HUNDREDS CITED FOR LOUD DRIVING:
Cliff Hansen says in an email, “Your column on May 17 summarized discussion of possible penalties for speeding violators. Because many of the worst offenders likely have also altered the exhaust of their vehicles, I wanted to point out the Albuquerque City Code provides a remedy.
“Article 10, Section 7-10-3, allows the city to declare offenders’ vehicles as nuisances, subject to booting on the second offense and forfeiture on a third offense. Listed offenses include street racing, exhibition driving, excessive sound or music, or modification of exhaust systems. I’ve never heard of this part of the city code actually be(ing) enforced. The text uses ‘shall’ not ‘may,’ which doesn’t leave discretion whether to apply the penalties. Maybe a query to discover how many times this ordinance has been used would be instructive.”
Here we go, courtesy of Camille Baca and the number gurus at Metropolitan Court. While they did not provide a breakdown of second and third offenses, there have been hundreds of citations issued. FYI a first offense carries a penalty of a “fine not exceeding $500 … imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or both.”
• Under the general 7-10-3, Violation of the Vehicle Nuisance Ordinance, three in 2020, six in 2021 and nine through May of this year.
• Under 7-10-3(A), Unlawful Drag Racing and Other Competitive Racing, 38 tickets were issued in 2020, 19 in 2021 and 12 through May of this year. (My April 25 column included 191 more cited in 2021 under the city’s spectating/drag or street racing ordinance, 8-2-4-6.)
• Under 7-10-3(B), Unlawful Exhibition Driving, 66 in 2020, 39 in 2021 and 31 through May of this year.
• Under 7-10-3(C), Unlawful for Any Person to Use a Vehicle as an Instrument of Threat or Intimidation (i.e. road rage), three in 2020 and none last year or so far this year.
• Under 7-10-3(E), Unlawful Use of Modification of Exhaust Systems, 131 in 2020, 181 in 2021 and 133 though May of this year.
• And under 7-10-3(D), Vehicle Nuisance – Excessively Loud Electronic Sound or Music, five in 2020, 21 in 2021 and five though May of this year.
WYOMING ISN’T DONE: Michael emails, “We have been watching the resurfac(ing) between Academy and San Antonio on Wyoming west of Albuquerque Academy for a few weeks. It was rough for a while after scraping, and some new asphalt appears but was very poorly applied. We assumed this was temporary – then they painted stripes.
“I’m worried about the quality of the installation. There are sections unpaved, uneven – frankly the job quality was so poor I hope the city at least didn’t pay full price. Would love to see what the city knows about this pave job and how quality is handled.”
The city says the work is not complete.
Scott Cilke of the city’s Department of Municipal Development says “we’re still working to schedule a thin asphalt overlay installation. We applied temporary striping to delineate lanes for drivers while we work to complete the rehab.”
SPRUCE NORTH OF CENTRAL NOT CITY PROPERTY: Ralph Chapman writes in an email “For months/years? the intersection (of Spruce and Central) has been blocked and impassible northbound. At present there is no way to turn north from eastbound Central between Oak Street and University Boulevard.
“Could you find out what the plans are for this location and if this will be fixed? I am in the area frequently and it’s a hassle. A traffic signal is there, just nowhere to go.”
And so it will remain, at least for the time being.
Cilke says “the area north of Central around Spruce now belongs to a private developer and is no longer in the city right of way. For that reason, there is nothing the city can do to reopen access to northbound Spruce from Central.”
Editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.
