By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

The next time a police officer pulls you over for speeding, don’t rely on the leniency of a 5- or 10-mph buffer.

Driving even 1 mile over the limit is still speeding, Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara warned Monday.

“To count on this mythical buffer is to do so at your own peril,” Cantara said. “There’s no such thing in Maine law as a buffer.”

However, one group believes it has become a nationwide problem.

The Governors Highway Safety Association issued a 95-page report Monday, collecting data from 47 states. Not included were New York, Rhode Island and Maine.

The group found that people are driving faster than ever before. In part, that’s because limits have risen in many states.

However, the survey also found that people feel more comfortable breaking the limits. They believe there’s a buffer.

“This cushion truly exists across this country and in some cases is more than 10 mph above the posted limits,” wrote Jim Champagne, the association’s chairman.

“Law enforcement needs to be given the political will to enforce speed limits and the public must get the message that speeding will not be tolerated,” Champagne said in a prepared statement.

Top priority

A 2004 Sun Journal examination of speeding found that local officers routinely set thresholds for ticketing drivers, sometimes excusing people who go as fast as 15 miles over the limit.

However, the paper also found that other factors – weather, the level of traffic and a driver’s history – could dramatically change those thresholds.

In 2003, Maine police wrote nearly 67,000 tickets, affecting about one in every 13 of the state’s licensed drivers.

“Traffic should be going slower,” Maine’s Cantara said. “Far, far too many vehicles are driving too fast.”

Though Cantara denied Monday that any buffer exists, he said officers must often choose between stopping mild speeders and the people pushing extremes.

On June 9, for instance, a woman was arrested on Route 95 in Carmel, north of Augusta, while going 98 mph. An alcohol test found she far exceeded the legal limit.

Drivers like that, who represent a huge danger to anyone on the road, need to be the top priority, Cantara said.

“It’s a time-management issue,” the commissioner said. If officers are chasing the people who are doing 3 or 4 miles above the limit, they may miss some of the worst offenders.

New enforcement

Meanwhile, police are trying harder.

The state began a new speeding enforcement program last year, working within the existing call-sharing arrangements between the state and 11 of Maine’s 16 counties.

Roads such as Route 4 in Turner and Route 5 in York were among the targeted locations.

“The chances of your getting caught are better than ever before,” Cantara said.

The governors association has asked departments to consider installing cameras and other anti-speeding devices, he said. The cost is substantial, though.

Later this week, the association plans to meet in Washington, D.C., with people from 19 states to discuss speeding.

Cantara, Maine’s member, won’t be there. The current state budget squeeze prevents such travel, he said.

As to Maine’s absence from the survey, that was an accident, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The survey was sent to Richard Perkins, director of the state’s Bureau of Highway Safety.

Perkins retired in January. His position has not been filled.