Crime & Safety

Suwanee Traffic Accidents Down in 2011

Police say greater visibility has produced a decline in the no-radar era.

Suwanee police may not be able to use radar or laser for the time being, but traffic safety has not suffered.

In the first four months of 2011, traffic accidents in the city were down 5.5 percent (328 to 347) over the same period in 2010. While speeding citations were down 86 percent in that period (134 to 990), total traffic citations were off just 7.1 percent (4,403 to 4,744).

Police Chief Mike Jones told City Council members at a recent work session that greater visibility on city streets and in neighborhoods has led to the decline.

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"We're not just out there writing tickets," Jones said. "We're out there to save people's lives."

Police in Suwanee and several other Gwinnett County cities have been unable to use radar or laser to issue speeding citations because of the ongoing services dispute between Gwinnett County and cities in the Gwinnett Municipal Association.

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The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department and the state Highway Patrol are exempt from that sanction, and they can pass along their data to local agencies as evidence for arrest.

The services dispute apparently is not near being resolved. Suwanee Council Member Jimmy Burnette, the city's delegate to the GMA, said last week that some GMA members held talks with Charlotte Nash, chairman of the Gwinnett County Commissioners. But the talks led nowhere, Burnette said.

Jones also credited the department's ongoing citizen involvement program -- formally known as Police And Citizens Together (PACT) -- as another factor in keeping accident numbers down.

Highway 317, also known as Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, continues to be Suwanee's thoroughfare with the most traffic mishaps. In April, there were 12 reported accidents at the intersections with I-85, Satellite Boulevard, and Buford Highway, department records show.

However, the single most dangerous intersection in Suwanee in April was Peachtree Industrial Boulevard/McGinnis Ferry Road, with eight accidents. Jones blamed the 55 mph speed limit. "If the speed limit is 55, people think they can go 65," he said.

Part 1 crimes -- such as homicide, rape and motor vehicle theft -- were down 16.7 percent (119 to 143) in January-April 2011 compared with the 2010 period, police said.


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