» Va. wants summit on I-81 improvements

Va. wants summit on I-81 improvements

Posted: 7:00 pm Mon, September 6, 2010
By Associated Press

ROANOKE, Va. — Virginia’s transportation chief wants to hold a summit this fall with representatives of all six states along the 855-mile Interstate 81 corridor.

Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told The Roanoke Times the goal would be to continue work on a plan to improve the corridor. He has invited the transportation chiefs of Maryland, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York to gather in Virginia.

Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Heidi Underwood says the proposed meeting would be held in October in the Roanoke Valley.

The six states pledged in 2008 to cooperate on common I-81 issues, such as congestion and bridge maintenance.

Communities along the corridor are grappling with traffic volumes on the interstate, concerns about the number of wrecks, large numbers of heavy-duty trucks loaded with freight and questions about how best to invest public dollars in railroads.

Also of concern is how to maintain I-81’s nearly 1,500 bridges, stopping the transportation of illegal drugs and protecting the environment. About 75 percent of the interstate’s bridges are 40 years old or older.

The highway group Connaughton hopes to bring together bears a name similar to the I-81 Corridor Coalition. The coalition is working to bring police, emergency medical services and economic development agencies and state and federal officials together to discuss the highway.

The Coalition plans to hold a meeting Nov. 15 and 16 in either Hagerstown or Martinsburg, W.Va.
“These efforts are both worthwhile. Both have many of the same objectives,” said Rick Rovegno, a county commissioner in Pennsylvania and I-81 Corridor Coalition leader.

Rovegno said there may be a basis for combining the two groups.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Comments

Repeal_The_Va_Radar_Detector_Ban says:

As you may know, Virginia is the only state that bans the use and sale of detectors. There is no evidence that the

detector ban increases highway safety. Our nation’s fatality rates have fallen consistently for almost two decades.

Virginia’s fatality rate has also fallen, but not any more dramatically than it has nationwide. Research has even

shown that radar detector owners have a lower accident rate than motorists who do not own a detector.

Maintaining the ban is not in the best interest of Virginians or visitors to the state. I know and know of people

that will not drive in Virginia due to this ban. Unjust enforcement practices are not unheard of, and radar

detectors can keep safe motorists from being exploited by abusive speed traps. Likewise, the ban has a negative

impact on Virginia’s business community. Electronic distributors lose business to neighboring states and Virginia

misses out on valuable sales tax revenue.

Radar detector bans do not work. Research and experience show that radar detector bans do not result in lower

accident rates, improved speed-limit compliance or reduce auto insurance expenditures.
• The Virginia radar detector ban is difficult and expensive to enforce. The Virginia ban diverts precious law

enforcement resources from more important duties.
• Radar detectors are legal in the rest of the nation, in all 49 other states. In fact, the first state to test a

radar detector ban, Connecticut, repealed the law – it ruled the law was ineffective and unfair. It is time for our

Virginia to join the rest of the nation.
• It has never been shown that radar detectors cause accidents or even encourage motorists to drive faster than they

would otherwise. The Yankelovich – Clancy – Shulman Radar Detector Study conducted in 1987, showed that radar

detector users drove an average of 34% further between accidents (233,933 miles versus 174,554 miles) than non radar

detector users. The study also showed that they have much higher seat belt use compliance. If drivers with radar

detectors have fewer accidents, it follows that they have reduced insurance costs – it is counterproductive to ban

radar detectors.
• In a similar study performed in Great Britain by MORI in 2001 the summary reports that “Users (of radar detectors)

appear to travel 50% further between accidents than non-users. In this survey the users interviewed traveling on

average 217,353 miles between accidents compared to 143,401 miles between accidents of those non-users randomly

drawn from the general public.” The MORI study also reported “Three quarters agree, perhaps unsurprisingly, that

since purchasing a radar detector they have become more conscious about keeping to the speed limit…” and “Three in

five detector users claim to have become a safer driver since purchasing a detector.”
• Modern radar detectors play a significant role in preventing accidents and laying the technology foundation for

the Safety Warning System® (SWS). Radar detectors with SWS alert motorists to oncoming emergency vehicles, potential

road hazards, and unusual traffic conditions. There are more than 10 million radar detectors with SWS in use

nationwide. The federal government has earmarked $2.1 million for further study of the SWS over a three-year period

of time. The U.S. Department of Transportation is administering grants to state and local governments to purchase

the SWS system and study its effectiveness (for example, in the form of SWS transmitters for school buses and

emergency vehicles). The drivers of Virginia deserve the right to the important safety benefits that SWS delivers.

Please sign this petition and help to repeal this ban and give drivers in Virginia the freedom to know if they are

under surveillance and to use their property legally:

http://www.stoptheban.org

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/repeal-the-virginia-radar-detector-ban

Posted on 09/13/10 at 9:36 pm