The city of Greenwood has bought four additional speed detectors to help drivers maintain a responsible speed throughout neighborhoods.
“They are very effective because once people see their speed, they slow down,” Mayor Carolyn McAdams said. “It is a constant reminder of how fast you are going.”
The new speed detectors, purchased last week, were $2,000 apiece and will be installed in about six weeks. Weightman Street and Hemmingway Street could be among the next locations, the mayor said.
Last summer, four solar-powered speed detectors were set up on Grand Boulevard, Claiborne Avenue, Main Street and Carrollton Avenue to encourage drivers to slow down and watch their speed. Locations were chosen based on the number of citations issued, Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore said last August.
The speed detectors flash red numbers when a driver exceeds the speed limit and green — with a green “Thank you” — when they are within the limits.
City officials have praised how effective these devices have been at regulating drivers’ speed, but some residents feel the exact opposite.
“The speed detectors are effective for telling how fast a driver is going but not at maintaining traffic,” said Lester Mitchell, a resident on Grand Boulevard.
Around two or three months ago, Lester and his wife, Carolyn, first noticed young adults stopping at the stoplight on Monroe Avenue and racing toward the speed detector. It was either one car or two racing against one another, the couple said.
“It is just another thing that kids do, and it is just another thing to motivate them to do it,” Carolyn said.
The Mitchells sit out on their porch during the afternoon and watch pickup trucks, cars and motorcycles race. Although it doesn’t happen every day, the couple thinks it’s the same individuals who are racing, they said.
“You can tell when the light changes because you can hear the motors revving up,” Lester said.
Moore and McAdams said neither of their offices had received such complaints from residents.
“You are always going to have a couple of knuckleheads, and when we catch them they are going to pay a heavy fine,” Moore said.
McAdams encourages residents in any of the speed detectors’ locations to report these incidents, especially if they have a tag number, she said.
“If residents are seeing that, they need to contact us or the police,” McAdams said.
Moore said that he has gotten a lot of compliments about the devices’ effectiveness, especially around the Claiborne area, and that they have shown improvements in all of their locations.
“They seem to be pretty effective. What they are trying to do is get people’s attention,” Moore said. “It just kind of alerts the drivers.”
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
