Troy, Ohio Speed Traps

Right after you leave Troy going towards Piqua on Troy-Piqua Rd., the 35 speed limit continues for a mile or so. What is insane about this is that up to a few months ago, it used to be 55 mph. But for whatever reason the City of Troy decided to move it’s corparation limit around a mile north. Instead of waiting for this new Housing development to be completed and change the limit then, they decided to post new 35 mph signs even before it started work, or even approved by the voters. When I go to work, I go a different way now. Lots of people does not even care about the 35 mph limit. They go around 50-55 no matter what part of the road. One last thing: After the speed limit is raised to 55 mph, there is another 35 mph zone, like a half a mile away…Duh! They should make that entire strech of road 35mph, all the way from Troy-Urbana road to the 5 way stop if the really want to make sense.

This is a DANGEROUS radar trap.

I-75 north of Exit 69 is three lanes wide with a left shoulder and right shoulder. As you pass exit 69, you’ll notice a wall alongside the road once you clear the exit. About 1 1/2 to 2 miles up, on the right side of the road, during the week around 8 – 10 pm, you will find an Ohio State Patrolman parked off the road, in the grass, at 90 degree perpendicular angle, facing due west to the I-75 north – south axis, with his front bumper several feet east of the east shoulder of the northbound direction.

If he has to come back on the road to pursue someone, the way he normally backs into position forces him to use not just the shoulder, but also part of the slow lane to compensate for the Crown Victoria’s 20 foot turning radius. At times, as happened when one of these pulled on the road about 100 feet in front of me one evening in April 2003, part of middle lane was also needed to turn the police car back onto the highway from off in the grassy area.

Beware if you see a police car backed off the road here as when he comes back on the road, he will be using the shoulder and slow lane for sure. The trucks panic when they see this ahead of them and instantly start pushing over into the middle lane as I witnessed on another night.

Note: Complaints to the Piqua post of the Highway Patrol has not stopped this dangerous situation. I was basically told to keep my opinion to myself when I called in to complain minutes after witnessing one of these high speed, multi-lane re-entries to the highway to pursue a speeder.

This city’s Police Chief has started a quota system. The Officer’s are required to write tickets to meet the quota. Beware, you will get a ticket just because the Officer needs to meet the quota. The quota’s are in place for discipline and for shift placement. For example, An Officer will have to write more tickets to get a more desirable shift or to avoid being disciplined.