Speed Warning:

Electronic signs put speeders on alert

In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.

July 25, 1995

By Devlyn Brooks

This past week some travelers on Roseau County's highways were treated with a rather unpleasant sight: a trailer sitting on the side of the road posting how fast they were moving in big, neon numbers.

This trailer belongs to the Minnesota State Highway Patrol, and its purpose is to make motorists aware of the speed they are traveling.

The Highway Patrol has 11 of these trailers in Minnesota, one for each district. Each district is responsible for moving the trailer around to different locations.

Officer Joe Olafson, who patrols in the Warroad and Roseau area, said that these trailers are in high demand.

He said that being that the fair was held last week, the patrolmen for this area felt that Roseau would be a good location for the machine. It spent one day located on the east side of Roseau, and another day on the west side.

Before that, the machine had been set up by Greenbush, and last Friday it split time between Roosevelt and in Warroad.

The machine does not, in any way, record passing vehicles so a person cannot be given a ticket if they speed by one. Olafson said that the trailers are there simply to make people aware of their speed.

He said these trailers are part of the "Arrive Live" program sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Association.

The "Arrive Live" program is four years old, but this is the first year that the Highway Patrol is using the trailers.

"The jury is still out as to whether these trailers help," Olafson said.

He said that the officers take turns using the trailer in their different areas. They also try to coincide with special events, such as last week's fair, where they are bound to reach more people.

He said that they also place the trailer in particularly bad areas where speeding is common.

This is why the trailer was brought to Roosevelt, Olafson said. The highway that runs through Roosevelt is posted at 50 miles per hour, but not a lot of cars respect that speed limit.

Olafson said the residents of Roosevelt have tried to get the Minnesota Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit through their town. However, according to the formula that MnDOT uses, the speed limit doesn't have to be under 50 MPH.

"Because the residents of Roosevelt are concerned, we thought we would bring it out here for a day," Olafson said.

"Speeding is a factor in a lot of accidents," he said. "However, it's human nature for us to think, 'It's never going to happen to me.' If you give it some thought though ... every one of us is the next guy."