If you live in North Myrtle Beach don’t be surprised if your next door neighbor happens to catch you on radar if you’re speeding down the street.
In an effort to crackdown on reckless drivers going over the speed limit, the City of North Myrtle Beach Public Safety Department is asking residents to volunteer their time in monitoring and alerting motorists who are speeding in residential areas.
The program is called, Traffic Watch. Sgt. Joe Turner said volunteers are loaned a police radar unit to monitor speed where that is seen as a problem in different neighborhood areas. That information is then collected and sent to the public safety department to determine whether the offender will receive a warning letter to the registered owner of the violating vehicle.
"Overwhelmingly every community complained about speeding issues and speeding problems,” said Sgt. Turner, “and that's been the one thing that we've tried to concentrate on so we can help slow people down.”
Ralph Phillips who says he’s been living in North Myrtle Beach for 11 years is fed up with drivers that are going way too fast up and down his neighborhood street.
“I have a dog and every little thing little thing spooks her ,” said Phillips, “some of these cars are traveling 45 to 50 miles an hour, double the speed limit down these streets and it's crazy I don't know how it can be stopped.”
Sgt. Turner said that the main reason the program was really implemented was to educate citizens about what speeding really means. He said every one perceives what they see driving down the street differently than the next person over.
"They’ll take a radar unit go out and see and say wow you know I thought that car was flying but it's only doing 30 miles per hour,” explained Sgt. Turner.
The first volunteer training class will be on Saturday March 28. To become a volunteer, contact the North Myrtle Beach Department of Public Safety. Applicants must be 21 years of age.
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