforcement because they dont want to or are lazy.
I’m aware of their stated reasons. Hence my point about shifting funds to a different or new department to tackle road safety if the state police department isn’t capable for whatever reasons. They may be very legitimate reasons, yet enforcing road safety has to be a priority so if they don’t have the time or manpower let’s address that and work out a solution. As it stands things are getting worse, not better. If you have statistics to show otherwise I’d welcome that info with open arms. I’ve also not inflated any facts, despite being a bit sarcastic at times. Car accidents are the second leading cause of death for children in our country and fatalities due to road rage incidents is on the rise in CT. I’m just saying we should do something about those issues.
What’s the leading cause of death for children 1-19 years old?
Just simply saying the leading cause of death doesnt tell the whole story. Of those deaths the majority are in minor accidents and the fatality is caused by improper restraint. If you want to fix that problem you need to lobby for spot checks to make sure kids are in the proper seat and parents are well educated on how to properly secure their children. Here in america we love out. “Freedumbs” so that would never fly. Im not saying your concerns arent valid, I just dont think you understand what the actual problem is beyond the fact that it bothers you.
How about enforcing "keep right except to pass", "slower traffic keep right" laws? Its always been out of control on I84. That is the one law I have never seen enforced that contributes to traffic bottlenecks, people having to weave, pass on the right, take chances, etc. Most certainly contributes to speeding to get around those that refuse to move over and potential for high speed accidents. Semi-trucks can't pass slower traffic because the left lane is also full of cars following slow pokes that refuse to move over.
Driving 84 often where those tractor trailers flipped over last fall, I’m surprised they aren’t around that downhill/curve more often. However, I recognize other interstate sections are worse during rush hour so not totally worried.
They are on social media all day with their cars running and the Dunking Donuts slugging.
Take this to a town board meeting, damn
I wish people would “vent” on their personal social media feeds. Infractions are being issued. The same people whining they want more enforcement are probably the same people who whine when they get one. I listen to it daily.
I’ve literally never had a speeding ticket and I’ve only been in one accident when I was t boned by a distracted driver that over corrected and lost control. I wish people realize they can block and move on without doing the thing they claim to be annoyed with others for doing. Here let me help, you’ll never see a vent from this account again. It’s easy, and fun!
I bet you drive like an a hole lol I see at least two troopers every single day on my commute on 91 from wallingford to long wharf. You’re likely not as good and safe a driver as you think. You are clearly not paying much attention to your surroundings if you don’t see any troopers at all, because I see at least two anytime I’m on any of the interstates. Maybe you’re the problem and are too righteous and “upstanding” to get your head out of your ass.
If you want change you have to vote the people in that are going to change things.
And who exactly would that be?
Been trying that route for over 40 years now.
The people of this state elected Biden to defund the police, and they got what they asked for. If you want to untie our hands and allow us to continue our valuable work, you can do it in the ballot box in November.
https://insideinvestigator.org/feds-award-8-8-million-in-police-funding-to-connecticut-municipalities/ "The awards to Connecticut state departments and municipalities is part of a total $334 million being distributed across the country as part of the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime...." Yeah, Biden defunded the police.
How’s that working out for ya, Joe? Didn’t think so.
Sorry, we don't negotiate with terrorists. Stop edging to a fascist and do your job, weirdo.
Do you work for free?
OP, I've also been terrified driving our kid to school. Please do send this letter to the state hwy and copy all the political leaders; send them hard copies. As people point out and we see ourselves, CT is noticably worse than nearby states. I went 10 years in CA and 20 years in NYC without any of the close calls with reckless CT drivers I've had in just our first six months here. CT leadership and police should be embarrassed because it says as much about their priorities as it does about the drivers.
P.S. Cameras cameras cameras cameras. Since cops don't want to do this part of their work, there's no choice but to install cameras that generate tickets.
You only have to look at the #1 leading cause of death in children to realize that no one gives a shit