Monroe, NY - Mayor Urges State to Lower Quickway Speed Limit
The following is a letter written by Monroe Village Mayor John M. Karl III to the state Department of Transportation:
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Mr. Robert Dennison III
Director D.O.T. Region 8
Eleanor Roosevelt State Building.
4 Burnett Blvd. Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Dear Mr. Dennison,
I would like to request the Department of Transportation give serious consideration to lowering the speed limit on New York State Route 17 back to 55 mph from the current 65 mph.
As you may be aware, serious accidents have occurred in the southern area of Orange County on this highway which is highly traveled, not to mention the deaths that have occurred as well.
As a first responder for 30 years, I have seen first hand the results of death and injury along this state road. I urge you to reduce the speed limit back to 55 mph to lessen the chances of high-speed accidents. It will be a move that will save lives and property now and in the future. Sincerely,
John M. Karl III
Mayor
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 11/24/2006 02:25:00 PM
16 Comments:
At 2:47 PM,
Anonymous said…
Did you notice his mention of proerty at the end of the letter. saving lives should have been enough to make his point (although i totally disagree with him.)
But what is the obsession of property with people in monroe.
Property and property values define everything in monroe. They come off a little nuts.
At 2:55 PM,
Anonymous said…
I would like to suggest that the Mayor take his problem somewhere else!
IT takes me too long already to get to the mountains. Leave it at 65mph and Drivers, Stay off your cellphones. It will reduce accidents.
NYS Police should strictly enforce laws regarding cellphone use and driving.
At 3:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
As I know This Fire Cheif-Saftey And Just Lately Becomeing MAYOR, Is He NOT Such A Good Guy Of Brining So Many Good Thinks For Our Village, So When I Have Seen The Artical About Him I Right-A-Way Think That He Is Not Looking For SAFTEY Thinks Its Just For Bringing More MONEY For The Town Of Monroe From All The Tickets.....
At 3:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Anon at 2:47 - In this article I'm pretty sure the use of the word "property" is referring to motor vehicles not homes.
At 5:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
I say they should remove the speed limit. It should be like the autobahn in germany.
At 6:36 PM,
Expatriate Owl said…
If they REALLY want to reduce injuries and fatalities, then why not reduce the speed limit to 1 mph?
And while we are talking traffic safety, how about enforcement of the seat belt laws? If the poor zhlub who was the Spinka Rebbe's driver would have been assertive enough to refuse to drive until EVERYONE in the car was buckled up, then perhaps the Spinka Rebbitzin would still be with us.
At 7:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
It's a money making bussines.
That Mayer is terrible
At 7:33 PM,
Anonymous said…
Who are you to say that the Spinka Rebbitzen was killed because of Seat belts? It was BASHERT from heaven not because this or that!!!!!
At 7:34 PM,
Anonymous said…
Does speeding Tickets money given on the Quickway go to the town?
At 9:16 PM,
Shtender Bender said…
There is an article in the local paper about the municipality not paying the Monroe Twp. the correct percentage of court fees to the tune of $200,000.00.
Wow. Somebody will be losing their job over this.
At 9:24 PM,
Anonymous said…
Karl wants court back Fine-revenue snafu highlights
Times Herald-RecordNovember 20, 2006
Monroe — Stung by the revelation that his village was shortchanged for years on court revenue, Mayor John Karl III wants more than ever to extricate Monroe from the local court it has shared with the town government for 22 years.
Questioned by Karl about the meager amount in court fines his village got in recent years, town officials have found that a simple computer error caused the town to keep at least $190,000 — or $200,000, depending on whom you ask — owed to the village over a number of years.
Town officials call it an innocent mistake, and they're working with the state to reimburse the village. But Karl, who has a prickly relationship with them, is demanding the state comptroller audit the court's books since the 1984 merger.
Just how much money was misdirected won't be known until an investigation is done. But ultimately, the state will pay the village and withhold an equal amount from future court payments to the town, according to Supervisor Sandy Leonard.
Despite friction between the two leaders, Leonard says she commiserates with Karl and his desire to scour the books.
"If he wants to check, God bless him," she said. "If I was in his shoes, I'd be as concerned as he is."
Monroe Town Court has two part-time justices who hear traffic and minor criminal cases from the villages of Monroe and Kiryas Joel and unincorporated town areas. The Village of Harriman has its own court.
Local courts in New York send speeding fines and other charges to the state, which keeps more than half and returns most of the remaining loot to the towns and villages where the money originated. The counties also get a small cut.
Monroe racked up $607,998 in 2005, the sixth-highest total out of 34 town and village courts in Orange County, according to the comptroller's office. Of that amount, $266,761 was returned to the town.
But the town gave the village — which accounts for about 60 percent of the court's cases — only $2,400 in court revenue in 2005, Karl said.
The revenue error is one of several complaints Karl has with the Town Court. He and his board are already looking into pulling out of the Town Court and merging with Harriman's instead — or simply resurrecting a Village of Monroe Court.
Either way, a change will likely occur within the next eight months, Karl said.
"Pretty much," he said, "the intent of the village is to get our court back."
At 12:11 AM,
Anonymous said…
The DOT has conducted many studies, that actually refutes the argument that lower speeds save lives. Also, if he is concerned about property, ie money, then driving at 65 instead of 55 save about 20% gas.
At 9:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
2:47 Property means formeigens that get damaged by accidents. Like cars, trucks, building, trees, electric poles. It doesn't refer to LAND...
At 1:13 PM,
Expatriate Owl said…
"Anonymous said...
Who are you to say that the Spinka Rebbitzen was killed because of Seat belts? It was BASHERT from heaven not because this or that!!!!!"
Anonymous, I will not deny that it "was BASHERT from heaven." But this does not mean that we are not required to do our part. And this includes safety practices.
Anyone who rides in my car wears seatbelts! Period!
I will not move the car until all passengers are buckled up. Those who refuse to buckle up will not ride in my car. Even my own rabbi!
This hard and fast rule of mine was inculcated into my by my own father from the time I was a little boy -- he had seatbelts specially installed on his car back in the early 1960's, BEFORE they were required or even standard equipment.
And maybe the fact that my son and his passenger walked away without a scratch from the accident they were in a few weeks ago was also "bashert from heaven." But I would rather take my chances while everyone is wearing a seatbelt.
[And, by the way, this includes the passengers in the back seat. In the event of a crash, any unrestrained passenger in the back seat becomes a projectile in motion which will strike the front seat passengers and cause as much -- or more -- damage as a thrown rock.]
Bashert, bashmert!!! Buckle up, everyone!!!
At 2:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
RIGHT ON Expatriate Owl!!
At 3:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
if i walked into the middle of a busy street and a car hit me, is that "bashert" too?
It might be but I sure as #$$%$% am a STUPID #$#$%%$ for doing it!
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