OKLAHOMA CITY – Troopers of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued 1,228 traffic citations on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike during the first seven months of this year.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Troopers of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued 1,228 traffic citations on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike during the first seven months of this year.
Fully two-thirds of those tickets (815 of them) were for speeding – and 57 of those were issued to motorists exceeding 100 mph.
According to the Department of Public Safety:
• 424 tickets (34.5% of the total) were issued to drivers traveling 1 to 10 mph over the speed limit. Under a state law enacted last year, the fine for a basic speeding ticket was slashed from $224.50 to $100. (That law is scheduled to “sunset” in November 2020.)
• 98 tickets were issued for driving 11 to 15 mph over the limit on the Bailey. According to the Comanche County Court Clerk’s Office, the fine for that infraction is $264.
• 164 citations were written to motorists traveling 16-20 mph over the limit. The fine: $279.
• 72 citations were issued to drivers exceeding the speed limit by 21-25 mph. The fine: $319.
• The 44 drivers on the Bailey who were caught exceeding the 75 mph speed limit by 26 to 30 mph – meaning they were traveling 101 mph to 105 mph – each received a $379 ticket.
• 9 motorists were ticketed for driving 31 to 35 mph over the limit. The fine: $399.
• 1 speedster exceeded the limit by 36-40 mph. The fine: $449.
• 3 drivers were chased and pulled over when caught traveling 41 or more miles per hour over the speed limit – at least 116 mph. The fine for their lead feet: $512.75.
In a related matter, the OHP issued 26 tickets to motorists on the H.E. Bailey who were operating a vehicle at a speed greater/less than reasonable and proper.
Revenue from OHP traffic tickets is allocated to a variety of sources. For example, of the previous basic speeding citation, only $10 of the $224.50 was the actual fine; $20 was earmarked for the replacement of OHP vehicles and the balance was divided among various judicial entities and programs.
The accompanying chart shows some of the other tickets written by OHP troopers on the H.E. Bailey this year between Jan. 1 through July 31. trailer rigs) provided the other 26.2%.
The H.E. Bailey Turnpike produced $19,628,785 in toll receipts during the first seven months of this year; that was a 3.9% increase over the same period last year. Gross toll receipts systemwide in the first seven months of this year totaled $191.55 million.
The OTA reported spending- ing almost $1.59 million on non-structural maintenance systemwide from Jan. 1 through July 31. That included $401,882 for brush and weed control, $364,297 on vegetation management, and $822,909 for trash removal.
Of the top 25 PikePass customer service agents across the state in July, the Lawton-Fort Sill Tag Agency ranked fourth with sales of 345 of the transponders; the Comanche County Tag
Agency in Lawton ranked tenth with 249 sales, and the Elgin Tag Agency sold 155.
According to the OTA, the top 25 customer service agents issued 5,753 PikePasses in July and the remaining 64 CSAs issued 4,227 of the transponders.
By the end of July, the Turnpike Authority counted 1.9 million active PikePasses issued to a little over 770,000 PikePass accounts.