Published: July 03, 2008 03:42 pm            

So who benefits? — 07/07/08

Checkpoints save fuel for KSP, not for those caught it them

Efforts by the Kentucky State Police to reduce the amount of gasoline it uses could result in the rest of us using more gasoline. Or at least those of us who are stopped at one of more than 200 checkpoints the KSP is planning as part of Operation Safe C.H.E.C.K. (Concentrated Highway Enforcement Checkpoints in Kentucky).

The new enforcement effort began July 4 and will continue through Labor Day. The high visibility checkpoints will be set up at high-crash locations based on collision data compiled by the KSP.

Here is how the KSP justifies the checkpoints: Reducing the number of roving patrols while increasing stationary checkpoints will decrease the amount of fuel being used by the agency. Increasing the number of checkpoints will allow KSP to continue effective enforcement efforts while conserving fuel.

We agree that checkpoints — a.k.a. roadblocks — will save the KSP gasoline, but it will force every motorist who is stopped or slowed by a roadblock to use more gasoline or diesel fuel. Idling at a checkpoint wastes fuel in the same way that being stopped at a traffic light does.

The KSP cites some alarming numbers in justifying its new enforcement campaign: In May, the KSP reduced the amount of gasoline it purchased by more than 10,000 gallons compared to May of 2007. That’s a impressive savings. However, the 160,000 gallons of fuel the KSP purchased in May cost $132,000 more than the 170,500 gallons of fuel the law enforcement agency purchased in May of 2007.

The bottom line is this: Consumers and private businesses are not the only ones feeling the budget crunch as a result of soaring fuel costs. Government agencies — including state, county and city law enforcement agencies that must keep vehicles on the road to adequately protect the public and school systems that must operate buses to transport students to and from school — also are having a difficult time balancing their budgets because of soaring fuel prices.

KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer admits that keeping patrol cars on the road is a real challenge for an agency faced with rising fuel costs and having a budget that’s already set for the next two years.

While we recognize the challenge the KSP is facing, we disagree with the solution.” We have never liked police roadblocks. They slow down traffic for all of us and waste the fuel we just paid $4 a gallon to purchase while nabbing the relatively few who violate the law. In a sense, they force us all to prove our innocence. While that’s not a problem for most of us, it certainly is an inconvenience.

We think there may be a middle ground here. Placing highly visible patrol cars and officers in accident-prone areas could be just as effective — in convincing motorists to slow down and be a bit more cautious — as stopping them at a checkpoint would be. Most people we know drive a bit more carefully when they see a patrol car.

To be sure, having a checkpoint will nab those driving with expired tags, invalid licenses, no insurance and vehicle safety violations, but charging people with such secondary offenses should not be the primary intent of checkpoints. The intent is to convince motorists to slow down and drive safely, and that can be accomplished by having an officer sitting in a vehicle on the side of the road.

        

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