Trooper Marvin Hinkley on Turnpike speed patrol

How fast is too fast?

According to the law, anything over the speed limit can get you a ticket, but many drivers think they can push the limit and be just fine.

When state police trooper Marvin Hinkley is on Turnpike speed patrol, he’s looking for those drivers going way too fast.

“I don’t write a lot of tickets like some people do,” he said.

Hinkley said when he does pull a car over, most drivers just gets a warning to slow down.

“Maybe between me and someone else, we balance things out, they get the lower ones and write more, and I get the higher ones and write less,” he said.

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When we hit the street, most drivers told us they think they can speed and not a get a ticket.

The I-Team looked at data from the more than 35,000 speeding tickets issued in the state of Maine last year.

They came from law enforcement agencies all across the state.

We found most tickets are given to drivers going at least 15 miles an hour over the speed limit — so 85 in a 70 like on the turnpike, 80 in a 65 or 70 in a 55.

But state police Lieutenant Erik Baker said that’s not a license to speed.

“There’s no magical threshold. There’s always this 10 mile an hour, 15 mile an hour. Some people have these ideas that it’s okay, it’s not okay, the speed limit is 70 miles an hour,” Baker said.

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In fact, we found more than 5,000 tickets written in Maine for driving 9 miles an hour or less over the speed limit.

Another 8,800 were given to those driving 10 to 14 over the limit.

“We ask every trooper to use their discretion and use it properly and issue tickets they feel is necessary. Some troopers may write for 5 over, some may write for 10 over,” Baker said.

Baker said it’s all about safety — the higher the speed, the bigger the impact.

“Speed is a big problem for any type of crash and highway driving. We need people to follow the laws and drive carefully,” he said.

Fines for speeding in Maine range from $119 to more than $500 if you’re speeding in a school or construction zone.

Driving 30 miles an hour or more over the limit is criminal speeding in Maine.


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