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Houston’s traffic snarl generally clears up once drivers make it out of the city, but that doesn’t give people the green light to speed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety issued more than 500 speeding tickets on three highways in the Houston area during the first three months of 2019, according to data obtained by Chron.com through an open records request.
The data shows Highway 288, Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 were the most ticketed highways from January through March in DPS Region 2A, which includes Harris, Chambers, Brazoria and Galveston counties.
The data mostly reflects highways in the DPS region outside the city. The data also includes the mile markers on each highway where DPS caught the most speeders.
DPS officials say those heavy ticket areas aren’t simply indicative of speed traps.
“They’re not just going to say ‘Let’s see how many tickets I can write,'” DPS Sgt. Richard Standifer said of trooper activity on highways. “They’re trying to end [a dangerous trend].”
Ultimately, troopers work to stave off traffic fatalities, Standifer said.
He noted that DPS troopers likely issue more tickets than the average police department because they don’t respond to daily calls for service. Troopers work their assigned areas on varying schedules. The majority of their shift consists of patrolling major roadways, he said.
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Typically, a trooper parked on the side of the road indicates a traffic fatality hotspot, he said.
“DPS works where fatalities and traffic are more prevalent,” Standifer said. “When you work the road for a little bit, you’re going to find where folks are causing crashes.”