How To Create A Speed Trap

Conspicuous, but meant to be ignored!

In Hudson City Court there is no shortage of people with traffic tickets for speeding in a school zone and in a 20 mph zone.  These tickets are all issued on Harry Howard Avenue, the only 20 mph zone in the City of Hudson, which appears to have been deliberately created to issue tickets, not to actually slow drivers down. 

(I will focus on the southbound lane of Harry Howard).

I took these two pictures from the same perspective and distance of each 20 mph speed limit sign.  Notice how one is conspicuous and the other is not.

Inconspicuous, but meant to be abided by!

The speed limit sign along the curb of State Street, across from the inactive/former JL Edwards School, has a bright yellow school sign above and a bright yellow strip below.  It is as conspicuous as can be.  But the speed limit there hasn't been 20 mph for several years and no one ever gets tickets for driving over 20, 30 or even 40 mph there.  It is an obsolete, confusing sign that should have been removed long ago.  But it sure stands out nicely after all these years.

The 20 mph speed limit sign in front of the active Hudson High School for southbound traffic, however, is easy to miss -- it is 12 feet from the curb and has no bright anything near it.  It is as if it was installed to not attract attention.  It is also only one of two speed limit signs on that side of Harry Howard between Joslen and the end of the supposed school zone at Lucille Street.   This is, of course, the lane of traffic that is going downhill. 

The 20 mph zone for the 2 schools along Harry Howard is 8/10 of a mile long, from Joslen to Lucille.  7/10 of a mile separate the 2 speed limit signs for traffic headed southbound.  In other words, there is a speed limit sign near the beginning and a speed limit sign near the end of the zone.  The first sign, at the High School and the most important of the two, is not easy to see.  And IT IS THE ONLY SPEED LIMIT SIGN ON HARRY HOWARD FOR BOTH DIRECTIONS THAT DOES NOT HAVE ADDITIONAL YELLOW OR SCHOOL RELATED SIGNS ABOVE OR BELOW IT.  This is in clear breach of NY State Traffic and Safety Laws for special school zones.   Should anyone be surprised that drivers are getting ticketed there regularly?  Tickets that can put points on your license and cost you time, money and aggravation!

If City Hall is serious about slowing traffic down on Harry Howard, the useless and unhelpful school speed limit sign on State Street should be installed at the curb in front of the Hudson High School.  Then another sign should be put at the other end of the school. 

Either the City of Hudson actually wants drivers to abide by the speed limit near the schools on Harry Howard, or they just want to issue speeding tickets and make people pay for them.  Which is it?

Call the Mayor, call HPD, reach out to Dominic Merante (he got this so-called school zone created, and he doesn't even drive a vehicle). Tell them to get the speed limit situation on Harry Howard corrected and to stop issuing all speeding tickets until the signage in the school zone properly abides by New York State Traffic Laws.  A school zone has special requirements, very few of which are being met along Harry Howard.   Tell them enough with the speed trap just designed to make the city money and annoy drivers.  Get it right or don't do it at all!